Welcome back to your daily memorandum talking tech, business, AI, markets, and more. 🗞️

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

🎯 Elon Musk sells X to himself through xAI for $33 billion in an all-stock deal.
😥 Inflation remained sticky ahead of Trump’s recent trade war.
📦 Amazon shakes up its streaming leadership team.
🇲🇲 Myanmar earthquake death toll passes 2,000.
🪑 White House to take charge of the briefing-room seating chart.

TECH

• Apple Reportedly Developing AI Agent ‘Doctors’ in Latest Health Push

  • Apple is building an AI health coach called “Project Mulberry,” set to launch with iOS 19.4 in 2025.

  • The tool builds on “Project Quartz” and includes food tracking, plus video explainers from in-house and external doctors.

  • Apple’s move signals deeper health ambitions, even as past efforts like its smartwatch oxygen sensor faced legal hurdles.

• Instacart bought his self-checkout startup for $350M. Now he’s teaming with a Google DeepMind alum to build low-cost robots

  • Caper AI founder Lindon Gao launched Dyna Robotics to build low-cost, single-task robots for restaurants and other businesses.

  • Co-founded with a DeepMind alum, the startup raised $23.5M to develop robotic arms powered by task-specific AI.

  • Dyna’s narrow focus keeps costs down and speeds up deployment, aiming to outperform pricier general-purpose robots.

• Elon Musk sells X to his own xAI for $33 billion in an all-stock deal

  • Elon Musk sold X (formerly Twitter) to his AI company xAI in a $33B all-stock deal, aiming to merge reach with AI capability.

  • Musk says the deal will combine data, models, and talent to create smarter user experiences across both platforms.

  • X already feeds data to xAI and offers access to its Grok chatbot, so immediate changes for users are unclear.

BUSINESS

• Bloomberg Has a Rocky Start With A.I. Summaries

  • Bloomberg has issued 30+ corrections to AI-generated summaries since January, with errors in dates, figures, and attribution.

  • The summaries are meant to complement journalism, not replace it, and journalists can approve or remove them as needed.

  • Despite some hiccups, Bloomberg says most AI summaries meet editorial standards, and user feedback has been largely positive.

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• Los Angeles Private Equity Firm to Acquire Dun & Bradstreet in Transaction Valued at $7.7 Billion

  • Clearlake Capital will acquire Dun & Bradstreet for $4.1B in cash, valuing the deal at $7.7B with debt.

  • The $9.15/share offer reflects a 4.8% premium after the stock dropped ~60% from its 2020 IPO.

  • Ares and HSBC are backing the deal, which is expected to close in Q3.

• Inflation remained Sticky Ahead of Trump’s Escalating Trade War

  • Core inflation rose 2.8% in February, surprising economists and signaling rising price pressures even before Trump’s latest tariffs.

  • Consumer spending remained weak after inflation adjustment, while savings increased — signs of potential stagflation, economists say.

  • The Fed held rates steady amid uncertainty over trade policy, with officials split on future cuts as inflation expectations rise.

CONTENT

• A Spirited Debate Around AI

  • The viral Ghibli-style AI images have sparked widespread debate around artistic ownership, fair use, and the ethics of training data.

  • Laws can’t keep pace with AI’s growth, so artists must engage in shaping norms and monetization models for the new creative economy.

  • Rather than resist the tools, the author argues for embracing them while advocating for fair compensation and recognition of human creativity.

• Unpacking Germany’s Historic U-Turn on Spending

  • Scott and Ed discuss Apple’s $1 billion annual loss on AppleTV+, Silver Lake’s move to take Endeavor private, and Nike’s latest earnings report.

  • Then Carsten Brzeski, Global Head of Macro Research and Chief Eurozone Economist for ING, joins to discuss German politics.

  • He unpacks the growing fragmentation among political parties and explains the country’s longstanding reluctance to take on debt.

• Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson: Politics, Trump, AOC, Elon & DOGE

  • Klein and Thompson unpack internal divisions on the left, AOC’s influence, and the future of progressive politics.

  • They explore themes from their book Abundance, including supply-side progressivism, housing, and wealth redistribution.

  • The conversation veers into cultural topics like Trump, Elon, DOGE, and what’s next for American democracy.

WORLD

• The Town That Went Crazy for Crypto

  • In San Pedro, Argentina, 16,000 people joined RainbowEx, a crypto scheme fronted by a mysterious figure called “La China.”

  • Promising daily returns, it turned out to be a Ponzi scam faking trades and siphoning $46M.

  • The scheme collapsed after national media exposure, but many locals still blamed the journalists, not the fraudsters.

• White House to take charge of the briefing-room seating chart

  • The White House will take over briefing-room seating from the press corps, breaking a long-standing WHCA tradition.

  • The move follows earlier changes like handpicking pool reporters and reducing access for outlets like AP, which is now suing to regain entry.

  • WHCA scrapped its comedy act for this year’s dinner, saying the focus should be on journalism, not division.

• Myanmar Earthquake Death Toll Passes 2,000 as Rescuers Race to Find Survivors

  • Rescuers in Myanmar braced against frequent aftershocks in an increasingly desperate search for survivors after recent earthquakes.

  • Myanmar’s military junta said late Sunday that at least 2,028 people have been confirmed dead and 3,408 others injured in Friday’s tremors.

  • That count was expected to rise as the country inched closer to the 72 hours that most people trapped in rubble are expected to survive.

AND MORE…

• ChatGPT’s Ghibli filter is political now, but it always was

  • The White House used a Ghibli-style AI image to depict an immigrant arrest, drawing criticism for politicizing the meme.

  • OpenAI’s filter echoes broader issues of using artists’ work without consent, despite Miyazaki’s anti-AI stance.

  • The moment reflects how tech and politics often align around power over empathy or ethical use.

• Inside the Klarna-Affirm Rivalry Reshaping One of the Biggest Fintech IPOs

  • Klarna secured a major Walmart deal ahead of its IPO, dealing a blow to rival Affirm and intensifying their long-standing competition.

  • The Klarna-Affirm rivalry stretches back years, with both vying for market share and clashing over strategy, branding, and deal-making.

  • Klarna’s push for growth, including controversial partnerships like DoorDash, has fueled investor excitement — and skepticism.

• Amazon shakes up the streaming leadership team

  • Jennifer Salke is out as head of Amazon MGM Studios amid a leadership reshuffle and reported frustrations with streaming strategy.

  • She oversaw hits like Reacher and The Boys, but also costly disappointments like Rings of Power and Citadel.

  • Tensions with Bond producers and Bezos’ reported anger may have sealed her exit; she’ll start a production company with an Amazon deal.