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

In today’s edition, we are tackling the following:

🐢 Anthropic CEO outlines plan to slow the pace of AI development.
⛑️ Obama pushes Democrats to craft a 'clear plan' for AI safety.
💼 Larry Ellison cancels his planned $7.5B sale of Oracle stock.
🚫 OpenAI CEO says going public in 2026 would be 'ill-advised'.
🕊️ Trump tells Zelenskiy to stop targeting Russian diesel infrastructure.

TECHNOLOGY

• Anthropic CEO outlines plan to slow the pace of AI development (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: BBC, TechCrunch, NY Times}}

  • Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei outlined three strategies for "pacing the frontier" of AI development, committing to one.

  • OpenAI CEO Sam Altman agreed, saying pacing AI development has been a major recent internal discussion topic.

  • Amodei's proposal includes third-party "embedded evaluators," like METR, to verify AI companies follow their safety commitments.

• Obama pushes Democrats to craft a 'clear plan' for AI safety (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Politico, NBC, The Guardian}}

  • Obama said Democrats need a "clear plan" to address AI's economic impact and safety risks.

  • Obama made the comments Thursday at a fundraiser where House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries interviewed him.

  • Obama has served as a "sounding board" for AI executives, including Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman.

• Revolut confirms it exposed customer data through fake government requests (CNA)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, TNW, Reuters}}

  • Revolut confirmed it disclosed sensitive customer data after receiving fraudulent requests from a fake government email domain.

  • The exposed data included birth dates, addresses, phone numbers, and copies of passports and driver's licenses.

  • Revolut said a "limited" number of customers were affected but declined to specify how many or where.

BUSINESS

• Larry Ellison cancels his planned $7.5B sale of Oracle stock (WSJ)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, CNBC, TechCrunch}}

  • Oracle confirmed on Saturday that co-founder and executive chairman Larry Ellison will not sell any of his shares.

  • The plan had involved selling 50M shares worth about $7.5B, a regulatory filing showed.

  • Oracle shares have fallen 22% this year amid heavy data center spending and its new role in TikTok U.S. operations.

• OpenAI CEO says going public in 2026 would be 'ill-advised' (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Fortune, TechCrunch, The Guardian}}

  • OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said going public in 2026 would be "ill-advised" given ongoing AI safety concerns.

  • Altman said OpenAI will go public only when the business and society are "ready" for the technology.

  • OpenAI has filed confidentially for an IPO, though Altman confirmed the offering will not happen in 2026.

• Z.ai shares tumble 10% after second $5B raise in months (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: Investing.com, Reuters}}

  • Z.ai's Hong Kong-listed shares fell more than 10% Monday after it unveiled a new $5B fundraising plan.

  • The raise includes a $2B share placement and $3B in zero-coupon convertible bonds due in 2027.

  • This marks Z.ai's second major fundraising in two months, following a roughly $4B share placement in July.

MARKETS

WORLD

• Trump tells Zelenskiy to stop targeting Russian diesel infrastructure (Washington Post)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, CNN, Al Jazeera}}

  • Trump said Ukraine's attacks on Russian diesel infrastructure are "hurting the world" and must stop.

  • U.S. diesel prices topped $6 a gallon for the first time on Thursday, according to GasBuddy.

  • Ukraine maintains that Russian refineries, which supply fuel amid the ongoing war, are legitimate military targets.

• China's Xiangshan defense forum set to open amid regional tensions (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: AOL, Straits Times}}

  • China's military will open its annual Xiangshan forum this week amid rising regional tensions.

  • Defense Minister Dong Jun is expected to push for an Asia-led security model amid doubts over U.S. commitments.

  • A senior Pentagon official will lead the U.S. delegation, as South China Sea tensions limit Beijing's regional influence.

• Indonesian rescuers battle rough seas searching for 129 missing people (AP)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, NPR, Al Jazeera}}

  • Rescuers are searching for 129 people still missing after a passenger ship capsized in the Java Sea.

  • Authorities have rescued 108 of the 243 people aboard the Virgo Transport 8, with six confirmed dead.

  • Strong winds and waves are hampering the search, as rescuers deploy 622 personnel and 17 ships.

FUTURISM

• Lyft launches Waymo robotaxi rides on its app in Nashville (LA Times)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Yahoo!, WIRED}}

  • This week, Waymo robotaxis became available on Lyft's app in Nashville, marking a major milestone.

  • Under the deal, Lyft's Flexdrive subsidiary handles fleet readiness, maintenance, and depot operations for the robotaxis.

  • This marks Lyft's first commercial robotaxi service using fully driverless vehicles, after years of AV industry partnerships.

• Tesla to finally unveil the second-generation Roadster on October 1 (Engadget)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, TechCrunch, Yahoo!}}

  • Tesla posted "Go for launch" on X Saturday, confirming an October 1 unveiling for the new Roadster.

  • The graphic hinted at SpaceX-developed cold gas thrusters, which reportedly could let the Roadster fly.

  • First announced in November 2017, the Roadster has faced repeated delays and a since-abandoned original design.

• OpenAI's feud with mathematicians over AI-generated proofs keeps escalating (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: The Guardian, NY Times, Yahoo!}}

  • Twenty-five Fields Medal winners signed an open letter warning that AI labs threaten mathematical research and attribution.

  • An NYU professor accused OpenAI of pressuring him not to credit an Anthropic-affiliated collaborator on a math proof.

  • OpenAI withdrew sponsorship of a CalTech math event Thursday after facing criticism from researchers there.

• Hunting for AI roles eats hours across careers pages, internal referrals, group chats, and a dozen overlapping boards*

  • The Athyna AI Job Board does the watching for you and matches openings to your profile in the background.

  • When a role hits a 75% matching index or higher, we notify you with details and a direct apply link.

CONTENT

• Matteo Franceschetti on obsession, skipping vacations, building a multi-billion-dollar company (20VC)

  • Matteo Franceschetti, Eight Sleep's co-founder and CEO, discussed hiring, angel investing, and lessons on hardware-company growth.

  • He explained how Eight Sleep uses AI to run a $100M email marketing business with no employees.

  • Franceschetti also weighed in on AI's effect on engineering jobs, Anthropic's IPO prospects, and humanoid robots' market potential.

• Top AI researchers debate how near we are to recursive self-improvement (Dwarkesh Patel)

  • AI researchers John Schulman, Charlie O'Neill, and Beren Millidge steelman the case against recursive self-improvement.

  • The episode explores what's driving Chinese AI labs' progress and whether long-horizon RL could produce AGI.

  • They also discuss the sim-to-real gap, data's role in AI progress, and rapid-fire predictions on timelines.

• Niels Hoven of Mentava on teaching kids to read & rethinking school (Tim Ferriss)

  • Niels Hoven, founder of Mentava, discussed helping fast learners and toddlers who read before age three.

  • The episode was a live, unscripted coaching session, with Tim helping refine Mentava's bio and positioning.

  • They also discussed Mentava's $500 pricing, school pilot programs, and the decades-long debate over phonics education.

EXTRAS

• Automattic confirms Mullenweg is back as CEO after board revolt (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: The Verge, Yahoo!}}

  • Automattic confirmed Saturday evening that founder Matt Mullenweg has returned as CEO with the board's full support.

  • Earlier this week, the board voted to place Mullenweg on leave, naming Mark Davies interim CEO.

  • Board member Toni Schneider, Automattic's founding CEO and now Bluesky's chief executive, reportedly stepped down.

• Sweden's center-left bloc holds a narrow lead in tight election (BBC)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, NBC, Al Jazeera}}

  • Sweden's center-left opposition leads the right-wing government by just three seats in parliament.

  • The center-left bloc is projected to win 176 seats versus 173 for Kristersson's coalition, partial results show.

  • Final results are expected Wednesday, with the outcome deciding whether Kristersson's hard-right migration crackdown continues.

• Second federal judge halts Trump mail ballot order before Supreme Court review (AP)
  ^{_{More: Boston Globe, Yahoo!}}

  • A federal judge in Washington, D.C., blocked the Postal Service from enforcing Trump's mail ballot order late Sunday.

  • The U.S. Supreme Court is already weighing a separate appeal of a similar ruling from a Boston judge.

  • Judge Carl Nichols wrote that blocking the rule protects against otherwise valid ballots going uncounted in coming elections.

AND MORE

• Roblox makes it easier to build AI games playable elsewhere.

• Anthropic walks a tightrope to Nasdaq while pursuing $2T valuation.

• Explore all the tools and more here to outperform the competition.*

• Fusion energy startups strike new partnerships with the defense industry.

• Shein shares fall 10% amid contact-lens cleaner recall in Australia, New Zealand.

• Mecka AI nears $500M valuation as Sequoia leads robot data funding round.

• Cadbury cuts two months off supply chain lead time for key ingredient.

• Moonshot AI, maker of Kimi, targets $2B in annual revenue this year.