MARKETS UPDATE

• US stocks dropped yesterday due to hawkish comments from the Fed, considering a more modest pace of rate hikes.

• PIMCO still forecasts a US recession despite resilient economic data.

• Disney announced it will be slashing 7000 jobs (~3% of employees) to cut ~$5.5B in costs and will restructure the company into three divisions focused on entertainment, parks, and ESPN. The share price rose over 5% yesterday.

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ONLINE BUSINESS UPDATE

• Microsoft will integrate a more advanced version of GPT-3 within Bing, as well as within its Edge browser. As a response, Google will enhance the SERPs with AI features.

• In new search guidance, Google backtracks on its negative stance on AI-generated content, stating “Appropriate use of AI or automation is not against our guidelines. This means that it is not used to generate content primarily to manipulate search rankings.”

• Sports Illustrated is using Jasper AI to generate articles. It’s owner The Arena Group’s share price is up 24% over the last month.

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STARTUPS UPDATE

• SALT Lending, a crypto startup that offers blockchain-backed loans, raised a $64.4M Series A, after the planned acquisition by the online investing platform Bnk To The Future fell through.

• Moderne, a startup that claims it can fix code for developers, raised a $15M Series A, bringing the total to $19.7 million.

• Follow, the social investment platform that enables users to subscribe to influencers’ investment portfolios, raised a $9M round.

CRYPTO UPDATE

• Robinhood plans to purchase 7% of the company back from Sam Bankman-Fried; says it’s working with the DOJ but can’t guarantee a deal will happen.

• Lawyers and advisors in FTX bankruptcy have billed nearly $20M for 51 days of work - a good day rate.

• FTX gets court approval to subpoena SBF and members of his family.

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REAL ESTATE UPDATE

• Bloomberg estimates that Chinese property developers have had their worst earnings in at least the last seven years.

• Canadian employee’s hybrid work model has had an impact on commercial real estate markets.

• Adam Neumann wants his apartment residents to feel like owners, regardless if they have equity or not.

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