1,100+ notable signatories just signed an open letter asking "all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months"

More than 1,100 signatories (as of this writing), including Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and Tristan Harris of the Center for Humane Technology, have signed an open letter that calls on "all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4." Says the letter:

Contemporary AI systems are now becoming human-competitive at general tasks,[3] and we must ask ourselves: Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth? Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones? Should we develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us? Should we risk loss of control of our civilization? Such decisions must not be delegated to unelected tech leaders. Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable. 

It continues on to argue that there is a "level of planning and management" that is "not happening" and that instead, in recent months, unnamed "AI labs" have been "locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one – not even their creators – can understand, predict, or reliably control."

The letter's signers say the pause for which they are asking should be "public and verifiable, and include all key actors." If said pause "cannot be enacted quickly, governments should step in and institute a moratorium," the letter continues.

We're still digesting this one (while others are already tearing it to shreds), but more here.

Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank—all three gone within the span of a week. What do you think this could mean for the venture capital industry at large? We want to know how venture professionals like you plan to tackle the challenges, both known and unknown, of 2023. Take Juniper Square’s State of Venture Capital survey now, and get first access to the final report.

Yesterday, the ride-sharing company Lyft said its two co-founders, John Zimmer and Logan Green, are stepping down from managing the company’s day-to-day operations, though they are retaining their board seats. According to a related regulatory filing, they actually need to hang around as “service providers” to receive their original equity award agreements. (If Lyft is sold or they’re fired from the board, they’ll see “100% acceleration” of these “time-based” vesting conditions.)

As with so many founders who’ve used multi-class voting structures in recent years to cement their control, their original awards were fairly generous. When Lyft when public in 2019, its dual-class share structure provided Green and Zimmer with super-voting shares that entitled them to 20 votes per share in perpetuity, meaning not just for life but for a period of nine to 18 months after the passing of the last living cofounder, during which time a trustee would retain control.

It all seemed a little extreme, even as such arrangements became more common in tech. Now, Jay Ritter, the University of Florida professor whose work tracking and analyzing IPOs has earned him the moniker Mr. IPO, suggests that if anything, Lyft’s trajectory might make shareholders even less nervous about dual-stock structures.

More here.

Graphiant, a three-year-old startup based in San Jose, Ca., whose networking platform allows companies to link together their cloud environments, data centers, and other tech assets, raised a $62 million Series B round led by Two Bear Capital, with Sequoia Capital, Atlantic Bridge, and Harpoon Venture Capital Partners also taking part. The company has raised a total of $96 million to date. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Isar Aerospace, a five-year-old Munich startup that is building a rocket launch service, raised a $165 million Series C round. Investors included 7-Industries Holding, Bayern Kapital, Earlybird VC, HV Capital, Lakestar, Lombard Odier Investment Managers, Porsche SE, UVC Partners, and Vsquared Ventures. The company has raised a total of $347.6 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Raisin, an 11-year-old Berlin startup that enables distribution partners to offer third-party bank deposits directly to customers while retaining the customer relationship, raised a $65 million Series E round. Investors included M&G and previous investor Goldman Sachs. The company has raised a total of $305.3 million. PYMNTS has more here.

Norsepower, an 11-year-old Helsinki company that makes mechanical sails for large ships, raised a $30.4 million Series C round led by Mirova Environment Acceleration Capital, with The Finnish Climate Fund, OGCI Climate Investments, Nefco, Tesi, and Power Fund III also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $50.7 million. More here.

Perplexity AI, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that has built a conversational answer engine that is available as an app and a browser extension, raised a $25.6 million Series A round led by NEA, with Databricks Ventures also chipping in. More here.

Smalls, a six-year-old New York startup that claims it makes "human-grade" cat food, raised a $19 million round led by Companion Fund (Mars Inc.'s venture arm) and including Left Lane Capital, Valor Capital, and General Mills' 301 INC. The company has raised a total of $34 million. Forbes has more here.

Spiral, a four-year-old New York startup that allows banks and fintechs to embed ESG assessments on their platforms, raised a $28 million Series A round led by Team8, with participation from Euclidean Capital, Intuition Fund, Communitas Capital, Phoenix, and Nidoco AB. The company has raised a total of $42 million. More here.

StellarFi, a two-year-old, Austin-based fintech startup that pools customer debts, repays them on time, and reports them to credit bureaus to help its customers improve their credit scores, has raised $15 million in Series A funding led by earlier backer Acrew Capital, which was joined by a long list of other backers. The outfit has now raised $22.2 million altogether. TechCrunch has more here.

Thunes, a seven-year-old Singapore startup that has built a cross-border payments network, raised a $30 million Series C round from Marshall Wace. The company has raised a total of $160 million. PYMNTS has more here.

Type One Energy, a four-year-old startup based in Madison, Wi., that aims to build a fusion reactor, raised a $29 million seed round. Investors in the deal included Breakthrough Energy Ventures, TDK Ventures, and Doral Energy Tech Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Venti Technologies, a five-year-old startup based in Weston, Ma., that designs autonomous vehicles for industrial and logistics hubs, raised a $28.8 million Series A round led by LG Technology Ventures, with Safar Partners, UOB Venture Management, and previous investors Alpha JWC and LDV Partners also piling on. The company has raised a total of $36.8 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Zorro, a one-year-old Israeli startup that claims to have developed a platform to optimize the health benefits experience for employees, employers, and brokers, raised an $11.5 million seed round co-led by Pitango and 10D. Calcalist has more here.

Markerr, a year-old, New York-based analytics platform for institutional owners and operators of real estate (it says it measures current and future effective rents by zip code, for example), has raised a $6.6 million Series B round that was led by RET Ventures and included participation from Pretium, a specialized investment firm. More here.

Substack, the six-year-old San Francisco-based newsletter platform, opened up a community fundraising round today, allowing writers on the platform to invest in the company. The raise is technically an extension of the company's $65 million series B raise in 2021, reports Axios. The company's fundraising goal was originally $2 million but owing to interest this afternoon, it raised the cap to the legally allowed limit of $5 million. More here.

123 Baby Box, a three-year-old startup based in Irvine, Ca., that provides a monthly subscription box for babies, raised a $1.2 million pre-seed round. XRC Labs, Sunstone Fund, Crescent Fund, and Salt Lake City Angels invested in the deal. The company has raised a total of $2.2 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Cardonaide, a Finnish startup that aims to produce concrete with a negative carbon footprint, raised a $1.9 million seed round from Lakan Betoni and Vantaa Energy. TechCrunch has more here.

Connect Earth, a two-year-old London startup whose platform allows financial institutions to calculate their carbon footprint, raised a $5.6 million seed round led by Gresham House Ventures; additional investors included Love Ventures, Global Brain, Portfolio Ventures, and Super Capital as well as previous investors Market One Capital, Mustard Seed MAZE, and Venista Ventures. Tech.eu has more here.

FedML, a startup based in Sunnyvale, Ca., that plans to help enterprises create custom AI models, raised a $6 million round led by Camford Capital, with Plug & Play Ventures, AimTop Ventures, Acequia Capital, and LDV Partners also joining in. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Hilos, a four-year-old startup based in Portland, Or., that has developed a method of manufacturing footwear parts using 3D printers and thermoplastic polyurethane powder, raised a $3 million round. Investors in the deal included Better Ventures, Builders VC, and XRC Labs. The company has raised a total of $3.7 million. GeekWire has more here.

Nimbbl, a three-year-old Mumbai startup that offers a one-click payment checkout solution for merchants, raised a $3.5 million in seed and pre-Series A funding from Sequoia Capital India, Global Founders Capital, and Groww. TechCrunch has more here.

Paraform, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that intends to create a marketplace where employers can post bounties for open roles, raised a $1.4 million pre-seed round. Primer Sazze Partners was the deal lead. TechCrunch has more here.

Radix Tokens, a seven-year-old London startup headquartered on the Bailiwick of Jersey (off the U.K.) that will shortly introduce smart contracts on the Radix network, raised a $10 million round at a $400 million valuation. DWF Labs was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $16 million. CoinDesk has more here.

The era of the one-day close is over, and more firms are chasing deals with revenue traction and clear paths to profitability. For three ways to find those deals before your competition, check out Affinity’s latest infographic.

Monarch Collective, a new investment firm focused on women's professional sports, has garnered $100 million in capital commitments for its debut fund. The outfit was founded by Kara Nortman, the former Upfront Ventures partner who co-founded the NWSL's Los Angles expansion club (Angel City), and Jasmine Robinson, a former Causeway investor who previously spent time in strategy operations for the San Francisco 49ers. Axios, who reported the news yesterday, says Robinson also grew up in a pro sports household, as her dad played in the NFL. More here.

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried paid out tens of millions of dollars worth of bribes to at least one Chinese government official, federal prosecutors alleged in a new indictment today. The indictment said accounts belonging to Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, Alameda Research, were the target of a freezing order from Chinese police “in or around” November 2021. The indictment alleges that Bankman-Fried and others “directed and caused the transfer” of at least $40 million in cryptocurrency “intended for the benefit of one or more Chinese government officials in order to influence and induce them” to unfreeze some of these accounts. CNBC has more here.

In related news, lawyers for Bankman-Fried and prosecutors have agreed on a set of new bail conditions which limits the FTX founder's communication with the outside world. Business Insider has more here.

Yesterday, we pointed you to the news that Eric Schmidt's Montecito home starred in "Succession" on Sunday night. Now, it's being said that the first house -- the very modern one -- in the show's opening scenes, is owned by Austin Russell, the founder and CEO of Luminar Technologies, an automotive LiDAR hardware and software tech outfit that went public through a SPAC in December 2020. Russell, who just turned 28,  reportedly spent $86 million on the Pacific Palisades home in 2021.

U.S. college costs just keep climbing and it's pushing the annual price for the upcoming academic year at Ivy League schools toward $90,000, says Bloomberg. (Yikes.)

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group said it plans to split itself into six independently run companies that could seek separate IPOs, effectively dismantling a business empire built over two decades by charismatic entrepreneur Jack Ma just as the tycoon reappeared in China for the first time in almost a year, reports the WSJ.

Apple today launched a buy now, pay later service that will allow customers to apply for loans ranging from $50 to $1,000 that they can use with any merchant that accepts Apple Pay. CNBC has more here.

Three ways to measure how fit you are, without focusing on weight.

Every conversation about the "Succession" season premiere.

Future world leader?

An Aspen home is asking $41 million -- more than double what it sold for in 2019. (It's worth a shot, is the apparent thinking?)

FTX'd T-shirt.