GM Readers! ☀️

Happy New Year! Hope your 2024 is off to a great start!

For the 1st issue in 2024, we wanted to call out some interesting facts and figures in emerging tech that we are watching closely.

We also curated some of the best “what will happen in 2024” reads we found on the Internet.

As we continue to experiment (thank you to those who provided feedback during the holidays), we’ll do more of these off-the-cuff insights issues. 😃

Thanks for reading!

Liang and Dan 🙌

💾 Byte-sized Stories

This week’s top stories with our insights on top.

71.5%: How Much X’s (f.k.a. Twitter) Valuation Has Been Marked Down 📉

⚡️ TL;DR: Fidelity spent $19.2M to acquire its stake in X in October 2022. Since then, it has marked down its shares by 71.5%.

⚡️ So What: X continues its rollercoaster ride after Elon Musk acquired the platform in October 2022 for $44B. Having also contributed over $300 million to Musk's takeover efforts, it is clear that Fidelity is riding shotgun on this rollercoaster as well. The X saga has been a whirlwind of change–from layoffs to policy changes to disagreements with advertisers. Though, over the long term, X could still represent a strategic play in Musk’s portfolio of companies.  

Read More Here, Here

$1.6B: OpenAI’s Annual Revenue 🤯

⚡️ TL;DR: OpenAI’s annualized revenue reached $1.6B off of the strength of its ChatGPT product. 

⚡️ So What: Despite OpenAI’s recent inner turmoil and brief firing of CEO, Sam Altman, users of all shapes and sizes are hooked on ChatGPT. The company continued its pace of growth to achieve the $1.6B milestone only a couple of months after crossing $1.3B in annualized revenue.

It will be interesting to see if growth can continue to outpace other potential issues coming down the line (e.g. governmental regulation, fickle public opinion, and corporate legal battles). For example, recently, the NYtimes filed a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI for using NYT articles in its training data.

Read More Here, Here

14: Number of Asset Managers Awaiting Approval on Their Bitcoin (BTC) ETF Application 🤑

⚡️ TL;DR: Some of the world’s largest asset managers, including BlackRock, Invesco, Fidelity, and Ark Investments, could hear back from the SEC on whether their BTC ETFs will be approved as early as this week ahead of their January 10 deadline.

⚡️ So What: Institutional validation of BTC and crypto not only brings liquidity, but also adds to the legitimacy of the industry. As of now, it is anyone’s guess whether the SEC will ultimately approve or reject these BTC ETFs. What we do know is, the impending regulatory decision will make shockwaves across economies and governing bodies globally. 

Read More Here, Here, Here

1 Billion: Voters Heading to the Polls This Year ✅

⚡️ TL;DR: Globally, a whopping 1B voters will head to the polls this year. With busy campaign managers and underfunded election officials “bracing for impact,” they will face pressure to use AI for efficiency.

⚡️ So What: The polarizing political environment of today is ideal for bad actors to exploit generative (gen) AI, amplifying their efforts to deter voting, defame political candidates, and stoke violence. Startups providing powerful genAI tech have untested and relatively small election integrity teams, while older companies have slashed these teams to keep up with Wall Street profitability expectations. Notably, Meta had a global integrity workforce exceeding 500 in its prime in 2019.

Read More Here, Here

$7,500: The Full $7,500 Federal Tax Credit for Electric Vehicle (EV) Purchases in the US Has Shrunk 🤏

⚡️ TL;DR: New requirements about battery minerals and sourcing in EVs went into effect on January 1st, meaning only five, pure-play EV models and one plug-in hybrid are eligible for the full $7,500 credit.

⚡️ So What: Lawmakers have said that these measures are meant to level the playing field by weaning American battery dependency off of China and creating US jobs in the EV sector. While in the long-term the goal of the US may be achieved, scaling back this federal tax credit program may have the short-term effect of stifling adoption of EVs and the many emerging technologies that are showcased in these vehicles (e.g. autonomous driving).

Read More Here, Here

📊 Let’s Get Graphic

One visual we couldn’t stop thinking about.

The Tip of the Iceberg: 71% of genAI Startups Are Early Stage or Have Not Raised Any Funding 🧊

⚡️ Takeaway: Over the last year, most of the genAI-related headlines have included the names “OpenAI,” “Scale,” and “Anthropic” (among others), and this is for good reason–these are the most highly valued private unicorns in the space. However, these companies represent just the tip of the iceberg. 71% of genAI startups have raised only early-stage funding or they have not raised at all. Even when you account for failure rates of nascent startups, there will be many more high-profile startups to come out of this cohort.

🐇 Down the Rabbit Hole

Some deeper dives to help you get smarter on emerging tech.

1. A16z 2024 Big Ideas: Predictions on what happens in tech in 2024 by a16z, a leading VC firm

2. What Will Happen in 2024: Fred Wilson’s (Founder of Union Square Ventures) predictions AI and Web3 in 2024

3. The World Ahead: The Economists annual edition highlights predictions for the upcoming year

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