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🛰️ Starlink's $1.4B Revenue: High Hopes Versus Hard Reality
Today: China: No iPhone Ban for Gov Staff | Musk's X Corp Settles with 2K Employees | Meta: No WhatsApp Monetization
Kristoffer Lindström
September 15, 2023
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Hey there, welcome to today's update!
Can you believe it's already Friday, September 15? We've made it to the end of another week, woohoo! Now, let's jump right into the exciting top headlines of the day.
China: No iPhone Ban for Gov Staff
Musk's X Corp Settles with 2K Employees
Meta: No WhatsApp Monetization
Starlink's $1.4B: Hopes vs Reality
Databricks Hits $43B in AI Boom
OpenAI vs Microsoft in AI Market
ChatGPT Plugins Change AI Game
and more…
READ TIME: 4.5 MINUTES
Tech Companies
China's Foreign Ministry has denied instituting laws or policies barring government employees from using foreign phones, including Apple iPhones. This comes after media reports suggested a ban on the use of iPhones within government offices. The ministry acknowledged unspecified ""security incidents"" linked to iPhones.
💡 Why does this matter?
This clarification from the Chinese government could be a sigh of relief for foreign phone manufacturers like Apple, who may see a stable market presence in China.
WordPress blogs can now be followed in the fediverse, including Mastodon, thanks to the release of ActivityPub 1.0.0 for WordPress. This allows WordPress blogs to be followed on federated platforms like Mastodon and receive comments back on their own sites.
Elon Musk's X Corp., previously known as Twitter, has agreed to settle arbitration claims from approximately 2,000 employees laid off after Musk's acquisition of the platform. This follows a contentious period of arbitration disputes and allegations of unpaid severance and discrimination.
Financial Times has reported that Meta considers showing ads in WhatsApp to generate more revenue, but WhatsApp's head denies the rumors.
SpaceX's Starlink generated $1.4 billion in 2022, a leap from its previous $222 million, but fell short of Elon Musk's predictions. Despite facing regulatory issues and ethical scrutiny, the satellite internet service has over a million subscribers and anticipates further growth.
💡 Why does this matter?
Despite falling short of Musk's ambitious projections, Starlink's significant revenue leap and its potential as an alternative to traditional internet services, particularly in remote areas, could represent a promising investment opportunity. The challenge lies in overcoming regulatory and ethical hurdles.
Startup Scene
Databricks, an AI company specializing in data management, has raised over $500 million in new funding at a valuation of $43 billion. The round was led by T. Rowe Price and included investors such as Nvidia and Capital One Ventures. Databricks aims to help companies organize and manage data, making it easier to deploy AI.
The company, compared to many other tech companies, has more than doubled its employee count in the last two years and is considering going public. Profitability versus growth and regulatory concerns are among the challenges it faces.
AI Corner
As earlier reported, OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Enterprise, a business-focused AI tool that competes directly with Microsoft's Bing Chat Enterprise. Despite Microsoft's $13 billion investment in OpenAI, the deal doesn't prevent OpenAI from launching competing products. While the competition may pose challenges, Microsoft stands to benefit as it retains a significant share of OpenAI's profits.
💡 Why does this matter?
OpenAI's launch of ChatGPT Enterprise, a direct competitor to Microsoft's AI products, could disrupt the generative AI market. This move may offer tech businesses alternative enterprise-grade AI solutions and potentially influence Microsoft's genAI dominance.
OpenAI's ChatGPT has introduced a new range of plugins that enhance its capabilities, including generating stories, accessing the web for up-to-date information, and analyzing data from PDFs. However, the new features are currently limited to paying customers and have certain restrictions.
💡 Don’t forget!
Check out our ChatGPT Plugin Directory. We now have over 750 plugins listed.
YouTube UK boss affirms future for long-form video content amidst competition from TikTok. YouTube Music to launch podcast feature in response to demand from younger viewers. AI presents opportunities for creators. YouTube partners with music industry to address challenges from AI technology.
Markets & Money
Media mogul Byron Allen has reportedly offered $10 billion to buy ABC TV network, FX, National Geographic cable channels, and local stations from Disney. Allen plans to work with banks and private equity firms for financing. Disney has not yet publicly responded to the offer.
Arm Holdings, the chip design company controlled by SoftBank, saw a 16% jump in its Nasdaq debut after pricing its IPO at $51 a share. The company, valued at nearly $60 billion, sold around 95.5 million shares. Arm's CFO highlighted the company's focus on royalty growth and providing cost-effective products to customers. Arm's chip designs are widely used in smartphones and its revenue in the last fiscal year was $2.68 billion. Strategic investors, including Apple, Google, and Nvidia, bought $735 million worth of shares.
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