Where love meets LinkedIn...

Hello. Female Founders Fund seeks to raise its largest fund to date, aiming for $75 million as it files with the SEC, surpassing its previous funds of $6 million, $25 million, and a 2021 oversubscribed fund of $57 million, with Goldman Sachs, Pivotal Ventures, and Plexo Capital joining as limited partners.

— James Xu-Johnson

What’s next for Altman? Project Tigris, OpenAI, Microsoft…

Altman's ambitious chip venture: Tigris and the challenge to Nvidia

• In a surprising move before bidding adieu to OpenAI, Sam Altman embarked on a covert mission to rally major global players for his brainchild—Project Tigris.

• The covert discussions aimed at pooling billions were centered around creating an AI-focused chip company, a daring endeavor challenging the reigning titan, Nvidia.

• The secretive talks, shrouded in confidentiality, hinted at a strategic upheaval in the fiercely competitive AI hardware landscape.

Double trouble ventures: Altman's multi-faceted fundraising efforts

• Altman wasn’t content with just chips; he was simultaneously hustling funds for an AI hardware device, linking arms with design virtuoso Jony Ive.

• SoftBank, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and other deep pockets found themselves on the wish list of this dynamic duo, eyeing a funding extravaganza in the tens of billions.

• This two-pronged fundraising spectacle showcased Altman's grandiose vision, aiming to wield influence not only in AI chips but also in the realm of cutting-edge hardware.

OpenAI drama and Altman's return: Leadership shake-up and uncertain futures

• Altman’s departure from OpenAI wasn’t a mere exit; it unfolded against a backdrop of communication clashes and disagreements on the pace of AI safety and tech development.

• Altman's vision included the creation of Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) to take on Nvidia, attracting the gaze of industry giants like Microsoft.

• Negotiations for Altman's return to OpenAI hit a snag, paving the way for a radical shift. The reins passed to ex-Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, while Altman found a new home as the CEO of a "new group" at Microsoft. The weekend's speculation frenzy concluded with a twist, signaling an era of unpredictability for both OpenAI and Altman's ventures.

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Headlines 💬

• Apple to support open messaging standard, but will keep iMessage exclusive.

• Food influencers warned by FTC over paid social media posts.

• SpaceX’s Starship flew longer on second launch.

• Google delays cloud release of Gemini AI.

• InDrive launches ventures and M&A arm to invest $100M in startups across emerging markets.

• Hotel Chocolat founders to land £280m after it agrees £534m Mars takeover.

Companies pulling ads from X: Disney, Apple, IBM and more

In a seismic move, heavyweights like Disney, Apple, and IBM are yanking their ads from X (formerly Twitter), plunging the platform's advertising future into uncertainty.

Elon Musk's alarming endorsement: The ad boycott stems from Elon Musk, the owner of X, throwing his weight behind an antisemitic conspiracy theory. This has triggered alarms over the surge in antisemitism and hate speech on the platform, raising eyebrows among civil rights groups.

X's defensive stance and global consequences: Despite X CEO Linda Yaccarino's assurance of combating discrimination, major advertisers, including Apple, IBM, and Disney, are hitting the pause button on their ads. The European Commission joins the fray, citing a disturbing uptick in disinformation and hate speech, freezing advertising on X. The situation unfolds against the backdrop of a concerning post and a stern condemnation from the White House.

The 10-year “overnight” success story of Casetext

Casetext started out in 2013 as a crowdsourced law library — a sort of “Wikipedia meets reddit” for the law. Ten years later, Casetext is one of the biggest mega wins to date in AI, capable of turning weeks of arduous legal work into hours or minutes. Just months ago it was acquired for $650 million dollars.

What happened between those two points?

For this episode of Main Function, YC President Garry Tan sits down with Casetext co-founder Jake Heller to learn the real story of their 10-year “overnight” success: the 3 a.m. origin story, how the company evolved as fast as tech would allow, and the “magic demo” that helped turn Casetext into a rocket ship.

Web Summit Identity Crisis

Web Summit finds itself at a pivotal crossroads after the dramatic exit of its founder and CEO, Paddy Cosgrave, who still wields an 81% ownership stake. The ripple effect from the mass exodus of major American companies has plunged the event into an existential crisis, leaving the future hanging in the balance.

The aftermath is a financial quagmire, with several million dollars in 2023 sponsorship money on the line. Long-term relationships are strained as companies engage in a tug-of-war with Web Summit over refunds and contemplate the viability of their ongoing involvement in the global summit circuit.

Identity tussles and trust building: As Web Summit grapples with a new leadership landscape, identity struggles take center stage. Lines are drawn, particularly around issues of identity, posing a formidable challenge for the summit's attempts to woo back sponsors and speakers who distanced themselves. New CEO Katherine Maher insists on a renewed focus on the mission to rebuild trust and rekindle partnerships.

The dating app founder who wants you to stop swiping

The League: Where love meets LinkedIn: Meet Amanda Bradford, the mastermind behind The League, a dating app that ditches swiping for a more refined, application-based entry system. If you're not ready to submit pics and link your LinkedIn, you're not getting in. It's a love club for the 'alpha female.'

Swipe, but make it premium: Love doesn't come cheap on The League. With subscription fees ranging from $299 to a jaw-dropping $1,000 per week, it's a VIP experience. Match Group dropped $30 million to bring The League into its dating app empire, giving it more firepower against pesky AI infiltrators.

A Texas-sized vision for dating: Amanda Bradford isn't just counting her Match millions; she's plotting The League's next move. Think 'strategic serendipity' and geotracking for love connections. But while she's open to tech innovation, she's cautious about AI meddling in matters of the heart. Oh, and she's not just the CEO; she's a user, navigating the love game in her own League.

Articles & links we dig

• Linda Yaccarino scrambles to clean up Elon Musk’s mess after the X owner once again drives her advertisers away. (Read: Fortune)

• For Arabs in tech, a time of fear and a culture of silence. (Read: The Information)

• ‘Figma took their lunch money’: How $2 billion design startup InVision fell apart. (Read: The Information)

• Start-ups challenge culture of the Japanese salaryman. (Read: The Financial Times)

• 20 best ChatGPT prompts for startups. (Read: Unite.AI)