🍋 Search Engine Wars

Samsung might ditch Google for ChatGPT-powered Bing, bank run fears are back, and a new study on AI in the workforce.

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"You don’t choose your passions; your passions choose you.” — Jeff Bezos

Good Morning! Sweetgreen, the go-to salad chain for midtown uniforms, announced a $10/month loyalty program. Subscribers can save $3 every order, but it will still be close to $15 for one salad. And Finastra, a London-based fintech owned by Vista Equity Partners, is on the cusp of securing a $6 billion private credit deal - the largest one ever recorded.

You might have thought bank run worries were so last month. But First Republic spooked investors yesterday with its news of a $100 billion deposit flight. But there’s at least some good news on the horizon - the first study that looked at AI in the workplace found that it boosts productivity and is an overall positive breakthrough.

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1. Story of the Day: Search Engine Wars

It’s looking like chatbots threw a wrench in the search engine wars, and Google is facing its toughest challenge yet with the AI craze. The company's position as the go-to search engine for billions of people worldwide is under threat. With competitors like Microsoft investing heavily in AI-powered technology, Bing might go from meme search engine to top dog.

Last month, Google employees learned that Samsung was considering switching to Bing as the default search engine on its devices, causing panic within the company. Samsung wants to switch to Bing so its users have streamlined access to ChatGPT.

Google is playing defense in the AI arms race. Microsoft’s ChatGPT took the world by storm, and other tech companies, including Meta, Baidu, and IBM, are also investing in AI-powered tools. Google scrambled to release its chatbot version, Bard. However, Bard hasn’t gotten anywhere close to the hype ChatGPT has. On the contrary, Bard’s demo provided inaccurate answers, destroying public perception. And to make matters worse, shares of Google's parent company, Alphabet, fell 7.7% that day, wiping $100 billion off its market value.

Takeaway: AI can change the search engine game for the better, and Google has some work to do to catch up to Microsoft. Google has been top dog in the search engine game for a minute, but if the tech giant doesn’t up its game, it risks losing its crown.

2. Markets Rundown

Stocks closed lower as bank fears return.

Movers & Shakers

  • (+) Spotify ($SPOT) +5% after the streaming company beat new subscriber expectations, wants to raise prices.

  • (–) UPS ($UPS) -10% after the shipping company posted poor earnings.

  • (–) First Republic ($FRC) -49% after revealing deposit exodus, liquidity concerns mounting.

Private Dealmaking

  • BPEA EQT bought IMG Academy for $1.25 billion 

  • Virta, an EV charging services platform, raised $94 million 

  • Super.com, a cash-back card to consumers provider, raised $60 million 

  • Enveda Biosciences, a plant medicine startup, raised $51 million

  • Mooncard, a spending management startup, raised $41 million

  • 3D Glass Solutions, a glass-ceramics component maker, raised $30 million

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4. Shortform Book of the Day: Faster Cures

 

What if cleaning early-stage cancers from your body could become as routine as going to the dentist to clean your teeth, or if a single vaccine could protect you against multiple viruses, or if gene editing could eliminate many birth defects and slow the aging process? Mike Milken believes these, and many other advances, are within reach.

Beginning with a description of the 1950s civilization and culture that helped shape Milken's early views, Faster Curestraces the life-extending acceleration of progress in medical research, public health, and clinical treatments over the seven decades since Milken’s childhood—and shows how he helped transform the process of developing disease cures.

Among many examples, he recognized the promise of immunology more than twenty-five years ago and provided crucial support for the emergence of immunotherapy as a powerful life-saving treatment.

Detailing his unique personal journey from a curious boy with an insatiable thirst for knowledge to his storied careers in finance and health, this book focuses on the events that made Milken what Fortune magazine called “The Man Who Changed Medicine.”

The combined influences of social upheaval in the 1960s and family medical crises in the 1970s propelled him to dual quests on Wall Street and in medical research.

Known worldwide as a legendary financier, philanthropist, medical research innovator, and public health advocate, Milken tells fascinating anecdotes and explains his inspiring crusade to accelerate cures and treatments so that more people around the world can live longer, healthier, and more meaningful lives.

“Faster Cures is a primer on inspirational leadership from the fearless, brilliant mind of Mike.”

Read More Books in Finance, Economics, and More with Shortform

5. Short Squeez Picks

6. Daily Visual: Cable News 8pm ET Hour Show Viewership

Biquarterly

Source: Axios

7. Daily Acumen

The experience of loneliness is influenced more by our individual perceptions rather than the quantity of social company we keep.

One can feel acutely lonely even when surrounded by people, while others can feel content with minimal social contact.

For some, solitude is essential for rejuvenation, while for others, the mere thought of spending a few moments alone can be unbearable.

Creating and experiencing art can provide a way to alter our perceptions of loneliness.

8. Memes of the Day

 

 

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