October 1, 2024

Forever young

Hi there,

For the next 4 weeks, we're going to try something new.

We're going to do a roundup of the weekly drama in tech.

We're calling it "Tech loves drama, right?" or TLDR.

Yeah — I know it's a tortured acronym, but I have an irrational love for acronyms (IHAILFA).

We're open to better acronyms.

If you like TLDR and want to see it beyond the next 4 weeks, drop me a reply or make some noise online by tweeting @cbinsights.

If you hate it, let me know as well.

But before the drama, a 🔥 tech trend.

Populations are aging rapidly.

There are now more people over 64 than children under 5 globally.

For longevity companies, that's a big opportunity.

Companies are not just looking to help people stay healthy for longer — the tide is shifting to products and services that slow or even reverse aging.

Cellular and epigenetic reprogramming is a leading approach, which we dig into in our game-changing tech 2025 report.

Cellular and epigenetic reprogramming companies are tinkering with the identity of cells to reverse the effects of cellular aging.

The market is heating up:

1) Big names, big money

Altos Labs, backed by Jeff Bezos, has raised $3B. Sam Altman invested $180M in Retro Biosciences, while Brian Armstrong's NewLimit pulled in $60M.

The big-name Silicon Valley backers have helped generate buzz about the space.

2) Pharma partnerships

Turn Bio inked a licensing deal worth $300M+ with Korean pharma company HanAll Biopharma in May 2024.

Using Turn Bio's epigenetic reprogramming tech, they plan to develop medicines for age-related eye and ear conditions, per CBI business relationships data.

3) Growing teams

Despite the tech's nascency (most are in the "Validating" phase of Commercial Maturity), these startups are rapidly expanding their headcounts.

Chronic diseases, often age-related, account for 90% of the US' $4.5T in annual healthcare expenditures.

Successful cellular & epigenetic reprogramming therapies could dramatically reduce this burden.

For a deep dive into 8 other game-changing technologies, check out CB Insights' full Game Changers 2025 report.

Prefer to listen to the report? Check out this AI-generated podcast.

TLDR — Tech loves drama, right?

Here's a roundup of our favorite tech drama from last week:

Pixel perfect?: MKBHD (the famous and recently more critical tech reviewer who warns people about overpriced gadgets) released a $12/month wallpaper app and people got quite mad about this.
Domain drama: WordPress got into a spat with hosting service WP Engine. It's all sorts of messy. Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress and Automattic, said WP Engine is infringing on the WordPress trademarks. WP Engine is doing some serious revenue ($245M in 2022 and projected to do $400M in 2024) so there is some speculation this is a prelude to an attempted acquisition by Automattic.
X-ile: Brazil's Supreme Court said X (fka Twitter) will have to pay a $5M+ fine before being allowed to resume service in the country. Elon Musk and Judge Alexandre de Moraes have been mixing it up ever since Moraes ruled X failed to restrict hate speech.
Diamondhands: Nader "Diamondhands" Al-Naji, the founder of BitClout, raised lots of money for his crypto startups. Then, shockingly, a dude named Diamondhands was accused, per Fortune, of "looting investors' money to live large in Beverly Hills and make $1 million cash transfers to family members." Top-tier VC a16z is a prosecution witness in the case.
AI robocalls: The US FCC levied a $6M fine on a guy who used AI to copy Biden's voice for use in robocalls to voters in early 2024.
FTX sentencing: FTX co-conspirator and Sam Bankman-Fried's ex-lover Caroline Ellison was sentenced. She faced up to 110 years in jail, but due to her cooperation with the investigation, she got 2 years. She also was asked to forfeit $11B. Yes — you read that right.
Super Micro scrutiny: AI server maker Super Micro Computer is being investigated by the Justice Department after a critical report by short-seller Hindenburg Research (great f'n name) cited allegations of accounting irregularities and transactions between Super Micro and companies run by the CEO's family.
Objection overruled: The FTC came down on legal services startup DoNotPay, which claimed to offer a "robot lawyer," and several other firms as part of a crackdown on deceptive AI claims and schemes.
Azure skirmish: Google filed an antitrust probe against Microsoft in the EU claiming its Azure platform engages in unfair practices.

And then of course, TLDR wouldn't be complete without OpenAI drama. Honestly, this whole section could be about it.

So here's a quick recap of the soap opera that is OpenAI.

It's raising money at a $150B valuation. Apple was in the round. Now, it's not.
Apple being out doesn't much matter as CFO Sarah Friar sent a note to OpenAI investors saying the round was still oversubscribed.
The company continues to grow like a weed — it hit $300M in monthly revenue in August and expects $3.7B in sales in 2024.
Sam Altman visited TSMC about plans for 36 chip plants and the need for $7T. Some at TSMC took to calling him a "podcasting bro," per the NYT.
The company is converting from a non-profit to a for-profit company, and Bloomberg reports that Sam Altman may get a 7% stake (worth a cool $10.5B at the $150B valuation).
In the last week, OpenAI's chief research officer, Bob McGrew, and a research VP, Barret Zoph, left the company. The most notable exit was of CTO Mira Murati.

Now there is only 1 member of the founding team of OpenAI left.

And then there was one.

Source: @levelsio via X

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal

Co-Founder & Exec Chair

P.S. Our analysts are discussing the VC outlook on October 8. Join us as we break down the data on venture investing and the markets gaining momentum.