Judge denies FTC's request to postpone $70B MSFT/ATVI deal, Ryan Petersen joins Founders Fund

A federal judge denied the FTC's request to postpone Microsoft's ~$70B Activision Blizzard acquisition; the deal can now close as soon as this month - Link

Following the federal court’s ruling in the US, the UK's CMA agreed to revisit its ruling against Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition - Link

Flexport founder Ryan Petersen has joined Founders Fund as the firm's newest partner; he will stay on as Flexport's exec chair after stepping down as CEO in March - Link

FT sources: China's internet watchdog plans to implement tighter regulations for generative AI, requiring companies to obtain a license before launching new AI-powered technologies - Link

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Sunny Madra joins Jason to demo VenturusAI (11:01) and other tools before discussing Sunny's new AutoGPT project (34:38). They wrap up talking about Meta's launch of Threads (49:08), Google's attempts at building a social network, and Inflection AI's new supercomputer (1:00:13). - Link

Axios sources: Instagram plans to introduce its branded content tools to Threads, offering marketers an opportunity for paid promotion on the app before ads are officially permitted - Link

Bloomberg sources: Uber CFO Nelson Chai is reportedly planning to leave the company; Chai joined in 2018 and helped navigate Uber through COVID and its first free cash flow positive quarter - Link

Raft, a London-based AI logistics firm building products for the freight forwarding industry, raised a $30M Series B led by Eight Roads - Link

Verifiable, an ATX-based startup building healthcare credentialing software, raised a $27M Series B led by Craft Ventures - Link

This Week in Startups

E1774: Threads, ChatGPT usage drops, and AI demos with Sunny Madra

E1773: Business Breakdowns: The rise and fall of “Blackberry” with Lon Harris

E1772: Reimagining reading with VR featuring Sol Reader CEO Ben Chelf

E1771: Shein registers for US IPO, Trump SPAC insider trading & more

E1770: Creating the future of search and competing vs Google with Perplexity AI’s Aravind Srinivas

Fin - Try Fin, Intercom's new AI customer support chatbot

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