OpenAI makes first public acquisition, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt building moonshot nonprofit

OpenAI has made its first public acquisition, buying Global Illumination, a NY-based startup using AI to build creative tools and digital experiences - Link

Semafor sources: Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is building a nonprofit organization, modeled after OpenAI, to take on science/biotech challenges with AI solutions - Link

Databricks is in talks to raise hundreds of millions in a new round; the company lost ~$900M over the last two years with annual revenue growing 70%+ to more than $1B but is moving closer to cashflow breakeven - Link

Highlight, a NY-based startup that helps brands automate and scale product testing, raised an $18M Series A co-led by Acre Venture Partners and HearstLab - Link

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Varda’s Delian Asparouhov is back with Jason to discuss Varda (18:43), his insights on different aspects of venture capital (1:41), the shifts in silicon valley culture (11:56), and much more! Then, Jason is joined by Argyle CEO Maret Thatcher to discuss how her startup is using AR headsets to make construction PMs faster and more efficient. (58:27) - Link

WSJ sources: Verily Life Sciences, an Alphabet property, is planning further cuts after terminating 15% of employees in January in hopes of becoming profitable next year - Link

YouTube has added six updates to NFL Sunday Ticket ahead of the 2023 season, including multiview, a “Key Plays” feature, student and monthly payment plans, live chat and polls, and real-time highlights in Shorts - Link

NYC banned TikTok from city-owned devices and required the app to be deleted within the next 30 days - Link

Amazon is raising the price of Amazon Music Unlimited plans from $9 to $10/month and $16 to $17/year - Link

This Week in Startups

E1793: Next Unicorns: Manufacturing pharma drugs in space with Varda’s Delian Asparouhov

E1792: The “AI wrapper” debate, AI-powered lead gen, auto-clips, resumes, and more with Sunny Madra

E1791: Zillow CEO Rich Barton on branding, building in provocative industries, and more!

E1790: Next Unicorns: Making surgeons bionic via computer vision & AI with Proprio’s Gabriel Jones

E1789: AI demos + Jason invests $25K live!

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