OpenAI rolls out plug-ins, Hindenburg shorts Block, TikTok CEO grilled in House hearing

OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT plug-ins, with the first bunch coming from companies like Expedia, Instacart, Zapier, Shopify, and others - Link

Hindenburg Research published a short report on Block (fka Square), claiming the company has "wildly overstated" its Cash App user counts and calling the payments service a "compliance free-for-all"; Block's stock was down ~15% on the news - Link

WSJ sources: Apple is planning to spend upwards of $1B/year to produce films that will be released in theaters to build awareness for Apple TV+ - Link

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew told US lawmakers that China-based ByteDance employees might still have access to US user data - Link

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Jason kicks off the show by reacting to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew's testimony in front of House lawmakers (1:41) before diving into the SEC serving Coinbase a Wells notice (22:57). Then, he discusses reports that Do Kwon has been arrested in Montenegro (32:35) before wrapping up with more information on China and TikTok (35:44). - Link

Coinbase shares fell 14% after announcing that the SEC had presented them with a Wells notice stating the company was potentially in violation of securities law - Link

Microsoft launched a preview of Loop, a Notion and Asana competitor, which allows teams to collaborate in shared docs and workspaces across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem - Link

WaPo poll: Of over 1000 Americans surveyed, 41% support TikTok ban, 25% oppose a ban, and 34% are unsure; 71% are concerned about TikTok's ties to China - Link

Character.AI, a generative AI startup building chatbots of famous characters, raised $150M at a $1B valuation led by a16z - Link

This Week in Startups

E1705: TikTok CEO grilled in front of Congress, Coinbase's Wells Notice & Do Kwon arrested

E1704: ANGEL: Freestyle’s Jenny Lefcourt on nailing non-consensus bets and avoiding hype

E1703: Startup pitch competition! Jason invests $25K into one of four founders

E1702: Balaji’s $1M Bitcoin bet, banking crisis update, OpenAI launches GPT-4, and Jay Trading!

E1701: ANGEL: Laurie Yoler on investing early in Tesla, strategic partnerships, and her VC career

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