Happy Tuesday.
The current thing in tech and business is data from Ramp that pours water on the AI job apocalypse narrative.
Today’s LineupOmen AI Founder & CEO Zachary Laberge at 11:45 AM
Etched Co-Founder & President Robert Wachen at 12:00 PM
Monogram Co-Founder & CEO Eren Bali at 12:15 PM
Harpoon Ventures Founder & GP Larsen Jensen at 12:30 PM
Oasis Devices Founder Ricky Rosa at 12:40 PM
Taxwire Founder & CEO Andrew Rea at 12:45 PM
Framework Ventures Co-Founder Michael Anderson at 12:55 PM
NBA Champion & Investor Tristan Thompson at 1:15 PM
Cantos Partner Grant Gregory & General Partner Ian Rountree at 1:35 PM
Rocket Lab Enters the SpaceX Arena
Yesterday, the launch services and space systems company Rocket Lab agreed to purchase satellite manufacturer/ operator Iridium in a cash-and-stock deal that values the company at $8B, or ~20% more than the share price at Friday’s close. Iridium pioneered LEO satellites — launching its first ones some 30 years ago — and today operates a fleet of 66 satellites “that connect handsets and other devices used by ships, mining sites, U.S. government agencies, and other customers,” per WSJ.
The move represents yet more vertical integration at Rocket Lab. Over the years, the company has grown from a niche small-satellite launch provider to an integrated space powerhouse. It now designs satellites and aerospace components, serves the defense primes, has the second-most launched US rocket annually (the Electron rocket), and is currently developing a reusable medium-lift launch vehicle.
With the Iridium acquisition, Rocket Lab is positioning itself to compete directly with SpaceX, which already operates a ~10,000-satellite fleet. Rocket Lab has its work cut out for it.
Comcast Splits
In 2011, Comcast — which was primarily a cable TV, internet, and phone provider to something like 30 million Americans — bought a 51% stake in NBCUniversal from General Electric. In 2013, it purchased the remaining 49%. Since then, Comcast has acquired the European media company Sky, the movie studio DreamWorks Animation, and through NBCUniversal spun up Peacock (among other activity in the entertainment space).
Yesterday, WSJ reported that Comcast’s decade-plus-long foray into trying to be a content + distribution company is coming to an end. It’s planning to split its business in two: the Comcast entity will once again become a connectivity-only business, and NBCUniversal will focus entirely on content.
There’s a recent history of telecom/ connectivity companies rolling up entertainment businesses, then spinning them out or getting rid of them. Over the past decade, Verizon bought AOL and Yahoo, reorganized the two into an entity called Verizon Media, and ultimately sold Verizon Media to Apollo in 2021. Over roughly the same period, AT&T bought DirecTV and Time Warner, but ended up fully exiting its position in DirecTV and spun off Time Warner (as WarnerMedia) into its own entity in 2022.
Clip Spotlight: AI Agents are catching stokes before people know they’re having themFrom yesterday’s show: Cadence founder Chris Altchek is building a way to automate care for chronic diseases like heart failure, hypertension, and diabetes.
They manage nearly 100,000 patients. And they’re catching ~20 strokes a week before patients know they’re having one.
How it works:
A doctor orders Cadence. The patient gets connected devices at home, like a blood pressure cuff or scale. Cadence tracks daily vitals, reads medical records, labs, allergies, and symptoms, then uses AI agents with humans in the loop to adjust meds, triage risks, and coach patients on their care plan.
If a patient’s blood pressure spikes on a Saturday night, Cadence can call within 2.5 minutes to check symptoms and decide what needs to happen next.
One patient in rural North Carolina had been in and out of the hospital three times in six months. After Cadence got him stabilized and on the right meds, he played golf again for the first time in three years.
Jordi: “Total white pill.”
HeadlinesRamp Labs: A New Look at AI’s Impact on Jobs
FT: Heavy corporate AI spenders add staff faster than peers
Semafor: Exclusive / Democrats’ ‘Project 2029’ goes after tech companies with online safety plan
TechCrunch: Amazon launches new $1 billion FDE org, following OpenAI and Anthropic
The Information reports that OpenAI has found a way to cut inference costs for its models in half
Bloomberg: Supreme Court to Hear Apple Appeal Over Epic App Store Fees
Etched launches out of stealth with over $800M in funding
The Information: AI Video Startup in Talks to Quadruple Valuation to $5 Billion
WSJ: The Tech Innovations Readers Want to See in the Next 20 Years
WSJ: The Options Trader Who Emerged as a Surprise Front-Runner to Succeed Jamie Dimon
FT: What would multilateral ‘AI arms control’ look like?
WSJ: Can a $60 Plastic Cube Solve Our Screen-Time Crisis?
Dominion Dynamics raises ~$100M in Series A funding led by Georgian
The Economist: Zombie unicorns are haunting Silicon Valley
FT: Tech founder sentenced to 10 years in prison for Chromebook ‘corruption’
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