First Cut Meetup with Simran Kaur
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Good morning Caffeinators,
Happy Thursday.
We’ve almost made it to the weekend and fingers crossed last night’s lashing of rain was winter’s last gasp and we can actually get this spring started.
On Thursday we like to take a global look in our newsletter and there are major moves in Silicon Valley, with OpenAI closing an immense funding round and a controversial AI safety bill being vetoed at the 11th hour.
Sit back, sip that coffee and enjoy your Caffeine.
Finn & the Caffeine team
Ten years of deep tech: Fiona Rotheram over at NBR has a good wrap of a decade of data from the Government’s deep tech tech incubator programme (DTIP). Callaghan touts a 72% survival rate among startups its backs but the piece includes critics like Outset Ventures who argue the scheme doesn’t properly capitalise companies. Read more here.
OpenAI surges to $250b valuation: Despite some chaos behind the scenes and senior figures departing, OpenAI has closed a titanic $10b funding round to nearly double it’s previous valuation. The company is now valued at $250b NZD ($157b USD) up from just $120b earlier this year. The new round was led by Thrive Capital, with additional investors including other major AI players like Microsoft and Nvidia. Sam Altman himself will also receive equity for the first time following the company’s shift to a for profit model. Read more here
First Cut Meetup with Simran Kaur: Join Icehouse Ventures' First Cut Meetup for young and aspiring startup founders in Auckland, featuring Simran Kaur, Founder & CEO of Girls That Invest. Simran will share her journey from being an Optometry student to building one of the world’s top investing communities, empowering young women and minorities in financial literacy.
📆 Thursday, 10th October, 5:30pm - 7:30pm
📍 Icehouse Ventures HQ, Parnell, AucklandThe event is free to attend and includes drinks and nibbles. RSVP to secure your spot.
Callaghan Innovation Celebrates 10 Years of Pioneering Deep Tech in New Zealand: In 2024, Callaghan Innovation’s Deep Tech Incubator Programme marks a decade of fostering technological advancements and supporting New Zealand’s next generation of innovators. To celebrate, they have launched Unleashing Innovation: A Decade of Deep Tech, a report showcasing the programme’s significant achievements and its impact on the innovation ecosystem over the past ten years. Read the report here.
Techstars Startup Weekend Queenstown: 54 Hours of Innovation and Collaboration: Join the 54-hour Techstars Startup Weekend in Queenstown, where people from all backgrounds come together to share ideas, form teams, and launch startups. Open to everyone, regardless of experience or tech background, the event runs from Friday, November 1st to Sunday, November 3rd at Liger Leadership Academy. Participants will pitch ideas, collaborate with diverse teams, and build products with support from industry mentors. The weekend culminates with final pitch presentations, networking, and celebrations. Don't miss this chance to turn ideas into reality and connect with like-minded innovators! More here.
AI Regulation Vetoed: A landmark bill in the home state of Silicon Valley to regulate the AI industry has been vetoed by California Governor Gavin Newsom. The bill would have mandated safety testing for advanced AI models that cost more than $100 million to develop or those that require a defined amount of computing power. Developers would also need to create a ‘kill switch’ for turning off the AI models if they went rogue. Feels like maybe a good idea? Read more here.
Fortnite vs Google Round 2: There’s a fascinating and long running struggle playing out in the courts right now between two tech titans and they just dragged in another. Epic games, makers of world’s most popular game Fortnite, successfully sued Google last year for running an illegal app store monopoly. Now Epic is suing again. The game developer has filed a second antitrust lawsuit against Google, and now additionally Samsung, accusing them of illegally conspiring to undermine third-party app stores. Read more here.
Coal Sunset: It’s been a long time coming but this week the UK closed its last operational coal power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, which has been operating since 1968. Britain pioneered the use of coal power and depended on it for nearly 150 years. It’s a huge moment not just for the nation but a milestone for the whole developed world’s green transition. The sunsetting of the coal in the birthplace of coal power was made possible by rapid growth in renewable energy. In 2010, renewables generated 7% of the UK’s power but by 2024 it was more than 50%. Read more here.
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That’s it for today, thanks for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow morning. Want to get in touch with a news tip, bit of feedback or just to chat? Email hello@caffeinedaily.co.
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