📉 Meta stock is not having a great time

🧵 In today's edition:

• 📉 Meta stock is not having a great time

• 🇸🇦 Saudi’s AI takeover

• 🤖 R1 reviews

• 🛠️ AI Tools to Check Out

• 🤑 AI Fundraising News

• 🐦 Tweet Post of the Day

📉 Meta stock is not having a great time

Meta stock had a rough day yesterday after the company signaled that its costly investments in AI may take years to pay off. 

Here’s what happened: 

• Meta's shares plunged 13% on Thursday, erasing nearly $170 billion from its market value.

• The drop then triggered a 3-4.2% fall in shares of AI giants Microsoft and Alphabet, which also reported earnings after the market closed. 

• However, it boosted shares of AI chipmakers like Nvidia, Broadcom, and Marvel Technology by over 2%.

During the post-earnings call, Zuck warned that costs would "grow meaningfully" in the coming years as the company builds AI products before it generates "much revenue" from them. 

And as you can imagine… that was enough to induce some fear in shareholders that Zuck was embarking on another costly endeavor after the struggling metaverse business.

Overall: Despite forecasting lower-than-expected Q2 revenue and raising expense guidance, some analysts remain positive on Meta's AI investments, citing improved user engagement and the warm reception for its AI assistant and language model.

However, others questioned the payback period and opportunity, given the decelerating growth and difficulty in predicting successful internet investments.

Read more: Reuters

🇸🇦 Saudi’s AI takeover

Saudi Arabia is making a massive push to become an AI superpower: 

• They have already created a $100 billion fund to invest in AI.

• They are in talks to pour another $40 billion into AI companies.

• They also have a $1 billion startup accelerator, which offers funding, computing resources, and access to government contracts to firms setting up in the kingdom.

Why now? 

• This spending blitz is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's "Vision 2030" effort to diversify Saudi Arabia's economy beyond oil into tech, tourism, and entertainment. 

• The kingdom is attracting top tech firms with lucrative deals and partnerships, demonstrated by the recent Leap tech conference that drew over 200,000 attendees and $10 billion in deals.

However, Saudi Arabia's AI ambitions have geopolitical implications, putting it in the middle of an escalating technological rivalry between the U.S. and China. 

While the U.S. fears Saudi ties with China could undermine its interests, China sees opportunities to expand influence and market access in the Gulf region.

Overall: The kingdom's premier AI research hub, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), has raised American concerns over its partnerships with Chinese universities linked to China's military. However, Saudi officials argue that the country ultimately aligns with U.S. interests.

Read more: NY Times

🤖 R1 reviews

The Rabbit R1, Teenage Engineering's highly anticipated AI-powered gadget, has finally arrived, and the reviews have started to flow. 

• In terms of hardware, the R1 has a 2.88-inch screen, a MediaTek processor, 128GB storage, and a camera that can rotate to face both ways. 

• The design is delightfully orange and feels like a cross between an old MP3 player and a fidget spinner.

• Regarding functionality, the R1 handles basic AI tasks like answering questions, providing information, and voice translation reasonably well, though with some lag.

• However, many of the more advanced capabilities teased by Rabbit's CEO, such as emailing, spreadsheet creation, and app integration, are currently missing.

The device integrates with a few external services like Spotify, Uber, and Midjourney, but the implementation is patchy.

For instance, it struggled to find a specific Beyoncé album on Spotify. The camera's object recognition works but can't capture photos or videos yet.

Overall: While the R1's interface is charming, with features like perking ears when listening, it's not always intuitive to navigate. Battery life, performance under poor connectivity, and handling complex tasks remain to be thoroughly tested.

But rest assured: the GOAT of tech reviews is cooking up a video that will give you a full 360-degree view of the product…

Read more: The Verge

🛠️ AI Tools to Check Out

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🤑 AI Fundraising News

• Dropzone AI raises $16.85M in Series A funding to deliver pre-trained autonomous AI analysts who work alongside human analysts on security operations teams.

• Treefera raises $12M in Series A funding to develop an AI-powered data management platform empowering businesses in carbon removal, bioenergy, fuel, and supply chain markets with insights and technology.

🐦 Tweet Post of the Day

Really cool ad :)