The Social Community forThe Most Important Thing

Oura is reportedly looking at a US IPO as early as September. This would potentially value the wearable at a $16B. https://techfundingnews.com/oura-targets-3b-ipo-at-16b-valuation/?_bhlid=6579376fbdff4b583fdbc53e25931dd12a030b50

Robotaxis are real now — so is the pushback. As more robotaxis hit the road, the fight over the rules governing the technology is intensifying #Auto Future https://www.theverge.com/transportation/983765/robotaxi-waymo-zoox-tesla-rules-pushback-nhtsa?utm_source=snacks&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=snacks_20260827&utm_content=148912374b10b2291b5f26b4501cb1f0

We’re seeing increasing threats from AI-enabled cyber offense — not basic stuff like stealing your dad’s Gmail password, but important stuff like sensitive information from governments. And the US government is responding with a policy idea more common in places like Russia and China: partnering with private enterprise to get to the attackers first. The concept hearkens back to sixteenth-century privateering, when governments would give ships “letters of marque” that allowed them to capture enemy vessels. But this time, instead of the roar of the high seas, privateers will be accompanied by the hum of their data centers’ water cooling systems. Like privateering, this endeavor could generate all sorts of problems: putting private citizens at risk of retaliation (https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/13/in-a-first-us-will-allow-some-private-firms-to-carry-out-cyberattacks/?ref=platformer.news) from foreign governments, the autonomous AI counterattackers getting out of control, etcetera.  But AI-enabled cyberattacks are an increasingly urgent issue for the US government. Given that private companies currently have the best AI resources available — and with AI now essential in modern hacking — some privateering may be necessary.

Anthropic and OpenAI’s move to develop #Artificial Intelligence applications and features tailored to specific industries continues to worry their customers, some of which must now compete head-on with their main AI suppliers (https://www.theinformation.com/articles/will-anthropic-openai-stop-selling-best-ai-businesses?offer=rtsu-engagement-25%2Crtsu-featured-articles-pro&cio_link_id=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__3a2493e684a14dee0fb6ae672f95d2b98942badcbe5c63309c95013640ba335d&utm_campaign=%5BClaude%5D+%5BNL%5D+RTSU%3A&utm_content=14529&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cio&utm_term=10150).

Worries that Waymo will take business from Uber have pummeled the stock this year. But sellers are overlooking the value of its delivery business. #The Most Important Thing Sellers are overreacting. Uber can still sustain rapid growth and expand its profit margins while staying competitive in the autonomous-driving race #Auto Future in the years to come. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/uber-bears-taken-wrong-turn?offer=rtsu-engagement-25%2Crtsu-featured-articles-pro&utm_campaign=%5BClaude%5D+RTSU%3A+Uber&utm_content=14538&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cio&utm_term=10159&rc=gzsl71

California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, is getting a lot of attention for the lawsuit he and 11 other state attorneys general filed to block Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. The state attorneys general are operating under the delusion that we’re still in the 1990s—they allege that Paramount would get too much power in the slowly dying cable television industry and the film industry.  Someone needs to remind the attorneys general that strength in streaming video, not cable, is what matters now, and in streaming both Paramount and Warner are behind leaders like Netflix. It is possible Bonta is trying to do Paramount CEO David Ellison a favor. After all, the best thing for the company would be to jettison many of the cable channels it would inherit if the Warner deal goes through. And since Paramount is taking on a lot of debt—the combined business would have $79 billion of debt at closing—raising money by selling a few declining assets wouldn’t be a bad idea. Ellison should thank Bonta for the idea and dump as many cable channels as he can!

In software land, it’s getting harder and harder to call out a singular vibe shift when the vibes keep shifting  every 24 hours.    On Thursday, when news broke that Silver Lake was in talks to acquire Workday, the human resource software company’s stock shot up 19%. Such a deal would be a big vote of confidence in a prominent software firm and, combined with a 55% appreciation in Workday’s shares since late June, a possible sign that the AI-driven SaaSpocalypse is ebbing.  But on Friday, the buzz seemed to have worn off. Workday’s shares sank almost 4%. The stocks of other software companies, which similarly spiked on Thursday following the Silverlake-Workday reports, also widely dropped.    Prepare for more mood swings in the coming weeks.  The next big data point comes in two weeks when Salesforce reports results. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expect revenue to rise more than 10% to $11 billion. But as with past quarters, most of the attention will be on growth from its AI products. Software stock analysts have been bracing for more pain. Karl Keirstead, head of AI and software equity research at UBS, says the executives of many blue chip companies he speaks with are “absolutely articulating a view that, given the performance improvements in these AI models and the ability to custom-build alternatives, they would like their spending with software company X, Y, Z to be down 30% over the next three years.” “I‘m in the camp that it’s going to be a rocky ride for the next 12 months,” he said in mid July. A takeover offer for Workday—whose shares are still down 7% this year—would show there’s a path for out-of-favor software companies. Generally, a company like WorkDay would be catnip for PE firms: While its stock has suffered, it throws off plenty of cash. (WorkDay generated $2.8 billion in free cash flow for its year ended in January.) These institutions have held off on acquisitions because they’re wrestling with private portfolios of software companies that are as under threat of AI as their publicly held peers. A WorkDay acquisition would also set a valuation multiple for other potential software buyouts. Notably, the Reuters report on Silverlake’s acquisition interest did not include an actual purchase price, leaving that multiple unknown. Still, shares are 13% higher than before the report emerged—indicating investors are betting this SaaS story has a happy ending. https://www.theinformation.com/titv/qtanb?utm_campaign=article_email&utm_content=article-17628&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sg&rc=gzsl71

TSMC is developing an advanced chip-packaging technology similar to what Intel offers, a sign that the Taiwanese giant is worried about Intel. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/tsmc-develops-ai-chip-packaging-tech-counter-intel?offer=rtsu-engagement-25%2Crtsu-featured-articles-pro&utm_campaign=RTSU%3A+TSMC+Develops&utm_content=14355&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cio&utm_term=9983

China is not only exporting EVs, but also exporting a new competitive standard. #Auto Future Once Chinese brands enter a market, they reset expectations for range, equipment, software speed, charging performance and price. That may be even more dangerous for legacy OEMs than the vehicles themselves. Tariffs can buy time in protected markets. But they do not automatically force incumbents to improve. The real question is what legacy OEMs do with that time before the Chinese benchmark becomes the global default.#Data is beautiful https://medium.com/the-geopolitical-economist/how-china-ate-the-global-auto-industry-0a8e5ed2f186

The recent memory chip selloff offers investors a new opportunity to jump into the sector. Samsung is the best bet (https://www.theinformation.com/articles/samsung-new-memory-chip-underdog-now?offer=rtsu-engagement-25%2Crtsu-featured-articles-pro&cio_link_id=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__78ca81c10356e79c74244627892e95b58455d370dcff128d8b5b345ed5d6e7a7&utm_campaign=RTSU%3A+Samsung+Is+the&utm_content=14230&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cio&utm_term=9879).

A Chinese company has begun manufacturing one of the key pieces of equipment used in chip manufacturing (https://www.theinformation.com/articles/china-starts-mass-producing-homegrown-duv-chipmaking-tools-advance-local-chip-industry?offer=rtsu-engagement-25%2Crtsu-featured-articles-pro&cio_link_id=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__8f2b3d61f0380cd8920b03394d74226b6f59db594e301dda6ed60c27592ff1e2&utm_campaign=RTSU%3A+China+Starts+M&utm_content=14318&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cio&utm_term=9951), a key step towards self reliance in chips.

PayPal has a message for Wall Street and would-be buyers: “We got this.” That’s the upshot of CEO Enrique Lores’ response to what he called “recent M&A speculation”—also known as Stripe’s reported $53 billion takeover bid for the struggling payments firm. Lores wouldn’t comment about anything specific, but his comments implied Stripe’s offer didn’t meet PayPal’s bar, and the board was sticking with its existing plan for managing the business. Lores said the right things, to be sure. The board is “open” to offers and would compare any with its own plan and choose “the option that creates more value.” His plan, which he said “will create significant value for our shareholders,” involves things like speeding up Venmo’s growth and expanding its payment services business (which includes Braintree) and getting affluent consumers to use PayPal more. When Lores was asked why these efforts would succeed where PayPal’s previous turnaround measures hadn’t, he repeated what he’d said a few moments before and added that he was “improving execution, improving accountability.” In other words, he would run the company better than in the past. It’s not exactly a persuasive answer. The Stripe offer, reportedly made with private equity firm Advent, was too low—there’s no doubt about that. It’s possible it has elements that made it unappealing, such as a lack of secured financing. Perhaps the board is negotiating with Stripe and Advent behind the scenes to lift the offer. The board might be quietly exploring other options. But it’s common in these situations for a board to publicly open an auction up to all comers as a way of seeing what someone might pay. PayPal hasn’t done that. It’s leaving shareholders to trust that the board knows what it’s doing. That’s asking a lot. After all, PayPal has been a dumpster fire in recent years, with its stock falling roughly 80% since 2021 as growth has slowed to a crawl and rivals like Apple Pay have dug in. Lores, a former CEO of HP, has only been in the job since March. He has no prior experience running a payments firm. It may be relevant that no one on the board has a significant stake in the company. As of earlier this year, the entire board’s combined stake was 5.66 million shares, or 0.6% of the shares outstanding. Would PayPal’s board take a different stance if directors had a bit more skin in the game? Just asking. https://www.theinformation.com/newsletters/the-briefing/stripes-paypal-bid-puts-payments-firm-play-musk-jump?utm_campaign=article_email&utm_content=article-17536&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sg&rc=gzsl71