Issue #54

DeekSeek founder hailed as hero, copycat investing app booms, AI wins grammy, and more.

News from January 30 - February 6, 2025

DeepSeek Founder Hailed as Hero 

DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, already a billionaire at 40 from his hedge fund High-Flyer, received a hero's welcome when returning to China's Guangdong province for Lunar New Year. 

His company's breakthrough showing that advanced AI can work with fewer high-end computer chips carries special weight in China, which faces restrictions on accessing top technology. 

Despite his celebrated status, Wenfeng maintains a low profile, likely mindful of other Chinese tech leaders like Jack Ma and Pony Ma who faced government scrutiny after gaining too much public visibility.

Source 

Copycat Investing App Booms 

Social media investing app Dub, founded by 23-year-old Harvard dropout Steven Wang, is revolutionizing trading by letting users copy top investors' portfolios with a single tap. The platform, which charges $10 monthly and takes a 25% cut of premium portfolio fees, has attracted 800,000 downloads and raised $17 million in seed funding. 

While critics argue against active trading, Wang defends his TikTok-meets-Wall-Street approach. Among the platform's standout successes is a portfolio mirroring Nancy Pelosi's trades, up 123% since launch. 

Steven Wang, Dub CEO: "We've been really lucky where the broader American population really believes there are other people out there that have an edge over them."

‍Source 

Obesity Drug Sales Surge

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk exceeded revenue expectations with $40 billion in 2024, up 26% from last year, powered by its obesity drug Wegovy's 50% sales increase. Despite outperforming analyst forecasts, the company projects slower growth of 16-24% for 2025.

The company's shares dropped 40% since June amid market doubts about obesity drug potential and specialist drugmaker valuations. This decline briefly cost Novo its position as Europe's largest company to LVMH in January.

Recent developments show mixed results: disappointing trial data for CagriSema wiped $90 billion off market value, while positive early results for another obesity drug, amycretin, boosted shares by 13%.

Source 

Bulletin Board

• EU Prepares to Ban “Risky” AI. The European Union has begun enforcing its AI Act, allowing regulators to ban AI systems deemed an "unacceptable risk." The law prohibits social scoring, manipulative AI, workplace emotion recognition, and unauthorized biometric data collection. Violations could result in fines up to €35 million or 7% of annual revenue. Rob Sumroy, Head of Technology at a British law firm: "Organizations are expected to be fully compliant by February 2." Source 
• Hedge Funds Take Miami Beach. Miami's Global Alts conference has transformed South Beach into a hedge fund haven, drawing Wall Street's elite from New York's winter. The event, marked by rapid-fire 20-minute meetings across luxury venues like the Fontainebleau and Ritz-Carlton, kicked off amid market turbulence following DeepSeek's debut and Nvidia's 17% drop. The mood improved as markets stabilized, with discussions centering on interval funds and Trump's potential regulatory impact. Notable appearances included Kimbal Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Source 
• AI Wins Grammy. The Beatles' "Now and Then" made history at the Grammy Awards, winning Best Rock Performance as the first AI-assisted track to receive the honor. The song used modern noise reduction technology to clean up John Lennon's old piano demo, similar to audio enhancement tools used in video calls. After a failed attempt in the 1990s, Paul McCartney revived the project in 2022 after learning how the filmmakers behind archival Beatles documentary “Get Back” were using new audio isolation techniques to make poorly recorded demos listenable. Source
• OpenAI Unveils Agent. OpenAI has launched "deep research," a new ChatGPT capability that conducts thorough research using its advanced o3 AI model. Available first to Pro users with 100 queries monthly, the tool takes 5-30 minutes to analyze multiple sources, providing fully documented responses with citations. While scoring 26.6% on Humanity's Last Exam, outperforming competitors, OpenAI acknowledges potential limitations in accuracy. The feature notably mirrors Google's recent similar offering of the same name. Source 
• EU Targets Temu, Amazon. The European Union is preparing strict new rules to make online platforms like Temu, Shein, and Amazon responsible for dangerous or illegal products. The proposed reforms target China's surge in imports, with EU parcel volumes hitting 4.6 billion in 2024, quadruple 2022's numbers. The changes would shift customs liability from individual buyers to platforms, create a central EU customs authority, and end the €150 duty-free exemption. EU data shows counterfeiting costs clothing retailers €12 billion annually in lost sales. Source 

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