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OpenAI claims that it has overtaken Anthropic with the release of its latest Astra model. Funny enough, all of ChatGPT, Claude and Grok went down simultaneously yesterday.

And for whatever reason, we have Bernie Sanders introducing a bill to ban AI that surpasses human intelligence

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

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Markets

• US stocks rallied yesterday on dovish commentary from fed governor Chris Waller

  • Traders priced in split odds of a rate hike and rate hold for this month

• Some of the $60B of defaulted Venezuela and state oil company bonds rose to 54¢ to a four-month high following a deal to hand over 20% of all oil reserves to US

Earnings

• lululemon missed Q2 earnings and revenue estimates and cut its FY forecast a week before new CEO Heidi ‌O'Neill takes over to tackle softening demand and intense competition (CNBC)

• Victoria's Secret beat on Q2 revenue estimates and boosted guidance as comps rose 9% on customer growth and success in bras and its pink brand, though shares fell 14% as growth was still slower than expected (BBG)

• DocuSign issued a Q2 beat-and-raise on a boost from AI-related demand (WSJ)

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• OpenAI claims it has overtaken Anthropic with latest AI model

• Deposit $10 and get a $20 bonus with code LIT on signup, only on the Polymarket US app

Headline Roundup

• Fed governor Waller indicates support for holding rates steady (CNBC)

• Rising yields seen pushing companies to sell bonds sooner (BBG)

• Nodal Exchange is seeking to launch AI compute futures (BBG)

• JPMorgan curbed lending to Jane Street as it pushed into bond market (FT)

• Star Citadel natural gas trader stepped down amid historic volatility (FT)

• KPMG warned Guggenheim unit over deficiencies in internal controls (FT)

• Korea lawmakers seek M&A reform to protect minority shareholders (BBG)

• Sanders introduced a bill to ban AI that surpasses human intelligence (WP)

• Claude, ChatGPT, and Grok all went down at the same time (TV)

• OpenAI's Astra model can hack with minimal human help (WSJ)

• OpenAI says it has overtaken Anthropic with latest AI model (FT)

• Texas Republicans turn against data centers (RT)

• Revolut secured a conditional US banking license (RT)

• Volkswagen to slash 50k jobs in historic restructuring (FT)

• Founder of startup investment firm Linqto was charged with fraud (WSJ)

• US charges ICE agent with lying about shooting of Venezuelan migrant (AP)

A Message from []

Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

• Contract manufacturer Flex will acquire power conversion systems maker ​EPC Power in a $4.4B deal

• Diversified Energy agreed to acquire Elliott-backed O&G company Birch Resources in a $1.8B deal

• Samsung Fire ​and Marine Insurance and Samsung Life ⁠Insurance will acquire 90% of UK reinsurance ‌company Canopius by buying an additional 50% stake for $1.5B from Centerbridge Partners

• Shell and Chevron signed non-binding agreements for the acquisition of production ​rights over Ghana's South Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points block

• TSG Consumer made a strategic investment in iconic NYC taco chain Los Tacos No. 1

• US family office Friedkin Group is exploring a stake sale in UK soccer club Everton FC just two years after acquiring the club

VC

• Robotics startup Figure raised an undisclosed investment from AI cloud firm Nscale as part of a $3.5B compute deal

• Enterprise AI platform Wonderful raised a $550M Series C at a $5B valuation led by Insight Partners

• Thyme Care, an oncology navigation startup, raised $125M Series E at a $2B+ valuation led by Morgan Health

• Immediate, an earned wage access and financial wellness platform, raised a $13M Series B led by BankTech Ventures

Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• UK AI cloud firm Nscale has $103B ​of total contracted revenue ahead of its $3B US IPO

• Swedish smart ring maker Oura Health filed for a US IPO to raise $3B at a $16B valuation

• Chinese chipmaker Longsys priced its $780M Hong Kong listing below the top end of the marketed range at a 44% discount to its China trading

• Vietnam's EV taxi firm Green & Smart Mobility is weighing expanding in US ahead of a planned Hong Kong IPO which could fetch a $20B valuation

• Pet food platform Golden Pet Brands hired banks for an IPO that could fetch a $1B valuation

• Olympus-backed data center infrastructure firm Accelevation filed for an IPO

• Crypto exchange Kraken delayed its IPO until Q2 next year

Debt

• Pakistan raised a record $3B in international high-yield bond markets after securing credit rating upgrades

• A unit of Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group received $2.5B in commitments from four banks to finance the acquisition of Shell's Indian renewable energy unit Solenergi Power

• Public Storage is looking to raise $360M in a debut Canadian bond sale

• Silver Lake and Related Companies-backed luxury gym chain Equinox is in advanced talks with for a cash infusion and refinancing to reduce debt and fund expansion

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• EQT-backed French medical diagnostics firm Cerba Healthcare filed for a court-supervised restructuring in France to tackle its $5.8B debt pile

• Air India is close to securing $1.1B in financial aid from owners Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines

Funds / Secondaries

• CVC raised $10B for its sixth and largest PE secondaries fund

• Swish Ventures, the VC firm of Israel's first NBA player Omri Casspi, raised $250M for its third fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Polymarket launched perps trading with up to 20x leverage

• Coinbase files to launch stock perps in US

Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.

Exec's Picks

• Everyone on your desk says "AI." Almost nobody can actually build with it. Move past the buzzwords in the 8-week AI for Business & Finance Certificate Program from Columbia Business School Exec Ed and Wall Street Prep: machine learning, predictive analytics, and generative AI applied to real business and finance decisions. Starts November 9. Get the syllabus.

• In memory of Dolly Parton, WSJ published a piece highlighting her business savvy that she used to build an empire.

• Ben Carlson shared 14 random things on his mind about markets. Insightful perspectives as always…

Financial Services Recruiting

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We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.