VOLUME 49

Well — I think we can all agree it’s been a crazy past couple of weeks, with our former president getting shot at, our current president getting sick, and, more recently, what many are calling the largest IT outage in history happening in America.

In either case, below are this week’s biggest stories in culture and tech, put together by us so you don’t have to lift a finger! Except for opening this email…

Enjoy!

— Jacob Pace

CrowdStrike CEO Called to Testify After Global Tech Outage

What happened: On July 19th, cybersecurity company CrowdStrike accidentally released a faulty update through their Falcon platform, which is a software product of theirs that protects companies like Amazon, Sony and Google from cyber threats. Well, ironically, the update ended up creating a glitch in the system, which froze more than 8 million Windows devices, disrupting airlines, banks, hospitals, and other critical services that relied on CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform. As a result, more than 5,000 flights were grounded over the past week, and CrowdStrike stock fell by nearly 11%, wiping $11 billion from their market cap.

What’s next: U.S. House leaders have summoned CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz to testify before Congress regarding the massive global tech outage. The outage has widely been described as one of the largest IT outages in history, and Congress is demanding detailed explanations and mitigation steps to prevent future occurrences.

Wiz Rejects Google’s $23 Acquisition Offer

What happened: Last week, we reported that Google was in advanced talks to purchase Wiz, an Israeli cybersecurity startup, for $23 billion, which would have been the company’s largest-ever acquisition if it went through. However, earlier this week, Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport announced that the company will not sell and instead focus on the path to an IPO (initial public offering).

What Rappaport said: In an email to Wiz’s 1,200 employees around the world, Rappaport wrote, “Let me cut to the chase: our next milestones are $1 billion in ARR and an IPO. Saying no to such humbling offers is tough, but with our exceptional team, I feel confident in making that choice.”

The background: New York-based Wiz was founded in 2020 by four former Israeli military officers who previously co-founded a cloud cybersecurity company called Adallom, which Microsoft later acquired for $320 million.

Given their experience, they probably know what this can be worth day, and don’t want to sell themselves short. Smart move? Only time will tell.

Meta Releases Llama 3.1 Open-Source AI Model

What happened: Meta has released Llama 3.1, its largest-ever open-source AI model, claiming it outperforms competitors like OpenAI's GPT-4 and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet on several benchmarks. Llama 3.1 features 405 billion parameters (variables that the model learns to make predictions) and was developed using over 16,000 NVIDIA GPUs. Meta is also collaborating with companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google to deploy Llama 3.1, aiming to make it the most widely used AI assistant.

What Zuck is saying: Zuck largely believes in open-source AI models as opposed to closed models seen from current competitors. “We’ve always believed that open innovation drives the best results. With Llama 3.1, we’re not just pushing the boundaries of AI performance but also ensuring that these advancements are accessible and widely beneficial. By collaborating with industry leaders, we aim to set a new standard for AI assistants and redefine how people interact with technology.”

What’s next: Mark Zuckerberg predicts Meta AI will surpass ChatGPT in usage by the end of the year. That’s a pretty bold claim. But then again, Zuck is a bold guy. And with his new chain, nothing can stop him.

Jake Paul's W Raises $14 Million in Seed and Series A Funding

What happened: W, the men's personal care brand founded by Jake Paul, has raised $14 million in seed and Series A funding led by Shrug Capital and Anti Fund. There was also participation from individuals including Celsius' chief executive John Fieldly, Fanatic's chief executive Michael Rubin, rapper Lil Durk, tennis players Nick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka, and entrepreneurs Carter Reum and Paris Hilton. Launched last month exclusively at Walmart, W is reportedly on track to hit over $50 million in sales by the end of its first year. The latest fundraise brings the company to a valuation of $150 million.

The future: Creator-led products are definitely a quickly emerging category, with the rise of companies like Logan Paul’s PRIME drink and MrBeast’s Feastables chocolate. This is only the beginning, and I’m optimistic of what the future holds in this exciting new category. With W already achieving seven-figure sales and breaking records as the best launch in Walmart’s ‘Emerging Brands’ category, it’s clear there’s a big demand here.

That’s all for this week — see you next week!