Temu's direct-to-factory shopping model reveals the redundancy of middlemen such as Amazon

Temu, a new e-commerce platform launched in September 2022 by Shanghai-based Pinduoduo, has become the most downloaded shopping app in the iOS App Store. It directly connects customers with factories in China, offering products at extremely low prices, and has drawn in tens of millions of Americans.

Temu uses AI-powered sales techniques, such as chained promotions, limited-time discounts, and free gifts, to entice customers to buy more. Unlike current American trends where delivery times, sustainability, ethical sourcing, and brand names matter, Temu has become a hit by cutting out retail giants and selling products directly from factories to customers. Its emergence marks a culmination of decades-long trends reshaping the American economy.

Rapid Rundown

• 🛍️ Temu: most downloaded shopping app in iOS App Store, connects customers with Chinese factories.

• 🤖 Uses AI sales techniques, offering products at extremely low prices and cutting out retail giants.

Startup Brex Proves That Billboards Are Still Relevant in Tech Marketing

Brex, a corporate card for startups, launched in 2018 with no PR and no website. But they had a secret weapon: billboards. They negotiated an amazing deal to purchase most of downtown San Francisco’s inventory for $50k/month for three months.

The first creative was simple and literal messaging, while later billboards got more creative with messaging, including rewards and current events. The result? Almost 100% brand awareness in their target market of tech startups, improved outbound conversion, and high response rates in San Francisco.

So next time you’re thinking about launching a billboard campaign, remember: keep it simple, keep it short (<8 words), and repeat the campaign in a designated area.

_{See the step-by-step guide to Brex’s billboard campaign and pictures of their creative ads here.}

Rapid Rundown

• 🏢 Brex: corporate card for startups, launched in 2018 with no PR/website.

• 📈 Successful billboard campaign in San Francisco led to almost 100% brand awareness in the target market.

ChatGPT development costs OpenAI $540M

Oh boy, it turns out building a large AI language model like ChatGPT is no cheap feat. OpenAI reportedly lost a whopping $540 million last year in the process. But hey, no big deal, because they're projected to make hundreds of millions in revenue each year, right? Wrong! Expenses are set to skyrocket, and CEO Sam Altman is looking to raise up to $100 billion to develop an AI so smart it can improve itself.

But where's all this money going? OpenAI needs fresh data sets for its software, some of which aren't even on the internet yet. And companies like Samsung are not too happy about their proprietary data slipping into the ChatGPT data pool, resulting in a ban on generative AI usage with company materials. Looks like they don't want to risk giving their AI competitors an edge!

So, can other AI companies keep up with OpenAI's spending spree? Doubtful. Back in 2020, OpenAI was considering spending up to $75 million for Google Cloud services until Microsoft's Azure platform came along and offered a more attractive deal.

Rapid Rundown

• 📊 OpenAI spent $540M developing ChatGPT in 2022, but aims to raise $100B for further AI development.

• 💰 Money raised will be going towards acquiring fresh data sets for its software, with companies like Samsung banning generative AI usage with their materials.

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