In today’s newsletter we discuss the economic impact Houthis rebels are having on shipping, AI startup Anthropic is raising another $750 million, Rachel McAdams isn’t a fan of doing commercials, Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander is delayed another money due to SpaceX, and Lennar acquiring the once unicorn PropTech startup Veev.

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Business

Nothing like profiting off of a war. Shipping rates have skyrocketed this week due to the conflict in the Red Sea, as Houthis rebels attack ships.

Now about 158 vessels carrying approximately $105 billion in ocean freight are being diverted away from the Red Sea amid the risk, and where there is risk there is the opportunity to raise prices.

That’s exactly what shipping companies like Maersk are quoting ocean freight rates of $10,000 per 40-foot container for a shipment from Shanghai to the U.K. Last week, rates were $1,900 for a 20-foot container, to $2,400 for a 40-foot container.

‘Tis the holiday season to raise rates I guess.

Container rates hit $10,000 as ocean freight inflation soars in Red Sea crisis

Tech

WoW! I should just start an AI company instead of being a content creator. Seems like they’re raising money like the good ‘ol days of Silicon Valley.

This week Anthropic, which I think has a much better name than OpenAI, but not quite as good as Hugging Face, announced it is raising $70 million as a $18.4 billion dollar valuation.

Damn!

This comes fresh on the heels of just having raised $750 million in April and May, and in October of this year. In addition, Google has previously agreed to invest up to $2 billion in the startup over time.

So who wants to start an AI company with me? 😆

Anthropic, the OpenAI rival, is in talks to raise $750 million in funding at an $18.4 billion valuation

Entertainment

Apparently there was no drama behind Rachel McAdams deciding to skip the ‘Mean Girls’ reunion commercial for Walmart that the rest of the cast appeared in.

She just doesn’t like doing commercials.

In an article on CNN they write “Turns out Rachel McAdams doesn’t think commercials are that “fetch.” (I wish I had written that headline!)

Mean Girls grossed $130.1 million worldwide and has become an enduring classic.

Please don’t ever stop trying to make Fetch happen!

Rachel McAdams reveals why she skipped ‘Mean Girls’ reunion commercial

Space

There’s news today that Intuitive Machines will need to push back their mission to launch their first lunar lander to mid-February, with SpaceX providing the ride.

“Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C spacecraft is aiming to land near the lunar south pole, requiring specific lighting conditions that are only present a handful of days each month.”

A month delay isn’t a big deal, but the logistics sound crazy to reschedule a space launch. Good luck with hitting that launch date!

Intuitive Machines, SpaceX push lunar lander launch date to February

Real Estate

My background is in Real Estate Tech, having Founded a maintenance ticketing platform called WorkOrder.es, which was acquired in 2018.

So I have a soft spot for PropTech stories, like this one about Lennar acquiring full control of the once unicorn startup Veev that had fallen on tough times.

Veev was once valued at $1 billion dollars, but they went bankrupt recently after failing to meet their financial obligations to suppliers and employees under California state laws.

Tough break for such a promising PropTech company!

Construction giant Lennar acquires full control of former proptech unicorn Veev

So much news, so little time. Until tomorrow we’re signing out.

— Chris