Hi Everyone. This is Take Off. We're like the cheat codes to your favorite video game - empowering, game-changing, and providing an edge in the tech ecosystem.

Here's what we're serving up today:

• The Microsoft-Meta Friendship 🤝

• Shein vs Amazon 🛍️

• Asteroids ☄️

• Wednesday Wires 💰

The Microsoft-Meta Friendship 🤝

Yesterday was Microsoft’s Inspire event and it was full of …. drum roll .. More AI announcements!

It’s almost become a cliche now, right?

Let's dive into the some of the goodies.

1/ Bing Chat Enterprise

This is the regular AI Bing but armed with commercial data protection for enterprises. It’s still in its teenage phase, available in preview for a select few.

However, when it fully grows up, it’s gonna cost users $5/user/month.

2/ Microsoft 365 Copilot

This is Microsoft’s AI assistant that it has integrated into their Office 365 suite. This assistant promises to supercharge the regular 365 apps such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint and more.

The pricing starts at $30/user/month.

3/ Microsoft and Meta Join Hands

Here's where things get spicy. Microsoft and Meta have joined hands in a surprising twist of tech romance. Microsoft is now the go-to partner for Meta's latest Open Source LLM - Llama 2.

The model which comes in flavors of 7B, 13B, and 70B parameters will be available for commercial use on Azure.

The announcements made the Wolfs over at Wall Street cheering on as (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose by 5.8% to its year high value of $359.

Shein vs Amazon 🛍️

In a bid to rule the world, or at least the e-commerce world, Shein is taking on the big dogs like Amazon with a fresh new strategy.

No longer content with its colossal fast-fashion empire, Shein has launched its marketplace in the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil and is making plans to conquer Europe next.

The company is on a mission to incentivize 100,000 sellers to reach $1 million mark in annual sales within three years.

Though Shein has been a belle of the ball with American teens, having a 40% market share there, it's showing signs of slowing down in the U.S., and it recently slashed its valuation to a still-impressive $66 billion from $100 billion a year ago.

But don't worry, Shein says it's feeling "very, very bullish" about the future.

☄️ Asteroids ☄️

VanMoof, the e-bike startup, officially declared bankrupt in The Netherlands. Stores in some cities remain open, but orders and refunds are uncertain. 😢🚲

Apple iPhone from 2007 sells for $190,000 at auction. That’s nearly 300 times its original price of $599. It’s a “holy grail” for collectors! 🤯📱

Twitter loses nearly half advertising revenue since Elon Musk takeover. Layoffs and debt loom, but video and partnerships may be their hope. 🤔💼

💰 Wednesday Wires 💰

Cognaize, a NY startup, secures $18M for its hybrid financial AI platform. They provide a platform for processing unstructured data in financial AI applications, combining AI and human expertise. 🚀📊

Polar Analytics raises $9M in Series A funding to expand and dominate the Shopify analytics market. They help Shopify brands manage overwhelming data from various apps, providing insights and business intelligence. 🛍️ 💰️ 

Identity verification platform Bureau secures $4.5M in Series A funding, reaching $20.5M total. It also acquires inVOID and enters a strategic partnership. 🚀🌐

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