Gm. Another day, another Twitter controversy.

🏠 TECH

All The Songwriters Hate Twitter

If there’s one thing that Elon has done exceptionally well during his stint as Chief Twit, it’s pissing people off. He’s pissed off people who work at Twitter. He’s pissed off the mainstream media. He’s pissed off his landlord. Hell, he’s even pissed us off a couple of times.

Now, we can officially add the National Music Publishers’ Association to the list of people pissed off at Twitter.

A Fat Lawsuit

Just how pissed is the Songwriter’s Association? Pissed enough to sue Twitter for $250M.

Sheeesh. What gives?

Well, the songwriters allege that Twitter violates their copyrights by using their music without their permission. So, they are suing Twitter for $150,000 for each of the 1,700 songs they believe Twitter willfully stole.

The result is a $250M nightmare for Elon and new CEO Linda Yacarrino.

An Expensive Arrangement

Unfortunately for the Bird App brain trust, it looks like the musicians might have a case.

YouTube, Facebook, Snap, and TikTok collectively pay billions of dollars for the rights to music. Twitter was in talks to begin doing so, but the negotiations got lost in the cracks following Elon’s takeover.

It looks like he might have to pay, one way or another.

The Bottom Line: A $250M lawsuit is the last thing a desperate-to-be-profitable Twitter needs right now.

🏠 TECH

The War On Social Media

Social media has always attracted scrutiny, but it’s reached a whole new level in 2023.

In just the past few months alone, we’ve seen:

• Texas, Utah, and Louisiana ban kids under 18 from using social media without parental consent.

• The Surgeon General issue a warning about social media’s mental health consequences.

• More than 2,000 families sue social media companies over their adverse effects on kids’ mental health.

Hopefully, you’re beginning to notice a pattern here. People are worried about how social media affects the mental health of our young ones. And if Jonathan Haidt is to be believed, then it’s easy to see why. Since 2010:

• There’s been a 145% increase in major depression among girls and 160% among boys.

• A 48% increase in teens admitted to the hospital for nonfatal self-harm among girls and 37% among boys.

• A 34% increase in suicide for boys and 82% for girls.

Of course, 2010 just so happens to be when social media really started taking off.

Does this prove that social media is the cause of society’s downfall? No.

Does this add fuel to the “we need to regulate social media” fire? Absolutely.

The Big Picture: As more evidence comes out on the negative effects of social media, would you be surprised to see it regulated like alcohol and drugs? 

🏃‍♀️ QUICKIES

What else is going on?

• Google might be forced to break up its ad business.

• The EU is getting closer to AI regulation.

• Epic’s MetaHuman Animator tool is ridiculously cool.

• Google is telling employees to stay away from Bard, their own chatbot.

Stat: 92%: The percentage of programmers who are using AI tools. That didn’t take very long to catch on, did it?

Rabbit hole: A New Era In Technology (Digital Native)

🤑 FUNDING FRIDAY

If you want a boring list of startup raises, look away now. If you want the 2 coolest raises of the week, then you’ve come to the right place.

👕 Unspun

Everyone loves being dripped out, but looking good comes with a cost. The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of the world’s carbon dioxide output, more than international flights and shipping combined.

Unspun, the recent closer of a $14M Series A, fixes this by using 3D weaving technology that transforms yarn into clothes in minutes, enabling clothes to be made with zero emissions.

👶 Oova

One in six people are expected to be affected by infertility at some point in their lives, and that number is strictly up-only. It’s a huge problem both for the people dealing with it and society at large.

Oova helps tackles this issue by issuing an at-home fertility kit so women know when exactly they are most fertile, and they’ve raised a $10.3M Series A to make clinical-grade hormone monitoring available to everyone.

🎁 FINAL JEOPARDY!

This Final Jeopardy! question stumped every contestant. Can you get it right?

Category: 2014 Newsmakers

Clue: Both making news in June, these 2 Davids with similar last names are LeBron’s new coach and Eric Cantor’s conqueror.

🛠️ FOUNDERS CORNER

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💉 DOPAMINE HIT

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FINAL JEOPARDY! ANSWER

David Blatt and David Brat.