Hi Everyone. This is Take Off. We're like a hidden Easter egg in your favorite video game - surprising, delightful, and adding an extra layer of fun to your tech news consumption.

Here's what we're serving up today:

• The Decade of Nadella 📈

• OpenAI’s AI-Bomb 💣

• Trending Tools ⚒️ 

• Wednesday Wires 💰

The Decade of Nadella 📈

Microsoft. Oh, that Windows company?

As early as 10 years ago, this was Microsoft’s identity. But then, they went under a phase we like to call “The Decade of Nadella”.

And under his command, Microsoft embarked on a transformative journey, venturing far beyond the familiar shores of Windows.

Now, the company has reached a whopping $3T+ valuation, and boy, are they flaunting it.

Coming Out Ahead

Over the past few years, Microsoft has slightly edged out Apple several times, only to go back to the runner’s up spot immediately after. But this time, it feels a little different.

It feels like maybe Microsoft is there to stay at the top.

The AI Jackpot

Microsoft hit the jackpot when it comes to AI. Their $13B investment in OpenAI has been nothing short of a revenue rainmaker, with record-breaking sales figures that would make any CFO's heart flutter. 

A Jack of all Trades

Microsoft's ascent to a towering market cap is a testament to its strategic diversification and investment in key areas such as Azure, Github, LinkedIn, and the monumental acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

These forward-looking moves have solidified Microsoft's position as a tech behemoth, underscoring its adaptability and innovative prowess in an ever-evolving digital landscape. 

In contrast to other companies in the "Magnificent-7," which suffer from their over-reliance on a single product or service, Microsoft's revenue last year was well-diversified. No single product or service accounted for more than 40% of its $211.9B revenue.

Bottom Line: It’s Nadella’s era, and we’re just living in it!  

From Our Partners: Simple.AI

OpenAI’s AI-Bomb 💣

The United States might be the only country in history to drop an A-bomb (for now), but OpenAI dropped its own A-bomb on the entire world … an AI-bomb.

Sora-ing Through The Skies

If you thought deepfakes were bad, OpenAI wants you to hold its beer as it released their latest product - Sora.

It’s a text-to-video generative AI model that can create videos up to a minute long from text-based prompts alone. 

Imagine a world where you can watch whatever you can type. Seems unreal, doesn’t it? 

From golden retrievers doing, well, anything adorable, to cinematic trailers that can put Spielberg to shame, Sora's got you covered. 

Now, let’s get something out of the way. Sora isn’t publicly available yet, but Sam Altman played Santa on X, displaying the model’s capabilities on user provided prompts. 

And man oh man is it jaw dropping!

One Many Foot in Front of the Other

Text-to-video models aren’t something new. Remember Will Smith eating spaghetti? 

There were primarily 2 problems with text-to-video models:

1. The videos were still janky. You could easily tell it was AI.

2. Videos were short. 20 sec long if you really push it.

Like every other AI product, OpenAI broke the chain of gradual improvement and came in many levels of upgrade with Sora. 

Seeing is…believing?

While we’re amazed at what Sora can do, let's not forget the Pandora's box we're cracking open. 

OpenAI's not just playing with AI; it's reshaping reality as we know it, blurring the lines between what's real and what's AI-generated.

P.S. Checkout this YT video of 50+ Sora generated videos - Link.

⚒️ Trending Tools ⚒️

🔮 Knowlee - Connect any Apps to AI Agents

🎨 LogoFast - Make beautiful logos with AI — fast & free

📹️ Creatify - The fastest way to create short video ads

💰 Wednesday Wires 💰

Glean, a startup aimed at enhancing work with its AI search and assistant tools, has just pocketed a $200M Series D, catapulting its valuation to a whopping $2.2B. 🔎💻

Microsoft plants a $16M seed into Mistral AI's garden, eyeing a bloom in the AI spring with a stake that could blossom into equity. 🌱💼🤖

Lapse, the nostalgia-packed app that transforms your smartphone into a vintage camera, just bagged $30M to bring the charm of waiting for photos to "develop" to millions. 📸✨💰

📰 Recommended Reading 📰

AI Jane: Artificial intelligence investment journalist building an easy to read ai investing email newsletter. Get smarter about investing in ai in 5 minutes.

The Aurorean: This newsletter scours 100+ sources so you don’t have to. The Aurorean is your guide to discover the essential news, research, beauty and humor in science every week.

The EV Universe: Keep up with the electric vehicle industry.

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