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 Rise of the Fediverse!🧑‍💻

• Asteroids ☄️

• Trending Tools ⚒️ 

• Wednesday Wires 💰

The Rise of the Fediverse!📱

Remember that viral pic comparing startups to Craigslist sections? It showed how startups were unbundling Craigslist's one-stop-shop. Fast forward to today, and we're witnessing the social media version of this unbundle-athon!

Enter the "Fediverse" – think of it as the Avengers of social media apps, where everyone's connected but not stuck in one platform. It's like email, but for social media. Different apps, different vibes, all chatting happily in one big digital party.

This isn't just a tech fantasy; it's what could happen with protocols like ActivityPub. Think of ActivityPub as the universal translator for social media – simplifying the complex babble of platforms into one harmonious language.

No more being trapped in Facebook's universe or Twitter's timeline. It's like choosing your own social media adventure! 🌌

But here's the kicker: in this fediverse, it's not about building the next Facebook or Twitter. It's about creating better, smaller, and more specialized social experiences.

And the real magic? This shift could lead to a burst of innovation. Imagine apps tailored for NBA fans, crypto geeks, or just for sharing epic jokes. The potential is as endless as cat videos on the internet.

We're at the dawn of a new era in social media, where our online lives could finally feel like they belong to us, not some tech giant. So, get ready to explore this exciting new landscape in 2024. Who knows? You might just find your new digital home!

☄️ Asteroids ☄️

Facebook's covert "Project Ghostbusters" sought to crack Snapchat's encrypted data, aiming to snoop on user behaviour for a competitive edge. 👻💼

Rabbit teams up with ElevenLabs to infuse its upcoming r1 devices with slick voice command capabilities, making device chats sound uncannily human. 🐰🗣️ 

Elon Musk is turning up the AI charm on X, rolling out the Grok chatbot to all Premium subscribers, aiming to jazz up user engagement and compete with the likes of ChatGPT. 💬🔧

⚒️ Trending Tools ⚒️

💹 Steep - BI tool for modern companies

🔗 Uniqode - All your links in one page

💻️ WorkOS - Modern identity platform for B2B SaaS

💰 Wednesday Wires 💰

Fireworks.ai, a rising star among startups, shines with its vast open source AI model API, catching the eye of investors with a cool $25 million. The company, spearheaded by ex-Meta maestro Lin Qiao, crafts custom AI magic without building from scratch, tuning existing models to business-specific needs. 🔧✨

Cyera, eyeing AI as the frontier of cybersecurity, is about to lock in $300M, soaring to a $1.5B valuation with Coatue leading the charge. 🛡️💻

📰 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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