🎙️ Check out my new Marc Hoag AI Law Pod, a podcast “hosted” by Google's NotebookLM. Now that NotebookLM allows customization, the AI “hosts” actually interact with me, directly reference the newsletter itself, and deep dive quite a bit beyond the bounds of each issue’s content. If nothing else, it’s a very cool alternative way to enjoy Future Perfect while driving.

😉 How AI dealmakers are sidestepping regulators (The Information)

• HSR Act Loophole: AI startups can avoid antitrust reporting (Hart-Scott-Rodino Act) by keeping net assets below $23.9M, using tactics like paying bills early.

• Deal Threshold: Antitrust notification is only required if an acquisition exceeds $119.5M or if both parties meet certain sales/asset thresholds.

• Popular Tricks: Tactics to reduce net assets include pre-paying expenses like cloud bills, bankers, or employee salaries.

• AI Acquisitions: There have been 54 AI M&A deals this year, totaling $2.8B, often skirting antitrust scrutiny.

• Election Uncertainty: AI acquisitions may pause pending the outcome of upcoming elections affecting M&A regulations by keeping net assets below $23.9M, using tactics like paying bills early.

• Deal Threshold: Antitrust notification is only required if an acquisition exceeds $119.5M or if both parties meet certain sales/asset thresholds.

• Popular Tricks: Tactics to reduce net assets include pre-paying expenses like cloud bills, bankers, or employee salaries.

• AI Acquisitions: There have been 54 AI M&A deals this year, totaling $2.8B, often skirting antitrust scrutiny.

• Election Uncertainty: AI acquisitions may pause pending the outcome of upcoming elections affecting M&A regulations.

🦾 Microsoft's Copilot AI now lets you build your own 'autonomous agents' (Quartz)

• Autonomous Agent Creation: Microsoft announced users can build autonomous agents in Copilot Studio that act on their behalf, available for public preview in November.

• Copilot Integration: The agents can perform tasks for individuals, teams, or functions, using Copilot to handle business processes.

• Enterprise Focus: Microsoft is introducing 10 autonomous agents for Dynamics 365, focused on sales, service, finance, and supply chain.

• AI Enhancements: These agents will use OpenAI's o1 “reasoning” model to improve decision-making and predictions.

💰 AI’s trillion-dollar opportunity (Bain & Co.)

• AI Market Growth: AI hardware and software markets could reach $780B to $990B by 2027, growing 40-55% annually.

• Innovation Drivers: Large cloud service providers lead AI innovation, while enterprises and independent software vendors are rapidly adopting AI models.

• Vertical Optimization: Companies are optimizing tech stacks with custom silicon to handle AI's computational demands, e.g., Amazon's Trainium, Google's TPU.

• Smaller Models: Edge computing and smaller, energy-efficient AI models like Meta’s Llama and Google’s Gemini are becoming crucial for enterprises.

• Industry Disruption: AI is reshaping industries, with growing AI workloads, storage advancements, and evolving data management practices.

✨ PowerPrompt™

Act as a Synesthetic Storyteller. Translate the following text into a sequence of sensory experiences across sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell: 'Innovation is the heartbeat of progress

So this one is … different and frankly the only way to explain it is by way of example; here’s what I got; I especially liked the one for “Smell” about “subtle scent of metallic ozone” 🤔 

Sight: A radiant pulse of golden light arcs forward against a backdrop of deep indigo, resembling a sunrise breaking through the night, symbolizing new ideas illuminating the path ahead.

Sound: A steady heartbeat rhythm builds into a crescendo of orchestral strings and uplifting chimes, echoing the excitement of breakthroughs.

Taste: The zing of sparkling lemon zest followed by the smooth richness of honey, leaving a lingering hint of spice that ignites the palate.

Touch: The warm, reassuring throb of a heartbeat felt against the fingertips, combined with the silky texture of flowing water slipping through your hands.

Smell: The invigorating aroma of fresh-cut grass mingled with the subtle scent of metallic ozone after a lightning strike, hinting at freshness and electrifying change.

🧰 AI Tools & Resources

• Averi: AI marketing manager 

• Duonot: Conversational AI surveys.

• Midpage: AI-powered legal research.

🎉 THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY!

See you next time! 👋

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