The HOBT: 🛻Fords flying to Japan | 🖥️Intel's new CEO| 💰$100M in 8 months

Hey 👋🏼 Trump’s latest claim that Japan will start importing Ford’s oversized F-150 trucks adds more confusion to a shaky U.S.-Japan trade deal that still lacks clarity. While Tokyo pushes for a tariff cut from 27.5% to 15% on U.S. autos, it’s unclear whether the reduction applies to Japan at all. Japan’s lead negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, is in Washington again, trying to sort out conflicting interpretations, especially on how the $550 billion “signing bonus” Trump mentioned is mostly loans, not investments. Meanwhile, Japan’s narrow roads and car preferences cast doubt on whether giant U.S. pickups have much of a future there.

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WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING?

As Intel welcomes a new CEO, a look at where the company stands

👀📉 Intel just tapped Lip-Bu Tan, former CEO of Cadence Design Systems, as its new CEO, stepping in after Pat Gelsinger’s rocky exit and a steep 50% stock plunge. Gelsinger’s ambitious IDM overhaul aimed to revive Intel’s edge, but delays, layoffs, and a failed $5.4B Tower Semiconductor deal stalled momentum. Now, with a fresh $7.865 billion boost from the U.S. Chips Act and early success of the Arc B580 graphics card, Tan inherits a company in reset mode, with a shot at real recovery if the next moves land right.

🚀🧠 Anton Osika built Lovable into a unicorn in just 8 months, hitting $100M ARR faster than OpenAI or Wiz. Starting as a weekend side project after a burst of creativity mid-flight, Lovable emerged from his frustration that no one was imagining AI-powered coding boldly enough. A serial founder, Osika skipped Y Combinator, raised nearly $225 million across multiple rounds, and believes that junior talent often outperforms experienced talent, if the ambition is there. His sharp focus on doing fewer things better may just be what keeps Lovable at the front of the AI-software wave.

💰📈 OpenAI is reportedly eyeing a secondary share sale at a jaw-dropping $500B valuation, just months after raising $8.3B as part of its $300B funding round. The potential deal, led by Thrive Capital, would let insiders cash out as the company’s revenue soars toward $20B annually. With ChatGPT nearing 700M weekly users and the release of two open-weight models for cheaper, customizable AI development, OpenAI is pushing harder into dominance, while rival Anthropic races to raise at a $170B valuation.

MORE NEWS

📊🤖 Clay just locked in a $100M Series C at a $3.1B valuation, with CapitalG leading and Sapphire Ventures joining the table. The AI-powered sales automation startup, backed by names like Sequoia and Meritech, is gaining serious traction with customers like OpenAI, Canva, and Rippling. Co-founder Kareem Amin says revenue is on track to hit $100M this year, tripling from 2024, as Clay cements its role as a go-to tool for modern sales and marketing teams.

🧠💥 Tariffs on semiconductors might hit as early as next week, according to Donald Trump’s recent comments on CNBC. While the exact details are still unknown, the move could stir major disruption for U.S. hardware and AI companies. Despite billions from the 2022 CHIPs Act and commitments from Intel and TSMC, domestic chip production is still lagging. Meanwhile, delays like Intel’s Ohio plant and unclear export rules on AI chips are adding more uncertainty. The industry’s watching closely as Trump’s team reconsiders whether to fully replace Biden’s AI chip restrictions.

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MARKETING IN ACTION

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INSIDE THE CONVERSATION

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THE WISDOM LINE

“High expectations are the key to everything.”

- Sam Walton, founder of Walmart Inc.

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