Reddit IPO

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Reddit IPOs At Top of Range

Expectations were high, but Reddit’s IPO did not disappoint, raising $748m with its shares priced at the top of the marketed range of $31 to $34. This result gives the social media platform a market value of $5.4bn, based on the outstanding shares listed in its filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg reported. However, even if its fully diluted valuation is closer to $6.4bn, that is still a far cry from the $10bn raised in a 2021 funding round, when the IPO plans were first announced.

Neuralink Breakthrough

“It has already changed my life,” said Noland Arbaugh, a quadriplegic man who was the first person to receive a brain implant designed by Elon Musk’s Neuralink. On Wednesday, the company released footage of Arbaugh playing a video game and online chess using only his mind. Elsewhere in cutting-edge medtech, earlier this week Johnson & Johnson [JNJ] Medtech announced a partnership with Nvidia [NVDA] to use artificial intelligence (AI) to develop surgical software and data analysis.

Apple Under Attack Over App Store — Again

Apple’s [AAPL] big tech peers have joined forces to ask a federal judge to reject the Cupertino company’s plans to open its App Store to outside payment options. In a joint filing, Meta [META], Microsoft [MSFT] X Corp and Match Group [MTCH] said the plan “comports with neither the letter nor the spirit” of a 2021 ruling, by which the iPhone maker was found to be in violation of unfair competition laws in California.

New US EV Target

The Biden administration on Wednesday cut its 2032 target for electric vehicle (EV) adoption from 67% to 35%, following an industry backlash. The US Environmental Protection Agency has instead adopted a “technology neutral” regulatory scheme, which grants automakers greater freedom to meet emissions targets with hybrid vehicles. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that the rise of EVs has impacted demand for platinum and palladium, which are used in catalytic converters.

Chinese Upstarts Threaten Amazon

Chinese fast-fashion e-commerce brand Shein is to open up its supply-chain infrastructure and technology to global brands, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Wednesday, quoting an investor letter from Executive Chairman Donald Tang. Elsewhere, the WSJ reported that Amazon [AMZN] is now more focused on outmanoeuvring Shein and Temu than traditional rivals Walmart [WMT] and Target [TGT].