Welcome to the Collective. Gone are the days of dining in the dark. Your intimate family gatherings under the moonlight may now be tempered by a familiar foe: the sun. Confused? We’ll tell you more below. Just make sure you’re not wearing Lulu to the cookout.

— Antonio DiMeglio & Leon Li

Apple and Nvidia Seek to “Close” OpenAI

In an absolutely massive development for the future of, well, everything, Apple and Nvidia are “in talks” to invest in OpenAI. The two tech juggernauts would join Microsoft as the ChatGPT creator’s major corporate backers.

It's difficult to overstate the significance of this potential partnership. If these investments are finalized and OpenAI is valued at over $100 billion, the AI landscape will change dramatically. Let’s break it down for you:

1. With the three major corporate backers focusing on one generative AI company, these companies would be incentivized to utilize OpenAI tools in everything they do, potentially monopolizing the space.

2. Many generative AI startups today do not feel they can compete with OpenAI. However, with the computing power of Nvidia, the distribution of Microsoft, and the design expertise of Apple, the sky is the limit for OpenAI’s ability to extend the barriers to entry for smaller companies in the AI space.

3. We’re concerned about what this means for big tech. Shouldn’t these industry leaders seek to compete by backing individual startups in the genAI space to push the envelope? 

It feels like a cop-out from Nvidia and Apple to join the OpenAI rocketship, simply wrought out of fear of shareholder retaliation for “missing the boat” on AI. In the early stages of this space, though, the ship has not yet sailed. Without any autonomy over OpenAI, the companies may regret this choice.

Wednesday’s results? Two-thirds of you thought Apple’s glowtime logo was “not” rather than “hot.” If you, for some reason, wanted Glowtime wallpapers for your Mac or iPhone, though, someone on the internet made them here.

Lulu Becoming a Lemon

Has the athleisure era run its course? Lululemon seems to be retooling in light of changing consumer sentiment towards the trend. The brand is exploring new product categories and diversifying its offerings to stay ahead in a clothing market that’s shifting away from versatility and into sophistication. While athleisure might not disappear entirely, Lulu must evolve. Let’s break down what’s going on in the world of the yoga giant:

What: On Thursday, the company cut its annual sales and profit forecasts.

Why: 

1. On a company level, Lululemon has seen a slowdown in its women’s apparel business. 

   1. This comes after the company removed its “Breezethrough” leggings from its stores and website in July as customers complained about the fit, material and seams.

2. On a macro level, “Athleisure spending continues to wane overall, but we have also seen Alo and Vuori continue to gain share against Lulu," said Jefferies analyst Randy Konik.

   1. Alo (yoga apparel) and Vuori (performance wear) have eaten into Lulu's market share by prioritizing their specific niches. Lulu must ask themselves about their niche as the company resets their offerings moving forward.

How Lulu can Reverse Course: Community, community, community. Lulu perhaps needs to remove the “leisure” from athleisure and focus on the “ath.” The mixed signal of athleisure is not going to cut it in the Run Club era.

Pocket Full of Sunshine

Reflect Orbital is selling sunlight using a constellation of in-space reflectors. Seriously, light reflected from the sun can appear in your personal backyard at your request using their service.

We’re in the future, y’all. And this is about way more than illuminating your late-night bonfire sesh with your high school friends: the company seeks to utilize this technology to optimize the solar power farming process.

How? By:

1. Reflecting solar energy to specific solar farms throughout Earth; and 

2. Shining solar energy to solar farms on Earth at night.

Now this is deep-tech marketing strategy in action. “Sunlight after dark” leads you to learn about Reflect, and then you’ll quickly realize that their vision is much more grand than this slogan.

The impact of the elements of space on day-to-day life on Earth is just beginning. In an era where space tourism is set to launch into the mainstream, products like this will begin to feel normal.

In fact, we’ll wonder why we didn’t reach for the stars sooner.

Kaleidoscope Focused: Key News

1. Yelp sues Google in antitrust case

2. Dell rides AI wave as server sales grow 80% in Q2

3. Intuitive Machines wins $116.9M contract for 2027 moon mission

4. Blue Origin spaceflight marks first for space researchers

5. India's Agrim raises $17.3M to improve farmers’ accessibility to inputs

Curated Picks: Weekend Recs

Watch: The Paralympic Games on Peacock

Read: “The App That Monetized Doing Nothing” by Annie Low

rey (The Atlantic)

Listen: Oasis’ Definitely Maybe (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

Just Published

Take the time this weekend to check out our podcast with Deeptune Co-Founder Tim Lupo. Tim’s engaging interview is about more than his company and how he raised a $3.1 million seed round from GaryVee and Alexis Ohanian’s 776 fund: it’s about his passion for developing AI tools and how he sees the future of entertainment being impacted by them.

Watch the episode on YouTube or listen on your favorite podcast platform. And if you need more encouragement to check out the pod, listen to Alexis Ohanian explaining Deeptune on CNN here.

Grow the Collective

Some special surprises may be in store for our first referrers! 👀

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend and we’ll see you Monday. In the meantime, stay tuned with us on socials @CoeusCollective.