*as of 9/28; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

Meta’s new AI agent Muse has rocketed to the top of app store charts and sent shockwaves through the public and private markets. Meta’s stock rose dramatically after the rollout before falling 4.8% yesterday, though it is still up around 15% since Muse’s release. While there are privacy concerns and other bugs to iron out, Muse has been a massive success for Meta so far and is a shot across the bow of competitors such as OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as smaller AI agent startups that may not have the resources or reach to compete.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The initial popularity of Muse is a bullish signal for AI agents as a whole, and Meta’s massive distribution edge and free model has already given it a massive head start. It would not be a surprise to see competitors focus more on B2B routes instead of trying to compete with Meta in the consumer assistant space. VCs have been pouring money into AI agent startups such as Instinct, which raised $1 billion last week at a valuation 200 times its seed round from two months earlier. If agents truly are the future of the AI space, the first major player has entered the scene.

In the newest episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin talks with Chef Robotics Founder/CEO Rajat Bhageria about scaling his company, the present and future of Physical AI and Robotics, and why he is bearish on humanoid robots.

🥃 Record-setting whiskey?: One of only 40 bottles of 60-year old Macallan whiskey originally distilled in 1926 is being auctioned at Sotheby's on October 9 with a high estimate of $3 million. If the bottle reaches that estimate it would set a new all-time record for any bottle of whiskey which is currently held by a different bottle of 1926 Macallan that sold for $2.7 million in 2023.

🤖 AMD acquires World Labs: The Semiconductor giant is buying the spatial AI startup founded by former Google AI researcher Fei-Fei Li for $8.2 billion. World Labs previously raised a $1 billion funding round at a $5 billion valuation in February.

🏡 Top U.S. migration destinations: Las Vegas is the top destination for homebuyers looking to relocate, based on where out-of-market buyers are searching for homes. It was followed by three Florida markets, while Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle had the highest net outflow of buyers, with affordability the likely reason.

🚀 Precision Neuroscience raise: The brain-computer interface startup raised $250 million at a valuation of $1 billion, double its valuation from late 2024. The company is developing a thin film of electrodes to sit on the surface of the brain rather than the more invasive probe of major competitor Neuralink.

🪙 BitGet hack: The crypto exchange was hacked for $352 million and had to temporarily halt customer withdrawals, though it claims the losses are covered by its User Protection Fund. Both the exchange and federal investigators suspect the attack was carried out by state-sponsored North Korean cybercriminals.

👛 Half-dollar sales: A collection of 253 rare half-collar coins fetched a total of $2.4 million at Stack’s Bowers auctions, with multiple price records set for individual pieces. The highest selling item was a 1921-D Walking Liberty half dollar that went for a record-setting $183,000.

A golf course in Orlando only 15 minutes from the airport and Disney area resorts is coming up for auction in early November. The 187 acre Hunter's Creek Golf Course has been closed since 2020 when it was bought by its current owner for $2.6 million. The original plans had been to add residential housing around the course, but nothing has happened, leaving the course intact. The 18-hole, par-72 course features 13 lakes and three buildings totaling nearly 20,000 square feet. The starting bid for the auction is $1.25 million, and it could be a solid value-add opportunity for a buyer with the capital to update and refurbish the course.