Trick Shot Economy

Hi, today we explore: (1) The rise of Dude Perfect, (2) TSMC’s surging sales and (3) The books being challenged across America. Good morning! New evidence suggests that foxes might have once been [man’s best friend]( after finding the supposed pets buried alongside 1,500-year-old human remains. Today we're exploring: - Tricked out: YouTubers Dude Perfect have scored an epic investment. - Chips ahoy: The world’s leading semiconductor producer bounces back. - Read the room: A record number of books are being targeted for bans. Have feedback for us? Just hit reply — we'd love to hear from you! Trick shot economy The content creators behind Dude Perfect — a wildly popular YouTube channel built on insane basketball shots and water bottle flip videos — have set their sights on expanding beyond the video-sharing platform… and they’ve just secured $100m+ to do so. The 5 friends, who started the channel in college back in 2009, are planning to pump the nine-figure investment from private equity firm Highmount Capital into boosting their content output, creating more live experiences, and furthering their foray into consumer products, according to [an interview]( with the Hollywood Reporter. So far, the DP channel has racked up over 17 billion views, according to social metrics tracker [Social Blade]( with videos like Real Life Trick Shots 2 and Ping Pong Trick Shots 3 getting over 320 million views each. As the audiences of online megastars grow from millions to tens of millions, investors seem increasingly open to injecting cash into projects by content creators from YouTube, TikTok, and other social platforms — capital that used to be reserved for more traditional media. Another YouTuber, MrBeast, is perhaps the best example. He had a brief dalliance with the world of venture capital in 2021 when he sought to raise $150m at a $1.5bn valuation. While that deal never came to fruition, he has since teamed up with Amazon Prime to work on the “biggest game show ever”, with the creator [reportedly]( offered $100m to develop and front the concept. [Read this on the web instead]( In Silico Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has caught the AI wave, posting double-digit growth for the first time since 2022, with a 17% surge in sales for the first quarter of [2024](. The world’s largest chipmaker, TSMC manufactures chips designed by the likes of Nvidia and Qualcomm. The output of the Taiwanese titan ends up in a countless number of products that make modern life tick, from smartphones to smart cars — and Apple is “by far” TSMC’s largest customer, spending tens of billions of dollars on [TSMC chips]( for its Macs and iPhones. After the pandemic-fueled tech binge cooled off, TSMC had a more sluggish 2023, reporting its first back-to-back quarterly sales decline since 2017. However, the AI revolution has reinvigorated demand for TSMC's high-end chips, with companies scrambling to stock up on the silicon that powers AI, bolstering the chipmaker’s sales in the most recent quarter: revenue in March [alone]( was reportedly up 34% year-on-year. TSMC's dominance remains a political football in the ongoing tensions between China and the US. In an attempt to bring more advanced semiconductor manufacturing back to American shores, the government has been working to boost its domestic semiconductor industry — on Monday announcing that TSMC could receive up to $11.6bn in grants and loans to help build its factories in [Arizona](. [Read this on the web instead]( Read the room More books were called to be banned in 2023 across US schools and libraries than any other year on record, according to a new [report]( from the American Library Association (ALA). Building on a surge that started in 2021, some 4,240 unique book titles were challenged last year — a 65% increase from 2022, and the highest figure documented in over 20 years of tracking. Although the number of affected titles has grown dramatically, as groups increasingly target multiple books at once, overall censorship demands dropped slightly, down 2% to 1,247. Literature concerning [race and gender]( was particularly contested, with autobiographical graphic novel Gender Queer named the most challenged library book of the year. [Public libraries]( are now the primary battleground for proposed bans: the number of titles targeted for censorship at libraries rose by 92%, compared with 11% at schools. Moreover, librarians now face harsh penalties, including potential fines and imprisonment in [several states]( for distributing books that are deemed inappropriate. By the book: Penguin Random House, America’s largest publisher, is involved in ongoing federal litigation seeking to block book bans on First Amendment grounds. [Read this on the web instead]( More Data • The eclipse worked wonders for the [chronically online]( internet traffic was down more than 40% across states in the path of totality around the time that the moon blocked the sun. • Inflation [inched back up]( to 3.5% in March... and stocks dropped in response. • The women’s final had more viewers than the men’s for the first time in NCAA basketball championship history, with 18.9 million tuning in to watch South Carolina beat Iowa [on Sunday](. • We’re now deep in the era of the AI essay, with students reportedly submitting more than 22 million papers that may have been co-written with ChatGPT or other generative [AI tools](. • A history of the American economy [through 50 years of stadium names](. Hi-Viz • ‘Tis the season… see where one (hopefully already filed) [US tax dollar]( goes. • Coming of age: Statistical deep-dive showing hundreds of [teenagers]( growing into adults — and how their lives turn out. Off the charts: Which social media platform axed a premium feature for its users after reports it was worsening teen anxiety? Hint: the platform has almost never made a profit. [Answer below]. [Answer here](. Thanks for stopping by! Have some [feedback](mailto:daily@chartr.co?subject=Feedback&body=Hi%2C%0A%0AI%20like%20the%20newsletters%2C%20but%20I%20had%20a%20thought%20for%20you...) or want to [sponsor]( this newsletter? Not a subscriber? Sign up for free below. [Subscribe]( Copyright © 2024 CHARTR LIMITED, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: CHARTR LIMITED 231 Vauxhall Bridge RoadLondon, SW1V 1AD United Kingdom [Add us to your address book]( Don't want charts in your inbox anymore? 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