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Semafor Technology · Semafor Technology · 2026-05-22
Semafor Technology's May 22 briefing analyzes SpaceX's unclassifiable IPO valuation at 93x sales, reports the US government's $2B quantum computing grants conspicuously excluded Google, Microsoft, and IonQ, and covers AI's expanding role in hiring, dating apps, and autonomous vehicles.
Appears in
Extraction
Topics: spacex-ipoquantum-computingai-hiringautonomous-vehiclesai-generated-content
Claims
- SpaceX's speculative IPO valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion implies a 93x sales multiple, far above the S&P 500 average of approximately 3x.
- The US government's $2B quantum computing investment excluded major players Google, Microsoft, and IonQ, potentially creating a competitive disadvantage for those firms in future government contracting.
- Deel received 1.3 million job applications in 2025 and hired only 0.2% of them after AI screening, an acceptance rate lower than Harvard's.
- An AI-written short story won a Granta literary prize before AI-detection software flagged it, indicating AI-generated writing is becoming harder for judges to detect.
- The Trump administration's proposed AI executive order was derailed by Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and former adviser David Sacks before it could be signed.
Key quotes
Buying shares in SpaceX — like Tesla was once upon a time — is more like a call option on several enormous futures at once. You're betting that a world with robots and rockets and AI is going to fundamentally change the economy. Today's financials don't really even matter.
The acceptance rate for online job applicants has dropped so low that, in some cases, it now trails getting accepted to Harvard.
The omission could amount to a 'comparative disadvantage' for the quantum companies that don't get the Trump administration's blessing, an implicit nod that could serve as a precursor to further government contracts.