January 16th Newsletter

Author

Da Yu
January 16, 2026

As of close on January 15, 2026

U.S. core CPI rose 2.6% in December, below consensus, with shelter, food, and recreation higher and used cars lower. In response, markets opened steady, and the base case remains a Fed hold. In D.C., Fed Chair Jerome Powell confirmed he is under a criminal probe tied to tensions with President Trump. Turning to tech, Oracle faces a bondholder lawsuit alleging it failed to disclose plans for $38B of AI-related debt following a $300B OpenAI deal, pressuring bond prices and pushing yields higher. Nvidia received formal Trump administration approval Tuesday to export H200 chips to China under third-party reviews, export caps, and strict non-military-use conditions, and separately hired Google veteran Alison Wagonfeld as its first CMO as quarterly sales reached $57B. Finally, Meta began cutting 1,000+ jobs in Reality Labs (~10% of staff) as it reallocates spend from metaverse projects toward AI wearables and AI-driven phone features.

We’ve just published our Monthly AI Deck for December 2025. Check it out here.

Top 5 AI Highlights

[1] 🤝 Apple and Google announced a multi-year partnership, basing Apple Foundation Models on Google’s Gemini and cloud stack, powering future Apple Intelligence features while preserving Apple’s privacy-first architecture. See more on Google. 

[2] 🧠 Google launched Gemini Personal Intelligence, letting paid users opt in to AI scanning Gmail, Photos, and YouTube for tailored answers, with privacy controls and no direct training on sensitive data. Details on Google.

[3] ⚡Meta Platforms launched Meta Compute to scale AI infrastructure to tens and eventually hundreds of gigawatts, elevating compute as a core strategic priority. As part of this shift, Meta hired Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chair to lead government and sovereign partnerships needed to finance, permit, and deploy massive infrastructure globally. Santosh Janardhan and Daniel Gross oversee execution across technology, capacity planning, and supplier strategy. Read more on FB and Reuters.

[4] 💰 OpenAI acquires health-tech startup Torch for ~$60-100M in stock to bolster ChatGPT Health with unified medical data AI, while also unveiling a $10B+ deal to secure 750MW of compute for faster inference capacity with Cerebras Systems. Read more from TechCrunch and CNBC.

[5] 🧑‍💼 Anthropic accelerated its vertical and enterprise push, launching Claude for Healthcare with HIPAA-ready connectors, clinical-trial and regulatory tooling, and Opus 4.5 upgrades, alongside Claude Cowork—a Max-only enterprise agent automating file management and document creation—while Microsoft simultaneously ramps spending to ~$500M annually on Anthropic models to scale deployment across Azure and Copilot and diversify beyond OpenAI. Details on Claude for Healthcare, Cowork, and MSFT Spending.

✨Open Source AI Development

[1] 💰 DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng’s High-Flyer Asset posted 56.6% returns in 2025, boosting its $10B AUM—potentially expanding DeepSeek’s AI ambitions amid China’s booming quant fund surge. See more on Bloomberg.

[2] 🧠 China’s Zhipu, newly public after a ~$558M Hong Kong IPO, unveils GLM-Image — a state-of-the-art multimodal AI model fully trained on Huawei’s Ascend chips — a symbolic step in reducing reliance on U.S. tech. More on Bloomberg.

[3] 🔐 Moxie Marlinspike launches Confer, an open-source, end-to-end encrypted AI assistant—applying Signal-style privacy to LLMs to keep user data inaccessible to platforms and authorities. More from Arstechnica

[4] 🎥 Lightricks open-sourced LTX-2, a 19B-parameter model generating synchronized 4K video and audio locally, undercutting closed rivals on cost, control, and commercial-friendly licensing. (DigitalOcean)

[5] 🦾 Tensor Auto Inc. open-sourced OpenTau at CES 2026, a training platform for Vision-Language-Action models, aiming to accelerate transparent, reproducible development of Physical and Embodied AI systems. (OpenSource)

Founder’s Corner

Number of Startups getting acquired after raising $50M

Source: X

What We Read This Week

  • Andreessen Horowitz raised $15B across key tech sectors, including AI, bio-health, crypto, and growth, to secure U.S. technological leadership amid global competition, emphasizing American dynamism and opportunity. (a16z)

  • Walmart and Google integrate Gemini AI for seamless, personalized shopping—linking Walmart's vast inventory, member perks, and fast delivery with conversational AI to redefine the retail experience. (Walmart)

  • Thinking Machines ousts CTO Barrett Zoph for unethical conduct, per sources. CEO Mira Murati disclosed the decision at an all-hands; Soumith Chintala was named the new CTO. Fidji Simo says Zoph, Luke Metz, and Sam Schoenholz are returning to OpenAI, a move in the planning for weeks. (X) and (X)

  • OpenAI will run a second straight Super Bowl LX ad, escalating its user-growth push as AI rivals boost spending amid rising competition and public anxiety over artificial intelligence. (WSJ)

  • Liftoff Mobile Inc., backed by Blackstone Inc., filed for a US IPO, posting a $25.6M loss on $491.6M revenue amid accelerating growth and widening losses. (BBG)

  • GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc. debuts in Hong Kong after a $600M offering, with shares jumping nearly 40% in gray-market trading as AI-linked China chip stocks attract investors. (BBG)

  • Tesla Inc. will move Full Self-Driving (FSD) to a subscription-only model after Feb. 14, ending the $8,000 upfront option, CEO Elon Musk said. (BBG)

  • YouTube now lets parents set Shorts scrolling limits for kids and teens, expanding parental controls as Google tightens safeguards on under-18 accounts. (TheVerge)

AI Fundraising News (Jan 9 — Jan 15)

  • Accelsius: AI-driven thermal optimization for AI data centers, raised a $65M Series B

  • Aikido Security: AI-powered security guardrails for developers, raised a $60M Series B

  • Alpaca: AI-driven compliance monitoring for brokerage infra, raised a $150M Series D

  • ATG: AI-powered wealth strategist app, raised $15M Preseed

  • Cerebras: AI chipmaker, in talks to raise ~$1B

  • Converge Bio: generative AI for drug development, raised a $25M Series A

  • Deepgram: enterprise voice recognition AI tech, raised a $130M Series C

  • Defense Unicorns: AI-assisted automation for DoD software, raised a $136M Series B

  • Depthfirst: AI tools for codebase scanning and threat monitoring, raised a $40M Series A

  • Equal1: Quantum server for data centers startup, raised $60M

  • Etched: AI chip startup, raised $500M

  • Flip: Alexa-like voice AI for businesses, raised a $20M Series A

  • Harmattan AI: Autonomy and mission systems for defense aircraft, raised a $200M Series B

  • Higgsfield: AI video generation platform for short-form content, raised a $80M Series A extension

  • IO River: AI-driven traffic optimization across edge networks, raised a $20M Series A

  • Montage: Chinese chip designer, in talks to raise $900M+ in an IPO backed by Alibaba and JP Morgan

  • Mytra: Autonomous warehouse robots moving 3,000 lbs, raised a $120M Series C

  • Neuramint: AI agent workflow platform for Web3, raised $5M Seed

  • Novee: Automated AI penetration testing, raised a $43M Series A

  • Onebrief: AI-powered military workflow software, raised a $200M Series D

  • Parloa: AI customer service agents for enterprises, raised $350M

  • Project Eleven: AI-driven cryptography threat modeling for blockchains, raised a $20M Series A

  • Proxima: AI to design proximity-based therapeutic drugs, raised $80M Seed

  • Replit: Collaborative browser-based software development platform, raised about $400M

  • RISA Labs: AI operating system for oncology care, raised $11.1M Series A

  • Skild AI: Robotics foundation models, raised a $1.4B Series C

  • Torq: Autonomous AI-powered security operations platform, raised $140M

  • Tulip: AI-powered frontline operations platform, raised a $120M Series D

  • Tucuvi: AI agents for patient check-ins, raised a $20M Series A

  • webAI: local-device AI model development, raised high double-digit millions Series A

  • WithCoverage: AI risk assessment and insurance optimization, raised $42M Series B

  • WitnessAI: Governance and protection tools for AI ops, raised $58M

  • Xreal: AI-powered smart glasses with contextual assistance, raised $100M

  • Zepo Intelligence: Workplace AI security against social engineering, raised $15M Seed