Welcome back to your daily memorandum talking tech, business, AI, markets, and more. 🗞️

In today’s edition, we are tackling the following:

🎉 ChatGPT first launched exactly 3 years ago, marking a major tech milestone.
📉 Bitcoin drops below $86,000 as December begins with a broad market selloff.
💼 Report questions how David Sacks could benefit from Trump administration position.
✈️ Airbus reduces software crisis as airlines resume A320 operations worldwide.
🏭 China’s factory output unexpectedly contracted, falling short of market expectations.

TECHNOLOGY

• ChatGPT first launched exactly 3 years ago, marking a major tech milestone (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!, Axios}}

  • ChatGPT’s 2022 launch quickly reshaped business and technology, sparking massive growth in generative AI products worldwide.

  • Some experts believe OpenAI now holds unprecedented global influence, significantly affecting geopolitics and everyday human life.

  • Others warn that generative AI creates uncertainty for workers of all ages, fueling fears about an unpredictable future.

• AI-assisted shopping is the talk of the holiday shopping season (AP)
  ^{_{More: WTOP, NY Times}}

  • Major retailers and tech companies launch advanced AI tools to enhance holiday shopping experiences and boost sales.

  • New AI assistants provide personalized recommendations, track prices, and place some orders via unscripted customer interactions.

  • Salesforce predicts AI will influence $73 billion, or 22%, of global sales during the holiday shopping period.

• James Cameron calls generative AI horrifying despite his cutting-edge filmmaking reputation (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: CBS, Deadline}}

  • Cameron contrasts performance capture with generative AI, insisting his filmmaking process celebrates real actors rather than replacing them.

  • He emphasizes that “Avatar” characters rely on authentic actor performances, not AI-generated creations or synthetic replicas.

  • Cameron warns that generative AI can invent actors and performances from prompts, calling the concept deeply horrifying.

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BUSINESS

• Bitcoin drops below $86,000 as December begins with ^_a broad market selloff (Bloomberg)
  ^{_{More: MSN, Economic Times}}

  • Bitcoin fell nearly 6% to $85,778, while Ether dropped over 5.8% amid a global crypto market decline.

  • Major altcoins, including Solana, XRP, BNB, Cardano, and Dogecoin, all lost more than ten percent.

  • The overall cryptocurrency market capitalization decreased 4.82% to $2.94 trillion amid ongoing volatility since October.

• Report questions how David Sacks could benefit from a Trump administration position (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!, AInvest}}

  • A report suggests Sacks’ White House role could advantage his AI and crypto investments significantly.

  • Critics argue that his political influence and financial interests overlap, raising concerns about major conflicts of interest.

  • Despite ethics waivers, questions persist about undisclosed asset values and whether his divestments were fully completed.

• Airbus reduces software crisis as airlines gradually resume A320 operations worldwide (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Al Jazeera, Economic Times, The Guardian}}

  • Airbus accelerated software updates after the JetBlue A320 incident, allowing fleets to return to normal operations rapidly.

  • About half of the A320-family jets, roughly 6,000 aircraft, were recalled due to solar flare vulnerability concerns.

  • Some airlines, including Colombia’s Avianca, face longer delays, halting bookings until software retrofits are fully completed.

MARKETS

WORLD

• India’s strong growth and low inflation question the need for rate cuts (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Economic Times, Business Standard}}

  • India’s economy grew 8.2% in July-September, prompting analysts to raise full-year growth forecasts above seven percent.

  • Retail inflation slowed to a record-low 0.25% in October, indicating a benign outlook for upcoming months.

  • Economists suggest limited space for rate cuts despite low inflation, with policy likely pausing unless growth risks emerge.

• China’s factory output unexpectedly contracted in November, falling short of market expectations (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: MSN, AP, Reuters}}

  • A private survey showed China’s manufacturing PMI slipping to 49.9, signaling contraction and missing analyst forecasts.

  • The decline reflects weaker domestic demand, despite export orders growing at their fastest pace in months.

  • The private PMI outperformed official data, yet both surveys confirmed ongoing factory weakness across the broader economy.

• Coupang apologizes after massive data breach affecting millions of customer accounts (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, Bloomberg, Yahoo!}}

  • Ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to five years in prison over corruption in a government land project.

  • British lawmaker Tulip Siddiq received two years’ imprisonment for influencing her aunt in the Purbachal New Town project.

  • Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, got seven years, while Hasina remains in exile in India.

FUTURISM

• A look inside Finland’s rapidly growing drone-powered food delivery system (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!, The Guardian}}

  • A partnership between Manna, Wolt, and Huuva is enabling drone-based food deliveries across Espoo.

  • Drones boost speed and convenience, helping suburban customers access diverse meals and groceries without traffic delays.

  • Finland’s operations expanded quickly after permitting, with drones carrying small payloads and completing efficient dual flights.

• AI song “Walk My Walk” raises ethical questions over Blanco Brown’s sound (AP)
  ^{_{More: Washington Times, AOL}}

  • AI-generated country track “Walk My Walk” topped Billboard charts, credited to fictional artist Breaking Rust.

  • Blanco Brown’s voice and style were used without consent, sparking debates over attribution and industry ethics.

  • Song linked to Defbeatsai ecosystem, involving AI tools developed by Brown’s past collaborator, Abraham Abushmais.

• You can’t force AI to admit sexism, but hidden biases still exist (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!, Ben’s Bites}}

  • Varda envisions frequent spacecraft returning with space-made pharmaceuticals, predicting rapid growth in orbital manufacturing.

  • The company already returned drug crystals from orbit, proving microgravity enables superior pharmaceutical crystallization processes.

  • Space manufacturing offers precise crystal control, producing purer, more stable drugs after lengthy microgravity production cycles.

CONTENT

• Jeanne DeWitt Grosser explains what a world-class GTM strategy will look like in 2026 (Lenny's Podcast)

  • GTM strategy is increasingly critical in the AI era, shaping business success and operational efficiency.

  • The role of GTM engineers grows, bridging sales, product, and technical teams effectively.

  • Companies must rethink segmentation, sales structures, and build-versus-buy decisions for AI-driven go-to-market tools.

• Thomas Paul Mann discusses Raycast and its future with AI integration (The Verge)

  • Raycast is a powerful launcher that interacts with all computer files and apps, now exploring AI capabilities.

  • Mann explains AI integration, addressing security, privacy, and building practical, effective AI-powered software products.

  • He shares insights on prompt-first computing, AI applications, and the future of AI-driven operating systems.

• Sherwin Wu explains OpenAI’s model specialization and fine-tuning for 800 million users (a16z)

  • OpenAI shifts from a single general-purpose model to specialized systems, custom fine-tuning, and node-based agent workflows.

  • Developers trust familiar model families, while OpenAI evolves from prompt engineering to context-driven design for applications.

  • Platform balances horizontal APIs and vertical products, using acquisitions and pricing strategies to enhance AI agent performance.

EXTRAS

• Amazon and Google launch multicloud service to improve connectivity speed and reliability (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Straits Times, Investing.com}}

  • Amazon and Google introduced a multicloud networking service enabling high-speed private links between their platforms quickly.

  • The service aims to prevent costly outages like the October AWS disruption affecting popular websites worldwide.

  • Combining AWS and Google Interconnect, the collaboration enhances multi-cloud network interoperability for customers.

• Bangladesh court convicts ex-leader Hasina and niece Tulip Siddiq of corruption (AP)
  ^{_{More: The Times, WTOP}}

  • Ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to five years in prison over corruption in a government land project.

  • British lawmaker Tulip Siddiq received two years’ imprisonment for influencing her aunt in the Purbachal New Town project.

  • Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, got seven years, while Hasina remains in exile in India.

• HSBC partners with French start-up Mistral to accelerate generative AI integration (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Economic Times, Yahoo!}}

  • HSBC signs multi-year deal with Mistral AI to deploy generative tools across banking operations efficiently.

  • Partnership enables AI solutions for financial analysis, risk assessment, multilingual translation, and personalized client communications.

  • Generative AI is expected to boost productivity, reduce routine task time, and accelerate HSBC’s innovation cycles.

AND MORE

• Top Cyber Monday deals are live, offering gadgets, games, and gear discounts.

• Apple’s M4 MacBook Air hits $738.04, lowest Cyber Monday price yet.

• The indie web returns to make the internet creatively unconventional again.

• Our new report shows how top U.S. firms are escaping the H-1B chaos through smarter, faster, borderless hiring.*

• Bamboo sparks identity debate among residents after major Hong Kong blaze.

• Palm oil prices sustain 3-day gains as Malaysian stockpile data draws attention.

• Airbus orders software fix to thousands of planes due to solar radiation risk.

• Malaysia’s Perodua launches $19,000 electric vehicle, battery not included.