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

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

🎬 ByteDance unveils Seedance 2.0, escalating China’s AI video competition.
💼 Databricks closes massive funding round, fueling IPO expectations.
🏛️ EU regulators warn Meta over WhatsApp blocking rival AI chatbots.
📈 Japanese stocks hit record highs after landslide election victory.
🧠 Researchers warn that AI is driving global cultural stagnation.

TECHNOLOGY

• Discord to roll out age verification next month for full access to its platform (TechCrunch) 

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  • Discord begins the global rollout of age verification in March, setting all users to teen restrictions by default.

  • Users must submit a facial scan or a government-issued ID to access adult content and features.

  • The platform implements teen-by-default settings following the success of the previous UK and Australia age-verification pilot programs.

• ByteDance's new model sparks stock rally as China's AI video battle escalates (South China Morning Post) 

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  • Seedance 2.0 delivers cinematic AI videos with native audio and multi-shot storytelling capabilities.

  • The ByteDance model supports eight languages and has sparked a rally in Chinese media and AI stocks.

  • The platform enables 2K video creation with multimodal inputs, including text, image, audio, and video.

• Crypto.com CEO unveils new AI agents to millions during Super Bowl (Cointelegraph) 

  • Kris Marszalek launches ai.com during Super Bowl 60 to create personalized AI agents for users.

  • The platform aims to build a decentralized network of autonomous AI agents performing real-world tasks daily.

  • The CEO purchased the ai.com domain for $70M, the largest publicly disclosed domain sale in history.

BUSINESS

• Sam Altman touts ChatGPT's reaccelerating growth to employees as OpenAI closes in on $100B funding (CNBC) 

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  • ChatGPT returns to exceeding 10% monthly growth with over 800M weekly users worldwide.

  • OpenAI prepares to launch updated Chat model this week while finalizing $100B funding round.

  • The company faces intensifying competition from Anthropic and Google as it prepares a limited advertising rollout for ChatGPT.

• Meta hit by EU's warning to open WhatsApp to rival AI chatbots (Bloomberg) 

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  • The European Commission has sent a statement of objections to Meta over WhatsApp's blocking of rival AI chatbots.

  • The EU is considering interim measures to prevent serious harm while investigating Meta's dominant position in the messaging market.

  • Meta's policy change effectively barred third-party AI assistants since January, favoring Meta AI exclusively.

• Databricks completes $5B funding round at $134B valuation (CNBC) 

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  • Databricks closes $5B round and $2B in debt capacity, surpassing $5.4B in annualized revenue.

  • Company delivers 65% year-over-year revenue growth with positive free cash flow, eyeing potential IPO.

  • AI products generate $1.4B in annualized revenue as Databricks surpasses rival Snowflake in scale.

• Explore the essential startup reading database*

  • Learning from the best is how you become the best. We've curated a list of top-notch articles, blogs, and readings that are pivotal for startup founders.

  • And here's the kicker: we've organized it all in a user-friendly Notion database for easy access and tracking. Double win!

  • As aspiring leaders and innovators, we use this list as a bridge to absorb the knowledge that has propelled others to success.
    

MARKETS

WORLD

• Celebrity appearances, controversial ads, and other Super Bowl takeaways (BBC) 

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  • The Seattle Seahawks dominated the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl 60 at Levi's Stadium.

  • Kenneth Walker III earned MVP with over 160 scrimmage yards while Seattle's defense held the Patriots scoreless until the fourth quarter.

  • Bad Bunny headlined the halftime show with Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, celebrating Puerto Rican heritage.

• Police assessing claims about Andrew sharing confidential trade details (BBC) 

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  • Thames Valley Police is assessing a complaint regarding Prince Andrew sharing confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein.

  • Emails indicate that Andrew forwarded official trade-envoy trip reports and Afghanistan investment briefings to Epstein.

  • Former Business Secretary Vince Cable states that he was unaware that Andrew had shared sensitive investment information.

• Japanese shares hit record high as Sanae Takaichi wins landslide election victory (The Guardian) 

  ^{_{More: CNN, TIME, NPR}}

  • Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party secures historic 316 seats, first two-thirds majority in party history.

  • Nikkei surpassed 56K for the first time after Japan's first female prime minister won a mandate.

  • LDP to pursue tax cuts, increased defense spending, and potentially constitutional amendments over fiscal concerns.

FUTURISM

• AI is causing cultural stagnation, researchers find (Futurism)

  • Researchers find that AI-generated content contributes to homogenization and the decline of cultural innovation globally.

  • The study finds that algorithmic recommendations and AI content creation reduce exposure to diverse cultural expressions.

  • Cultural outputs are becoming increasingly similar across platforms as AI systems optimize for engagement metrics.

• The Department of Homeland Security is demanding that Google turn over information about random critics (Futurism)

  • DHS issued an administrative subpoena demanding Google user data after a retiree sent a polite advocacy email.

  • The subpoena required no judicial approval and demanded weeks of data, including IP addresses and identifying information.

  • ACLU warns that unmasking critics through subpoenas makes people reticent to speak without fear of arrest.

• Professional gamblers move into prediction markets to Bleed You Dry (Futurism)

  • Professional gamblers and financial firms are flooding prediction markets like Kalshi with $10B January volume.

  • Sharp bettors exploit structural advantages in prediction markets, pitting users against each other.

  • Major trading firms like Susquehanna and Jump Trading are betting tens of millions weekly against amateurs.

CONTENT

• The truth behind automation claims in customer support | Cresta CEO Ping Wu (Grit)

  • Ping Wu challenges exaggerated automation narratives, explaining what AI realistically replaces and what it augments in customer support teams.

  • The discussion breaks down deployment gaps, data quality constraints, and why human-in-the-loop systems remain operationally necessary.

  • Wu outlines how enterprises should measure the impact of AI, focusing on resolution quality, agent productivity, and sustainable cost structures.

• Getting paid to vibe code: Inside the new AI-era job | Lazar Jovanovic (Lenny’s Podcast)

  • Lazar Jovanovic explains vibe coding, where builders use AI tools to rapidly prototype products without traditional engineering roles.

  • The episode explores emerging job paths, compensation models, and how nontechnical creators leverage these models to drive real production output.

  • It examines implications for hiring, product velocity, and why judgment and taste matter more as coding barriers fall.

• AI’s research frontier: Memory, world models, and planning | Joelle Pineau (Big Technology Podcast)

  • Joelle Pineau outlines why memory, planning, and world models define the next phase of AI research progress.

  • She discusses the limitations of current systems, enterprise capability overhang, and why assistants still struggle to be truly useful.

  • The conversation covers AI sovereignty, deployment realities, and whether major labs can meaningfully differentiate in the long term.

EXTRAS

• YouTube to offer sports-only TV package at a 22% discount (Bloomberg) 

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  • YouTube is launching cheaper TV bundles specifically tailored for sports fans and news enthusiasts.

  • The sports package offers a 22% discount, addressing TV's biggest consumer problem: unwanted bundled content.

  • The platform aims to address subscriber frustration with paying for channels they never watch.

• Uber to acquire delivery business of Turkey's Getir (Economic Times) 

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  • Uber is acquiring Getir's delivery business operations in Turkey to expand its international delivery footprint.

  • The deal consolidates Uber's position in the quick commerce market following Getir's strategic restructuring.

  • The transaction marks the latest consolidation move in the competitive global instant-delivery and grocery sector.

• YouTube Music lyrics now require a premium subscription (9to5Google) 

  _{^{More: Android Authority, MacRumors, Engadget}}

  • YouTube Music is implementing a Premium paywall for lyrics after months of testing the restriction.

  • Users receive only five free lyric views before a subscription is required, a $10.99 monthly Premium cost.

  • Google reports over 325M paid subscriptions across consumer services with strong YouTube adoption.

AND MORE

• Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party wins historic supermajority in snap election.

• Pakistan’s Islamabad mosque bombing kills at least 31 worshippers and wounds dozens.

• Pakistan’s president accuses Afghanistan of pre-9/11-like conditions after the attack.

• Roko’s Basilisk skips the buzz words and cuts straight to what moves markets, products, and careers.

• Zelenskyy says Russian energy infrastructure is a legitimate military target.

• UK and Japanese markets react sharply as political uncertainty hits borrowing costs.

• Pakistan’s opposition leader sharply criticizes the military over border security failures.

• Israel partially reopens Gaza’s Rafah crossing to limited pedestrian traffic.

• Ukrainian peace negotiations with Russia continue amid international pressure for a resolution.