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

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

🕊️ Israel approves Trump’s Gaza ceasefire, releasing 48 hostages and 250 prisoners.
💻 YouTube reinstates banned creators under new policy.
🔋 Intel reveals Panther Lake architecture with 50% performance boost.
🌍 China expands rare-earth export controls to 12 new elements.
📱 Sora hits 1M downloads in under five days despite copyright backlash.

TECHNOLOGY

• Google Cloud Battles Microsoft, OpenAI for Workplace AI (Bloomberg)
  _{^{More: CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Variety}}

  • Google launched Gemini Enterprise platform at thirty dollars monthly per user for workplace automation.

  • Platform enables workers to chat with enterprise data, search information, and deploy AI agents.

  • Virgin Voyages deployed over fifty specialized AI agents as an early adopter of the service.

• 'Dozens' of organizations had data stolen in Oracle-linked hacks (TechCrunch) 
  _{^{More: BleepingComputer, SC Media, Dark Reading}}

  • Clop ransomware gang exploited multiple Oracle E-Business Suite vulnerabilities dating back to July.

  • Google researchers confirmed hackers stole significant data from dozens of organizations through zero-day exploitation.

  • Oracle patched critical vulnerability allowing unauthenticated remote access without usernames or passwords after exploitation began.

• YouTube will give banned creators a 'second chance' after rule rollback (CNBC) 
  _{^{More: TechCrunch, Variety, CNN}}

  • YouTube launched program allowing previously banned creators to apply for new channels after rollback.

  • Creators terminated for COVID-19 and election misinformation policies can request reinstatement with fresh start.

  • Program excludes copyright violators and requires one-year waiting period before application eligibility begins.

BUSINESS

• Inside Intel's big bet to save US chipmaking — and itself (Financial Times) 
  _{^{More: Tom's Hardware, PC Gamer, Intel Newsroom}}

  • Intel's Fab 52 began production of 18A chips targeting late 2025 process leadership reclamation.

  • Microsoft committed to Intel's 18A process while AMD entered early talks for foundry partnership.

  • Company aims to become world's second-largest foundry by 2030 challenging TSMC and Samsung dominance.

• China unveils sweeping rare-earth export controls to protect 'national security' (Financial Times) 
  _{^{More: CNN, CNBC, NPR}}

  • China expanded rare earth export controls to twelve elements plus related mining and processing technologies.

  • Foreign firms need licenses to export products containing over point one percent Chinese-origin rare earths.

  • Restrictions prohibit Chinese citizens from supporting overseas rare earth mining without government approval ahead.

• OpenAI Warns EU Antitrust Watchdogs of Big Tech's Data Dominance (Bloomberg) 
  _{^{More: AppleInsider, Seeking Alpha, The Implicator}}

  • OpenAI raised concerns with EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera about difficulties competing with entrenched companies.

  • Company pressed regulators to intervene and avoid customer lock-in by large platforms like Google.

  • Meeting targeted Google, Microsoft, and Apple over data access and distribution bottlenecks in markets.

MARKETS

WORLD

• Israel approves Trump's plan for Gaza ceasefire and hostage release (BBC) 

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

  • Israeli cabinet approved first phase of ceasefire deal releasing all forty-eight hostages within days.

  • Israel will release two hundred fifty Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences under Trump framework.

  • Ceasefire takes effect twenty-four hours after cabinet vote with hostage releases starting seventy-two hours later.

• UK signs $468 mln deal to supply India with missiles (Reuters) 

  _{^{More: Defense News, Dawn, The Print}}

  • UK signed four hundred sixty-eight million dollar deal supplying Lightweight Multirole Missiles to India.

  • Thales manufacturing in Northern Ireland will secure seven hundred jobs producing missiles for Indian Army.

  • Deal paves way for broader complex weapons partnership currently under negotiation between both governments.

• From Morocco to Madagascar, Gen Z is taking digital dissent offline (CNN)

  _{^{More: Al Jazeera, Reuters, BBC}}

  • Gen Z protesters drove demonstrations from Morocco to Madagascar demanding systemic reforms and government accountability.

  • Morocco's GenZ 212 Discord server grew from three thousand to one hundred thirty thousand members.

  • Youth-led movements toppled Nepal's government in forty-eight hours after protests against social media ban.

FUTURISM

• A small number of samples can poison LLMs of any size (Anthropic) 

  _{^{More: The Register, Engadget, Slashdot}}

  • Just two hundred fifty malicious documents can backdoor LLMs regardless of model size or data.

  • Attack success depends on absolute document count not percentage of training data required previously.

  • Study used trigger phrase to make models output gibberish representing point zero zero sixteen percent.

• OpenAI's Sora hit 1 million downloads in less than five days (CNBC)

  _{^{More: TechCrunch, MacRumors, Engadget}}

  • Sora reached one million downloads faster than ChatGPT despite being invite-only in North America.

  • Motion Picture Association demanded immediate action over copyright infringement of characters like SpongeBob and Pikachu.

  • App topped number one on Apple App Store allowing users to generate AI videos.

• Intel Panther Lake: Core Series 3 architecture, platform, and feature reveal (The Verge) 

  _{^{More: Intel Newsroom, Windows Central, VideoCardz}} 

  • Intel revealed Core Ultra series 3 Panther Lake architecture built on 18A process node.

  • Platform delivers fifty percent faster CPU and GPU performance with one hundred eighty platform TOPS.

  • First SKUs ship late 2025 with broad availability starting January 2026 from Arizona Fab.

CONTENT

• Why Venture Capital is Broken & How Great Companies Are Built

  • Roelof Botha argues the venture model has overcapitalized startups, leading to bloated valuations and fewer truly great companies.

  • He shares how Sequoia restructured its fund model to adapt to macro shifts and hold long-term winners.

  • Botha explains what defines a great founder, crediting mentors Doug Leone and Michael Moritz for shaping Sequoia’s enduring culture.

• Inside xAI’s $20B Funding Round: How Elon and Nvidia Rewrote AI Financing

  • Elon Musk’s xAI closed a $20B round with Nvidia-backed financing that redefines how large AI startups raise capital.

  • Bloomberg’s Ed Ludlow dissects the circular nature of AI investments and why markets remain unfazed by inflated valuations.

  • Economist Alice Han explains how China’s tech rebound and policy easing are fueling investor optimism across Asian markets.

• OpenAI's Multi-Billion Deal with AMD & Polymarket, Vercel and Supabase Raise Mega Rounds

  • OpenAI partners with AMD in a multibillion-dollar hardware deal as Microsoft faces internal friction over their collaboration.

  • Vercel secures $300M at a $9B valuation, raising debate on whether it’s a bold strategic move or a risky overreach.

  • Polymarket reaches a $9B valuation amid resurgence in prediction markets, highlighting renewed investor appetite for crypto platforms.

EXTRAS

• Exclusive: Coinbase and Mastercard to buy stablecoin startup BVNK for $2 billion (Fortune) 

  _{^{More: CoinDesk, CNBC, Crypto Briefing}} 

  • Coinbase and Mastercard held advanced acquisition talks to buy London-based stablecoin startup BVNK for two billion.

  • Deal would be largest stablecoin acquisition surpassing Stripe's one point one billion dollar Bridge purchase.

  • Coinbase appears to have inside track over Mastercard with sale price ranging between one point five.

• Roger Ver, Bitcoin's Early Booster, Reaches Deal in Tax Fraud Case (New York Times) 

  _{^{More: CoinDesk, The Block, Bitcoin Magazine}}

  • Roger Ver reached tentative forty-eight million dollar settlement with Justice Department over tax fraud charges.

  • Deal would drop charges if Ver complies with deferred-prosecution agreement terms awaiting court approval.

  • Ver was accused of evading taxes on Bitcoin holdings before renouncing US citizenship in 2014.

• Apple prepares for age verification laws in Texas, Utah, and Louisiana (The Verge) 

  _{^{More: TechCrunch, MacRumors, Engadget}}

  • Apple will require age verification for all Texas App Store users starting January 2026.

  • Users under eighteen must link accounts to parent or guardian via Family Sharing settings.

  • Apple warns law compromises privacy by requiring sensitive information for basic app downloads like weather.

AND MORE

• U.S., Saudi Arabia near semiconductor export deal.

• Trump administration airs video at airports blaming Democrats for shutdown.

• Wall Street closes lower after Fed Chair gives no new cues.

• U.S. proposes ban on Chinese airlines flying over Russia for U.S. flights.

• Roko’s Basilisk skips the buzz words and cuts straight to what moves markets, products, and careers. Read it over coffee, sound brilliant on your next call.*

• China reports $114 billion in Golden Week spending amid travel boom.

• Microsoft’s productivity suite outage resolved after North America disruption.