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

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

🎲 Games Workshop bans AI-generated Warhammer designs to protect artists.
🍎 Apple launches Creator Studio subscription bundling pro apps and templates.
🏛️ House backs bill curbing China’s remote access to U.S. chips.
🤖 Salesforce rolls out an AI Slackbot agent that drafts and schedules.
🖥️ PC shipments rise 9.6% as Windows 11 upgrades accelerate.

TECHNOLOGY

• Apple debuts Apple Creator Studio subscription — here's what you get (9to5Mac)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Bloomberg, MacRumors}}

  • Apple launches subscription bundling of Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro for $12.99 monthly.

  • Service includes premium AI features, templates, and a content hub for Keynote, Pages, and Numbers starting January 28th.

  • Students and educators pay $2.99 monthly; one-time purchases remain available for Mac users only.

• Microsoft responds to AI data center revolt, vowing to cover full power costs and reject local tax breaks (GeekWire)
  ^{_{More: CNN, AP, Slashdot}}

  • Microsoft pledges to cover the full electricity costs for its AI data centers amid community backlash over rising bills.

  • The company will forgo local tax breaks and replenish more water than used in affected communities nationwide.

  • The decision follows residential power price jumps of 12% to 16% in data center hub states.

• Salesforce Announces the General Availability of Slackbot – Your Personal Agent for Work (Salesforce)
  _{^{More: TechCrunch, CNBC, Fast Company}}

  • Slack transforms Slackbot into an AI agent powered by Anthropic, available for Business Plus and Enterprise customers.

  • The agent finds information across connected apps, drafts emails, and schedules meetings within the Slack platform using conversation context.

  • Upgrade positions Slack as a conversational interface for enterprise AI, competing with Microsoft Teams and Google Workspace.

BUSINESS

• Meta begins job cuts after shifting focus from metaverse to phones (Bloomberg)
  _{^{More: Fast Company, Slashdot, Entrepreneur}}

  • Meta cuts over 1,000 Reality Labs jobs, roughly 10% of the division, pivoting toward AI wearables.

  • Reality Labs has lost over $70B since 2021 amid metaverse strategy failure.

  • Company redirects resources to Ray-Ban smart glasses and mobile AI features as metaverse focus narrows.

• Meta said to discuss doubling Ray-Ban glasses output after surge in demand (Bloomberg)
  _{^{More: Business of Fashion, PYMNTS, Business Standard}}

  • Meta and EssilorLuxottica discuss doubling Ray-Ban smart glasses production capacity to 20 million units annually.

  • Companies are exploring the potential to produce over thirty million units if demand sustains beyond current expectations.

  • Success reflects Meta's hardware strategy pivoting from VR headsets toward accessible AI-powered wearable devices.

• PC shipments jumped 9.6% in Q4 2025 to 76.4M units (TechSpot)
  ^{_{More: PC Gamer, Wccftech, Communications Today}}

  • PC market grew 9.6% year-over-year, driven by Windows 11 upgrades and memory shortage concerns.

  • Buyers rushed to make purchases, anticipating price increases in 2026 as the memory crisis intensifies across the industry.

  • IDC expects shipment volumes may soften, but market value will rise due to higher component costs.

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MARKETS

WORLD

• House passes bill to limit China's remote access to U.S. chips (The Information)
  ^{_{More: The Register, DataCenter Dynamics, Tom's Hardware}}

  • House approves Remote Access Security Act, restricting the Chinese government's ability to remotely access American semiconductor technology.

  • Bill addresses national security concerns over cloud computing loopholes allowing chip access through offshore data centers.

  • Legislation faces Senate consideration amid broader U.S.-China technology competition and export control debates ongoing.

• Jerome Powell fights back, threatens Trump's Federal Reserve takeover plan (Bloomberg)
  ^{_{More: NPR, CNN, CNBC}}

  • Fed Chair Powell publicly defends central bank independence against potential political interference from the incoming administration.

  • Tensions escalate as Powell signals resistance to Justice Department criminal investigation over headquarters renovation testimony.

  • Conflict highlights constitutional questions about presidential authority over a traditionally independent monetary policy institution nationwide.

• Colombia rushes to sell dollar debt ahead of busy election year (Bloomberg)
  _{^{More: ColombiaOne, Global Security}}

  • Colombia accelerates dollar bond issuance to secure financing before election uncertainty impacts market conditions negatively.

  • Government seeks to lock in favorable borrowing costs amid potential political volatility throughout 2026.

  • Strategy aims to fund budget needs while avoiding election-related risk premiums on sovereign debt obligations.

FUTURISM

• Games Workshop bans AI use in Warhammer designs (BoardGameWire)
  _{^{More: Wargamer, Gizmodo, LBC}}

  • Games Workshop prohibits AI-generated content in design processes, respecting human creators amid record revenue growth.

  • The CEO states that senior managers exploring AI remain unenthusiastic, company prioritizes protecting intellectual property and talent.

  • Policy reflects a commitment to hiring more creative professionals across concepting, art, writing, and sculpting disciplines.

• The new biologists treating LLMs like an alien autopsy (MIT Technology Review)
  _{^{More: Nature, Anthropic Research, MIT News}}

  • Researchers study AI language models using biological analysis methods, revealing unexpected patterns and decision-making processes.

  • Mechanistic interpretability techniques expose model behaviors analogous to biological systems rather than mathematical physics approaches.

  • Discovery suggests AI may reveal principles beyond current human comprehension or theoretical frameworks in biology.

• Tech startup hiring the unemployed to teach AI in their former jobs (Futurism)
  ^{_{More: WSJ, Fortune, Axios}}

  • Platform Mercor connects unemployed professionals with companies needing human expertise for AI training datasets, ironically.

  • Workers provide domain knowledge, helping AI systems learn specialized skills, raising questions about the automation paradox.

  • Trend highlights the labor market where humans accelerate technology, potentially eliminating their own job categories.

CONTENT

• Hard Fork — Can We Build a Better Social Network? (Hard Fork)

  • Kevin Roose and Casey Newton examine why modern social platforms keep failing users, despite constant product reinvention.

  • They dig into design choices that shape behavior, from incentives for creators to moderation tradeoffs and trust erosion.

  • The episode weighs what a better network would require, including governance, identity, and healthier feedback loops at scale.

• Building the World’s Best Fitness App (Invest Like The Best)

  • Tom Digan and Greg Stewart explain how Ladder rebuilt momentum after financial stress, prioritizing survival, focus, and execution.

  • They outline an empirical approach to TikTok testing, using rapid creative iteration to unlock durable subscription growth.

  • Key lessons stress customer reviews as product truth, helping founders resist investor noise and ship what users keep.

• AI’s Steve Jobs?, Big Tech AI Chaos Ladder, 2026 Crystal Ball (Big Technology Podcast)

  • Alex Kantrowitz and M.G. Siegler debate whether AI needs a Steve Jobs figure, and who fits that mold.

  • They assess which Big Tech firms are truly winning in AI, and why standout consumer products remain scarce.

  • A 2026 forecast highlights strategic bets, governance pressure, and product cycles likely to define the next phase.

EXTRAS

• AI Implicated as Escaped Monkeys Rampage Through St. Louis (Futurism)
  ^{_{More: AP, Vice}}

  • AI-generated fake images complicate St. Louis’ search for escaped Vervet monkeys roaming city streets.

  • Officials struggle to verify genuine sightings amid a flood of AI-created posts showing monkeys captured or posing.

  • Up to four monkeys remain at large after escaping illegally; the owner is unlikely to come forward, fearing charges.

• Israeli startups raised $15.6 billion in 2025 as AI drove bigger, more concentrated bets (Calcalist)
  _{^{More: Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, CTech VC Survey}}

  • Israeli tech raised $15.6 billion in 2025 despite the lowest funding rounds in a decade.

  • Half of all capital went to deals over one hundred million dollars, reflecting a shift toward category leaders.

  • Cybersecurity and AI dominated seventy percent of total capital raised, with record exit activity including Wiz and CyberArk.

• CoinGecko weighs sale for around $500 million (CoinDesk)

  • CoinGecko explores a potential sale at an approximate $500 million valuation amid cryptocurrency market consolidation.

  • The platform provides pricing and analytics for thousands of digital assets, attracting interest from strategic buyers.

  • Deal would mark a significant exit in the crypto infrastructure sector as the industry matures beyond the speculative phase.

AND MORE

• Trump set to lead record-large U.S. delegation to Davos forum.

• Apple launches Creator Studio subscription bundle to rival Adobe Creative Cloud.

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• Mercedes pauses Level 3 “eyes-off” Drive Pilot, citing cost and demand.

• PC shipments jumped in Q4 as RAM shortages pushed buyers earlier.

• EV sales growth expected to cool in 2026 as subsidies fade.

• U.S. plans withdrawal from multiple UN climate treaties, sparking backlash.

• Global markets brace for CPI, bank earnings, and geopolitics to collide.

• UN warns global growth may slow in 2026 as tariffs bite.