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

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

🧠 Huawei’s AI chip output remains a fraction of Nvidia’s despite massive state backing.
🎥 Meta prepares Mango image and video model as multimodal competition accelerates.
📱 Samsung unveils first 2nm smartphone chip amid yield and thermal concerns.
⚖️ Coinbase sues U.S. states over prediction market regulation authority disputes.
🌍 Trump halts green card lottery program, triggering legal and political backlash.

TECHNOLOGY

• China’s AI Chip Deficit: Why Huawei Can’t Catch Nvidia and U.S. Export Controls Should Remain (Council on Foreign Relations) 

  ^{_{More: Tom’s Hardware, TT News, CNBC}}

  • Huawei produces only 200,000 AI chips annually, compared with Nvidia’s millions, representing 5% of Nvidia’s computing power.

  • Export controls are pushing China toward lower-end nodes, while Nvidia maintains ecosystem dominance through CUDA software.

  • Even a 100x increase in production wouldn’t close the gap as China’s AI compute shortage intensifies.

• Meta Developing New AI Image and Video Model Code-Named Mango (Wall Street Journal) 

  ^{_{More: The Information, Dataconomy, Benzinga}}

  • Meta’s chief AI officer announced Mango, an image- and video-generation tool, which will launch in the first half of 2026.

  • Separate text model Avocado focuses on coding improvements, part of Meta Superintelligence Labs’ multimodal strategy.

  • Intensifies competition with OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Gemini as image generation becomes a sticky user feature.

• Samsung Announces Exynos 2600: World’s First 2nm Smartphone Chip That Might Power the Galaxy S26 (Android Authority) 

  ^{_{More: GSMArena, SamMobile, Wccftech}}

  • The first 2nm GAA smartphone processor features a 10-core CPU, delivering a 39% performance improvement over the predecessor.

  • New Heat Path Block technology reduces thermal resistance by 16%, addressing historical throttling issues.

  • Initially limited to the Korean market due to yield concerns, despite Apple and Qualcomm’s interest in cooling tech.

BUSINESS

• TikTok Sale Is Done, Oracle and Silver Lake Among Buyers (The Hollywood Reporter) 

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

  • Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX collectively own 45% of the new TikTok U.S. joint venture.

  • ByteDance retains 20%, with existing investors holding 30%; the deal closes on January 22, 2026.

  • Algorithm retraining on U.S. data only while ByteDance maintains underlying technology ownership under Oracle oversight.

• Coinbase Sues Three U.S. States Over Prediction Market Regulation (Bloomberg) 

  ^{_{More: CoinDesk, The Block, Cointelegraph}}

  • Coinbase filed lawsuits in Michigan, Illinois, and Connecticut, alleging that the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets.

  • Argues that event contracts are federal derivatives, not state gambling, citing the congressional definition excluding only specific commodities.

  • The preemptive strategy ahead of the January 2026 launch mirrors partner Kalshi’s ongoing multi-state legal battles.

• Senate Confirms Trump Crypto-Friendly Nominees to Take Over CFTC, FDIC (CoinDesk) 

  ^{_{More: Crypto Briefing, Cointelegraph, Benzinga}}

  • Mike Selig confirmed as CFTC chair and Travis Hill as FDIC chair in a 53-43 vote.

  • Selig becomes the sole commissioner after acting chair Caroline Pham departs, simplifying policy implementation but raising legal vulnerability.

  • Confirmations position regulators to expand crypto authority as Congress considers stablecoin legislation and market oversight expansion.

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MARKETS

WORLD

• Trump Suspends US Green Card Lottery After Brown, MIT Attacks (Bloomberg) 

  ^{_{More: NPR, Axios, NBC News}}

  • Trump halted the Diversity Visa lottery program after a suspect entered the U.S. through it in 2017.

  • The program provides 50,000 annual visas by lottery to underrepresented countries, with nearly 20 million applicants.

  • Legal challenges are expected as the program was created by Congress, marking the latest tragedy-driven immigration restriction effort.

• Brazil’s Tanure Accused by Prosecutor of Insider Transactions (Bloomberg) 

  ^{_{More: Reuters, Bloomberg}}

  • Brazilian prosecutors charged businessman Nelson Tanure with using inside information in transactions involving Gafisa.

  • Tanure was previously fined 130 million reais for abuse of power, a fine later reduced by 85%.

  • Latest charges involve trading Alliar shares with non-public information during acquisition talks from November to April.

• Tanker Blockade Spurs New Legal Questions on Venezuela Campaign (Bloomberg) 

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

  • Trump’s “complete blockade” of sanctioned Venezuelan tankers raises questions about constituting an act of war.

  • Legal experts dispute the classification of the measure as a quarantine or a blockade, questioning congressional authorization and compliance with international law.

  • Move targets Venezuela’s oil revenue as the administration pressures the Maduro regime without a clear legal justification framework.

FUTURISM

• Bitcoin Crashing is Actually Awesome News for Regular People, Economist Says (Futurism) 

  ^{_{More: Fortune, CCN}}

  • Bitcoin crashed from a $126,000 high to around $88,000, with economist Dean Baker arguing that the decline benefits regular people.

  • Compares crypto to counterfeit currency, driving up prices on scarce goods like houses and tickets.

  • Nobel laureate Eugene Fama estimates a near-100% probability that Bitcoin will become worthless within 10 years.

• Bernie Sanders Calls for Halt on Construction of New Data Centers (Futurism) 

  ^{_{More: Tom’s Hardware, Common Dreams, The Hill}}

  • Sanders proposes a moratorium on AI data center construction to give democracy time to catch up.

  • Questions about who benefits from the wealthiest people driving AI development, while millions face potential job elimination.

  • Cites concerns about children’s isolation and Meta’s Louisiana facility consuming triple New Orleans’ electricity.

• Sheriff Puzzled by UFOs Hovering Over Power Station (Futurism) 

  _{^{More: Cowboy State Daily, AOL, Dim Sum Daily}}

  • Sweetwater County Sheriff reports drone-like objects hovering over the Jim Bridger Power Plant for thirteen consecutive months.

  • Objects fly in coordinated formations at high altitudes, too high to intercept from ground-level operations.

  • Federal agencies provide no answers despite exhaustive inquiries; residents now consider sightings the new normal baseline.

CONTENT

• Sam Altman: How OpenAI Wins, AI Buildout Logic, IPO in 2026? (Big Technology Podcast)

  • Sam Altman outlines how OpenAI plans to win the AI race through scale, speed, and aggressive infrastructure investment.

  • He explains the logic behind massive compute buildouts, capital intensity, and why model leadership requires long-term bets.

  • Altman addresses OpenAI’s structure, governance tensions, and speculation around a potential IPO timeline as early as 2026.

• Why Roomba Died + Tech Predictions for 2026 + A Hard Forkin’ Xmas Song (Hard Fork)

  • Kevin Roose and Casey Newton unpack Roomba’s collapse, tracing strategic missteps and competition that eroded its early lead.

  • The hosts share predictions for 2026, covering AI agents, platform consolidation, and shifting power across major tech players.

  • A year-end episode blends analysis with levity, reflecting on tech’s cultural impact through a seasonal Hard Fork send-off.

• The Biggest Disruption Is Yet to Come — ft. Justin Wolfers (YouTube)

  • Economist Justin Wolfers argues the most significant economic disruptions from technology and AI are still ahead, not behind us.

  • He explains how productivity gains, labor displacement, and inequality will reshape wages, growth, and political pressure.

  • The conversation urges policymakers to prepare for second-order effects rather than focusing only on today’s visible changes.

EXTRAS

• Pa. High Court Rules That Police Can Access Google Searches Without a Warrant (The Record) 

  _{^{More: National Law Review, Bloomberg Law, WebProNews}}

  • The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled users lack reasonable privacy expectations in unprotected Google searches, citing voluntary data sharing.

  • The decision distinguishes internet searches from cellphone data, finding searches voluntary, unlike involuntary location tracking from phones.

  • Privacy advocates warn that the ruling creates a chilling effect, potentially enabling nationwide warrantless access to search query histories.

• Jump Accused of Contributing to the Collapse of Terraform Do Kwon’s Crypto Empire (Wall Street Journal) 

  ^{_{More: CoinDesk, Decrypt, Coinspeaker}}

  • Terraform Labs’ administrator sues Jump Trading for $4 billion, alleging market manipulation and hidden support for TerraUSD.

  • Jump allegedly purchased LUNA tokens at 40 cents, when the market price exceeded $110, through secret agreements.

  • Lawsuit claims Jump’s May 2021 intervention to restore the TerraUSD peg was misrepresented as an algorithmic recovery mechanism.

• Hedge Fund Billionaire Seeks to Block Nasdaq-Backed Crypto Exchange’s Expansion (Financial Times) 

  • Details about the billionaire’s opposition to the Nasdaq-backed crypto exchange expansion are not accessible from the provided link.

  • The Financial Times article requires a subscription to access the full content and identify the specific parties involved.

  • Unable to provide summary bullets without access to source material; recommend alternative credible news sources.

AND MORE

• European Union leaders agree on a €90 billion interest-free loan for Ukraine’s military and budget needs through 2027.

• Ukraine reaches a long-anticipated deal to restructure $2.6 billion in GDP-linked warrants to stabilize finances.

• Brazil’s government signals deeper Mercosur integration with trade and development priorities.

• EU envoys work to narrow disagreements on using frozen Russian assets to back a massive loan for Ukraine ahead of the summit.

• Reuters reports that the European Union has agreed to freeze €210 billion in Russian central bank assets indefinitely.

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• Former Iraqi president Barham Salih is elected the next United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to address war and peace issues at his annual year-end press conference.

• Google launches Gemini 3 Flash and makes it the default AI model in its Gemini app, expanding AI capabilities.