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

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

🤖 Google launches Gemini 3.1 Pro, topping frontier AI benchmarks.
👑 Prince Andrew arrested over alleged leaks of confidential trade report.
📊 Bank of America survey flags record corporate AI overinvestment fears.
🚕 New York scraps robotaxi expansion after union opposition.
💾 Microsoft unveils a glass chip that stores data for 10k years.

TECHNOLOGY

• Bill Gates pulls out of India's AI summit over Epstein files controversy (BBC) 

  _{^{More: Bloomberg, CNBC, Fortune}}

  • Gates withdrew hours before his keynote at India's AI Impact Summit, citing a desire to keep focus on the summit's core mission.

  • The abrupt exit follows a DOJ release of Epstein files containing unverified allegations and emails linking the two men.

  • Gates denied all wrongdoing, calling the claims "absolutely absurd," but the episode overshadowed a high-profile global AI gathering.

• Google announces Gemini 3.1 Pro for 'complex problem-solving' (9to5Google) 

  _{^{More: VentureBeat, The Decoder, Google Blog}}

  • Gemini 3.1 Pro scores 77.1% on ARC-AGI-2, more than double its predecessor's score and retaking the top spot among frontier AI models.

  • The model targets synthesis-heavy tasks — data aggregation, visual explanations, and complex creative projects — at no extra API cost.

  • It is rolling out today to the Gemini app, NotebookLM, Vertex AI, and Google AI Studio for Pro and Ultra subscribers and developers.

• Microsoft's glass chip holds terabytes of data for 10k years (Gizmodo) 

  _{^{More: IEEE Spectrum, Nature, Microsoft Research}}

  • Microsoft's Project Silica uses femtosecond lasers to encode up to 4.8 terabytes in a 2 mm-thick borosilicate glass chip using phase voxels.

  • The material requires no ongoing maintenance, is heat-, water-, and electromagnetic-field-resistant, and is published in Nature.

  • Researchers say it solves the "Digital Dark Age" problem by offering archival storage that far outlasts magnetic tapes and cloud drives.

BUSINESS

• Amazon dethrones Walmart as the world's biggest company by sales (Bloomberg) 

  ^{_{More: CNN, Fortune, Yahoo Finance}}

  • Amazon's 2025 revenue of $716.9B narrowly beat Walmart's $713.2B, ending the retailer's 13-year run at the top.

  • The decisive driver was AWS, which posted $129B in revenue, a segment Walmart does not operate or meaningfully compete in.

  • Without AWS, Amazon's total would have been $588B— still growing at nearly 10 times Walmart's pace over the last decade.

• Accenture tells workers that getting a promotion will require "regular adoption" of AI (TechRadar) 

  _{^{More: Financial Times, CNBC, TechRepublic}}

  • Accenture is now tracking weekly logins to internal AI tools for senior staff and tying the data directly to summer promotion eligibility.

  • Senior staff are more resistant to adoption than junior workers, with some calling the tools "broken slop generators" and threatening to quit.

  • Workers in 12 European countries and the US Federal Government Contracts Division are currently exempt from the new requirement.

• OpenAI reportedly finalizing $100B deal at more than $850B valuation (TechCrunch) 

  ^{_{More: Bloomberg, Reuters, WSJ}}

  • OpenAI is finalizing a raise exceeding $100B at a valuation topping $850B, up from the $830B initially expected.

  • Lead investors include Amazon (up to $50B), SoftBank ($30B), Nvidia ($20B), and Microsoft, with sovereign funds closing later.

  • The raise comes as OpenAI tests ads in ChatGPT and continues burning cash while inching toward profitability.

• 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 essential 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, this list serves as a bridge to absorbing the knowledge that has propelled others to success.

MARKETS

WORLD

• Exclusive: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere (Reuters) 

  _{^{More: Japan Times, CyberNews}}

  • The State Department is building "freedom.gov," a portal to let users abroad access content banned under EU hate speech and disinformation laws.

  • Officials have discussed built-in VPN functionality to route traffic through US servers, with no user activity tracking planned.

  • State Department lawyers raised internal legal concerns, and experts warn the project will be seen in Europe as a direct assault on sovereign digital law.

• New York Governor Hochul pulls robotaxi expansion proposal (Reuters) 

  _{^{More: Bloomberg, TechCrunch, CNBC}}

  • Hochul withdrew a budget measure that would have allowed driverless vehicle pilots outside New York City after insufficient legislative support.

  • The proposal faced fierce opposition from taxi and labor unions, including the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, representing over 28k drivers.

  • Waymo, targeting more than 1M weekly US rides by year-end, said it was "disappointed" and will pursue a standalone bill instead.

• Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, as King says, 'law must take its course' (BBC) 

  _{^{More: The Mercury News, NBC News, CBS News}}

  • Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on his 66th birthday on suspicion of sharing confidential trade reports with Jeffrey Epstein in 2010.

  • Thames Valley Police confirmed searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk; the offense carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

  • King Charles III stated that the royal family would offer full cooperation, saying, "The law must take its course"—the first royal arrest in nearly 4 centuries.

FUTURISM

• A blinking new warning sign appears for the AI industry (Futurism) 

  _{^{More: Bloomberg, Business Insider, FT Adviser}}

  • A Bank of America survey of 162 fund managers found 35% believe corporations are overinvesting in AI capex at a 20-year record proportion.

  • A full 25% of respondents identified the AI bubble as the biggest market risk, ahead of inflation and geopolitical conflict.

  • Big tech is on pace to spend a record $650B on AI in 2026, stoking fears of a credit crisis if returns don't materialize soon.

• Buckle up: new fund will let regular investors buy SpaceX stock (Futurism) 

  ^{_{More: Bloomberg}}

  • Powerlaw Corp, a $1.2B fund holding stakes in SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic, filed to offer retail investors direct access to its shares.

  • The fund plans a direct listing rather than an IPO, charging a 2.5% management fee, and still requires SEC approval to proceed.

  • Investors are cautioned about closed-end fund premiums, limited private company disclosures, and liquidity risks tied to the structure.

• SpaceX angling for military contract to produce drone swarms (Futurism) 

  _{^{More: Bloomberg}}

  • SpaceX and xAI are competing for a $100M Pentagon contract to build voice-controlled, autonomous swarming drone technology.

  • The bid contradicts Musk's own 2017 and 2018 pledges opposing the development of lethal autonomous weapons systems.

  • Drones are designed for both offensive and reconnaissance purposes, marking a major departure from SpaceX's prior government contracts.

CONTENT

• 'Notion’s CEO on how software companies can survive AI' (Access)

  • Notion CEO Ivan Zhao discusses how AI is reshaping software and threatening traditional SaaS business models.

  • He explains why tools must evolve into intelligent systems that actively perform tasks rather than just store information.

  • The conversation explores pricing pressure, product defensibility, and how startups can compete against AI-native platforms.

• 'Head of Claude Code: What happens after coding is solved | Boris Cherny' (Lenny’s Podcast)

  • Anthropic’s Boris Cherny outlines how AI coding tools could automate large portions of software development.

  • He examines how product teams may shift from writing code to supervising and orchestrating AI agents.

  • The episode explores second-order effects on engineering careers, product velocity, and long-term competitive advantage.

• 'Davos: Burning Man for the Rich?' (The Nick, Dick, and Paul Show)

  • The hosts dissect Davos as a gathering where global elites debate AI, geopolitics, and economic shifts.

  • They question whether the event drives meaningful outcomes or primarily reinforces status and networking circles.

  • The discussion connects elite consensus-building to startup funding cycles and emerging technology narratives.

EXTRAS

• West Virginia sues Apple over iCloud CSAM failure (The Verge) 

  ^{_{More: CNBC, MacRumors, CNN}}

  • West Virginia's AG filed the first government lawsuit against Apple, alleging it knowingly allowed iCloud to distribute and store CSAM.

  • Apple internally described itself as the "greatest platform for distributing child porn," but filed only 267 CSAM reports in 2023, versus Google's 1.47M.

  • The state seeks punitive damages and a court order requiring Apple to implement detection tools comparable to industry-standard PhotoDNA.

• Leaked email proves Ring intended to use surveillance feature for people (9to5Mac) 

  _{^{More: The Verge, 404 Media, NYT}}

  • A leaked internal email from Ring founder Jamie Siminoff confirms the company planned to expand its lost-dog Search Party feature to surveil people.

  • Siminoff described the feature as the foundation for "zero out crime in neighborhoods," and Ring authenticated the email as genuine.

  • The revelation follows public backlash to a Super Bowl ad and Ring's abandonment of a planned police partnership with Flock Safety.

• Exclusive: Ownwell lands $30M to help homeowners lower their property tax bills (Crunchbase) 

  • Austin-based Ownwell raised $50M total ($30M equity, $20M debt) in a Series B co-led by Alpha Edison and Mercato Partners.

  • The AI startup has processed over 1M property tax appeals and saved customers more than $400M since launching in 2021.

  • Operating across 12 states on a contingency-only fee model, Ownwell has achieved annual customer growth of over 100% since inception.

AND MORE

• U.S.-brokered peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian envoys in Geneva ended with no major breakthrough amid ongoing fighting.

• Former British royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office tied to Jeffrey Epstein links.

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

• Big tech companies plan to spend roughly $650B on AI infrastructure and data centers in 2026.

• OpenAI partners with Tata to build 100 MW AI data center capacity in India, eyeing broader growth.

• Etsy agrees to sell its secondhand fashion marketplace, Depop, to eBay for about $1.2B.

• OpenAI and Reliance form a partnership to add AI search to the JioHotstar platform in India.

• Taiwan’s economy expanded at its fastest quarterly pace since 1987, thanks to AI and exports.

• France blocked Eutelsat's strategic asset sale to EQT amid security concerns.