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

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

🕵️ Chinese hackers used a ConnectWise breach to spy on thousands of companies.
🎨 Canva launches Canva Craft, its first in-house AI image generation model.
💰 Zuckerberg strikes deal with Meta’s board to help cover proposed billionaire tax.
🔗 With blockchain investing losing steam, a16z Crypto renames itself a16z Frontier.
🌏 Powerful earthquake in Tibet kills at least 16, collapses hundreds of homes.

TECHNOLOGY

• Chinese hackers used a ConnectWise breach to spy on thousands of companies (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Economic Times, Straits Times}}

  • Microsoft says China-aligned hackers breached ConnectWise’s cloud backup service and stole credentials linking it to corporate customers.

  • The credentials let hackers access customers’ Microsoft-hosted emails and files while posing as authorized users.

  • Using ARTEX AI agents, they breached about 2.25k organizations at nearly 3k sign-in attempts per minute.

• Canva launches Canva Craft, its first in-house AI image generation model (The Verge)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Yahoo!}}

  • Canva released Canva Craft, its first image generation model, to compete with Google, OpenAI, ByteDance, and Meta.

  • Trained on Canva’s design templates, the model plans layouts first, producing accurate details and legible text.

  • It’s available to all users now and will come to the Canva API and chatbots like ChatGPT.

• Warhound raises $200M to genetically engineer working dogs for the U.S. military (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Axios, AOL}}

  • Warhound, from Colossal’s Ben Lamm and Anduril’s Palmer Luckey, launched with $200M at a $1.2B valuation.

  • More than 80% of U.S. military dogs come from Europe, and fewer than half are fit for service.

  • Using cells from Belgian Malinois and German Shepherds, Warhound will edit genes to improve health and performance.

BUSINESS

• Zuckerberg strikes deal with Meta’s board to help cover proposed billionaire tax (AP)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, CBS, TechCrunch}}

  • Meta’s new non-voting shares let Zuckerberg sell stock to cover a proposed wealth tax while staying majority owner.

  • Worth more than $220B, Zuckerberg could owe more than $11B under the proposed one-time 5% wealth tax.

  • He also committed to staying in California for eight years after considering selling his Palo Alto home.

• With blockchain investing losing steam, a16z Crypto renames itself a16z Frontier (Fortune)
  ^{_{More: The Information, TechCrunch, Crypto Briefing}}

  • Andreessen Horowitz renamed its digital asset unit from a16z Crypto to a16z Frontier, signaling crypto’s fading importance.

  • Led by Chris Dixon, the unit has raised nearly $10B across five funds since 2018 and backed Coinbase.

  • The team will now target AI, robotics, and human-machine networks, though it isn’t abandoning crypto.

• OpenAI is close to raising up to $30B at a $1.25T valuation (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch}}

  • OpenAI is reportedly raising up to $30B at a $1.25T pre-money valuation, led by Coatue and UAE investors.

  • The round could also secure UAE computing capacity and make OpenAI the most valuable private company ever.

  • The valuation, up from $852B in March, raises the stakes for OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s planned IPOs.

MARKETS

WORLD

• Powerful earthquake in Tibet kills at least 16, collapses hundreds of homes (AP)
  ^{_{More: BBC, France 24, Euronews}}

  • A powerful earthquake hit China’s Tibet region Thursday, killing at least 16 people and injuring 54 in Nagqu.

  • At least 339 homes collapsed, and rescue teams deployed more than 1.6k people.

  • Communications were down in some areas, trains were halted, and rockfalls closed part of National Highway 317.

• Drone rescues Ukrainian soldier who cut off his own leg to survive (NY Post)
  ^{_{More: The Independent, Reuters}}

  • Ukrainian soldier Konstantin Vlasenko, 49, cut off his lower leg with a knife while trapped near Kup’yansk.

  • He spent eight months alone and injured after a Russian drone strike killed his fellow soldier in February.

  • He was rescued earlier this month by a hexacopter drone that lifted him out under heavy Russian fire.

• U.K. retail sales fall 0.4% in September, steeper than economists expected (Bloomberg)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, AOL}}

  • U.K. retail sales fell 0.4% in September, worse than the 0.1% drop most economists had forecast.

  • A warm start to autumn hurt online clothing sellers, while supermarket sales volumes also declined.

  • Sales volumes rose 0.7% over three months, but October consumer confidence fell at its fastest pace since 2020.

FUTURISM

• Ex-OpenAI science lead launches Warp Sciences to automate lab work with robots (Bloomberg)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, TNW}}

  • Kevin Weil’s Warp Sciences raised $215M at an $865M valuation in a Lightspeed-led round.

  • The startup trains robots to synthesize and test drug compounds, aiming to speed discovery with round-the-clock lab work.

  • Weil hopes to bring lab work back from China, where biotech firms typically outsource it, reducing geopolitical supply-chain risks.

• Microsoft says its AI diagnoses complex cases twice as accurately as doctors (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: The Verge, Gizmodo}}

  • Microsoft’s MAI-DxO correctly diagnosed 83% of complex cases in a simulation, versus 36% for generalist doctors.

  • The system coordinates AI agents that act like a panel of doctors, order tests, and debate diagnoses.

  • The system didn't include specialists, who usually handle such cases, and gains came largely from stronger underlying models.

• 1Password now lets AI agents log into your accounts without seeing passwords (The Verge)
  ^{_{More: Engadget, TechCrunch, Yahoo!}}

  • 1Password launched 1Password for Agents, letting AI agents log into user accounts without ever seeing credentials.

  • Users get an alert to approve each login attempt, and 1Password then fills in the agent's credentials.

  • It works with agents from Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta, and others, with more partnerships in progress.

• Hunting for AI roles eats hours across careers pages, internal referrals, group chats, and a dozen overlapping boards*

  • The Athyna AI Job Board does the watching for you and matches openings to your profile in the background.

  • When a role hits a 75% matching index or higher, we notify you with details and a direct apply link.

CONTENT

• Wharton’s Ethan Mollick warns AI agents could break the banking system (The Prof G Pod)

  • Wharton professor Ethan Mollick joins Scott Galloway to discuss how AI is reshaping work and education.

  • He outlines four human advantages worth developing and how to tell if AI is replacing your thinking.

  • They also explore how personal AI agents could change consumer spending and why replacing workers may backfire.

• How to make your website stand out amid AI-generated designs (Y Combinator)

  • Magic Patterns co-founder Alex Danilowicz joins YC’s Aaron Epstein to demo the fast-growing AI design tool.

  • They preview MagicOS, a new canvas where teams combine prompts, images, and PRDs to explore ideas.

  • The pair reviews startup websites to explain what makes designs feel ‘vibe coded’ and how to fix it.

• How to build a rational supplement routine for health & performance (Andrew Huberman)

  • Andrew Huberman explains how to build a supplement plan tailored to your needs, nutrition, and budget.

  • He covers foundational supplements and single-ingredient options for sleep, hormone support, and cognitive focus.

  • He also explains how to test individual ingredients and why behavior and nutrition remain the foundation of health.

EXTRAS

• AI agents with no assigned task started inventing their own games (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!}}

  • MIT researchers left 13 Claude Opus 4.7 agents on a simulated island for 30 hours without instructions.

  • The agents invented their own challenges, like climbing the tallest spire, behavior that researchers say resembles play.

  • When later given set tasks, the playful agents generally outperformed identical agents that never visited the island.

• Arc browser to shut down December 22 as its maker prioritizes Dia (Engadget)
  ^{_{More: The Verge, TechCrunch}}

  • The Browser Company is shutting down Arc on December 22, citing rising security costs in the AI era.

  • The company is directing users to Dia, which it says beats Arc on speed, stability, and security.

  • Many users want Arc open-sourced, but doing so would expose the proprietary engine that also powers Dia.

• Rivian acquires U.K. world model startup to speed up self-driving development (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!}}

  • Rivian acquired Third Dimension, a U.K. startup that uses AI to turn images and videos into 3D worlds.

  • The technology will speed up development of Rivian’s self-driving system for R2 robotaxis launching on Uber in 2028.

  • Third Dimension’s 15-person team will join Rivian’s autonomy and AI group, expanding the company’s London AI hub.

AND MORE

• Uber rolls out ChatGPT Work to all 30k of its employees.

• Wealthy Chinese move offshore funds to U.S. banks amid Beijing’s tax crackdown.

• Explore all the tools and more here to outperform the competition.*

• Nirva raises $33M for a pendant that listens only to its wearer.

• Netanyahu stronghold shows signs of fraying loyalty as Israel’s election nears.

• Spotify confirms Family Plan crackdown, though it calls the move routine.

• Singapore’s core inflation cools in September, coming in below economists’ forecasts.