Top stories today:

1. Cerebras said to seek $1B at $22B valuation ahead of IPO
2. CPI (core) +0.3% (+0.2%) MoM in Dec. as inflation cools into 2026
3. Meta, EssilorLuxottica weigh 20M+ Ray-Ban Meta units by 2026-end
4. Tesla to stop selling FSD after Feb. 14, offer $99/mo. subscription only
5. Google debuts MedGemma 1.5, MedASR for medical imaging, dictation
6. Starlink offers free Iran access amid blackout, protests

0. Calendar

Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing today’s newsletter (beware of hallucinations):

1. Cerebras said to seek $1B at $22B valuation ahead of IPO

• Coming months: a public listing is expected.

• Sep.: Cerebras withdrew earlier IPO plans and raised money privately instead.

• Coming days: a new high-profile customer is expected to be announced.

2. CPI (core) +0.3% (+0.2%) MoM in Dec. as inflation cools into 2026

• CPI: 0.3% MoM / 2.7% YoY in Dec., in line with forecasts and unchanged from Nov.

• Core CPI: 0.2% MoM / 2.6% YoY, vs. 0.3% / 2.7% expected and 0.2% / 2.6% in Nov.

Food went up by 0.7% MoM in Dec., the largest since Oct. 2022

Goods prices ex-food/energy/used autos +1.4% YoY in Dec.

4. Meta, EssilorLuxottica said to weigh 20M+ Ray-Ban Meta output by 2026-end

• 30M+ Ray-Ban Meta units have also reportedly been discussed by the partners.

5. Tesla to stop selling FSD after Feb. 14, offer $99/mo. subscription only

• FSD was previously sold for an $8K one-time payment.

• Musk didn’t provide a rationale for the shift.

• 10M active FSD subscriptions is one of the targets tied to Musk’s compensation package approved in Nov.

6. Google debuts MedGemma 1.5, MedASR for medical imaging, dictation

7. Elon’s Starlink offers free Iran access amid blackout, protests

Iran’s nationwide internet blackout has entered its 6th day, cutting off millions:

• SpaceX has waived the Starlink subscription fee in Iran.

Protests have spread across Iran since Dec. 29

• 12K+ people — possibly up to 20K — have been killed, per some sources.

8. Silver tops $90/oz as gold, copper, tin hit record highs

• A weaker dollar has fueled the “debasement trade,” making dollar-priced commodities cheaper for global buyers.

Speculative demand surged, with SHFE open interest across 6 base metals hitting a record on Wed.

9. Crypto scams +41% to $14B in 2025, seen topping $17B as more wallets are identified

Impersonation scams shifted DeFi laundering from smart contracts in 2024 to bridges and DEXs in 2025

76% of AI-linked scams were high-value/high-volume, scaling faster than non-AI scams

Phishing kit-led scams drove 688× more dollars and 4× larger transactions than regular scams

10. China’s trade surplus hits $1.2T in 2025 as exports +6.6% YoY despite U.S. tariffs

• U.S. share of China exports hit a record-low 11% in 2025, as shipments to the U.S. were -20%.

• Africa led growth among major regions, with exports +26% in 2025.

11. LatAm startup funding +14% YoY to $4.1B in 2025

LatAm startup funding was -16% YoY to $1.08B in Q4

Brazil led LatAm venture funding in 2025 with $2.1B raised, followed by Mexico

Late-stage and growth deals were +14% YoY to $1.63B in 2025 and +69% YoY to $251M in Q4

Early-stage funding was +112% YoY to $690M in Q4

Seed and angel investment was -6.5% YoY to $144M in Q4

12. Global PC shipments +10% YoY to 76.4M units in Q4 2025, led by 14% growth in EMEA

13. Worldwide smartphone shipments +2.3% to 328.8M in Q4, Samsung +18.3%

China smartphone shipments were +0.8% to 75.8M in Q4, with Apple reclaiming the top spot on +21.5% growth

14. 41% of U.S. teens back banning student cellphone use during class: Pew

15. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

16. Other headlines

AI

• Google upgrades Veo 3.1 with vertical video, 4K upscaling.

• Slack upgrades Slackbot with features to answer questions, take actions.

• Matthew McConaughey trademarks himself to fight AI misuse.

• Z.ai releases GLM-Image, open-source model trained on Huawei chips.

Tech

• Apple launches Creator Studio bundle with Final Cut, Logic for $12.99/mo.

• Meta to lay off 1,000+ Reality Labs staff, reinvest savings in wearables.

• Etched raises $500M to take on NVIDIA: report.

• WithCoverage raises $42M led by Sequoia, Khosla.

Tech & Law

• NVIDIA H200 exports to China face tighter U.S. rules, KYC checks.

• NVIDIA H200 sales in China face tighter curbs, with limited approvals: sources.

• UK drops plan for mandatory digital work IDs, reversing Sep. 2025 policy.

Biotech

• Altimmune’s pemvidutide earns FDA breakthrough status.

• Juvena raises $33.5M to advance more regenerative biologics to clinic.

• BioAge reports fast inflammation drop with BGE-102.

• Ahead Health raises $6M seed for AI-powered preventive care in Europe.

Business

• JPMorgan says “everything” on table to fight 10% credit card cap.

Crypto

• CoinGecko weighs sale for around $500M: sources.

• Polygon buys Coinme, Sequence for $250M+ for stablecoin infrastructure.

U.S. politics

• Epstein probe: Clintons refuse House testimony as GOP threatens contempt.

• Dimon warns Fed interference would drive rates higher after DOJ probe.

• Trump says Dimon “wrong” to criticize DOJ probe of Fed’s Powell.

World

• Greenland, Denmark readying for key meeting to assuage Trump.

• Russia’s allies complain Putin was nowhere when it mattered most.

• Armenia, U.S. agree to 49-year lease for Trump-backed corridor.

• Gaza plan set for U.S. unveiling despite Hamas concerns.

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