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All values as of 6 AM ET / 3 AM PT, other than S&P500 and NASDAQ close (4 PM ET / 1 PM PT).

No major events today.

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

1. NVIDIA signs ~$20B licensing deal with Groq, said to include payouts to key execs, investors

NVIDIA is hiring Groq’s top leadership, including founder Jonathan Ross and president Sunny Madra.
Groq is said to offer investor payouts with earnouts tied to performance.
- The startup has raised ~$1.8B from investors including BlackRock and Tiger Global.
Simon Edwards, who joined as CFO in Sep., will step in as CEO.
The deal would “expand the capabilities” of the data centres, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said in an email to staff.
Groq will continue operating independently, but has struggled to compete with NVIDIA and recently cut its 2025 revenue outlook by ~75%.

2. OpenAI explores sponsored content, ads inside ChatGPT

Representational image generated using ChatGPT.

OpenAI reportedly doesn’t plan to change the core ChatGPT model.
Separate AI models would assess commercial intent and surface relevant ads in responses.
Internal mockups tested ads in sidebars and within the main response window.
Employees also discussed disclosures indicating when results are sponsored.
ChatGPT’s shopping features could support commerce-focused ads.
“[W]e’re exploring what ads in our product could look like… any approach would be designed to respect that trust,” an OpenAI spokesperson said.

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