Top stories today:

1. OpenAI said to explore raising up to $100B at ~$750B valuation
2. Gemini 3 Flash debuts as Google steps up competition
3. Yann LeCun said to seek €500M for new AI startup at €3B valuation
4. Coinbase pushes beyond crypto with stocks, prediction markets
5. Manus hits $125M revenue run rate, $100M ARR 8 months after launch
6. Oracle -5.4% after Blue Owl steps away from Michigan data center deal

0. Data and calendar

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

1. OpenAI said to explore raising up to $100B at ~$750B valuation

• The talks are reportedly at an early stage and details could still change.

OpenAI is also said to be on track to beat its 2025 revenue target of $13B

• The company has forecast ~$26B in cash burn across this year and next as it invests in servers and talent.

2. Gemini 3 Flash debuts with “frontier intelligence” as Google steps up competition

The new Gemini model has emerged as the most intelligent model for its cost on Artificial Analysis’ benchmark:

• Gemini 3 Flash has particularly strong knowledge and reasoning abilities.

• Comes as a multi-modal model with the ability to take text, images, videos, and audio as input.

• Gemini 3 Flash scored 33.7% on Humanity’s Last Exam, vs. 37.5% for Gemini 3 Pro and 34.5% for GPT-5.2.

• Costs $0.50/M input and $3/M output tokens, vs. Gemini 2.5 Flash’s $0.30/$2.5 and GPT-5.2’s $1.75/$14.

Gemini 3 Flash is 22% slower than Gemini 2.5 Flash (Sep.), but remains much faster than Claude Opus 4.5 and GPT-5.1

• Gemini 3 Flash has replaced 2.5 Flash as the default model on the Gemini app.

4. Yann LeCun said to seek €500M for new AI startup at €3B valuation

• Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs will reportedly be the new venture.

• Jan.: the startup is set to debut, with LeCun serving as executive chair.

• Nabla founder Alexandre LeBrun has been lined up as the CEO, sources say.

• Nov.: LeCun announced his departure from Meta, effective by year-end.

• The startup will focus on building “world models” aimed at next-generation superintelligence systems.

5. Coinbase pushes beyond crypto with stocks, prediction markets, trading tools

• Partners with Kalshi to launch prediction markets in its app.

• Rolls out stock and ETF trading to U.S. users.

• Expands futures trading and DEX access to Solana tokens.

• Introduces Coinbase Tokenize and custom stablecoins for businesses.

6. Manus hits $125M revenue run rate, $100M ARR eight months after launch

• Growing 20%+ MoM since Manus 1.5 release in Oct., the Singaporean AI company said.

• Apr.: Manus launched paid subscription plans for users.

• Mar.: Manus drew investor attention for its AI agents.

• Competitors including Cursor and Lovable reached the $100M ARR mark earlier this year.

7. Oracle -5.4% after Blue Owl steps away from $10B Michigan data center deal

• The stock was -46% from its Sep. peak on Wed. after the reported Blue Owl pullback.

• Development partner Related Digital chose “the best equity partner from a competitive group of options, which in this instance was not Blue Owl,” Oracle said.

• The project’s final negotiations are “on schedule”, Oracle said.

• Blue Owl reportedly considered the lease and debt terms unfavorable relative to other deals.

Oracle has racked up $248B in data center lease commitments, including $150B signed in just 3 months

• Oracle’s data center push is part of the $500B Stargate AI infrastructure project led by OpenAI and SoftBank.

8. Micron Q1 FY26 revenue +57% YoY to $13.6B as AI demand boosts results

• $12.84B in Q1 revenue was expected by analysts.

• +100% YoY in cloud memory sales to $5.28B.

• +4% in core data center sales to $2.38B.

• $18.70B in revenue expected in Q2, vs. $14.20B estimated by analysts.

• Micron shares are +168% in 2025 on growing memory demand.

• The stock was +7% in extended trading on Wed.

9. Global cleantech funding falls to $24B in 2025 YTD, lowest in 5 years

$6.84B has been invested so far in Q4 across 235 rounds

10. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

11. Other headlines

AI

• Amazon AGI lead Rohit Prasad to depart as AWS’s DeSantis takes over.

• ChatGPT opens app submissions as OpenAI launches in-app app directory.

• OpenAI, Anthropic look to expand Dublin offices: report.

Tech

• Google works to erode NVIDIA’s software advantage with Meta’s help: report.

• YouTube wins exclusive global Oscars rights in multiyear deal starting 2029.

• Coursera to buy Udemy, creating $2.5B firm to target AI training.

• Rocket Internet accused of marking down startups to buy out backers.

• Meta tests Facebook link limits for non-Verified users.

Tech & Law

• Instacart shares drop as FTC reportedly probes its AI pricing tool.

• Apple unveils iOS changes in Japan to comply with local app, payment laws.

Biotech

• Novo Nordisk seeks to block Sun Pharma’s weight loss drug.

• TauC3 Biologics advances neurodegenerative disease treatment.

• Delivering DHA to brain hinges on right molecular form: studies.

Business

• Warner Bros. slams Ellisons, urges investors to reject their bid.

• BP names Woodside’s Meg O’Neill as CEO after abrupt exit.

Crypto

• Hut 8 shares jump as ex-bitcoin miner signs $7B AI data center lease.

• Binance explores reboot of Binance.US to ease CZ stake hurdle: report.

U.S. politics

• Trump highlights victories in holiday speech amid sinking approval ratings.

• Military dividend announced as Trump defends handling of economy.

• FCC chair says agency is not independent.

World

• Taiwan’s $11.1B arms sale approved by U.S., risking China anger.

• Putin’s retaliation threat over frozen assets rattles EU capitals.

• Australia to tighten hate speech laws after Bondi attack.

• Bolivia declares economic emergency, scraps fuel subsidies.

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