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Top stories today:
- OpenAI said to explore raising up to $100B at ~$750B valuation
- Gemini 3 Flash debuts as Google steps up competition
- Yann LeCun said to seek ā¬500M for new AI startup at ā¬3B valuation
- Coinbase pushes beyond crypto with stocks, prediction markets
- Manus hits $125M revenue run rate, $100M ARR 8 months after launch
- Oracle -5.4% after Blue Owl steps away from Michigan data center deal
0. Data and calendar
All values as of 6 AM ET / 3 AM PT, other than S&P500 and NASDAQ close (4 PM ET / 1 PM PT).
All times are ET.
Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing todayās 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 āfrontier intelligenceā as Google steps up competition
The new Gemini model has emerged as the most intelligent model for its cost on Artificial Analysisā 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 Humanityās 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 Flashās $0.30/$2.5 and GPT-5.2ās $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.
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4. Yann LeCun said to seek ā¬500M for new AI startup at ā¬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 āworld modelsā aimed at next-generation superintelligence systems.
5. Coinbase pushes beyond crypto with stocks, prediction markets, trading tools
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 āthe best equity partner from a competitive group of options, which in this instance was not Blue Owl,ā Oracle said.
The projectās final negotiations are āon scheduleā, 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
Oracleās 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 AWSās DeSantis takes over.
ChatGPT opens app submissions as OpenAI launches in-app app directory.
OpenAI, Anthropic look to expand Dublin offices: report.
Athyna: Save $80,000 per year on every engineering hire.*
*Sponsored.
Tech
Google works to erode NVIDIAās software advantage with Metaās 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
Biotech
Novo Nordisk seeks to block Sun Pharmaās 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 Woodsideās Meg OāNeill as CEO after abrupt exit.
Crypto
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
Taiwanās $11.1B arms sale approved by U.S., risking China anger.
Putinās 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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