🕶️ Altman on Musk: “he’s just not that happy”

Six bullets of updates

1. ⚖️ Over 100 federal workers sue Elon Musk and DOGE for unauthorized access to sensitive records, citing privacy violations.

2. 🔋 A study finds ChatGPT's energy use is 0.3 watt-hours per query, much less than the assumed 3 watt-hours.

3. 🧠 Amodei, CEO of Anthropic critiques the Paris AI Summit as slow on necessary AI regulations: "missed opportunity."

4. 🛑 CFPB halts tech investigations, affecting potential regulations for companies like Apple and Google, with $19B repaid to consumers.

5. 🏛️ The U.S. moves to reclassify agency CIOs as political appointees, shifting their role from technical to policy-focused.

6. 💼 Elon Musk's xAI plans to hire thousands of "AI tutors," offering $35-$65/hr, to train its chatbot Grok in 2025.

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AI drama in Paris: U.S. and U.K. just said ‘no thanks’

The AI Action Summit in Paris aimed to produce a joint declaration on AI governance, but the U.S. and U.K. refused to sign, citing concerns over ideological bias and regulatory overreach. U.S. Vice President JD Vance emphasized that American AI must remain free from censorship and that the U.S. intends to maintain leadership in the field.

Despite this, 61 nations, including China, India, Japan, and Canada, signed the agreement, which promotes AI governance principles like transparency, security, and inclusivity. However, early reactions, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, criticized the declaration for lacking ambition.

Regulatory debates dominated the event, with EU President Ursula von der Leyen defending the AI Act, which aims to unify AI regulations across the 450 million citizens of the EU. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a balance between regulation and innovation, urging Europe to streamline rules to stay competitive.

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. Today! Crash Course in Financial Modeling | Feb 13 | Online

2. Personal Branding 101 for Founders | Feb 18 | NYC

3. Immigrant Founders Networking @ Microsoft Reactor | Feb 13 | SF

4. Personal Branding 101 for Founders | Feb 18 | NYC

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These companies just raised money

1. 🏦 Founders Fund is closing a new $3B fund, continuing its streak of major venture capital raises.

2. 🛍️ Tabby raised $160M at a $3.3B valuation as it expands beyond BNPL into broader financial services.

3. 🌍 Chestnut Carbon received $160M to convert degraded farmland into forests, generating carbon credits.

4. 📱 Lanch raised $27M to build food brands that leverage social media and influencers for distribution.

5. 📊 Lucidity secured $21M to help enterprises automate and optimize cloud storage with tools like Storage Auto-Scaler.

6. 🚘 Turbi raised $12.5M in Series D to scale its car-sharing platform in Latin America.

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Musk’s $97.4B bid? Altman calls it a “slow-down tactic”

At the AI Action Summit in Paris, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman brushed off Elon Musk’s unsolicited $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI’s nonprofit, calling it “an attempt to slow us down.” He pointed to Musk’s AI company, xAI, as a direct competitor, noting its aggressive fundraising and efforts to rival OpenAI’s technology.

Altman also took a personal jab, suggesting Musk operates “from a position of insecurity” and is not a happy person. OpenAI has already publicly rejected the bid, and while a formal board decision is pending, board member Larry Summers stated he has yet to receive official communication beyond media reports.

The battle for control at OpenAI isn’t new—we broke it down in a past video.

Watch it here. 📺️ 

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How to Raise Startup Funding: EVERYTHING You Need to Know

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