🕶️ Buffett holds, Trump bets, OpenAI blocks

China keeps DeepSeek under watch

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Lucila Sarquis & Paula Echeverria
March 15, 2025

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Somewhere between AI’s golden age and its midlife crisis, we’ve apparently entered “AI autumn”—a season of cost-efficient, hyper-specialized models.

Warren Buffett’s $325 billion cash reserve is reviving interest in his 2008 "Buy American" op-ed as markets waver. Meanwhile, the Trump family is eyeing a stake in Binance.US following former CEO Changpeng Zhao’s $4.3 billion settlement.

And as if that weren’t enough, OpenAI is pushing the U.S. to ban Chinese AI lab DeepSeek, citing concerns over government control.

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Ten bullets of updates

  1. 🇨🇳 China keeps DeepSeek under watch, restricting travel for some staff as its R1 model gains traction.

  2. 🥦 Bryan Johnson aims to sequence the "foodome," testing 20% of the American diet for toxins.

  3. đź’° Warren Buffett's 2008 "Buy American" op-ed is viral again as he holds $325B cash amid a market dive.

  4. đź“ť Meta adopts X’s Community Notes for content moderation, with 200K users signing up as contributors.

  5. ⚖️ Rumman Chowdhury warns Musk’s influence on the Department of Government Efficiency could cause a chaotic 20% brain drain.

  6. 💻 Intel’s new CEO shifts focus to hardware & manufacturing, leaving its software strategy in disarray—layoffs follow.

  7. 🤖 AI is nearing its limits, entering an "AI autumn" with hyper-specialized, cost-efficient models emerging.

  8. 🇺🇸 Trump family eyes a stake in Binance.US, as CZ seeks a presidential pardon after 2023’s $4.3B fine.

  9. 🤖 AI agents are the new frontier, potentially replacing SaaS as they automate workflows and require orchestration.

  10. đź“– Meta vs. Sarah Wynn-Williams: the whistleblower’s tell-all book is now Amazon’s No. 3 bestseller.

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YC vs. big tech: fighting for the little guys in Washington

Source: Unsplash

Y Combinator is calling on the White House to support Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), arguing that it fosters, rather than hinders, American innovation. The DMA, in effect since May 2023, limits Big Tech giants like Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and ByteDance from engaging in anticompetitive tactics, promoting interoperability instead.

YC’s letter, signed by startups and trade groups, contends that the DMA creates opportunities for AI, search, and consumer tech startups by preventing Big Tech from boxing out smaller ventures. As an example, YC points to Apple’s delayed rollout of an LLM-powered Siri as a sign of stagnant competition.

While YC has positioned itself as a champion of “Little Tech”, it remains a smaller political player compared to firms like a16z, which has spent $89M on lobbying in the 2024 election cycle. The Trump administration's stance on the DMA remains uncertain.

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These companies just raised money

  1. 🚀 Omni raises $69M Series B to triple ARR to $30M, revolutionizing BI tools with sleek data analytics solutions.

  2. 🥊 Professional Fighters League hits a $1B valuation, solidifying its spot as the No. 2 MMA company with a unique single-elimination format.

  3. 📸 Y Combinator’s Flock Safety raises $275M at a $7.5B valuation, reaching $300M ARR with 70% growth—despite ongoing controversies.

  4. đź’Ť Kerry Washington backs Cheersy with a $550K pre-seed, fueling a marketplace that’s transforming day-of wedding coordination.

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OpenAI’s new target: a Chinese AI lab with government ties

Source: Unsplash

OpenAI is pushing the U.S. to ban Chinese AI lab DeepSeek, calling it “state-controlled” and a security risk due to Chinese data laws. In a policy proposal for the Trump administration, OpenAI warns of IP theft and urges restrictions on PRC-backed AI in Tier 1 countries. While it has previously accused DeepSeek of violating its terms of service, this marks an escalation—though no direct link to the Chinese government has been confirmed, despite its growing interest and a recent meeting with Xi Jinping.

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Startup Events and Deadlines

  1. Alchemist Accelerator | Deadline: March 21 | USA

  2. GEN Z Entrepreneur and Networking | March 21 | New Delhi

  3. TechWalk | March 23 | Bangalore

  4. Techstars Columbus | Deadline: April 1 | USA

  5. Startup Grind Conference 2025 | April 19-30 | USA

  6. Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator | Deadline: April 28 | USA

  7. Startup Battlefield 200 | Deadline: June 9 | Global

  8. Entrepreneur First London - Summer | Deadline: July 1 | UK

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