🕶️ From Texas with love: $500B bet on AI supremacy

Six bullets of updates

1. 🎉 Startup founders flock to D.C. parties, hoping for deals with Trump's administration and Musk's new department.

2. 🔥 Trump administration fires entire Cyber Security Review Board, citing "misuse of resources" as reason.

3. 📉 Fintech funding declines 20% in 2024, but Q4 ends strong with an 11% rebound to $8.5 billion.

4. 🤝 Trump is open to Elon Musk or Larry Ellison buying TikTok, offering 50% U.S. stake for operating permit.

5. ☁️ Microsoft evolves its OpenAI partnership, no longer exclusive cloud provider, with a $50B AI project deal.

6. 🎙️ Anthropic to launch two-way voice mode for Claude, plans smarter AI models amidst a $2B funding talk.

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From Texas with love: $500B bet on AI supremacy

Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced the launch of "Stargate", a $500 billion artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure initiative in collaboration with OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank. The project aims to construct extensive data centers across the United States, beginning with a $100 billion investment in Texas and plans to expand to other states over the next four years. This endeavor is expected to generate over 100,000 American jobs almost immediately, bolstering the nation's position in AI development.

Key figures in this initiative include Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI; Larry Ellison, founder and CTO of Oracle; and Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank. Altman emphasized the importance of building AI infrastructure domestically to maintain technological leadership, stating, "We need to build that here and we need to be able to have the best AI infrastructure in the world to be able to lead with the technology and the capabilities." The Stargate project underscores a significant commitment to advancing AI capabilities within the United States, aiming to keep the technology's development and associated economic benefits within the country.

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. Pitch and Run Friday - The Original PNR | Jan 24 | NYC

2. Contech Hackathon: Build Day | Jan 25 | NYC

3. Entrepreneur First Bangalore - Core | Deadline: Feb 11 | India

4. Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator | Deadline: Feb 11 | NYC

5. Techstars New York City Accelerator | Deadline: Feb 11 | NYC

6. Y Combinator | Deadline: Feb 11 | Silicon Valley

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These companies just raised money

1. 💼 Vertice secures $50M for its AI-driven SaaS spend platform, growing 13x since inception to serve global clients.

2. 🌟 Hindustan Unilever buys Minimalist for $342M, boosting its premium skincare footprint in India's market.

3. 🧪 Lindus Health secures $55M to revolutionize the $82B clinical trial market with AI-driven solutions.

4. 🚀 Databricks nabs $15.3B funding, hitting a $62B valuation, with Meta joining as a strategic investor!

5. 🚗 Sem Parar buys Gringo, adding 20M users to expand its Brazilian mobility services.

6. 🤖 Anthropic secures $1B from Google, boosting total investment to $3B, with big AI updates in the pipeline.

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AI apps take over wallets in 2024

In 2024, AI-powered mobile applications experienced a significant surge in consumer spending, surpassing $1 billion globally. This growth was largely driven by the increasing popularity of generative AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, which have been integrated into various apps to enhance user experiences. Notably, TikTok became the first non-game app to reach $10 billion in consumer spending, highlighting the expanding role of AI in the app economy.

Despite a slight decline in overall app downloads, consumer spending on mobile apps continued to grow, reaching $127 billion in 2024. The App Store accounted for $91.6 billion of this total, marking a 24% year-over-year increase, while Google Play saw a 1.5% decline, totaling $35.7 billion. This trend underscores a shift in consumer behavior, with users increasingly willing to invest in AI-enhanced applications that offer personalized and efficient services.

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NEVER make an MBA your co-founder

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