🕶️ Musk vs. OpenAI: When Billionaires Play Tug-of-War with Ethics

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Six bullets of updates

1. 🛒 Online Black Friday sales hit $10.8B, with Shopify merchants claiming $5B in revenue.

2. 💼 BlackRock trims its stake in Automattic by 10%, signaling shifts in startup valuations.

3. 💡 OpenAI mulls ads to manage rising costs, but CEO Sam Altman calls ads-plus-AI "uniquely unsettling”.

4. 🚀 Y Combinator's Demo Day is back: 93 startups presented to an exclusive audience of 1,500.

5. 🎭 Open-source testing isn’t truly "free": 55% of teams spend 20+ hours weekly on maintenance—consider no-code tools.

6. ⏳ A new Death Clock app uses AI from 1,200 studies to predict your death date—and share lifespan-extending tips.

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Elon’s legal blitz: saving AI’s soul or protecting his turf?

Elon Musk has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against OpenAI, its co-founders, Microsoft, and other key figures, accusing them of anticompetitive practices. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the lawsuit alleges that OpenAI and its affiliates engaged in self-dealing, discouraged investment in rival AI firms like Musk’s xAI, and misused proprietary information through ties with Microsoft. Musk’s attorneys argue these actions harm competition and deviate from OpenAI’s original nonprofit mission. They also claim irreparable damage could occur if OpenAI continues its transition to a fully for-profit entity without safeguards.

The lawsuit is the latest chapter in Musk’s battle with OpenAI, a company he co-founded but left in 2018 over strategic disagreements. Musk alleges he was defrauded out of over $44 million in donations and has criticized OpenAI’s shift from its nonprofit roots. Meanwhile, xAI, Musk’s AI company, has raised $11 billion and launched its own AI model, Grok. OpenAI denies the allegations, calling Musk’s claims baseless. See more.

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. Crash Course in Financial Modeling | Dec 5 | Webinar

2. EdTech | Dec 9 | Paris

3. From Pitch Deck to Funding | Dec 12 | Webinar

4. Entrepreneur First Bangalore - Core | Dec 12 | Webinar

5. Networking for Tech Startups/Founders/Investors/Developers | Dec 15 | Meetup

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FreshBooks: Professional Invoices, Quick Payments, Hassle-Free Accounting

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These companies just raised money

1. ☁️ Upwind raises $100M at a $900M valuation, doubling its team to strengthen cloud runtime security.

2. 🏀 Former NBA player Omri Casspi launches Swish Ventures with $60M to back startups in cybersecurity, cloud, and AI.

3. 💰 Zebrands, a Mexican retailer, scores a $53M loan to expand stores, scale operations tenfold, and repurchase seed shares.

4. 🌟 R2, a Mexican fintech, secures $9M in equity and $50M in debt to enhance AI-driven lending for 47K+ Latin American businesses.

5. 💳 HUB2, an Ivorian fintech, secures $8.5M to streamline payments for 55 fintechs, targeting €1B in transaction volume.

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Trump 2.0: climate tech’s rollercoaster begins

President-elect Donald Trump’s second administration is poised to bring mixed signals for the climate tech sector. While his “drill, baby, drill” rhetoric and criticism of renewables raise concerns, some investors believe the evolving market dynamics and long-term trends in climate tech may offset policy shifts. Deregulation and support for oil and gas could indirectly benefit technologies like geothermal energy and geologic hydrogen. Industry veterans also highlight lessons learned from the previous clean tech bust, emphasizing a focus on startups that deliver clear customer value without relying heavily on government subsidies.

However, challenges loom for companies dependent on federal incentives, such as tax credits and renewable subsidies, which could face cuts. Wind energy and similar industries may take a hit, while climate-focused VCs could see diminished interest from investors. On the flip side, grid-related startups, nuclear small modular reactor firms, and geothermal companies might thrive under policies favoring energy infrastructure expansion. With Chris Wright, a practical-minded ally of energy innovation, as Trump’s pick for energy secretary, the next four years promise a mix of disruption, opportunity, and adaptation for climate tech players.

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How IBM lost the AI Race

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