🕶️ OpenAI’s Super Bowl moment & the future of AI power

Six bullets of updates

1. 📺 AI steals the show at 2025 Super Bowl ads, from OpenAI’s debut to Google’s chatbot cheese facts debacle.

2. ⚠️ DeepSeek's R1 model is reportedly more vulnerable to jailbreaking than other AI, raising safety concerns.

3. 💰 OpenAI's Sam Altman discusses AI's uneven benefits, plans a $40B raise, and predicts a 10x cost drop every 12 months.

4. ⚖️ Trump ends a legal battle with X; parties settle with no cost det

   ails disclosed. Meta paid $25M in a similar case.

5. 🇪🇺 EU tech titans and startups unite for simpler AI rules; a General Catalyst report predicts a 3% productivity boost by 2030.

6. 🔍 A former US fed agent's ordeal: A Binance exec is detained in Nigeria amid tax evasion charges and a $10B crypto scheme.

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Macron’s $112B AI power play: Europe’s not tapping out

French President Emmanuel Macron announced €109 billion ($112 billion) in private AI investments, positioning France as a key player in the global AI race. The investment, unveiled ahead of the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, is comparable to the U.S. Stargate project on a per capita basis. Funding sources include €30-50B from the UAE (MGX), €20B from Brookfield, €10B from Bpifrance, and €3B from Iliad, with additional contributions expected from Orange and Thales. Most of the funds will support AI-focused data centers, leveraging France’s nuclear-powered, carbon-free electricity to attract foreign investors.

Macron emphasized France’s competitiveness in AI, addressing concerns over startups relocating to the U.S. He highlighted DeepSeek’s efficiency-driven approach as a sign of Europe’s ability to keep up. Mistral, a leading French AI company, pledged billions to build an AI cluster in Essonne, aiming to compete with global AI giants like OpenAI, Meta, and DeepSeek. Additionally, France will allocate one gigawatt of nuclear power to AI training by 2026, reinforcing its position as an ideal hub for energy-intensive AI projects.

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Startup Events and Deadlines

1. Today! Y Combinator | Deadline: Feb 11 | Silicon Valley

2.  Today! Entrepreneur Get Together | Feb 11 | Austin

3. NYC Web3 Collective | Feb 12 | NYC

4. NYC B2B: FinTech & Healthcare Founders Mixer | Feb 12 | NYC

5. Crash Course in Financial Modeling | Feb 13 | Online

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

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

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The tech recruits behind DOGE

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) recruited top tech talent through online networks of Palantir alumni, SpaceX interns, and AI engineers. Young software developers, some linked to Peter Thiel’s Palantir, were actively scouted via Discord servers and chat groups to join a mission aimed at cutting federal spending by a third. Key figures like Anthony Jancso, a former Palantir engineer, and Steve Davis, a Musk lieutenant, led the effort, emphasizing the chance to modernize government using AI-powered automation. The recruitment focused on six-month stints in D.C., aligning with special government employee (SGE) limits.

Since its creation by Trump’s executive order, DOGE has embedded staff across multiple federal agencies, gaining access to sensitive financial and operational data. This has sparked legal battles, with a federal judge recently blocking DOGE from Treasury systems and ordering the destruction of classified records. Watchdogs warn that Musk’s push for efficiency may come at the cost of oversight, fueling concerns over the concentration of power in a tech-driven shadow task force.

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The (Unknown) Truth about Forbes 30-under-30

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