Trump Announces $500B Datacenter 🏦, UK Plans ‘Digital Wallet’ 💳, Instagram Unveils Edits ✂

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💬 OpenAI Developments

Trump Announces $100 Billion A.I. Initiative

On January 21, 2025, President Donald Trump announced the formation of "Stargate," a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, aiming to invest up to $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States. The initiative plans to create 100,000 jobs, starting with a $100 billion investment in data centers in Texas, and seeks to advance AI applications in sectors like healthcare.

Microsoft loses status as OpenAI's exclusive cloud provider

On January 21, 2025, Microsoft and OpenAI restructured their partnership, allowing OpenAI to access computing resources from other providers, such as Oracle, while Microsoft retains a right of first refusal on new capacity. This change follows the announcement of the "Stargate" joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank, aiming to invest up to $500 billion in U.S. AI data centers.

🌐 AI in Various Sectors

Healthcare: Lindus Health, a London startup backed by Peter Thiel, raised a $55M Series B to streamline clinical trials with AI-driven automation. Its “anti-CRO” platform delivers an end-to-end approach—from protocol design to patient enrollment—and is expanding to the U.S. to support growing demand as AI accelerates drug discovery.

Robotics: Germany-based start-up Sereact has secured €25m in a Series A funding round to advance its AI-powered robotics platforms, including mobile robots and humanoids. The company plans to use the investment to expand operations in the US and develop AI solutions for more complex tasks beyond logistics and manufacturing.

Social Media and Interaction: AI-powered knowledge automation startup 1up helps sales teams answer product questions and fill technical questionnaires by pulling data from internal sources, cutting down the need for cross-department support. Founded by George Avetisov, the company just raised $5 million led by Upfront Ventures and attracts nearly a third of its customer leads via sales memes on LinkedIn.

🚀 Tech Industry Moves

NVIDIA's OpenUSD-based workflows are advancing physical AI by providing high-fidelity virtual environments essential for training autonomous machines like robots and self-driving cars. The integration of NVIDIA Omniverse and NVIDIA Cosmos enables developers to generate vast amounts of photorealistic, physics-based synthetic data, accelerating the development and deployment of physical AI systems.

Meta Joins Databricks with $10 Billion Investment—AI Collaboration Just Got Real. On January 22, 2025, Databricks announced that Meta Platforms joined as an investor in its $10 billion funding round, elevating the data analytics startup's valuation to $62 billion. This partnership aims to enhance AI collaboration between the two companies, leveraging Meta's expertise in open-source large language models like Llama and Databricks' data analytics capabilities.

Meta and the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) released a whitepaper revealing that 72% of new car buyers discovered brands through Meta's apps, with WhatsApp being the preferred communication channel for 48% of buyers connecting directly with dealerships. Additionally, 72% of buyers found Instagram Reels helpful for vehicle evaluation, highlighting the significant role of AI-driven content in influencing purchasing decisions.

Meta is reportedly developing Oakley-branded smart glasses, internally named "Supernova 2," targeting athletes such as cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts. These glasses are expected to feature a centrally positioned camera and functionalities similar to the existing Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, aiming to enhance performance and user experience during physical activities.

Anthropic: On January 22, 2025, Google invested an additional $1 billion in AI startup Anthropic, bringing its total investment to $3 billion. This move strengthens Google's position in the AI sector, allowing it to better compete with companies like Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon.

Anthropic CEO expects major AI breakthrough, plans to launch "virtual collaborators" At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei announced plans to introduce "virtual collaborators"—advanced AI assistants capable of independently performing complex tasks such as coding, testing, and communication within workplace environments. He anticipates releasing a new language model with enhanced reasoning abilities within the next six months, marking a significant leap in AI capabilities.

💡 Emerging AI Technologies and Companies

Perplexity launches Sonar, an API for AI search

Perplexity launched Sonar, an AI search API that allows developers to integrate its real-time, citation-backed generative search into their own apps. Offered in two tiers—Sonar (cheaper, faster) and Sonar Pro (more robust, pricier)—it already powers an AI assistant within Zoom. With competitive pricing and $500M in funding, Perplexity is aiming to expand beyond its existing service, claiming Sonar Pro outperforms leading models from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic on factual accuracy benchmarks.

Postman launches an AI agent builder on top of its API platform

Postman, known for its popular API platform, has launched an AI agent builder that allows users to combine large language models with Postman’s API network, enabling non-developers and developers alike to build and test AI agents. By leveraging APIs from thousands of companies, plus a visual editor and testing tools, Postman aims to simplify back-end operations for AI-driven applications and capitalize on the growing trend of agent-based software.

Vertice bags $50M for its AI-powered SaaS spend platform

Vertice, an AI-powered platform optimizing software and cloud spend for enterprises, has raised a $50 million Series C round led by Lakestar, valuing the London-based startup at around $500 million. Founded by brothers Roy and Eldar Tuvey—who previously sold ScanSafe to Cisco and Wandera to Jamf—Vertice’s platform ingests billions of dollars’ worth of SaaS usage data to shorten purchasing cycles and deliver average cost savings of 20–30%. This latest funding underscores the growing demand for streamlined procurement tools amid rapidly rising corporate IT investments.

🎨 AI in Creative Industries

UK plans ‘digital wallet’ for driver’s licenses and other ID, plus a chatbot powered by OpenAI

The U.K. government plans to launch a secure digital wallet for driver’s licenses and IDs, plus a chatbot built with OpenAI for its GOV.UK portal. The wallet will initially hold a virtual driver’s license and a veteran card, with a goal to make government services more convenient and secure. Set to roll out this year, the GOV.UK portal will be fully online in 2025, and officials have already begun testing the chatbot—even encountering occasional glitches, such as it unexpectedly switching to French. These initiatives form part of a broader push to integrate AI into public services, while questions about AI safety, privacy, and potential misuse continue to loom large. Meanwhile, the U.S. under President Trump is shifting its own approach to tech and AI regulations, potentially removing previous requirements for AI safety tests.

Instagram Unveils Edits, a Video Editing App to Rival CapCut

Instagram has unveiled Edits, a forthcoming video editing app designed to rival CapCut, which was just removed from U.S. app stores due to new bans targeting foreign-owned applications. Described by Instagram head Adam Mosseri as a “full suite of creative tools,” Edits will enable up to 10-minute videos, AI-animated images, improved camera features, and robust analytics for creators. Pre-orders are open on iOS, with an Android version on the way, and the app is expected to launch in February (though the App Store lists Mar. 13).

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