☕ ChatGPT’s user growth has slowed & iPod co-creator wants to be next Apple CEO.
Meta acquires AI wearable device startup Limitless & Intel might manufacture future iPhone chips.
The longest over-water flight with zero alternate airports? California → Honolulu.
It’s the aviation equivalent of “don’t mess this up.” Once you’re in the air, you’re basically locked into a very long, very blue commitment.
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📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: Investor data room superpack, top founder pitch mistakes, first-meeting errors, startup problem fixes, founder trap insights, legal docs for founders, tech debt explained.
Jake & Logan Paul’s Anti Fund raised $30M to invest in tech startups.
ChatGPT’s user growth has slowed, report finds.
The New York Times is suing Perplexity for copyright infringement.
Meta signs commercial AI data agreements with publishers.
Intel might manufacture future iPhone chips.
Tony Fadell, iPod co-creator reportedly wants to be next Apple CEO.
Google must limit default contracts to one year.
Meta acquires AI wearable device startup Limitless.
Netflix to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s studios, streaming unit for $72 billion.
OpenAI says it’s turned off app suggestions that look like ads
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
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DAILY PICKS
🗞️ What else is brewing
Investor Data Room Superpack: Everything you need to build a VC-ready data room (Guide/Templates) (Link)
6 uncommon pitch mistakes made by founders (Link)
Kevin Benoit on the biggest mistake founders make in the 1st meeting (Link)
Natia Kurdadze shares solutions to common startup problems (Link)
Hubert Thieblot on the founder trap (Link)
Startup Legal Document Pack – Essential Legal Docs for Founders. (Link)
The tech debt elephant: A product perspective. (Link)
Agile brand strategy: how to build emotional relevance efficiently. (Link)
AI bubbles to unicorns, European late-stage markets in fantasy land? (Link)
The moat of the search index. (Link)
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Multifactor, a San Francisco, CA-based post-quantum security platform enabling safe access to online accounts for both humans and AI agents, raised $15m in seed funding. The round was led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Y Combinator, Taurus Ventures, Honeystone Ventures, Flex Capital, Pioneer Fund, Ritual Capital, Liquid2 Ventures and operators across security, AI and enterprise software including Mohan & Padma Warrior, Gokul Rajaram and Mathilde Collin.
Quanta, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an accounting platform for startup finances, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Accel, with participation from Operator Collective, Naval Ravikant, Designer Fund, Basecase, and operators including Akshay Kothari (Notion), Claire Hughes Johnson (Stripe), and Huey Lin (Affirm).
Lumia, a NYC-based provider of an AI Security and Governance platform helping enterprises safely adopt AI and autonomous agents, raised $18m in seed funding. The round was led by Team8 with participation from New Era.
imper.ai, a NYC-based real-time cyber impersonation prevention startup, publicly launched with $28m in funding. The round was led by Redpoint Ventures and Battery Ventures, with participation from Maple VC, Vessy VC, and Cerca Partners.
Govstream.ai, a Seattle, WA–based startup building AI-native permitting tools for local governments, raised $3.6m in Seed funding. The round was led by 47th Street Partners, with participation from Nellore Capital and Ascend, as well as Kevin Merritt (founder and former CEO of Socrata) and Andreas Huber (co-founder and CEO of First Due).
Ostium Labs, the NYC-based developer of the Ostium protocol for perpetual swaps on global markets, raised $24M in new funding. The round included a $20M Series A co-led by General Catalyst and Jump Crypto.
Sphotonix, a Newark, DE-based company which specializes in optical storage and photonics technology, raised $4.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Creator Fund, and XTX Ventures.
Ply, a NYC-based provider of an inventory and purchasing platform for the trades, raised $8.5M in funding. The round was led by Ferguson Ventures, with participation from Primary and SignalFire.
Helmet Security, a Washington, DC-based end-to-end security platform provider, raised $9M in funding. Backers included SYN Ventures and WhiteRabbit Ventures.
pH7 Technologies, a Vancouver, BC, Canada-based commercially scalable critical metal extraction solutions provider, raised $25.6M in Series B funding. The round was led by Fine Structure Ventures, with BHP Ventures, alongside Energy & Environment Investment (EEI), Siteground, Gaingels Fund, and Calm Venture, with participation from existing investors including TDK Ventures, Pangaea Ventures, Rhapsody Venture Partners, and BASF Venture Capital.
Helical Fusion, a Tokyo, Japan-based company developing a new energy source using Japan’s original Helical Stellarator technology, raised USD $5.5M in Series A extension funding. Backers included Ecrowd NEXT.
yuv, a London, UK-based beauty technology company, raised $12M in Series A funding. The round was led by Nineyards Equity, with participation from yuv’s Founder Francisco Gimenez, existing investor VNV Global, and a network of strtegic angels.
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Anti Fund, a San Francisco, CA-based investment firm that invests in technology companies, closed its Anti Fund I, at $30m. LPs include Aquarian Holdings, Autilus Partners, Marc Andreesseen, and Chris Dixon. With the close of Fund I, the firm’s assets under management now exceed $65m.
Mastercraft Ventures, a Beloit, Wisconsin-based venture capital fund focused on leading investments in Wisconsin startups’ first round of funding, raised $6.2M as a result of its most recent closing. The fund is based in Rock County, but will invest across Wisconsin. Mastercraft Ventures is the eighth venture capital fund supported by the Badger Fund of Funds and the sixth emerging fund where the Badger Fund matches up to 40% of the fund’s invested capital.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
ChatGPT’s user growth has slowed, report finds
New Sensor Tower data shows ChatGPT’s growth tapering: monthly active users rose only ~6% from August–November 2025, reaching ~810M, while Google’s Gemini grew ~30% in the same period.
Gemini is outpacing ChatGPT in downloads, MAU growth, and time spent — helped by features like the Nano Banana image model and deep Android integration.
ChatGPT’s share of global MAUs fell by 3 points over four months, while competitors like Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude posted triple-digit annual growth, suggesting tightening competition.
The New York Times is suing Perplexity for copyright infringement
The New York Times filed a lawsuit claiming Perplexity reproduces its reporting — sometimes verbatim — through RAG systems that scrape and summarize paywalled content without permission.
The Times argues Perplexity’s chatbot and Comet browser substitute for its journalism, harm its brand through hallucinated attributions, and bypass paywalls; the suit seeks damages and an injunction.
This adds to a growing list of publishers suing Perplexity, even as many outlets strike licensing deals with AI firms — highlighting legal pressure to force formal compensation for training and AI-generated summaries.
Meta signs commercial AI data agreements with publishers
Meta has partnered with CNN, Fox News, Le Monde, USA Today, The Daily Caller, The Washington Examiner, and others to bring real-time global and breaking news directly into Meta AI responses, including links back to publishers’ sites.
The deals mark a return to paying publishers after Meta previously killed Facebook News and halted compensation in 2022 — now revived to improve Meta AI’s accuracy, timeliness, and competitiveness after Llama 4’s underperformance.
With Meta AI available across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and its standalone app, the move aims to boost user engagement and position Meta more strongly in the escalating AI chatbot race.
Intel might manufacture future iPhone chips
A research note from analyst Jeff Pu claims Apple could hire Intel to manufacture the A22 chip for the iPhone 20 and iPhone 20e in 2028 using the 14A process.
Apple wants a second fabrication partner in the United States to reduce its heavy dependence on TSMC and protect its hardware schedule from shipping delays or regional lockdowns in Asia.
Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects Intel to build lower-end M series chips for the Mac and iPad in 2027 with the 18A process to prove its yield consistency to Apple.
Tony Fadell, iPod co-creator reportedly wants to be next Apple CEO
Former Apple executive Tony Fadell has reportedly thrown his hat in the ring to replace Tim Cook, adding a wild card to the ongoing speculation about who will run the company.
While sources close to the company dismiss his chances, the report claims some unnamed former executives support Fadell as a dark-horse candidate to force a shake-up within the consumer electronics giant.
Speculation indicates Tim Cook might step down in 2026, though some analysts believe he will stay until 2029 to shield the next leader from difficult dealings with the Trump administration.
Google must limit default contracts to one year
Federal Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google must renew its default search and AI contracts every year, banning the long-term agreements that previously secured its dominance on smartphones and tablets.
The tech giant is still allowed to pay partners like Apple and Samsung for product placement, provided these deals are revisited frequently to help rivals in the generative AI market.
Sources indicate the firm plans to fight the initial finding that it broke antitrust laws, while the Justice Department may also challenge the court regarding the rejection of a Chrome sale.
Meta acquires AI wearable device startup Limitless
Meta has acquired Limitless, the AI wearable startup behind the conversation-recording pendant; the company will stop selling hardware but support existing users for a year and remove subscription fees.
Limitless will wind down its desktop product Rewind, allow users to export or delete their data, and integrate its team into Meta’s Reality Labs to accelerate AI-enabled wearables like Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
The startup cited rising competition from major players like Meta and OpenAI as a key reason it could no longer compete, despite previously raising over $33M from top VCs.
Netflix to buy Warner Bros Discovery’s studios, streaming unit for $72 billion
Netflix will acquire Warner Bros Discovery’s TV, film studios, and streaming division for $72B, beating out Paramount’s bid and gaining franchises like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and DC superheroes.
The deal will face heavy antitrust scrutiny as it combines two major streaming players (Netflix + HBO Max) amid industry concerns over reduced competition and Hollywood pushback.
Netflix says the acquisition will expand content, boost U.S. production, maintain theatrical releases, and create long-term cost savings of $2–3B annually, though regulatory approval and rival bids may complicate the path forward.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other news
OpenAI says it’s turned off app suggestions that look like ads
Paying ChatGPT users complained about seeing promotional-style suggestions for apps like Peloton and Target; OpenAI insists these were not ads but app-discovery tests with no financial component.
Chief research officer Mark Chen acknowledged the experience “fell short” and said OpenAI has turned off these suggestions while improving precision and working on user controls to disable them.
The controversy comes as CEO Sam Altman reportedly declared a “code red,” delaying advertising plans to focus on improving ChatGPT’s core quality.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities
All-In-One VC Interview Preparation Guide: With a leading investors group, we have created an all-in-one VC interview preparation guide for aspiring VCs. Don’t miss this. (Access Here)
Senior Principal - Newsbreak Venture | USA - Apply Here
Head of Investor Relations - Sagest Capital | Singapore - Apply Here
Investment Analyst - Cornell University | USA - Apply Here
Accountant - AI Fund | USA - Apply Here
Associate - Venture Capital - Artha Venture Fund | India - Apply Here
VP of Fundraising - Scale Asia Venture | Japan - Apply Here
Investment Intern - Nexea | USA - Apply Here
Head of Atlassian Ventures - Atlassian Venture | USA - Apply Here
Program & Events Manager - Plug and Play Tech Centre | USA - Apply Here
Associate - Allocator One | UK - Apply Here
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