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Show Notes
TikTok Sells U.S. Operations to New Joint Venture
TikTok is selling its U.S. operations to a new entity, “TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC,” for about $14 billion to resolve U.S. national security concerns over its Chinese ownership. The joint venture, set to close on January 22nd, will be 45% owned by U.S. investors (Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX), with the rest held by affiliates of existing ByteDance investors and ByteDance. This new, independent U.S. entity will be responsible for U.S. data protection, content moderation, and algorithm security, including retraining the content recommendation algorithm, with Oracle acting as the security compliance partner.
Read More: Axios
OpenAI Reportedly Seeking Up to $100B Fundraise
OpenAI is reportedly seeking to raise up to $100 billion, potentially valuing the company at $830 billion, by the end of calendar first quarter next year. This massive fundraise is needed to cover rising inferencing costs, fund development, and maintain its lead over rivals like Anthropic and Google, committing trillions to the AI race despite cooled investor sentiment and chip constraints. OpenAI is also rumored to be pursuing an IPO and courting Amazon for a $10 billion investment in cash and AI computing chips, which would substantially increase its current $64 billion in funds following a recent $500 billion valuation.
Read More: TechCrunch
Meta Forms Superintelligence Labs
Meta Platforms is restructuring its AI initiatives by forming the Meta Superintelligence Labs under Mark Zuckerberg and Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang. This new division will focus on accelerating AI development, aiming to launch two major models in the first half of 2026: “Mango” (for image/video generation) and “Avocado” (a large language model for coding). This strategic shift, particularly toward visual AI, is a response to intense market competition from rivals like OpenAI’s Sora and Google’s Nano Banana.
Read More: MSN
LG Will Allow Removal of Microsoft Copilot Shortcut on TVs
LG smart TV owners were surprised by the sudden, unremovable appearance of a Microsoft Copilot icon, which LG later clarified is merely a shortcut to launch the AI chatbot in the TV’s web browser, not an embedded application. Following the backlash, an LG representative stated the company “will take steps to allow users to delete the shortcut icon if they wish,” underscoring the point that, much like with U2’s forced iTunes album giveaway, customers prefer to choose which services are added to their devices, especially given smart TVs’ existing privacy concerns.
Read More: Engadget
Google Cloud Lands Major Palo Alto Networks Deal
Google Cloud and cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks (PANW.O) have substantially increased their partnership, revealing what a source characterized to Reuters as Google Cloud’s most significant security services agreement to date; this major contract involves a commitment from Palo Alto Networks to spend “approaching $10 billion” with Google Cloud over a span of several years, according to an individual with direct knowledge of the deal.
Read More: Reuters
Threads Reaches 400 Million Monthly Users
Meta’s Threads app had a successful year, becoming the second-most-downloaded iOS app after ChatGPT and reaching 400 million monthly and 150 million daily active users. While initial growth has been fueled by promotions on Instagram and Facebook, Threads’ head, Connor Hayes, is focused on building an organic user base that opens the app voluntarily. The platform is aiming to define its identity as the go-to place for “what’s going on in the world” by strategically developing verticals like sports, entertainment, and news.
Read More: Sources
Instacart Agrees to $60M FTC Refund Settlement
Instacart has agreed to pay a $60 million refund settlement to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over allegations of deceptive advertising and unlawful tactics. The FTC claimed Instacart misled consumers with false “free delivery” promises that included mandatory service fees, failed to honor its “100% satisfaction guarantee” by steering customers toward future credits instead of full refunds, and did not clearly disclose charges after the free trial for its Instacart+ membership. Instacart denied wrongdoing but accepted the settlement while simultaneously facing a separate FTC investigation into its AI-powered pricing tool, which was found to be causing price variations for the same items.
Read More: TechCrunch
Samsung Unveils Exynos 2600 on 2nm Process
Samsung unveiled the Exynos 2600, its next flagship chipset for some Galaxy S26 phones. It’s the world’s first smartphone SoC built on a 2nm Gate-All-Around process, promising significant gains in performance, efficiency, and thermals. The new chip features a 10-core CPU based on Arm’s latest v9.3 architecture, using new C1-Ultra and C1-Pro cores and dropping the traditional low-power cores.
Read More: Android Authority
Instagram Caps Hashtags at Five Per Post
Instagram is taking steps to curb the overuse of hashtags on its platform, with chief Adam Mosseri announcing a new cap of five hashtags per post. Mosseri explained that a small number of specific, high-quality tags perform better than a long, generic list, emphasizing that while hashtags aid in search, they do not inherently boost reach; instead, creators should concentrate on producing content that truly resonates with their audience. This move follows a similar measure taken for Threads, where posts are limited to just one tag to encourage community focus over engagement manipulation.
Read More: The Verge