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17 Dec 2025

Demis Hassabis warns AI hype masks real potential as startups raise tens of billions

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis cautions that AI startups securing tens of billions in valuations before launch face unsustainable futures. Speaking on Google DeepMind: The Podcast, he distinguished between speculative early-stage AI companies and Big Tech investments backed by real business. Despite short-term AI hype, Hassabis believes the technology remains underappreciated for its long-term potential in science and world models.

3 Sources

Hut 8 Stock Soars 15% After Landing $7 Billion Google-Backed AI Data Center Deal

Bitcoin miner Hut 8 shares surged after announcing a 15-year, $7 billion lease agreement with Fluidstack to deliver 245 megawatts of AI data center capacity at its River Bend campus in Louisiana. Google is providing a financial backstop covering all lease payments, while J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs are handling deal financing. The agreement marks a strategic pivot from cryptocurrency mining to AI infrastructure.

10 Sources

OpenAI pursues $100B funding round at $830B valuation as Amazon investment talks intensify

OpenAI is negotiating to raise up to $100 billion in a funding round that could value the ChatGPT maker at $830 billion by Q1 2026. Separately, Amazon is in early discussions to invest $10 billion in OpenAI while supplying its Trainium AI chips and cloud computing services, marking another circular deal in the AI industry as compute costs continue to escalate.

26 Sources

OpenAI and Google battle for Indian users with free AI plans as training data becomes the prize

OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity are offering free premium AI subscriptions in India, turning the world's most populous nation into a battleground for AI dominance. ChatGPT's daily active users surged 607% to 73 million, while Gemini reached 17 million users. Analysts suggest the freebies strategy aims to harvest diverse multilingual training data from India's 730 million smartphone users.

2 Sources

Accenture and Palantir expand partnership to accelerate enterprise AI adoption across industries

Accenture and Palantir Technologies have formed the Accenture Palantir Business Group, combining over 2,000 specialists and forward-deployed engineers to accelerate advanced AI and data solutions for global clients. The partnership targets sectors including healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and telecommunications, with a focus on transforming fragmented data environments into integrated, AI-powered decision-making systems.

3 Sources

OpenAI Hires George Osborne to Lead Global Stargate Expansion and Government Partnerships

OpenAI has appointed former UK Chancellor George Osborne to head OpenAI for Countries, an initiative to expand its ambitious $500 billion Stargate project beyond US borders. Osborne joins a growing trend of British politicians moving to major tech giants, following Nick Clegg at Meta and Rishi Sunak at Anthropic and Microsoft. The move raises questions about tech companies acting as quasi-governmental actors while OpenAI faces financial concerns over its expansion plans.

12 Sources

16 Dec 2025

Databricks raises $4B at $134B valuation as AI business drives 55% revenue growth

Databricks has closed a $4 billion Series L funding round at a $134 billion valuation, just three months after hitting $100 billion. The data intelligence company now generates $4.8 billion in annual revenue, with over $1 billion from AI products. The funding will accelerate development of Lakebase, Agent Bricks, and Databricks Apps while supporting acquisitions and global expansion.

6 Sources

AWS CEO Matt Garman says AI should not replace junior devs, warns of threats to talent pipelines

Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman pushes back against AI replacing entry-level workers, calling it short-sighted and bad for business. Despite warnings from other tech leaders about AI displacing junior employees, Garman argues that eliminating young workers threatens talent pipelines and long-term company health, even as Amazon pursues aggressive automation goals.

2 Sources

Luminar files for bankruptcy after Volvo slashes lidar sensor orders by 90%

Once-promising lidar maker Luminar has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after its cornerstone Volvo deal collapsed. The automaker reduced its lifetime order from 1.1 million sensors to just 10%, citing cost-cutting measures and making lidar optional rather than standard on vehicles. Luminar had invested nearly $200 million preparing for Volvo's demand.

2 Sources

CEOs Plan to Increase AI Spending in 2026 Despite Weak Returns on Current Investments

Despite fewer than half of AI projects generating returns that exceed their costs, 68% of CEOs plan to increase AI spending in 2026, according to a Teneo survey. The disconnect between executive optimism and investor impatience is creating tension, as Wall Street demands faster ROI while CEOs predict it will take longer than six months for new AI initiatives to pay off.

4 Sources

Reliance Intelligence begins operations as RIL pushes into large-scale AI development

Reliance Industries has operationalized its new AI subsidiary Reliance Intelligence, led by chief AI scientist Gaurav Aggarwal. The unit is actively hiring AI/ML engineers for Indic-language model development and will house partnerships with Google and Meta. The move signals RIL's ambition to build national-scale AI infrastructure, including a gigawatt-scale data center in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

2 Sources

Former Palantir CIO Jim Siders takes helm at Shield Technology Partners to reshape IT services

Jim Siders, who spent over a dozen years at Palantir rising from IT support technician to CIO, has joined Shield Technology Partners as CEO. The AI-enabled managed service provider platform, backed by Thrive Holdings and OpenAI, aims to transform the $700 billion global IT services market through data-driven automation and frontier AI integration.

2 Sources

15 Dec 2025

OpenAI Hires Google Executive Albert Lee to Lead Corporate Development and Acquisitions Push

OpenAI has appointed Albert Lee, a veteran Google executive with over $50 billion in deal experience, to lead corporate development. The move signals an aggressive acquisition era as the AI company, valued at $500 billion, expands its leadership team and pursues strategic investments to compete with rivals like Google and Anthropic.

4 Sources

AI ROI for businesses expected to materialize in 2026 as experts predict shift from hype to results

After years of heavy AI spending with minimal returns, 2026 may finally deliver meaningful AI ROI for businesses. Industry experts from Deloitte, Stanford, and PwC predict a crucial shift from experimental pilots to real business value, driven by strategic AI implementation and the operationalization of AI agents. With 61% of CEOs under pressure to prove tangible value, the focus moves from technology adoption to orchestrating AI for sustained competitive advantage.

3 Sources

AI skills now required in 11.7% of tech jobs as hiring patterns shift across industries

India's AI-related job hiring is accelerating rapidly, with AI specialisation now accounting for 11.7% of tech job postings, up from 8.2% a year ago. Major platforms Indeed and LinkedIn reveal how AI is transforming hiring across sectors—from analytics to insurance—while traditional entry-level tech roles decline 45%. Experts argue AI tools will augment human work rather than replace it, as companies prioritize AI applications over expensive foundation models.

2 Sources

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