Melos Ambaye / Bloomberg: Elliptic: ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5 surpassed $100B in transactions in under a year, but demand cooled and daily volume fell from a peak of $1.5B+ to ~$500M — The ruble-backed stablecoin created to circumvent sanctions on Russia has surpassed $100 billion in transactions in less …
Bloomberg: Sources: Grab's planned acquisition of GoTo has hit a snag over Indonesian carrier Telkomsel's unwillingness to sell its ~2% stake in GoTo at current valuations — Grab Holdings Ltd.'s planned multibillion-dollar acquisition of GoTo Group has hit a stumbling block.
Chris Welch / Bloomberg: Solos Technology sues Meta and EssilorLuxottica, alleging they willfully violated several patents that cover “core technologies in the field of smart eyewear” — Meta Platforms Inc., the reigning leader in the growing smart glasses category, is being sued by another glasses maker …
Bloomberg: Sources: China deepens its probe into Meta's Manus acquisition in December to investigate cross-border currency flows, tax accounting, and overseas investments — Beijing is deepening an investigation into Meta Platforms Inc.'s $2 billion acquisition of Chinese-founded AI startup Manus …
Bloomberg: Sources: UBS plans to make cryptocurrency investing available for some private banking clients in Switzerland, starting with bitcoin and ether — UBS Group AG plans to make cryptocurrency investing available for some private banking clients, in what could become a significant move …
Min-Jeong Lee / Bloomberg: Google invests an undisclosed sum in Sakana AI, valued at $2.6B in November 2025, to boost Gemini's presence in Japan; Sakana AI gains access to Google's LLMs — Google joined Japanese startup Sakana AI's roster of backers in a move that bolsters chatbot Gemini's presence in a country eager …
Anisah Shukry / Bloomberg: Malaysia lifted its temporary ban on Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot after xAI added safety measures; Grok remains subject to continuous monitoring by authorities — Malaysia lifted its temporary ban on Elon Musk's Grok artificial intelligence chatbot after the company behind it added safety measures …
Bloomberg: Sources: Fei-Fei Li's World Labs is in discussions with investors to raise hundreds of millions at a valuation of $5B; World Labs was last valued at $1B in 2024 — Artificial intelligence pioneer Fei-Fei Li has had discussions with investors to raise hundreds of millions in funding for her startup …
Edward Ludlow / Bloomberg: Austin-based Neurophos, which develops a photon-based “Optical Processing Unit” to replace GPUs in AI training, raised $110M led by Bill Gates' Gates Frontier — Bill Gates' VC fund, Microsoft Corp.'s investment arm and Saudi Arabia's Aramco Ventures are investing $110 million in Neurophos Inc. …
Tim Fernholz / Bloomberg: How Google, Huawei, Microsoft, and Nvidia, as well as startups and university research teams, spent millions of dollars to develop AI weather forecasting tools — Google, Microsoft and Nvidia are among the names vying to make forecasts more accurate for longer.
Rajesh Mascarenhas / Bloomberg: Filing: PhonePe reports H1 FY 2026 revenue up 22% YoY to ~$427.5M, a ~$157M loss, and 657.6M users; the payments company plans to sell 50.7M shares in its IPO — Follow Bloomberg India on WhatsApp for exclusive content and analysis on what billionaires, businesses and markets are doing. Sign up here.
Bloomberg: Chinese AI startup Zhipu says it is limiting GLM Coding Plan access after strong demand, taking only 20% of its current daily new subscriptions from January 23 — China's Zhipu is limiting access to its coding assistant after strong demand for a new AI model siphoned off computing resources.
Coco Liu / Bloomberg: Berlin-based Cloover, which makes software to help install solar, home batteries, and heat pumps, raised $22M from Lowercarbon and others and $1.2B in debt — The new funding round comes as residential installations are declining across the bloc. — Berlin-based climate technology company Cloover …
Francesca Maglione / Bloomberg: US colleges like Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech are using AI to streamline admissions; Virginia Tech says AI that scores essay questions saved ~8,000 hours — Some schools have even used AI to guard against AI. — Thousands of students will get their college decisions faster this year because of artificial intelligence.
Christina Kyriasoglou / Bloomberg: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says selling AI chips to China is a blunder with “incredible national security implications”, calling it a “big mistake” and “crazy” — Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei said selling advanced artificial intelligence chips …
Newley Purnell / Bloomberg: Meta VP of Public Policy Simon Milner, the company's most senior Asia-Pacific policy executive, plans to leave after 14 years to retire from full-time work — Meta Platforms Inc. is losing its most senior public policy executive in the Asia-Pacific at a time when the company faces several …
Alex Wickham / Bloomberg: Sources: UK and Chinese security officials set up a forum to discuss cyberattacks after hacking accusations, the first of its kind, to help prevent escalation — British and Chinese security officials established a forum to discuss cyberattacks following a spate of hacking accusations that soured relations between the two countries.
John Liu / Bloomberg: Sources: China broadens its probe into Temu owner PDD, dispatching 100+ investigators to its Shanghai HQ, after staff exchanged physical blows with regulators — China has broadened a probe into PDD Holdings Inc. after its employees exchanged blows with regulators, dispatching over 100 investigators …
Yazhou Sun / Bloomberg: French accounting software startup Pennylane raised $204M led by TCV, a source says at a ~$4.25B valuation, with participation from Blackstone, DST, and others — Pennylane, a French startup that sells accounting software, has raised €175 million ($204 million) in a funding round led by growth equity investor TCV.
Bloomberg: a16z's Matt Bornstein and others talk adding $1.7B to its $1.25B AI infrastructure fund, focusing on early rounds; Ben Horowitz calls it “one of the best funds” — A newer fund run by an unconventional team at the venture firm is finding success focusing on infrastructure.
Suvashree Ghosh / Bloomberg: Bitcoin fell 3.6% to under $92K, ether fell ~5%, and solana fell 8.6%, wiping ~$100B from crypto's total value, after Trump proposed new 10% European tariffs — Cryptocurrencies fell sharply as risk assets slipped and haven demand strengthened after US President Donald Trump proposed new levies on eight European countries.
Maggie Eastland / Bloomberg: Chinese media: phone makers Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Transsion trimmed their 2026 shipment targets, with Oppo cutting up to 20%, due to the memory chip shortage — Nvidia Corp. supplier Micron Technology Inc. said an ongoing memory chip shortage has accelerated over the past quarter …
Bloomberg: Shenzhen-based UBTech signs deals to supply its Walker S2 humanoid robots to Airbus and Texas Instruments, and says it aims to produce 10,000+ units in 2026 — UBTech Robotics Corp. shares jumped after the China-based humanoid maker received an order from Airbus SE, bolstering the outlook …
Valentine Baldassari / Bloomberg: Micron signs a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip for $1.8B to expand DRAM memory chip production, expected to close in Q2 2026 — Micron Technology Inc. has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp …
Robert Burnson / Bloomberg: Filing: Elon Musk seeks $79B-$134B damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging OpenAI defrauded him by abandoning nonprofit roots and partnering with Microsoft — Elon Musk wants OpenAI Inc. and Microsoft to pay him damages in the range of $79 billion to $134 billion over his claims …
Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg: Adobe's stock has slumped more than 45% since the end of 2023, reflecting analyst concerns over the threat of AI-driven disruption to SaaS companies — Concern that Adobe Inc. will struggle in the artificial-intelligence era has driven Wall Street analysts' view on the maker of software …
Bloomberg: Sources: Trump and several state governors agree to direct grid operator PJM to hold an auction for tech companies to fund new power plants due to AI demand — President Donald Trump and the governors of several US Northeastern states agreed to push for an emergency wholesale electricity auction …
Molly Schuetz / Bloomberg: Spotify plans to raise its Premium subscription by $1 to $12.99/month for subscribers in the US, Estonia, and Latvia, in its first US hike since July 2024 — Spotify Technology SA is raising the price of its premium subscription service by 8% in an effort to achieve sustained profitability.
Bloomberg: ASML hits a $500B+ market cap for the first time, the third European company to reach the milestone, after TSMC reported strong earnings; ASML is up 24% YTD — ASML Holding NV shares soared to a record high, sending its market value beyond $500 billion, after its key customer Taiwan …
Olivia Solon / Bloomberg: Yield Sec: the top 10 pirate sports streaming sites in the UK, largely funded by ads from unlicensed gambling operators, had 1.6B views in H1 2025, up 33% YoY — Illegal sports streaming is surging in the UK, fueled by sites that are largely funded by advertising from unlicensed gambling operators …
Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg: South Korea dropped Naver's and NCSoft's teams from its competition to develop its first sovereign AI model, as LG's, SK Telecom's, and Upstage's teams advanced — South Korea dropped teams led by units of Naver Corp. and NCSoft Corp. from its closely watched competition to develop the nation's …
Samantha Kelly / Bloomberg: Pittsburgh-based Skild AI, which makes robotics foundation models, raised a $1.4B Series C at a $14B valuation, up from $4.5B after raising $300M in June 2025 — Skild AI Inc., a fast-rising startup that makes software to help robots learn to complete tasks, has secured about $1.4 billion …
Natalie Lung / Bloomberg: Airbnb hires Meta executive Ahmad Al-Dahle, who led generative AI and the Llama team after working at Apple, as its CTO, as it aims to integrate AI in its app — Airbnb Inc. has hired a former Meta Platforms Inc. executive as its new chief technology officer, as the short-term rental company …
Denitsa Tsekova / Bloomberg: Polymarket is hosting a growing number of contracts related to military conflicts, including China invading Taiwan; possible US strikes in Iran has $18M+ volume — Even as prediction-market platforms have tested legal and regulatory norms like never before, most have drawn a line at one category: direct wagers on war.
Dave Sebastian / Bloomberg: Sources: Chinese chip designer Montage, a Shanghai-listed company valued at $22B, plans a Hong Kong IPO that could raise $900M+, backed by Alibaba and JPMorgan — Chinese chip designer Montage Technology Co. is set to enlist Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JPMorgan Asset Management among …
Bloomberg: How Ireland, an early data center winner, missed out on much of the current AI boom, hampered by creaking infrastructure and a strained electricity grid — The government has a new energy plan to get investment flowing again — Every few weeks, electricians, fitters and welders pass through Dublin Airport …
Bloomberg: China's market regulator says it is investigating Trip.com, the country's largest online travel agency, over alleged antitrust conduct, without offering details — China is investigating Trip.com Group Ltd. over alleged antitrust conduct, taking aim at the country's dominant online travel platform weeks …
Agnee Ghosh / Bloomberg: NYC-based Proxima, which uses AI to design drugs that control protein interactions, raised an $80M seed led by DCVC, with participation from Nvidia and others — Proxima, a biotech startup using artificial intelligence to design drugs that control protein interactions, raised $80 million in seed funding …
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg: Interviews with Spotify founder Daniel Ek on his CEO exit, and new co-CEOs Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström, who face algorithmic fatigue and angry artists — And they're hoping AI can help solve some of those problems. — Peaceful transfers of executive power tend to be plain affairs …
Mark Bergen / Bloomberg: Paris-based autonomous drone maker Harmattan AI raised a $200M Series B led by Dassault at a $1.4B valuation, and aims to produce 10K drones per month in 2026 — Dassault Aviation SA, developer of the Rafale fighter jet, led a $200 million investment into the relatively unknown drone company Harmattan AI …
Nasteho Said / Bloomberg: Meta says it shut down nearly 550K accounts in Australia to comply with its under-16 social media ban, including 330K Instagram and 173K Facebook accounts — Meta Platforms Inc. said it has shut down almost 550,000 accounts in Australia to comply with the country's landmark social media ban for children.
Bloomberg: Chinese AI executives say China is unlikely to eclipse the US in the AI race anytime soon, citing limited resources and US chip export curbs as key constraints — Some of China's most prominent figures in generative artificial intelligence warned that the Asian nation is unlikely to eclipse the US in the global AI race anytime soon.
Bloomberg: Analysis: global AI-related companies drove ~40% of benchmark convertible bond index returns in 2025, pushing the amount raised to $166.5B, the most since 2001 — Companies around the world are issuing convertible bonds at the fastest pace in 24 years, as the development of artificial intelligence spurs a hunt for cheaper financing.
Bloomberg: China releases draft guidelines for governing online personal data collection, open for public consultation amid privacy concerns and companies' data misuse — China has issued draft regulations for the governance of personal information collection from the internet and its use by applicants …
Joshua Brustein / Bloomberg: A profile of Grubhub parent Wonder, which has raised about $2B and is rolling out robotic meal-assembly tech acquired from Sweetgreen for $186M in November 2025 — E-commerce mogul Marc Lore's Wonder is leaning into automation in a $2 billion effort to do to restaurants what Amazon did to shopping.
Bloomberg: Xreal co-founder and CEO Chi Xu says the smart glass maker, which has a $1B+ valuation, recently raised $100M from “supply chain partners” and other backers — Smart glasses maker Xreal Inc. recently raised $100 million, its chief executive officer said, adding to the firm's coffers as competition in the category heats up.
Bloomberg: Chinese short-video app Kuaishou's stock has surged 88% over the past year, driven by the success of its Kling AI video generator, which has amassed 60M users — Few major companies have tried to pull off a pivot to AI as swiftly as Kuaishou Technology. — Long known as a laggard …
Bloomberg: Omdia: global humanoid robot shipments rose more than 5x YoY in 2025 to ~13K units; China accounted for the vast majority, led by AgiBot shipping ~5,168 units — Humanoid robot makers in China accounted for the vast majority of the roughly 13,000 units shipped globally last year …
Saritha Rai / Bloomberg: Chinese humanoid robotics companies dominated CES 2026, but a wide gap remains between choreographed demonstrations and real-world deployment — One of Elon Musk's worries was on full display at CES in Las Vegas this week. Chinese-made human-like robots were everywhere across the exhibition floor …
Suvashree Ghosh / Bloomberg: Artemis Analytics: total stablecoin transaction volumes rose 72% YoY to a record $33T in 2025, led by Circle's USDC at $18.3T and Tether's USDT at $13.3T — Stablecoin transactions reached unprecedented heights last year, buoyed by favorable policy in the US under pro-crypto President Donald Trump.