Source: Erebor, a digital bank co-founded by Palmer Luckey, raised $350M led by Lux Capital at a $4.35B post-money valuation; it secured FDIC approval last week (Axios) https://www.axios.com/2025/12/22/palmer-luckey-digital-bank
Techmeme
Sources: Erebor, Palmer Luckey
From Axios. View the full context on Techmeme.
Alphabet agrees to acquire clean energy developer Intersect for $4.75B in cash, and existing debt, as part of its push to dramatically expand AI data centers (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg.com
Alphabet to Buy Data Center Partner Intersect for $4.75 Billion
Alphabet Inc. has agreed to buy clean energy developer Intersect Power LLC for $4.75 billion in cash, plus existing debt, marking one of the larges...
Techmeme
Alphabet agrees to acquire data center company Intersect for $4.75B in cash, plus its existing debt, as part of its push to expand its AI data center footprint
From Bloomberg. View the full context on Techmeme.
Instacart says it is ending all item price tests effective immediately, and won't charge different prices for the same items, after a report into the practice (Chris Wack/Wall Street Journal) https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/instacart-ending-all-item-price-tests-on-its-platform-3c97d68d?st=LP28v5&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Techmeme
Instacart scraps all item price tests after customer pushback, and won
By Chris Wack / Wall Street Journal. View the full context on Techmeme.
Paramount says Larry Ellison "agreed to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of $40.4B" for its WBD bid, after WBD's board raised concerns about the offer (Sara Salinas/CNBC)
CNBC
Paramount guarantees Larry Ellison backing in amended WBD bid
Paramount notably did not increase its bid on Monday, reiterating that it believes the deal is superior to Netflix's.
Techmeme
Paramount says Larry Ellison “agreed to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of $40.4B” for its WBD bid, after WBD
By Sara Salinas / CNBC. View the full context on Techmeme.
Investigation: in 22 US states, Uber approves drivers with many types of convictions, such as violent felonies, that are over seven years old to keep costs low (Emily Steel/New York Times)
Uber Cleared Violent Felons to Drive. Passengers Accused Them of Rape.
The ride-hailing giant’s background check process was intended to speed drivers onto its network while keeping costs down, internal documents show.
Techmeme
Investigation: in 22 US states, Uber approves drivers with many types of convictions, such as violent felonies, that are over seven years old to keep costs low
By Emily Steel / New York Times. View the full context on Techmeme.
Sources: Nvidia plans to begin shipping its H200 chips to China before mid-February 2026 and expects initial shipments to be ~40,000 to 80,000 H200 units (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/world/china/nvidia-aims-begin-h200-chip-shipments-china-by-mid-february-sources-say-2025-12-22/
Techmeme
Sources: Nvidia plans to begin shipping its H200 chips to China before mid-February 2026 and expects initial shipments to be ~40,000 to 80,000 H200 units
From Reuters. View the full context on Techmeme.
Chinese AI chipmaker Biren Technology plans to raise up to ~$623M in a Hong Kong IPO, pricing shares at ~$2.19 to ~$2.52, and expects trading to start January 2 (Sherry Qin/Wall Street Journal) https://www.wsj.com/business/chinese-ai-chip-maker-biren-technology-plans-623-million-hong-kong-ipo-a5433f02?st=Zx9gtF&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Techmeme
Chinese AI chipmaker Biren Technology plans to raise up to ~$623M in a Hong Kong IPO, pricing shares at ~$2.19 to ~$2.52, and expects trading to start January 2
By Sherry Qin / Wall Street Journal. View the full context on Techmeme.
Investigation: internal Binance files show it failed to stop hundreds of millions in crypto from flowing through suspicious accounts, even after a 2023 US deal (Financial Times)
Client Challenge
Techmeme
Investigation: internal Binance files show it failed to stop hundreds of millions in crypto from flowing through suspicious accounts, even after a 2023 US deal
From Financial Times. View the full context on Techmeme.
Sequoia, a16z, and other VC firms invested $1.2B+ into police and public safety tech startups over the past year, following the success of Palantir and others (Abram Brown/The Information) https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/andreessen-horowitz-sequoia-add-1-2-billion-funding-boom-police-tech-startups
Techmeme
Sequoia, a16z, and other VC firms invested $1.2B+ into police and public safety tech startups over the past year, following the success of Palantir and others
By Abram Brown / The Information. View the full context on Techmeme.
How the global AI boom is driven by thousands of newcomers, diluting Big Tech's infrastructure dominance; US data center credit deals hit $178.5B in 2025 so far (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg.com
AI Data Center Gold Rush Driven by Thousands of Newcomers
The growing field of data center developers are catering to the tech industry’s ravenous demand for computing power to build better and more wide...
Techmeme
How the global AI boom is driven by thousands of newcomers, diluting Big Tech
From Bloomberg. View the full context on Techmeme.