Top stories today:

1. AI chip exports said to be further restricted in final push from Biden
2. Terraform’s Do Kwon to face trial in NY only in 2026
3. Quantum stocks drop after NVIDIA CEO's 20-year comment
4. Singapore, Middle East VC investment down in 2024
5. Industrial robot installations above 500K for 3rd year
6. LA wildfires kill 5+, cause record estimated $52B in damages

0. Data and calendar

1. AI chip exports said to be further restricted in final push from Biden

• Gulf states and Southeast Asian countries would face new chip shipment restrictions by the U.S.

• China and Russia are already restricted from getting access to American chips.

• Some U.S. allies are said to still get unmitigated access.

• NVIDIA has objected: the move “would threaten economic growth and US leadership.”

3. Terraform’s Do Kwon to face trial in NY only in 2026

• Jan. 26, 2026: U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer has set the trial date.

• 6TB of data is expected to be produced and reviewed in the meantime.

• 4–8 weeks: expected trial length.

• Securities, wire, and commodities frauds and money laundering conspiracy are the charges against Kwon.

4. Quantum stocks drop after NVIDIA CEO says useful quantum computers ~20 years away

• “If you kind of said 15 years for very useful quantum computers, that would probably be on the early side. If you said 30, it’s probably on the late side. If you picked 20, I think a whole bunch of us would believe it,” Jensen Huang said during NVIDIA’s analyst day.

5. Singapore, Middle East VC investment down in 2024, as Philippines sees +721% year

6. Industrial robot installations above 500K for 3rd year, with automotive, electronics industries leading

7. LA wildfires kill 5+, cause record estimated $52B in damages

8. North America VC funding +96% YoY to $61.9B in Q4, led by mega-rounds, AI

9. Interesting videos, posts, and memes

10. Other headlines

AI

• Phi-4 model from Microsoft open sourced on Hugging Face.

• Elon: we’ve exhausted AI training data.

Tech

• Israeli cybersecurity firms raise $4B in 2024.

Tech & Law

• EU court fines EU €400 over data privacy violation.

Biotech

• Lifestyle mostly affects lifespan until 90, genes after that.

• Absci gets $20M investment from AMD for new AI chips.

Business

• Fed minutes suggest no rate cuts in Jan. as Fed worries about tariffs.

Crypto

• $6.5B in seized Silk Road Bitcoin can now be sold after court order.

• FTX estate, Backpack dispute whether FTX EU sale approved.

• Movement Labs on track on raise $100M at $3B for its ETH L2.

• Howey question sent to Second Circuit (appellate court) in Coinbase case.

U.S. politics

• Elon: $2T DOGE goal “best-case outcome,” “good shot” to cutting $1T.

• Trump asks Supreme Court to block NY criminal sentencing.

• Trump’s inaugural committee has raised record $170M in donations.

• Panama Canal CEO: China not running route, U.S. can’t get special rates.

World

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