Deepseek and ye shall find

Top News

• DeepSeek V4 could soon be here: The Information reports that the storied Chinese AI company is on the verge of releasing a new model, DeepSeek V4, which could be just weeks away. (This would be roughly consistently; their R1 reasoning model dropped almost exactly one year ago, on January 20, 2025.) The latest DeepSeek appears to be coming for coding titans Claude and GPT, and can apparently handle “extremely long coding prompts.” Will this be another “Come to Digital Jesus” moment for US AI companies, recognizing that a lower-cost and faster foreign model is nipping at their heels?

• Grok paywalls image creation: Individual users deploying Grok’s image creator tool on X to produce and/or publish sexualized images of real people led to an international outcry; earlier this week, a trio of Democratic Senators pushed Apple and Google to remove the X and Grok apps from their stores. In response, xAI turned off the image creation function for most users, limiting access to paid subscribers only. So technically you could still use the system to produce deepfakes, but only if the company already has your identifying information, and can track you down.

• Polymarket teams with Golden Globe Awards: Seems like every week, there’s another huge collaboration involving prediction markets… and this week is no different! Polymarket has joined forces with the Golden Globe Awards, which kick off Hollywood’s awards season this Sunday from Los Angeles, becoming the events’ exclusive prediction market partner. Polymarket will provide the Globes with real-time stats and predictions, based on user sentiment, which will be integrated into the Globes broadcast plus additional coverage from parent company PMC (which also owns industry publications like Variety and Deadline).

TWiST 500

As a venture firm, Andreessen Horowitz (aka a16z) is ineligible for TWiST 500 membership. But there’s news from out of the fund that’s relevant to EVERY startup on the list and beyond. a16z announced this week that they’ve secured around $15 BILLION in new funding, essentially the equivalent of 18% of all VC dollars allocated in the US last year. It’s among the largest-ever fundraises for any VC firm in history.

In a social media post, co-founder Ben Horowitz explains the thinking behind the mega-deal. The firm’s leadership is concerned about the global position of the Untied States, expressing concern that competitors like China could soon take the lead in important markets like AI and crypto. As Horowitz explains: “if America’s position as the global leader in technology slips, it’s not long before everything else slips with it.”

The capital infusion goes into five separate funds: $1.7 billion for apps, $700 million for biotech and health care, $1.7 billion for infrastructure, $6.75 billion for growth, and $1.176 billion for what a16z is calling “American Dynamism.” This particular portfolio will combine investments in defense, aerospace, public safety, housing, education, and so on… essentially, an attempt to get the nation back into manufacturing and industrialization, while also beefing up the US military and providing the Department of Defense with fresh drones, missiles, ships, and the automated systems to run and monitor it all.

So this is nothing but great news for startups in these markets specifically, even if some questions remain about the origins of this massive windfall, and the Limited Partners who are filling up a16z’s coffers. – Lon

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This Week in Startups

E2231: It’s time for another epic This Week in AI roundtable “Experts Only” discussion. Jason welcomes NotebookLM editorial director Steven Johnson and the CEO and co-founder of one of our favorite AI apps, Gamma, for a wide-ranging chat about how Google and Gamma both use AI to better understand their customers, how AI is changing the way companies organize and process information, whether AI enhances or kills creativity, the new relevance of Jevon’s Paradox, and much much more.

E2230: New year, new TWiSTs. We’re starting 2026 with a look at Meta’s behind-the-scenes AI drama, Nvidia’s “acquisition” of Groq and what it means for his bestie Chamath, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone’s new social media app Tangle, PLUS another check-in with the sharps at Polymarket.

E2229: The 2025 TWiSTY Awards are here! Check out the nominees and winners for Best Name Drop, Top Trends, Favorite Guests, Most Controversial Takes, Iconic Jason Rants, the Disgraziad of the Year, and a lot more of our favorite 2025 highlights, clips, and memories.

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