Week 3 in AI: Grok faces global backlash and lawsuits over deepfakes while Pentagon adopts it, Apple partners with Google Gemini for Siri, Skild AI raises $1.4B for robotics, OpenAI signs $10B Cerebras deal and launches ads, and Meta secures 6.6GW nuclear power.

📋 Quick Takeaways

• Skild AI secures massive $1.4B Series C to build a “universal brain” for robots, tripling valuation to $14B+.
• Apple officially partners with Google Gemini to power the next generation of Siri and Apple Intelligence features.
• Pentagon announces integration of Elon Musk’s Grok AI into military networks, sparking global controversy.
• Google unveils Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard to enable agentic shopping across the web.
• OpenAI acquires Torch Health for ~$100M to power its new ChatGPT Health vertical.
• Aikido Security hits $1B unicorn status, becoming the fastest-growing European cybersecurity startup.

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🤖 Robotics & Physical AI

Skild AI Raises $1.4B at $14B+ Valuation for “Omni-Bodied” Robot Brain

Mega-Round Confirmed: Pittsburgh-based robotics startup Skild AI closed a massive $1.4 billion Series C funding round on January 14, led by SoftBank with participation from Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, and Samsung.

📋 Quick Takeaways

• Apple selects Google Gemini to power next-generation Siri and Apple Intelligence in multi-year $1B annual partnership
• Alphabet becomes 4th company to reach $4 trillion market cap, surpassing Apple as 2nd most valuable company
• Malaysia and Indonesia become first countries to block Grok AI over non-consensual deepfake concerns
• UK Ofcom launches formal investigation into X/Grok with potential fines up to 10% of global revenue or platform ban
• xAI closes $20 billion Series E from NVIDIA, Cisco, Qatar Investment Authority despite Grok controversy
• MSD (Merck) in talks for potential $28-32B acquisition of Revolution Medicines in pharma’s biggest deal since 2023
• $3 trillion investment needed for AI data center infrastructure through 2030

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🍎 Apple-Google Partnership Reshapes AI Landscape

Apple Selects Google Gemini to Power Next-Generation Siri

Historic Partnership: Apple and Google announced a multi-year collaboration where Google’s Gemini AI models and cloud technology will power the next generation of Apple Foundation Models, including a major Siri upgrade expected later this year.

Week 45 in AI: Meta commits $600B US infrastructure investment, Apple pays Google $1B/year for Gemini-powered Siri, Trump administration blocks Nvidia China exports, Microsoft launches superintelligence team, OpenAI-AWS forge $38B partnership, AI safety vulnerabilities exposed, global chip war intensifies.