🤖 Did U.S. Startups Get Out Startuped By A New Chinese AI Startup

In today’s newsletter we discuss if U.S. startups got out startuped by a new Chinese AI startup, Coffee continues to get more expensive even with trade war with Columbia averted, 30 seconds will cost you $8 million in the Super Bowl, Planet is launching 32 new satellites for a company in the Asia–Pacific region, it’ll always be the “Gulf Of Mexico” to me, and U.S. soccer phenomenon Naomi Girma has made history with a $1.1 million dollar transfer fee.

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WHAT WE’RE READING

🤖 Did U.S. Startups Get Out Startuped By A New Chinese AI Startup

One of the first lessons of startups is to “move fast and break things”.

So why should we be surprised that another country, China in this case, has produced an AI startup that has found a way to do more with less, and seemingly cheaper, than its American counterparts?

None of this should be a surprise, but yet many are scratching their heads.

Don't even get me started on the markets over reaction to DeepSeek. It's not the end of the world, despite stocks selling off on Monday on the news. Nvidia will rebound, or maybe this news will act as a blowoff valve of sorts to take a little wind out of the sails of a chip maker that has seen its stock rise by 170% in 2024 alone.

My closing thoughts on their whole episode, and the rise of DeepSeek, is that we haven't seen the last of a new startup on the scene that sends investors and spectators into a frenzy at the thought of them supplanting the bigger more established startups like OpenAI, which let's keep in mind is only 9 years old itself and still a baby in startup terms.

Deep breaths people. This is only the 1st inning of the AI revolution.

☕ Business

They say most politics are local, so I’ve been repeating that line in my head for the last few months (possibly years now that I think about it). So typically when there’s something sensational in the news that some politician says I brush it off thinking it won’t affect me, but now that coffee prices are rising even though Donald Trump is no longer going to engage in a trade war against Columbia, the biggest producer of coffee in the world, now I’m paying attention.

If you make my coffee more expensive, or harder to get, then you better have a suggestion of what you’re going to do to fix that situation! Without coffee I might not be 100% in the morning, but you better believe I’ll be paying attention to what this new administration is doing to bring down the price of coffee and ensure its availability. Full stop!

📺 Entertainment

Well that’s an expensive 30 seconds. I’m guessing that’s what some account will be saying on Monday, February 10, the morning after this year’s Super Bowl. A 30 second ad during this year’s Super Bowl will now cost $8 million dollars a piece. And yet, there’s (10) companies that have signed up. With the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Kansas City Chiefs playing in the Super Bowl AGAIN, the ads might be the best part of the game.

📡 Space

Satellite company Planet is manufacturing and launching 32 of their new Pelican satellites, in a partnership with a company in the Asia–Pacific region who will hold the rights to imagery in that region, while Planet is free to monetize all other regions worldwide.

Planet acquired the company Terra Bella from Google back in 2017, and with it a constellation of 7 high resolution SkySat satellites.

🌎 Cartography

If geography was never your strong suit, good luck trying to keep up with what mountains and bodies of water are officially named in 2025.

The incoming administration has by Executive Order changed the name from the “Gulf Of Mexico” to “Gulf Of America”, and Google has said they will abide by that name when showing maps to anyone in the United States, but for the other 194 countries in the world they will continue to call it the “Gulf Of Mexico”; the same way I will always refer to the social media platform as Twitter.

The name "Gulf of Mexico", which in Spanish is called “golfo de México” first appeared on a world map in 1550 and a historical account in 1552, according to Wikipedia.

So for me, it’s going to take a lot more than one president’s rash decision to change the name of the “Gulf Of Mexico” after 474 years of referring to it as that, and I’m not alone.

⚽ Sports

The U.S. soccer phenomenon Naomi Girma has made history becoming the highest paid women’s soccer player after signing a four-year deal with the Chelsea Women’s team, and leaving her current team the San Diego Wave, for a $1.1 million dollar transfer fee.

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irl Media NEWSLETTER is written, edited, and published by Chris Thompson.