A customer relationship gone wrong for OpenAI, a jet-setting former COO is now suspected of being a Russian spy, and more!

Dozens of you emailed us to point out an error in yesterday's newsletter, namely that Apple's market cap crossed the $3 trillion - not billion - mark. It's both comforting and terrifying to know that we have so many watchful eyes out there (thank you).:)

Also! We have great news: Elad Gil, a repeat founder who has become the biggest "solo VC" in the world, is now joining us on January 24 at Cloudflare for our first StrictlyVC event of the year. Gil is among the most watched investors in the business these days,  and he has a lot of thoughts about the future of generative AI, the atomization of venture investing, and whether or not Silicon Valley will again cement its place at the center of the startup universe; we're very excited to be talking with him about all of these things and much more.

Note the event is nearly sold out already. (And we're still not done programming it!) 

If you miss this one, rest assured that we'll have lots of content to share with you immediately afterward. Also, you can always nab a spot at our next event, coming up on February 29 in L.A. More on this one soon.

Enormous thanks to everyone at the global early-stage firm Felicis, which has been enormously supportive over the years and is the anchor sponsor of our January event.

More Monday. Hope you have a merry weekend.🎄

More than two years after a California state agency accused the video game maker Activision Blizzard of fostering a culture of sexual harassment against women, the agency today withdrew its allegations in a stunning about-face. (Reminder: Activision was recently acquired by Microsoft after a lengthy battle with antitrust regulators.)

According to a report in 404 Media, a marketing group at Cox Media Group claims that it can listen in on its customers' conversations through embedded microphones in smartphones and smart TVs and use this info to target ads. 🫠

ByteDance is secretly using OpenAI's tech to build its own LLM, according to The Verge, which notes that ByteDance is one of OpenAI's largest customers.

The SEC has rejected Coinbase's request to write a special set of rules to govern crypto companies.

Three things you'll learn about in Affinity's new deal sourcing guide: Using AI to surface opportunities faster with Fifty Years, nurturing firm-wide relationships over the long term with 01 Advisors, and making operational improvements so your whole team can move faster with 8VC. Don't miss out on this expertise from your peers! Download the guide to get ahead with deal sourcing in 2024.

Parse Biosciences, a five-year-old Seattle startup that claims its lab kits simplify complex single-cell analysis, raised a $50 million Series C equity and debt round led by Soleus Capital, with additional participation from Janus Henderson Investors, Marshall Wace, Sahsen Ventures, and Saras Capital. GeekWire has more here.

Amide Technologies, a seven-year-old startup based in Cambridge, Ma., that says it provides reliable linear synthesis of peptides up to 120 amino acids, raised a $7.5 million Series A extension in July that was led by previous investor Engine Ventures, with Forcefield Venture Fund also taking part. The company has raised a total of $16.5 million. More here.

Distributional, a San Francisco startup founded this year whose software tools scrutinize the training data of complex AI models for hidden biases and flag potential risks like unfairness or discrimination, raised an $11 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Operator Stack, Point72 Ventures, SV Angel, and Two Sigma also investing. TechCrunch has more here.

Kapital, a four-year-old Mexico City startup that offers Latin American SMBs bookkeeping and budgeting software, access to loans, and financial guidance, raised a $40 million Series B equity round and $125 million in debt. The lead was Tribe Capital, with Cervin Ventures, Tru Arrow, MS&AD Ventures, and Alumni Ventures also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Meniga, a 14-year-old London company whose platform helps banks leverage AI and machine learning to understand customer spending patterns, predict financial needs, and build personalized features, raised a $16.5 million Series D round. Investors included Groupe BPCE, Crédito Agrícola, and Omega ehf. The company has raised a total of $59.9 million. Tech.eu has more here.

Mootral, a seven-year-old UK startup that is trying to stop cows from burping methane, raised a $20 million Series B round led by King Philanthropies, with previous investors Lowercarbon Capital, Earthshot Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Third Derivative, Climactic, and Climate Capital also investing. The company has raised a total of $48.9 million. TechCrunch has more here.

ANNEA, a four-year-old Hamburg startup that claims it provides a digital twin platform for automated predictive maintenance and performance optimization of renewable energy infrastructure, raised a $2.9 million seed round led by Voyager Ventures, with previous investors Innoport and Faber Ventures also joining in. More here.

Arbonics, a one-year-old startup based in Tallinn, Estonia, that leverages AI and satellite imagery to quantify forest carbon capture, enabling corporations and investors to offset their emissions through forest conservation projects, raised a $6 million seed round. Participants in the financing included NordicNinja, Plural, and Tilla Impact Ventures. The company has raised a total of $7.9 million. Silicon Canals has more here.

Arcane, a two-year-old London startup that says it automates repetitive marketing tasks and offers real-time analytics and insights, raised a $5 million seed round led by Accel, with participation from Cocoa, Firstminute Capital, Kima Ventures, and Seedcamp. Tech.eu has more here.

CurbWaste, a five-year-old New York startup that provides waste service companies with customer and order management, real-time dispatch, and automated billing, raised a $10 million Series A round round led by Flourish Ventures, with TTV Capital, Mucker Capital, and B Capital also stepping up. The company has raised a total of $20 million. Waste 360 has more here.

Maka, a two-year-old Lagos startup that aims to create an e-commerce platform to simplify the purchase of fashion and beauty products in Africa, raised a $2.7 million pre-seed round co-led by 4DX Ventures and Janngo, with Palm Drive Capital also chipping in. TechCrunch has more here.

Metycle, a one-year-old startup based in Cologne, Germany, that is building an online platform for buying and selling nonferrous scrap and secondary commodities, raised a $5.1 million seed round led by Project A and including Partech, Market One Capital, and Dutch Founders Fund. Recycling Today has more here.

Pave Bank, a five-year-old Singapore neobank that intends to leverage blockchain technology to move money and facilitate faster and cheaper cross-border payments, raised a $5.2 million seed round led by 468 Capital, with Quona Capital, FT Partners, BR Capital, w3.fund, and Daedalus also pitching in. Forbes has more here.

700+ investors say deal volume is back for 2024. Read the 2024 private capital investment predictions report for a healthy dose of cautious optimism today.

Scooter company Superpedestrian is shutting down its U.S. operations just 18 months after raising $125 million. TechCrunch has the scoop here.

The WSJ is reporting that DocuSign is looking to sell to a private equity firm or technology company, which is no mean feat given the company's $11 billion market cap.

Western intelligence officials now suspect that Jan Marsalek, the former COO of payment processing startup Wirecard, was a Russian spy who stole $2 billion from Wirecard's balance sheet.

Flyhomes, a Seattle startup that helps home-buyers secure purchases with all-cash offers, is laying off an undisclosed number of employees. It has raised more than $200 million, including a $150 million round in 2021.

Glowforge, another Seattle startup that makes 3D laser engravers, is cutting 30 employees despite raising a $20 million Series E extension in May. (The company has raised a  total of $135 million.) 

Apple has agreed to pay out $25 million to settle a class action lawsuit over its Family Sharing feature, which lets users and up to five of their family members share access to apps, music, movies, TV shows and books that they purchase. The lawsuit, which was first filed in 2019, alleged that “Apple misrepresented the ability to use its Family Sharing feature to share subscriptions to apps.”

Why are Americans getting shorter?

Elon Musk apparently made verbal guarantees that the banks that financed his Twitter purchase would not lose money. Now, these banks would be lucky to sell their debt at 60 cents on the dollar, with at least one distressed debt firm calling X's debt "uninvestable." The FT has more here.

A Microsoft chatbot gave wrong answers to 33% of the questions it was asked about German and Swiss politics, often misquoting sources or just making stuff up, a recent study found.

A new report from the University of Valencia found that reading print improves comprehension by six to eight times over reading from a digital device.

CIOs are taking it slow when it comes to generative AI.

Kids asking for presents using PowerPoint presentations. (What would Santa think?)

LA Dodger Shohei Ohtani is one rich Kooikerhead.

Anselm, Wim Wenders' new 3D documentary about artist Anselm Kiefer, is earning raves. (Here's a trailer.)

This 203-foot sailboat is quite a ketch.

Lighting inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture.