Hi Shopifreaks
Real Quick: Do you know of any cloud e-mail services that can consolidate multiple personal and work e-mails into one inbox? And actually store the e-mails in one place? Preferably in the cloud and not on my hard drive.
I’ve learned that Google is removing support for pop3 e-mail fetching from third-party accounts, which is honestly the worst thing Google has ever done to my decades long workflow! I absolutely hate checking multiple inboxes, and my workflow depends on having everything come into one unified inbox. I’ve shared some more details about the solution I’m looking for on this LinkedIn post.
Do you know of any existing solutions out there that can bring my various e-mail addresses back together into one Inbox? Please hit reply and let me know or drop a comment on my LinkedIn post. If you can help me solve this dilemma, I’ll owe you one!
And now, I’ve got another jam-packed edition for you today…
In this week’s edition I cover:
- OpenAI will begin testing ads in a few weeks
- Apple will power Siri with Google Gemini
- Amazon objects to Saks Global’s bankruptcy financing plan
- commercetools is all about its agentic experience
- President Trump’s new EU tariffs
- Google denies surveillance pricing accusations
- Anthropic releases Cowork for your desktop
- USPS is back to once a year rate hikes
- TikTok’s new AI features for Shop creators
- Klarna is launching P2P payments
- Affirm to launch BNPL for rent payments
- Don’t open your door to Amazon delivery drivers!
All this and more in this week’s 261st Edition of Shopifreaks. Thanks for subscribing and sharing!
Stat of the Week
The Information reports that despite Big Tech companies like Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon making sweeping job cuts in recent years, their headcounts are almost collectively back to their COVID peaks. The layoffs looked dramatic, but in practice the companies have mostly reshuffled roles rather than shrinking.
1. OpenAI will officially begin testing ads in ChatGPT in a few weeks
To the surprise of absolutely no-one, OpenAI has officially announced that it will begin testing ads within its ChatGPT Go and Free plans, which it says is so that “more people can benefit from our tools with fewer usage limits or without having to pay.”
Quick Backstory: OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Go in India back in August 2025 as a low cost alternative ($8/month) to its Plus ($20/month) and Pro ($200/month) plans. Go offers access to GPT-5.2, ten times more messages, file uploads, and image creation than the free tier, and longer memory. They’ve since rolled out the plan to 171 countries, including to the U.S. last week.
Other Quick Backstory: Sam Altman has had an on-again off-again relationship with the idea of bringing ads to ChatGPT. Over the past few years he’s gone from saying, “I kind of hate ads” to “I’m not totally against it,” to “I believe there probably is some cool ad product we can do that is a net win to the user.” Recent versions of ChatGPT’s Android app have included mentions of an ads feature, and the company’s ad ambitions have been leaked to the media so many times during the past few months, that at this point, everyone’s just been waiting for them.
Well, good news, they’ll be here before you know it!
OpenAI wrote in its announcement:
“People trust ChatGPT for many important and personal tasks, so as we introduce ads, it’s crucial we preserve what makes ChatGPT valuable in the first place. That means you need to trust that ChatGPT’s responses are driven by what’s objectively useful, never by advertising. You need to know that your data and conversations are protected and never sold to advertisers. And we need to keep a high bar and give you control over your experience so you see truly relevant, high-quality ads—and can turn off personalization if you want.”
They went on to say that:
- Their main mission is to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity, and their advertising endeavors will support that mission by making AI more accessible.
- Ads won’t influence the answers ChatGPT gives you, but instead are optimized based on what’s most helpful to you. (That’s a shot at Google.)
- Ads will always be separated and clearly labeled.
- Your convo with ChatGPT are kept private from advertisers.
- They do not plan to change ChatGPT so that you spend more time using it, and thus they earn more from ad revenue. (That’s a shot at Meta.)
- Ads will initially appear at the bottom of answers in ChatGPT when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation.
- You’ll be able to learn more about why you’re seeing that ad, or dismiss any ad and be able to share why.
- They won’t show ads to users that they “predict” are under 18 or if the user says they are under 18. (Umm, is that a free ad blocker prompt? “I’m a child.”)
- Ads won’t appear under sensitive or regulated topics like health, mental health, or politics. (Except for OpenAI’s own health services, I’d imagine.)
- Soon you might see an ad and be able to directly ask the questions you need to make a purchase decision.
- Ads will first roll-out in U.S. before expanding globally.
- You’ll begin to see ads in ChatGPT Go and Free plans during the next few weeks, but Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise will remain ad-free.
Just curious, but if ChatGPT ads are being positioned as “relevant” and “objectively useful,” will Plus and Pro users be able to turn them on? After all, I don’t want to miss out on all this value.
On one hand… “ads are annoying, blah blah.”
On the other hand… I believe that the industry is in desperate need of new ad networks, and the addition of new players can ultimately benefit the market — both merchants and consumers alike — by introducing new competition to the space.
Plus, ChatGPT could really use the money. If the company plans on being one of the Big 4 AI companies during the next decade, it needs a way to support those efforts beyond subscriptions, as the market hasn’t yet fully evolved from an ad-supported Internet.
Also this week… OpenAI launched ChatGPT Translate, a standalone web translation tool that supports over 50 languages. The regular ChatGPT chatbot has supported translation features for many years, but this dedicated translate tool separates the translation service into its own interface.
Lastly, the company made a deal to purchase 750 megawatts of computing power from chipmaker Cebras in a three-year deal valued at over $10B. So like I said, it needs that ad revenue…
2. Apple chooses Google Gemini to power Siri
Apple announced a multiyear partnership with Google to use Gemini models for an AI-powered version of Siri expected later this year. The agreement will allow the company to leverage Google’s cloud technology while maintaining local processing on devices.
Apple and Google wrote in a join statement:
“After careful evaluation, we determined that Google’s technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and we’re excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for our users. Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and Private Cloud Compute, while maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy standards.”
Financial details about the deal were not disclosed by either company, but let’s imagine that it’s a BIG licensing deal. A previous report from Bloomberg suggested that Apple was planning to pay Google about $1B a year for the right to use its tech. We also don’t know how long the deal is for (2 years, 5 years, etc).
Beyond money, it’s a major validation for Google’s AI capabilities, given that Apple was considering LLMs from other companies, including OpenAI, to power Siri. Some would say that when when the world’s biggest smartphone maker and 3rd most valuable company chose Google Gemini, they effectively chose a winner in the AI race.
Apple currently partners with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri and Apple Intelligence for complicated queries, and it’s unclear what the future holds for that partnership in the long run. However in the short term, Apple told CNBC that it isn’t making any changes to the agreement, and OpenAI did not comment.
Does this mean that Apple has quit the AI race?
Not necessarily. Fortune wrote:
“Apple defenders note that the company is rarely a first mover in new technology. It was not the first to create an MP3 player, a smartphone, wireless earphones, or a smartwatch, yet it came from behind to dominate many of those product categories with a combination of design innovation and savvy marketing. And Apple has a history of learning from partners for key technology, such as chips, before ultimately bringing these efforts in-house. Or, in the case of internet search, Apple simply partnered with Google for the long term, using the Google engine to handle search queries in its Safari browser. The fact that Apple never developed its own search engine has not hurt its growth. Could the same principle hold true for AI?”
What are your thoughts? Will Apple ultimately quit the AI race and permanently depend on partners to power Siri and Apple Intelligence? Or does the company have other AI cards up its sleeve? Hit reply and let me know your prediction.
3. Amazon objects to Saks Global’s bankruptcy financing plan, but the judge approved it anyway
Two weeks ago I reported that Saks Global, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman, was racing to land more than $1B in rescue financing from new and existing investors to pay off debts, or face bankruptcy. The company accumulated a ton of debt following its $2.7B acquisition of Neiman Marcus Group in 2024 and has since struggled to revive sales since the deal closed.
I noted in the article that Amazon and Salesforce are investors in Saks Global and helped fund the Neiman Marcus deal, and wrote, “I’m curious to see if / how they play a role in the potential rescue financing and future of the company.”
Well, it turns out that Amazon isn’t too happy with Saks right now.
Last week Amazon filed an objection to Saks Global’s bankruptcy financing plan on the grounds it could harm creditors and push Amazon further down the repayment pipeline.
Amazon said that Saks “burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in less than a year” and failed to uphold their agreement of selling its products on Amazon’s website, as well as leveraging Amazon’s technology and logistics expertise.
Amazon’s attorneys wrote in the filing:
“That equity investment is now presumptively worthless. Saks continuously failed to meet its budgets, burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in less than a year, and ran up additional hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid invoices owed to its retail partners.”
Amazon said that Saks Global “induced Amazon and other retail partners to extend credit and other accommodations by offering recourse to the purported ‘equity cushion’” in Saks Fifth Avenue’s Manhattan flagship. However now, the retailer is leveraging that asset to secure the billions it needs to stay afloat during bankruptcy.
To make one thing clear… Amazon wasn’t opposing bankruptcy outright, but the terms of the debtor-in-possession financing. Its objections focused on the structure of the debt, which would give new lenders priority repayment while limiting existing lenders’ ability, including its own, to recovery debt.
Ultimately Judge Alfredo Perez denied Amazon’s request to block the company’s bankruptcy financing plan and allowed Saks to start tapping into $400M of the $1.75B total funds after the company argued it would face immediate liquidation without it.
Something tells me this isn’t the last we’ll hear from Amazon over the matter.
4. commercetools dedicated NRF to showcasing its agentic experience
At NRF 2026, commercetools used its stage time to show how enterprise retailers are moving beyond AI experimentation and into real execution, particularly as shopping and discovery shift into AI environments. The updates focused on payments, infrastructure, and keeping enterprise commerce systems usable inside emerging agentic channels.
Highlights from the announcement include:
- commercetools’ AI Hub is designed to help enterprises stay discoverable and transactable as shopping shifts into AI chatbots and interfaces. Rather than requiring custom integrations for every new agent or assistant, AI Hub connects governed product, pricing, and commerce operations into emerging agentic channels using existing infrastructure.
- This is similar to Shopify’s mission with its agentic ecosystem, including its new Agentic Plan, however the two companies are going about it fundamentally different, as commercetools is not trying to own the agent, the channel, or the checkout. Rather, it’s simply providing the “plumbing” or infrastructure for the various agentic events to take place.
- JD Sports is the first enterprise retailer to deploy Stripe’s Agentic Commerce Suite in production via commercetools. The deployment is tied to commercetools’ Agentic Jumpstart and AI Hub, which provide the commerce logic, product data, pricing, and inventory controls that Stripe then connects to checkout and payments.
- Nespresso just joined as a new customer of commercetools.
Regis Schultz, Group CEO of JD Sports Fashion, said:
“We want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to shop with us, no matter where they are or how they like to shop. As AI-driven interfaces become a real entry point for commerce, our partnership with commercetools and Stripe allows us to not only be discoverable – but also to be transactional – through those channels, without adding complexity to our operations. That strengthens our digital proposition for customers, and keeps us moving in line with the fast- changing retail landscape.”
5. President Trump plans to impose more tariffs on EU countries until he gets Greenland
President Trump vowed on Saturday to implement a wave of increasing tariffs starting from February 1st on European allies including Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Britain, and Norway, until the U.S. is allowed to buy Greenland — which is not for sale. Trump says the strategically located and mineral-rich island is of vital importance to U.S. security and that he has not ruled out the use of force to take it.
In a text message Sunday to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Trump wrote:
“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. “
The eight targeted countries, which are already subject to U.S. tariffs of 10% and 15%, have sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland as part of its plans for a “larger and more permanent” NATO presence to secure the island.
Here’s what leaders are saying:
- Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said, “Europe will not be blackmailed.”
- Denmark’s defense minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said, “…it is clear that we now will be able to plan for a larger and more permanent presence throughout 2026 and that is crucial to show that security in the Arctic is not only for the Kingdom of Denmark, it is for all of NATO.”
- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the tariff threat as a “mistake.”
- Britain Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said, “Our position on Greenland is non-negotiable … It is in our collective interest to work together and not to start a war of words.”
French President Emmanuel Macron asked the European Union to activate its anti-coercion instrument, known as a “trade bazooka,” to block some of America’s access to EU markets or impose export controls, among a broader list of potential countermeasures. The trade bazooka was originally created with countries like China in mind, not allies like the United States.
When asked if the anti-coercion instrument was back on the table, Olof Gill, a spokesperson for the European Commission, told reporters, “It was never off the table.”
The next step is expected to be a formal EU review of potential countermeasures under the anti-coercion instrument, alongside additional NATO consultations on Arctic deployments, as diplomats prepare for a February escalation window once the tariff threat is set to take effect.
This is a developing story and some details may have changed by the time you read this.
6. Google denies that it will use Universal Commerce Protocol for “surveillance pricing”
Google publicly rebutted claims by the Groundwork Collaborative that its new Universal Commerce Protocol for AI shopping agents enables “surveillance pricing” to overcharge consumers based on chat data.
Executive Director Lindsay Owens warned that the system’s “upselling” features allowed for predatory personalization.
On a post on X, she wrote across several replies:
“Big/bad news for consumers. Google is out today with an announcement of how they plan to integrate shopping into their AI offerings including search and Gemini. The plan includes ‘personalized upselling.’ I.e. Analyzing your chat data and using it to overcharge you. They’ll be working with some of the biggest names in retail to swap data & train their algorithm into a price gouging behemoth. Companies like Lowe’s, Michael’s, and Reebok have already signed on to the pilot. Fasten your seatbelts for the next phase of surveillance pricing.”
On a different thread, she went on to say:
“Google’s building an NSA for capitalism. By merging search history, conversational AI, and retailer data, their new ‘Universal Commerce Protocol’ could create the ultimate surveillance pricing squeeze. But instead of national security, the goal is extracting ‘maximum lifetime value’ from you, the consumer.”
She then went on to outline what she considers to be the company’s master plan in an multi-part post.
In summary:
- Step 1: Profile you via access to your purchase history with retailers.
- Step 2: Pull the wool over your eyes with one general consent button for the retailer to share its information about you with them.
- Step 3: Get you to hand over the keys by embedding consent for the sale of your data directly into checkout.
- Step 4: Personalize your offer and price hikes through the use of your data and purchase history.
- Step 5: Desensitize you to price via its new ‘direct offers’ that’s being built directly into Google Ads.
- Step 6: Bring in reinforcements, encouraging you to speak with Google-powered chatbots that allow it to harvest more data.
Wow, shots fired!
In a post on X, Google responded:
“These claims around pricing are inaccurate. We strictly prohibit merchants from showing prices on Google that are higher than what is reflected on their site, period. 1/ The term ‘upselling’ is not about overcharging. It’s a standard way for retailers to show additional premium product options that people might be interested in. The choice is always with the user on what to buy. 2/ ‘Direct Offers’ is a pilot that enables merchants to offer a *lower* priced deal or add extra services like free shipping — it cannot be used to raise prices.”
A Google spokesperson later told TechCrunch that its permissions are not about hiding what the user is agreeing to, but consolidating actions (get, create, update, delete, cancel, complete) instead of making a user agree to each one separately — which is nothing new. Most of us click “Accept” to existing TOS without reading anyway.
7. Anthropic releases Cowork to power AI activities on your desktop
Anthropic released a new tool for desktop computers called Cowork, which lets users designate a specific folder where Claude can read, modify, or create files based on user instruction through its standard chat interface. In other words, you can tell Claude to do things for you on your computer!
For example, Claude can:
- re-organize your downloads by sorting and renaming each file
- create a new spreadsheet with a list of expenses from a folder of screenshots or photos of receipts
- produce a first draft of a report from your scattered notes
Here’s how it works (or “coworks” LOL):
- You give Claude access to a folder on your computer.
- Then you give it instructions via text prompts.
- Claude makes a plan and steadily completes it, periodically updating you on its progress.
- Anthropic says Cowork can take on many of the same tasks that Claude Code can handle, but is better for non-coding tasks.
- If you pair Cowork with Claude in Chrome, it can complete tasks that require browser access too.
- Claude can’t read or edit anything you don’t give it explicit access to, and it will ask before taking any significant actions.
- Cowork is currently a research preview so that Anthropic can learn what people use it for and how they think it could be better. It plans to make many improvements from here.
- It’s currently only available to Claude Max subscribers on macOS.
I can see the beneficial applications for e-commerce merchants! Imagine being able to do things like:
- Rename all my product images with the name of the product followed by a sequential number.
- Edit this product CSV file to remove all columns with inventory counts or tags.
- Review these Amazon and Shopify CSVs and flag rows with missing images, inconsistent pricing, or incomplete descriptions.
We still have a long way to go before we’re operating our desktop computers entirely by text or verbal instruction, but this is the kind of AI that I’m personally most excited about as a heavy desktop user. If it works of course…
8. USPS rate increases are back to once a year
The Postal Regulatory Commission approved rules limiting USPS Market Dominant rate increases to once per fiscal year through 2030, aiming to restore pricing predictability after years of bi-annual hikes.
Quick Backstory: For decades, USPS raised rates just once per year, giving merchants a predictable annual planning cycle. That changed in 2021 after the Postal Regulatory Commission expanded the agency’s pricing authority to help it address long-term financial losses. USPS used that additional authority to begin pushing through major rate increases twice per year, which made planning more difficult for businesses.
Now the Postal Regulatory Commission has backpedaled on some of that additional authority, and has taken away USPS’s ability to adjust rates more than once a year, like the old days.
The change does not reduce the USPS’s total pricing authority, meaning it can still set its own prices, but simply forces the hikes into a single annual increase, which will likely make them bigger each time. So more pricing stability, but bigger annual increases. That’s the tradeoff.
The order, which takes effect March 1, 2026, also tightens regulations on workshare discounts to ensure they align more closely with actual cost savings for the agency. The rule is meant to ensure that businesses that help reduce USPS’s workload actually see the benefit, rather than USPS keeping the savings for itself.
As a merchant, will a single annual rate increase be beneficial to your business planning? Hit reply and share your thoughts.
9. Other e-commerce news of interest
TikTok announced new AI features for TikTok Shop creators including an AI Fashion Video Maker to showcase apparel items, AI Dubbing to automatically generate video voiceovers in your own voice, and a List With AI feature that converts basic product info like a single photo and short description into a full listing. TikTok also rolled out an updated CRM connection tool that will provide additional ways to activate promotions, a new integration with Judge.me to showcase customer reviews in-stream, and automated GMV Max campaigns directly into the TikTok Shop platform.
Google is launching a new beta feature in the Gemini app that allows the assistant to tailor its responses by connecting to your Gmail, Photos, Search, and YouTube history. Technically Gemini could already retrieve information from these apps, but now it can reason across your data to provide proactive results, such as connecting a thread in your e-mails to a video you watched. Google says that Gemini will be able to understand context without being told where to look. Google VP of Gemini Josh Woodward shared an example use case of when he forgot his license plate number, and Gemini was able to pull it from a picture in his photos. We’ve officially entered the era of, “Google already knew that, and now it’s letting me know that it knows that.”
TikTok is rolling out a new age verification system in Europe to detect underage users on its app, as the company is facing regulatory pressure to better identify and remove accounts belonging to children under 13. The system analyzes profile information, posted videos, and behavioral signals to predict whether an account may be underage. The flagged accounts are then reviewed by moderators rather than automatically banned. TikTok says the new system was built specifically for Europe to comply with the region’s regulatory requirements and that it worked with Ireland’s Data Protection Commission while developing the system.
Amazon is negotiating with vendors to adjust pricing structures following a recent reduction in U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. The company aims to reverse previous cost concessions granted during peak tariff rates, now that levies have dropped from roughly 57% to 47% under a new agreement between Washington and Beijing. The move comes as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on the legality of President Trump’s sweeping trade duties, which could potentially force the administration to refund up to $150B to importers.
eBay updated its “Promoted Stores” advertising program to give sellers more control over ad creative and landing destinations, including the ability to direct traffic specifically to eBay Live events and influencer-led pages. The new “Promoted Stores Custom” feature allows merchants to select up to 1,000 specific listings and choose from various custom landing page options, as opposed to the old days when eBay automatically handled campaign creation and sellers were unable to select which items or categories to feature. This expansion aims to boost advertising revenue by monetizing livestream shopping and targeting the platform’s Ambassador affiliate program.
Klarna launched instant peer-to-peer payments in 13 European countries, enabling users to send money to friends and family directly through the app. The move is part of Klarna’s ambition to grow the app into a central hub for day-to-day spending and money management, and puts Klarna in direct competition with PayPal, Venmo, and CashApp in the P2P payments space. Klarna’s P2P payments currently run on traditional banking rails, but the company is exploring stablecoin payments, as well as the ability for Klarna users to send payments to non-Klarna customers.
Affirm will soon start offering BNPL loans to renters via a partnership with Esusu, which offers financial education, credit reporting assistance, and emergency zero-interest loans to tenants. At first it seems ridiculous, right? The idea of paying for your rent in installments and risking stacking rent payments across multiple months? However the zero interest loan type only allows for two, biweekly installments, and is designed for renters to better align their rent payment with their bimonthly paychecks. Affirm will not be offering interest-bearing loans as part of the program. So how will they make money from it? Likely it’s a long term play to bring more consumers into their ecosystem, who would then use their BNPL services to take out loans for products they do make money from. Just a guess though.
Amazon has begun automatically upgrading some Alexa users to Alexa Plus as perk for their Prime memberships, despite them not opting-in to the upgrade. However there is an option to roll it back. Many users are wanting to stick with the original Alexa because they don’t like the new Alexa’s voice and attitude or they experience longer wait times for answers. One Redditor said that after he turned off the updated Alexa, they got “flooded with ads” until they turned it back on. Ah, a page from the Spotify Premium playbook!
TikTok Shop’s search algorithm is recommending Nazi-related terms such as “swatika jewelry” and “ss necklace” to users browsing for hip hip accessories, according to a WIRED investigation. Even after the platform removed specific hate symbols from its marketplace, the app’s suggestion engine continued to nudge users toward white nationalist imagery through its “Others searched for” feature. A company spokesperson confirmed the findings violated TikTok’s policies and stated that the algorithmic prompts are being removed.
Thomson Reuters established the “Trust in AI Alliance” group in collaboration with industry leaders including Anthropic, AWS, Google Cloud, and OpenAI to define shared principles for responsible agentic AI. The initiative aims to address safety, accountability, and transparency challenges in high-stakes professional environments by engineering trust directly into AI architectures, while sharing insights and technical pathways publicly to help shape industry standards. So what is this, like the 50th organization comprised of non-engineer representatives from major tech companies getting together in a big circle and singing Kumbaya? Everybody wants a seat at the AI table, but most aren’t even eating in the same cafeteria.
Etsy made the Technical Issues section of its seller forums private as of January 12, leaving only Announcements and Etsy Success publicly viewable. Until 2024, Etsy’s community forums required an active seller account to post and comment, but the posts themselves were publicly viewable. However that changed last year when Etsy blocked public access to most forum sections, leaving only Announcements and Technical Issues accessible without logging in. Now, the Technical Issues section is no longer public either. Etsy says the move was made over security concerns, to protect users from spam and scams that had been running rampant on the forum, but Liz Morton of Value Added Resource notes that many are questioning whether it’s a tactic to reduce scrutiny over the platform from journalists and market analysts. Then again, how hard is it to create an Etsy account and gain access?
A group of Democrat U.S. senators sent a letter to X, Meta, Alphabet, Snap, Reddit, and TikTok demanding proof of protections against nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes and detailed information regarding their moderation policies related to AI-generated explicit imagery. The senators also demanded that the companies preserve all documents and information related to the creation, detection, moderation, and monetization of these types of images. The inquiry follows criticism of xAI’s Grok image tools and comes as federal and state lawmakers push for stronger oversight of AI-generated sexual content.
Two weeks ago I reported that OpenAI’s secret project with Jony Ive could be an AI-powered pen. Now rumors are circulating that the company is developing AI-powered earbuds codenamed “Sweet Pea,” featuring a pebble-shaped metal main unit paired with two capsule-shaped components that rest behind the ear. The design reportedly allows for more space for high performance chips and onboard AI computing. At the heart of the device is a 2nm processor capable of handling most AI tasks locally, instead of having to send every request to the cloud.
eBay U.K. announced it would discontinue customer service operations on Facebook and X and redirect users to Instagram for social media support. Am I supposed to make a Reel when I need tech help? The company stated the shift allowed it to reallocate resources based on market data, though the main U.S.-based Facebook page remains active for assistance. Honestly, why offer social media support at all? Anyone who needs help with eBay likely has an eBay account and can submit a ticket or request live chat assistance through the website.
In corporate shakeups this week…
Thinking Machines cofounders Barret Zoph and Luke Metz are leaving the AI lab, which was founded by OpenAI’s former CTO, Mira Murati in 2025, and rejoining OpenAI, following reports that Zoph was fired for “unethical conduct,” which OpenAI dismissed.
Meanwhile OpenAI’s head of mental health safety research, Andrea Vallone, has left the company and joined Anthropic to work under Jan Leike, the OpenAI safety research lead who departed the company in May 2024 over concerns that OpenAI’s “safety culture and process have taken a backseat to shiny products.” Anthropic also appointed Irina Ghose, a former Microsoft India managing director, to lead its India business in the U.S. as it prepares to open an office in Bengaluru. Lastly, Mike Krieger, the Instagram cofounder who joined Anthropic two years ago as its chief product offer, is moving to a new position at the company to co-lead its internal incubator, Anthropic Labs.
Airbnb named Ahmad Al-Dahle, the former head of generative AI at Meta, as its new CTO to replace Ari Balogh, as part of its plans to transform the platform into an AI-powered personal travel concierge.
Meta appointed former Trump adviser Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chair to guide its overall strategy and execution.
Walmart International CEO Kathryn McLay is stepping down from her position, with a successor to be named shortly.
Last but not least, Shippo named former Pirate Ship CMO Brad Ramsey as its new CMO, as the company seeks to expand beyond SMBs.
Meta began laying off approximately 10% of its Reality Labs workforce, more than 1,000 workers, closing several VR game studios and shifting focus toward AI and mobile-friendly experiences for its Horizon Worlds platform. Alongside the layoffs, the company announced that it will discontinue its Horizon Workrooms app and stop selling commercial VR headsets and managed services for businesses in February 2026. Meta has lost over $70B from its metaverse division since 2020 and plans to now focus more heavily on its AI development, including investing further in its smart glasses partnership with EssilorLuxottica.
Meta is rolling out a new performance review platform called Checkpoint, which will grade employees based on their output, as opposed to effort, taking a page from Amazon and X. The program will place workers into four buckets: Outstanding (20%), Excellent (70%), Needs Improvement (7%), and Not Meeting Expectations (3%). The company is also introducing a new Meta Award consisting of a 300% individual multiplier for a small number of top performers who deliver “truly exceptional impact.” The new system, which takes effect in mid-2026, is designed to simplify reviews, reduce time spent on feedback, and reinforce Meta’s push toward a more performance-driven culture. Nothing says “culture” like having an algorithm judge your work output!
In lawsuits this week…
Remember last week when I reported that Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman can proceed to trial because a California judge determined that there was enough evidence? At the time, hundreds of court documents had been unsealed depicting e-mails, text messages, and even diary entries between the two sides. Now OpenAI is saying that the filing “cherry-picks” evidence and published a blog post entitled, “The truth Elon left out,” which alleges that Musk wanted “full control” of the company, “since he’d been burned by not having it in the past,” and that OpenAI’s leadership was surprised when Musk suggested having his kids control AGI during conversations about succession planning. Musk is seeking damages in the range of $79B to $134B over his claims that OpenAI defrauded him by abandoning its nonprofit roots and partnering with Microsoft.
Former TikTok moderators are accusing the company of “oppressive and intimidating” union-busting after it fired hundreds of UK-based workers last December, shortly before they were scheduled to vote on forming a union. The moderators sought to create a collective bargaining unit to address the personal and psychological costs of reviewing extreme and violent content and allege that TikTok engaged in unfair dismissal and violated trade union laws. TikTok said the layoffs were part of a global restructuring driven by increased use of AI moderation tools and that their timing relative to the union vote was coincidental. It’d be kind of funny if it turns out that the moderators saw the handwriting on the wall (that AI was about to take their jobs), so they began organizing right before they knew they’d be let go so that they could ultimately sue for improper dismissal. Trust no-one!
The Wikimedia Foundation is partnering with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI, and Perplexity for the first time to integrate the organization’s human-governed knowledge into their platforms scale. The commercial agreement to access the organization’s APIs allows the tech companies to integrate Wikipedia’s content into their AI models while financially supporting the nonprofit. The AI companies join existing partners including Google, Ecosia, Nomic, Pleias, ProRata, and Reef Media.
Amazon is bringing its Just Walk Out checkout technology to temporary retail locations through portable RFID lanes designed for pop-ups, festivals, and events. The new lanes can be deployed in hours and add features like in-lane screens, motorized gates, and real-time cart visibility, which Amazon says are resulting in higher sales and shorter wait times, as well as reducing retail theft. Amazon also noted that its adding the technology to its own operations, including more than 40 Just Walk Out-enabled stores at Amazon fulfillment centers, with more set to go live this year.
Meta is using surveys to improve Reels recommendations, rather than just depending on watch time, likes, comments, and shares to gauge user preferences. The company claims that doing so has increased its alignment with true user interest from 48.3% to more than 70%. I’d be curious to learn what TikTok’s “alignment with true user interest” is, if an identical survey were conducted.
Meta set up a new internal division called Meta Compute that’s been tasked with building out AI infrastructure and overseeing its network of data centers and supplier partnerships. The company said it plans to add tens of gigawatts of computing capacity in the next ten years, which could grow to hundreds of gigawatts over time. By creating a dedicated organization to handle this, Meta hopes to be able to secure the land, hardware, and energy it will need proactively, rather than struggle to keep up with demand reactively.
Amazon began rolling out its AWS European Sovereign Cloud, a physically and logically separate cloud environment based in Brandenburg, Germany, aimed at customers with strict data residency and governance requirements. The setup keeps data within the EU, limits access to EU-authorized staff, and operates under a locally controlled EU parent entity. AWS CEO Matt Garman described the launch as a “big bet” designed to unlock demand from organizations that want customer-controlled encryption, no critical dependencies on non-EU infrastructure, and the ability to operate even during global connectivity disruptions. Very smart move by Amazon, as the handwriting is on the wall that the EU is moving fast in this direction. They really have no choice!
Squarespace and OpenAI are returning to the Super Bowl this year, marking the companies’ 12th and 2nd appearances respectively. Squarespace described its upcoming 30 second campaign as a “cinematic, deeply human story” and will touch upon “something new that we haven’t talked about in a little bit,” but didn’t offer any specific details about the commercial beyond that. Meanwhile OpenAI’s 60-second commercial aims to normalize the technology after surveys revealed that over half of U.S. adults remain concerned about AI. Not to be a jerk, but is that the best way for OpenAI to be spending $16M right now?
eBay is increasing final value fees and per-order fees for business sellers in the UK and Germany as part of its January 2026 seller updates. In the UK, the per-order fee on items over £10 will rise from £0.30 to £0.40, while German sellers will see a similar increase from €0.35 to €0.45, alongside category-specific fee changes. The updates come after recent ad attribution changes and shipping policy shifts that have increased costs for business sellers in both markets.
Amazon began drone test flights in the UK from its Darlington base at Symmetry Park as it prepares to launch its drone delivery service later this year. Once the service does launch, eligible customers in the town will be able to receive packages weighing less than five pounds within two hours. Amazon said its MK30 drones are equipped with technology to avoid obstacles and ensure “the safety of people, pets and property,” but that it’s definitely going to kill some birds and wildlife, as well as capture photos of people sunbathing nude in their backyards.
Italy’s antitrust authority reduced the €1.13B fine it imposed on Amazon in 2021 for abusing its dominant position to €752.4M, but Amazon believes it shouldn’t be charged anything at all and plans to appeal the decision. Italy’s competition regulator has also said it will appeal the court ruling that led to the reduced penalty. In other Italy news, Meta excluded Italy from its ban on third-party AI chatbots on WhatsApp following an interim order from the country’s antitrust authority. The Italian watchdog ordered Meta to suspend its proposed ban last month while it investigates the company for suspected abuse of its market power.
Following the moves in Italy… Brazil’s competition regulator also ordered Meta to suspend its policy to block third-party AI chatbots from using the WhatsApp Business API as it opens an investigation to determine if the ban was anti-competitive and designed to favor Meta’s own AI tools. SPOILER ALERT: It is anti-competitive! It’s the fucking definition of it. Meta knows this and simply doesn’t care.
Alibaba launched an upgrade to its Qwen AI app that enables it to execute tasks such as ordering food delivery and making travel bookings. By integrating Alipay with the Qwen app, users can authorize and complete transactions without leaving the conversation. The new features, which are now in public testing in China, comes two months after Alibaba’s strategic pivot into developing consumer-facing AI, which is an area it previously lagged behind domestic rivals like ByteDance and Tencent. Since its public beta launch in November, Qwen app has surpassed 100M monthly active users.
🏆 This week’s most ridiculous story… Two men posing as Amazon delivery drivers held a Connecticut husband and wife at gunpoint and attempted to rob their home. The first man wore an Amazon-style vest and knocked on the door, claiming to have a package that required a signature. After opening the door, he pushed his way inside and attacked the husband, who screamed upstairs at his wife to lock herself in the bedroom and call 911. She of course didn’t listen, went downstairs to look for her husband, and was promptly attacked by a second man who later entered the home. Luckily, no thanks to his wife who DIDN’T LISTEN, the husband was able to activate the home’s panic alarm during the altercation, which caused the two suspects to run away. Moral of the story, if your husband screams at you to call 911 and lock yourself in the bedroom, what should you do?
10. Seed rounds, IPOs, & acquisitions
Spins, a data and analytics provider that helps CPG brands understand who is buying their products, acquired MikMak, a retail analytics and commerce insights provider that helps brands track digital shelf performance and online sales, for an undisclosed amount. The combined company now serves over 4,000 CPG brands and plans to expand into retail categories beyond grocery such as home improvement, beauty, and pets.
Cloudflare acquired Astro, a JavaScript framework for building fast, content-driven websites used by major brands like Unilever, Visa, NBC News, and Cloudflare itself, for an undisclosed amount. Following the acquisition, Astro will remain open source, MIT-licensed, and open to contributions, with a public roadmap and open governance, while all current employees of Astro will join Cloudflare and continue to work on the project. The company plans to continue developing Astro as a portable, cloud agnostic framework, with Astro 6 now available in public beta ahead of general availability.
OpenAI acquired Torch, an AI healthcare startup focused on using LLMs to support clinical workflows and patient care applications, for $100M in equity, which includes $60M now and the rest in equity to retain employees. The startup, founded by former executives of the defunct clinic operator Forward, enables users to aggregate and analyze medical records from systems like Kaiser Permanente and Apple Health, partly relying on OpenAI models to power its platform. The four-person team will join OpenAI to help develop the newly launched ChatGPT Health, a feature designed to provide personalized medical insights based on user data.
Merge Labs, a San Francisco-based startup co-founded by Sam Altman that’s building technology to let computers read signals directly from the human brain, raised $252M in a seed round led by Bain Capital, Valve CEO Gabe Newell, and OpenAI. The company aims to develop non-invasive brain computer interfaces using molecular interfaces and ultrasound instead of implanted electrodes, which the company says could enable more natural human interaction with AI, though it recognizes that advancements may take decades.
Sequoia is joining Singapore’s GIC and U.S. investor Coatue in a funding round for Anthropic, which now aims to raise $25B, up from the $10B I reported on last week, at a $350B valuation, according to FT sources. Anthropic last raised $13B in a Series F round at a $183B valuation this past September. Microsoft and Nvidia are expected to commit up to $15B combined in the new round, with the additional capital coming from venture firms and other investors.
Flip, an AI platform that automates customer service phone calls for enterprise brands, raised $20M in a Series A round co-led by Next Coast Ventures and Ridge Ventures, bringing its total amount raised to $31M. Unlike generalist AI agents, Flip focuses on vertical-specific AI solutions for high-stakes voice interactions in sectors like retail, healthcare, and transportation, serving major clients such as Under Armour and Tory Burch. The company, which has now processed over 300M automated customer service calls, plans to use the funds to expand its engineering and go-to-market teams across North America and the UK.
Klipboard, a provider of business management software for retail, distribution, and manufacturing businesses, acquired Savance Enterprise, an ERP platform built specifically for wholesale distributors in the US, for an undisclosed amount. The deal adds Savance’s distribution focused ERP capabilities across verticals such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and industrial supply, and expands the company’s footprint in North American distribution markets.
OnePay, the Walmart-backed fintech that offers digital payments and financial services tools for consumers and businesses, bought back shares from employees at a price that values the company at more than $4B, according to Bloomberg sources. The valuation marks a substantial increase from the $2.5B valuation it secured in 2024 after a $300M investment round led by Walmart and Ribbit Capital. OnePay has grown to more than 3M monthly active users through an exclusive distribution partnership with Walmart and has expanded its offerings since 2022 to include a credit card, BNPL, investing, and crypto trading.
Hupo, a Singapore-based startup backed by Meta that provides AI powered sales coaching tools for financial institutions, raised $10M in a Series A round led by DST Global Partners, bringing its total amount raised to $15M. The company launched in 2022 as a mental wellness platform but recently pivoted to AI driven, real time sales coaching for banking, financial services, and insurance teams, focusing on improving performance through consistent training and feedback at scale. Probably a good idea to keep away from mental health right now as an AI company!
SaleCycle, an e-commerce performance technology company that helps online retailers identify, engage, and convert customers through behavioral data and on site messaging, acquired BEYABLE, an on-site personalization and conversion optimization company, for an undisclosed amount. The deal expands SaleCycle’s capabilities across identity resolution, behavioral intent scoring, on-site personalization, testing, and remarketing, with messaging support spanning email, SMS, WhatsApp, and RCS, while strengthening its position as an API-first alternative to legacy marketing suites.
Elorian, an AI startup working on models that understand and process text, images, video, and audio simultaneously, is in talks with investors to raise around $50M in a seed round led by Striker Venture Partners. The company was founded by former Google DeepMind researcher Andrew Dai and Apple research scientist Yinfei Yang to focus on area of research called “visual reasoning,” which are designed for complex AI applications like robotics systems. The approach aims to reduce the need for stitching together multiple models by enabling a single system to reason across modalities.
Parloa, an AI agent software company that provides voice and chat automation platforms for enterprise customer service and contact centers, raised $350M in a Series D round led by General Catalyst at a $3B valuation, bringing its total amount raised to over $560M. The fresh funds, which come just seven months after its Series C round, will support expansion of its voice-first, enterprise AI agent platform, which is used by Fortune 200 companies like Allianz, Booking.com, and SAP, and expand its global presence in the U.S. and Europe.
Route, a post purchase platform that provides order tracking, package protection, and returns management tools for e-commerce brands, acquired Frate Returns, a returns management software company that provides branded, automated returns and exchanges tools, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition creates a single solution aimed at helping merchants consolidate post-purchase tooling and reduce refund-related losses and operating costs by pairing package protection and visual tracking with exchange first returns workflows such as AI image verification.
Atome, a Singaporean BNPL firm that serves merchants in Asia, secured $345M in in fresh funds from HSBC and several other lenders. The company will use the funds to expand its BNPL service and Pay Later Anywhere card in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Atome’s operating income rose 63% to $236M in 2024, with transactions exceeding $2B, up 50% YoY.
GoodDay Software, a startup building a modern ERP alternative designed for Shopify brands to manage inventory, purchasing, and operations in one system, raised $7M in a round led by Long Journey Ventures, bringing its total amount raised to $13.5M. Unlike legacy ERP systems built for manufacturers and accountants, GoodDay is focused on building a system specific for Shopify brands that unifies inventory management, purchase orders, landed costs, presales, and multi-channel operations directly into the Shopify backend. The new funding will support the launch of agentic AI workflows, expansion into finance and accounting, and deeper integrations across the Shopify ecosystem.
The Access Group, a UK based business management software company providing ERP, HR, finance, payroll, and operations software for SMBs, acquired MaxOptra, a field service and last mile delivery management software company that helps businesses plan routes, manage mobile workforces, and optimize logistics operations, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition expands Access’s supply chain and logistics software offerings by adding AI driven route optimization and delivery management tools used by more than 450 customers to optimize over 6,000 vehicle routes.
Emberos, a startup founded by former Google executive Justin Inman that helps brands manage their appearance in AI generated answers, raised $1.2M in pre-seed funding from an unnamed angel investor. The company developed a platform that predicts how models like ChatGPT and Gemini interpret brand data and then pushes recommended fixes directly into existing marketing workflows in Slack, HubSpot, Jira, and other integrations. It plans to use the funds to support engineering efforts as it prepares for a future funding round.
SupplyOne, a North American distributor of custom corrugated and value-added packaging, acquired Wertheimer Box, manufacturer of custom corrugated boxes and e-commerce mailers, for an undisclosed amount. The deal, which marks SupplyOne’s 46th acquisition since its founding 27 years ago, expands its footprint in the Chicago region and adds in-house custom corrugated production, branded packaging, and e-commerce mailer capabilities to support faster lead times and a broader packaging offering for SMB customers.
Higgsfield, an AI video generation startup founded by former Snap executive Alex Mashrabov building tools that create and edit videos from text prompts and other inputs using generative models, raised $80M in a Series A extension at a $1.3B valuation, bringing its total Series A to $130M. Nine months into its launch, the company has reached over 15M and is on a $200M annual revenue run rate, with that figure doubling from $100M in about two months. TechCrunch says the company positions itself “less as an AI slop maker and more as a business tool,” primarily used by social media marketers.
GrowthPal, a Singapore-based AI-powered mergers and acquisitions deal sourcing platform that helps companies identify off-market acquisition targets, validate fit, and accelerate execution, raised $2.6M in a round led by Ideaspring Capital. The company uses AI agents to scan more than four million technology companies and surface high-intent targets aligned to specific acquisition mandates, particularly for sub-$70M deals that are often overlooked by traditional bankers. GrowthPal said it has supported more than 42 completed transactions and over 210 LOI-stage conversations across multiple regions.
Liftoff Mobile, a mobile app marketing platform that helps app developers acquire, engage, and monetize users through performance-based advertising and analytics, filed its S-1 paperwork for an IPO, with analysts estimating the raise at approximately $400M. Despite its relatively small size, the IPO has three joint lead bankers including Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and Morgan Stanley, and another 12 banks assisting to sell, plus three other financial institutions involved. The company claims 140k apps use its services and that it had full-year 2024 revenues of over $519M and a net loss of just over $48M.
FIS, a financial technology company that provides core banking, payments, and financial infrastructure software to banks, merchants, and capital markets firms, acquired Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions, a payments tech platform that provides card issuing, processing, and account management services for banks and fintechs, for $13.5B. The deal brings the world’s largest issuing business under the FIS Total Issuing Solutions brand, expanding its reach to more than 75 countries and over 40 billion transactions annually. FIS said the acquisition strengthens its banking and payments portfolio while replacing its non-cash minority stake in Worldpay with recurring, high-margin revenue.
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