Core Insights - DeepSeek is expanding its AI capabilities with new search features and a focus on agents, increasing competition with US firms like OpenAI and Google [1] Group 1: Company Developments - DeepSeek is hiring specialists to develop a multilingual AI search engine that can process various inputs, including text, images, and audio [2] - The company is emphasizing the need for training data, evaluation systems, and platforms to support AI agents that operate with minimal human intervention [3] - DeepSeek's R1 model, released last January, has already made waves in the AI sector, and there is anticipation for a successor model [4] Group 2: Research and Publications - In December, DeepSeek published a paper on a more efficient AI development approach, which has historically preceded major model releases [5] - The company has hinted at its next product with a vague reference to "model1" on its GitHub account, maintaining a level of secrecy [5] Group 3: Industry Context - Other AI developers, including OpenAI, are also investing in AI search and agents to move beyond traditional chatbots and handle more everyday tasks [6] - DeepSeek has expressed its ambition to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), aligning with the goals of other leading AI firms [7] - The company seeks candidates with a strong interest in the technological development of AGI, indicating its long-term vision [7]

Core Insights - COMEUP 2025, Korea's largest global startup festival, officially opened on December 10, 2025, at COEX Seoul, showcasing innovative startups and fostering collaboration between startups, investors, and corporations [1][6] - The festival runs from December 10 to 12 under the theme "Recode the Future," featuring a variety of programs including conferences, exhibitions, and IR pitching [2][6] Event Overview - This year's event includes 275 startups from 46 countries, with national pavilions from seven countries, including Saudi Arabia and India, promoting their startup ecosystems [3] - Keynote speeches are delivered by prominent figures in the tech industry, such as Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, and Sunghyun Park, CEO of Rebellions, focusing on the festival's theme [3] Investment Opportunities - COMEUP 2025 provides expanded opportunities for startups to connect with global investors and major corporations, with participation from 35 global and Korean corporations [4] - Over 2,000 business matchmaking meetings are arranged, allowing startups to engage with investors and corporations directly [4] Side Programs - Major side programs include the OpenData X AI Challenge, the K-Startup 2025 Grand Finale, and the K-Startup Grand Challenge Demo Day, highlighting top foreign startup teams [5] - The Venture & Startup Awards Ceremony recognizes contributions to Korea's startup ecosystem during the event [5]

Group 1 - Retail investors turned into net sellers of single stocks and reduced ETF purchases as the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell over 2% [1] - Cash equity purchases totaled $8.1 billion, significantly above the 2025 weekly average of $6.2 billion, indicating a major buying spree in mega-cap tech stocks [1] - The "most hyped" stocks among retail investors included Beyond Meat, Nokia, POET Technologies, UiPath, Palantir, Nvidia, and Chipotle, reflecting a shift in interest away from gold and bitcoin [6] Group 2 - Institutional investors are divided on market outlook, with JPMorgan recommending buying dips, while billionaire Ray Dalio anticipates a short-term rally followed by a sell-off driven by the Federal Reserve [3] - The stock market's favorite tech stocks experienced valuation-driven sell-offs, leading to increased volatility and investor caution [4] - Labor market data showed the deepest October job cuts in 22 years, contributing to investor anxiety over high valuations [5]

Group 1: Snap Inc. (SNAP) - Snap reported revenue of $1.51 billion, exceeding estimates of $1.49 billion, with global daily active users increasing to 477 million, slightly above the expected 476 million [2][7] - The company announced a $500 million stock buyback program, indicating confidence in its financial position [2][7] - Snap has entered a partnership with Perplexity AI, which will pay $400 million over one year to integrate its AI search features into the Snapchat app [3][7] Group 2: Other Notable Stocks - Datadog (DDOG) shares rose approximately 22% after beating earnings estimates with an EPS of 55 cents, which was nine cents above expectations, and reporting revenue of $886 million, a 28.4% year-over-year increase [4] - Planet Fitness (PLNT) shares increased about 12% following strong earnings, with an EPS of 80 cents beating estimates by six cents and revenue of $330.3 million, up 13% year over year [5] - Appian Corporation (APPN) saw its shares rise about 18% after reporting an EPS of 32 cents, which exceeded estimates by 27 cents, and revenue of $187 million, a 21.4% year-over-year increase [6]

Snap announced a $400 million partnership with Perplexity AI to distribute the firm’s AI search engine to Snapchat users globally, according to a statement Wednesday https://t.co/xynrX2vLXK ...

Core Perspective - Reddit is taking legal action against companies that scrape its data without permission, aiming to protect its data and maximize revenue potential [2][4]. Group 1: Legal Action - Reddit has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court to block four companies from scraping its data via Google search results instead of using the paid Reddit API [2]. - The companies involved include SerpApi, Oxylabs, AWMProxy, and Perplexity, with allegations that they sold data to AI firms like OpenAI and Meta [2]. - Reddit seeks a permanent injunction and financial damages, hoping to establish a legal precedent for data protection [2]. Group 2: Revenue Strategy - In 2023, Reddit increased its API charges to profit from the data generated by its users, as AI projects increasingly rely on Reddit for data inputs [3]. - Reddit's "Other" revenue category saw a 24% year-over-year increase in Q2, generating $35 million from data deals with AI projects [5]. - The company has signed content licensing agreements with Google and OpenAI, aiming to create value in exclusivity to incentivize payments for its data [6]. Group 3: Data Protection Measures - Reddit has implemented measures to prevent its information from being scraped or used without explicit permission and payment [4]. - The lawsuit addresses the loophole where companies are allegedly scraping data from Google instead of using the Reddit API, which undermines its data protection efforts [4].