OpenAI's $100B swing, Lovable's worth $6.6B & more (December 19, 2025)

Good morning,

Big platforms are hardening, valuations are stretching, and builders are finally being rewarded for distribution, not just demos. Today’s theme is simple, AI is growing up fast.

Let’s dive in.

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💰 Big Money & Bigger Signals

🧠 OpenAI eyes $100B raise

OpenAI is reportedly trying to raise up to $100B at a staggering $830B valuation. The capital would fund compute, talent, and infrastructure at unprecedented scale. If successful, OpenAI becomes less a startup and more a global AI utility.

🧪 Trump Media merges with fusion startup

Trump Media is merging with Fusion power company TAE Technologies in a $6B deal. The merger blends politics, media, and experimental energy under one roof. It’s an unusual move that highlights how AI-adjacent narratives are bleeding into every sector.

😌 Lovable hits $6.6B valuation

Lovable secures $6.6 billion valuation as vibe coding explodes in popularity. The platform lets non-technical users build real software with AI assistance. Investors are clearly betting that ease of creation beats traditional dev barriers.

🚀 Platform Wars & Product Drops

🧩 ChatGPT launches an app store

ChatGPT launches an app store, lets developers publish apps directly inside ChatGPT, turning the chatbot into a true platform. Developers can now distribute tools, workflows, and experiences without needing their own front end. This formalizes OpenAI’s shift from model provider to ecosystem owner.

🤝 Anthropic opens enterprise Agent Skills

Anthropic launches enterprise Agent Skills and opens a new open standard for building workplace AI agents. The framework is designed to help companies deploy reliable, auditable automation at scale. By keeping it open, Anthropic is betting enterprise trust matters more than lock-in.

🎥 Luma releases start-to-end video AI

Luma releases a new AI model that generates full videos from just a starting and ending frame. This allows creators to define narrative structure instead of hoping the model fills gaps well. It’s a meaningful step toward controllable, story-driven AI video.

🧰 Tools of the Day

→ Loki Build – Automates backend workflows without traditional engineering.
→ Userology – AI-powered user research and behavior analysis.
→ Vurge AI – Extracts structured data from messy documents fast.

⚡ Quick Hits

→ Grab to acquire Chinese robotics firm to expand AI ambitions.
→ YouTube bans fake AI movie trailer channels.
→ Figure CEO launches new $100M funded AI lab.
→ Pickle Robot adds Tesla veteran as first CFO.
→ British politicians flock to US tech giants.
→ Peripheral Labs taps self-driving sensors for sports immersion.

🧠 TLDR

ChatGPT is now a platform, Anthropic is pushing open enterprise standards, and OpenAI is chasing historic funding. Meanwhile, vibe coding just proved it’s not a fad. AI is consolidating power while expanding who gets to build.

Have a good weekend,
David