The Information's TITV Centific’s Role in AI Boom, Databricks $134B Valuation, Alien Hunter Funding | Dec 16, 2025
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Dec 16, 2025 Kevin McLaughlin discusses Databricks' staggering $4 billion funding round and the growing concerns around corporate chatbots. Yueqi Yang sheds light on LeadBank's tighter controls in the stablecoin market. Rajeev Dham shares bold predictions for AI convergence by 2026 and the future of customer support. Rocket Drew explores SETI's ambitious plan for AI-powered telescopes, aiming to land funding from Jensen Huang. Prithivi Pradeep emphasizes Centific's role in data labeling and the rapid advancements expected in humanoid robots.
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Databricks Betting On AI-Native Lead
- Databricks is positioning itself as an AI-native platform competing with cloud providers and not just Snowflake.
- The company raised $4B to scale data prep, storage, and AI agent capabilities to capture the enterprise AI opportunity.
Customer Chatbots Create Liability Risks
- Customer-facing chatbots are newer and often under‑restricted, producing unsafe or off‑topic advice.
- Kevin McLaughlin found examples where chatbots gave legal and medical guidance that could create liability for companies.
Small Bank Is A Stablecoin Bottleneck
- Lead Bank is a small Kansas City community bank that plays an outsized role as an on‑ramp for stablecoin services.
- Yueqi Yang reports Lead Bank is tightening risk controls and restricting certain countries and sectors.