Good morning, tech fam; here are some quick tech updates for you to catch up to!
What’s New Today: DeepSeek AI Unleashes a Tech Market Shakeup
Fast-Track Insights: AI Boom Cuts Climate Tech Funding by 40%
Here’s a quick rundown of the biggest tech headlines making waves today. From the DeepSeek AI Unleashes to Yahoo! Hiring Computer Science Graduates, let’s dive into the top tech stories of the day.
DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, caused a massive shakeup in tech markets with its innovative R1 reasoning model, outperforming benchmarks at low operational costs. The fallout led to a dramatic 17% drop in Nvidia's stock, wiping out $593 billion and affecting other tech giants like Microsoft and Alphabet. Despite the sell-off, retail traders seized the opportunity to buy discounted stocks. DeepSeek's cost-efficient AI model, developed with just $6 million, challenges U.S. firms like OpenAI. Its rise has prompted discussions on the future of AI and the need for U.S. companies to innovate to stay competitive amidst increasing global rivalry.
Global climate tech equity financing fell 40% in 2024, totaling nearly $51 billion, down from $84 billion in 2023. This marks the third consecutive year of decline in climate tech companies' venture capital and equity financing. While funding for clean energy startups dropped, nuclear and fusion technologies attracted the most investments, especially for data center power. The decrease in climate tech funding was partly due to China’s excess manufacturing capacity and tariffs, as well as the surge in AI investments. Despite this, global energy transition investment rose over $2 trillion, though growth slowed due to expensive nascent technologies.
Yahoo! is hiring a Sr. Software Development Engineer in India. The role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver new features, bug fixes, and enhancements. Key responsibilities include writing high-quality code in Java, defining efficient APIs, improving workflow efficiency, and leading junior engineers. Candidates should have 8+ years of experience, a BE/B.Tech/BS in Computer Science, expertise in Java, JavaScript frameworks (React, Angular, Node.js), cloud infrastructure (GCP, AWS, Azure), and container technologies (Docker, Kubernetes). Familiarity with identity standards (OAuth, SAML, OIDC) and experience with Google SpannerDB and Dataflow is a plus.
Donald Trump's inaugural committee received significant donations from the cryptocurrency industry, with companies like Coinbase, Crypto.com, Kraken, and Robinhood contributing millions. Trump, once skeptical of crypto, became a supporter and even appointed a "crypto czar" in his administration. In addition to crypto firms, donations came from other industries, including Chevron, Oklo Inc., and renewable energy companies like Hanwha Q Cells America and GE Vernova. New donors included Amazon, Meta, Goldman Sachs, Bayer, and Johnson & Johnson. The committee is expected to surpass the $107 million raised in 2017, with full donor details to be released in April 2025.
The Chinese tech behemoth Alibaba has joined the intense AI race with its latest Large Language Model, Qwen 2.5. On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, this tech company launched this model without any notice. Interestingly, it claimed that Qwen 2.5 can surpass all the existing Large Language Models, even the most renowned ones. This is a huge claim, and tech enthusiasts are curious to see whether ChatGPT really gets a strong competitor.