🍜 OpenAI chases a $340B valuation..

OpenAI is reportedly seeking more funding that could push its valuation to a casual...

Author

Anthony Lessard
January 31, 2025

Welcome, Noodle Networkers.

Microsoft and Meta are pouring even more cash into AI 💰, unfazed by DeepSeek’s low-cost model that’s shaking up the competition. Meanwhile, OpenAI is eyeing a new funding round that could push its valuation to a staggering $340 billion 📈—but is the hype justified? And in a wake-up call for cybersecurity, a new AI-powered hack has triggered a Gmail security alert for 2.5 billion users ⚠️, proving once again that AI isn’t just building the future—it’s also breaking into it.

Are we heading toward an AI-driven gold rush, or is the race getting riskier by the day? Let’s dive in...

In today’s AI digest:

  • Microsoft & Meta double down on AI spending despite DeepSeek’s low-cost model 💰

  • OpenAI eyes funding that could push its valuation to $340B 📈

  • Gmail security alert for 2.5B users—AI-powered hack confirmed ⚠️

Read time: 5 minutes

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY

DeepSeek

The Digest: Microsoft and Meta are going full steam ahead with their AI investments, despite DeepSeek proving that high-quality AI models don’t have to cost a fortune. Apparently, billion-dollar budgets don’t scare them.

Key Details:

  • Microsoft and Meta continue to pour billions into AI development, betting big on long-term dominance.

  • Meanwhile, DeepSeek’s low-cost AI models are shaking things up by delivering strong performance at a fraction of the cost.

  • Investors are watching closely to see if Big Tech’s AI strategy pays off—or if they’re overpaying for something startups can now do on a budget.

  • Meta, still recovering from its metaverse misadventure, hopes AI is the golden ticket to winning back investor confidence.

Why It Matters: The AI race isn’t just about innovation—it’s about who can burn the most cash while doing it. If DeepSeek’s low-cost model proves viable, companies spending billions may start questioning whether they’re buying AI… or just overpaying for a very shiny GPU collection.

OpenAI

The Digest: OpenAI is reportedly seeking more funding that could push its valuation to a casual $340 billion. Yes, billion with a B. At this point, they’re basically worth more than most countries.

Key Details:

  • The company is in talks with investors to secure new funding and solidify its position as the leader in generative AI.

  • If the valuation holds, OpenAI would be among the most valuable tech companies in the world, without ever selling a single physical product.

  • Investors are betting that OpenAI’s future lies in licensing its tech to businesses, rather than relying solely on consumer-facing apps like ChatGPT.

  • With this kind of money, Sam Altman might not need a salary—but we assume he’ll still take one anyway.

Why It Matters: AI is the hottest ticket in tech right now, and OpenAI’s valuation proves it. But with startups like DeepSeek proving AI doesn’t have to be this expensive, we have to wonder: is this valuation based on real-world potential, or just hype with extra zeros?

Google

The Digest: A new AI-powered cyberattack has targeted Gmail, affecting 2.5 billion users worldwide. Just when we thought AI was going to write our emails for us, it turns out it’s more interested in reading them.

Key Details:

  • Hackers leveraged AI-generated phishing emails to bypass Gmail’s security filters.

  • The attack is sophisticated enough to mimic real messages with near-perfect grammar, making it much harder to detect.

  • Google has issued an urgent security update and is rolling out additional AI-driven countermeasures.

  • Experts recommend enabling two-factor authentication—because if AI is this smart, you’ll need an extra layer of defense.

Why It Matters: AI is changing cybersecurity, and not in a good way. If Gmail’s security can be fooled by machine-generated phishing scams, expect cybercriminals to start using AI for even more advanced attacks. Welcome to the future, where your inbox is a battleground.

THE NOODLE LAB

AI Hacks & How-Tos

The Digest: Save time by summarizing long PDFs instantly with AI tools like ChatGPT and PDF AI Readers for quick insights.

How-to:

  1. Choose Your AI Tool:

    • Use ChatGPT Plus (with file upload support) or a dedicated AI-powered PDF summarizer like Claude AI, PDFgear, or Scholarcy.

  2. Upload Your PDF:

    • Open the AI tool and upload your document.

    • If the tool doesn’t support uploads, copy and paste the relevant text from the PDF.

  3. Ask for a Summary:

    • Use a prompt like:
      “Summarize this PDF in 5 bullet points.”
      “Extract key takeaways and action items.”
      “Break this into an executive summary with main arguments.”

  4. Refine the Output:

    • Ask the AI to shorten, expand, or format the summary differently based on your needs.

    • Request specific insights, such as “Highlight financial trends in this report” or “Explain in simple terms.”

  5. Save & Use:

    • Copy the summary for easy reference.

    • Use it for presentations, reports, or quick decision-making.

Explore More: Get even better summaries with expert tips in our free AI guide at the top of this email!

Trending AI Tools

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  • Flux.1 Tools: Advanced AI image editing suite.

  • Lucy: French chatbot with European values.

  • Grok-2: AI chatbot with image generation.

  • Le Chat: Flux-powered image chatbot by Mistral AI.

  • Sora: OpenAI’s text-to-video generator.

  • Gemini 1.5: Google’s advanced language model.