ai

Your Morning AI Briefing: Major Funding Rounds, Security Concerns, and Industry Predictions for 2026

Published: (December 19, 2025 at 09:42 PM EST)
5 min read
Source: Dev.to

Source: Dev.to

Cover image for Your Morning AI Briefing: Major Funding Rounds, Security Concerns, and Industry Predictions for 2026

Ethan Zhang

Grab your coffee and settle in. The AI world didn’t slow down this week, and if you’re trying to keep up with the breakneck pace of artificial‑intelligence news, you’re in the right place. From billion‑dollar investments to security red flags, here’s everything you need to know before your first meeting.

The Money Machine: AI Funding Goes Nuclear

If you thought AI investment was hot before, buckle up. The money flowing into artificial intelligence right now is absolutely bonkers.

  • Resolve AI just became a unicorn overnight. According to TechCrunch, the startup founded by ex‑Splunk executives hit a $1 billion valuation with their Series A round—not a Series B or C after years of grinding, but straight to unicorn status. The company focuses on AI‑powered incident resolution, and investors can’t throw money at it fast enough.

  • Disney just dropped $1 billion on OpenAI. As reported by Ars Technica, Disney is licensing 200 of its characters for OpenAI’s video‑generation tool, Sora. Imagine AI‑generated Mickey Mouse content—exciting or terrifying, depending on your appetite for copyright debates.

  • Where are investors placing their bets for 2026? TechCrunch says it’s AI, AI, and more AI. The concentration of capital in this space is reaching historic levels.

The Arms Race: Who’s Winning the AI Technology Battle?

While everyone’s writing checks, the actual technology race is getting spicy.

  • OpenAI just released GPT‑5.2. Ars Technica describes it as a response to a “code red” threat from Google. When companies start using phrases like “code red,” you know the competition is real. The AI labs are basically in a Cold‑War‑style arms race—except instead of nukes, they’re stockpiling transformer models.

  • Sam Altman isn’t content with just running OpenAI. According to WIRED, his new venture Merge Labs is working on brain‑computer interfaces using ultrasound technology. The company is spinning out of Forest Neurotech, a nonprofit in Los Angeles. Because why just make AI when you can also read people’s minds, right?

  • OpenAI’s new ChatGPT image generator is really good at faking photos. Ars Technica reports that the tool makes creating convincing fake images disturbingly easy. We’re not talking about obvious deepfakes—these are subtle, believable alterations that could fool most people scrolling through their feeds.

The Dark Side: When AI Goes Bad

And speaking of things that should make you nervous with your morning coffee…

  • Browser extensions with 8 million users have been collecting AI conversations. According to Ars Technica, popular extensions have been quietly harvesting extended conversations with AI assistants. If you’ve been using ChatGPT or Claude through your browser with certain extensions installed, there’s a chance your conversations have been collected. Time to audit those extensions.

  • Scammers in China are using AI‑generated images to get refunds. WIRED reports fraudsters are deploying AI‑generated images of damaged products—from dead crabs to shredded bed sheets—to scam e‑commerce platforms out of refunds. It’s simultaneously impressive and deeply concerning that AI is sophisticated enough for this kind of fraud at scale.

Takeaway: AI isn’t just a tool for productivity and creativity; it’s also becoming a powerful weapon for bad actors, and we’re still figuring out how to defend against it.

Crystal Ball Time: What’s Coming in 2026?

If you like your AI news with a side of existential dread, check out WIRED’s 6 scary predictions for 2026. Here are the highlights:

  • AI industry layoffs might be coming. Despite all the investment money flying around, experts predict the AI sector could see its first major layoffs. Not every AI startup will survive, and consolidation is probably overdue.
  • China could spread propaganda to slow US data‑center expansion. As the US races to build massive data centers for AI training, there are concerns about foreign interference trying to slow things down.
  • Regulatory crackdowns on AI‑generated deepfakes. Governments worldwide are drafting legislation that could make the creation or distribution of realistic AI‑generated media illegal without proper labeling.
  • Rise of “AI‑first” products. Companies will start launching products whose core functionality is powered by AI, rather than adding AI as a feature.
  • Increased focus on AI safety research. Funding bodies and tech giants are pledging more resources to alignment, interpretability, and robustness work.
  • Potential breakthrough in multimodal models. Expect a new generation of models that seamlessly integrate text, image, audio, and video, unlocking novel applications—and new risks.

Stay tuned, stay skeptical, and keep that coffee coming. 🚀

Data Centers Have Become Critical Infrastructure

AI agents are evolving fast. Where they’re headed is still unclear, but the consensus is that autonomous AI agents will be a much bigger deal in 2026 than they are now.

The theme? AI is maturing fast, and with maturity comes consequences—some good, some decidedly not.

Your Coffee’s Getting Cold: Quick Takeaways

Let’s wrap this up before your first Zoom call:

  • The money is real. Billion‑dollar valuations and investments are becoming routine in AI. Resolve AI and Disney’s OpenAI deal prove that.
  • The technology is advancing scary fast. GPT‑5.2, brain‑computer interfaces, and increasingly convincing image generation are pushing boundaries.
  • Security matters more than ever. From data‑harvesting browser extensions to AI‑powered scams, the threats are evolving as fast as the technology.
  • 2026 is going to be wild. Industry consolidation, geopolitical concerns, and the rise of AI agents will reshape the landscape.

The AI revolution isn’t coming—it’s here. Whether you’re excited, terrified, or somewhere in between, the only wrong move is not paying attention.

Now go tackle your day. Just maybe think twice before installing that browser extension.

References

Back to Blog

Related posts

Read more »