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Hey AI Enthusiasts!
This week's roundup is packed with major business shifts and new product launches, from OpenAI monetizing ChatGPT with ads for the first time, to Meta scaling back its metaverse ambitions, and a new coding-focused AI model challenging the industry leaders.
Let’s dive in!
In today’s insights:
💬 OpenAI testing ads in ChatGPT free tiers
🚀 DeepSeek V4 coding model launching February
📉 Meta cuts 10% of Reality Labs workforce
🎬 Higgsfield hits $1.3B valuation in 9 months
Read time: 6 minutes.
🗞️ Recent Updates
OpenAI
💬 OpenAI Brings Ads to ChatGPT
The AI Field: OpenAI will begin testing advertisements in ChatGPT's free and $8/month Go tiers within the coming weeks, marking the first time ads will appear in the world's most popular AI chatbot.
Details:
Ads will appear at the bottom of responses, clearly labeled as "Sponsored"
Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise tiers remain ad-free
No ads for users under 18 or on sensitive topics like politics and health
Why This Matters: With losses exceeding $11 billion quarterly, OpenAI needs new revenue streams beyond subscriptions. This sets a precedent for how AI companies will monetize—free AI services may not stay free for long.
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The AI Field: Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is launching its next-generation model with strong coding capabilities in mid-February, potentially challenging OpenAI and Anthropic's developer tools.
Details:
Internal tests show V4 outperforming Claude 3.5 Sonnet and GPT-4o on coding benchmarks
Features context windows exceeding 1 million tokens to process entire codebases
Can run on consumer hardware like dual RTX 4090s or a single RTX 5090
Why This Matters: If V4 delivers powerful coding while remaining open-source and locally runnable, it could disrupt the expensive API subscription model and give developers a privacy-focused alternative.
The AI Field: Meta is cutting more than 1,000 jobs from Reality Labs, roughly 10% of the division's workforce, as it shifts resources from VR and metaverse products toward AI.
Details:
Shutting down multiple VR game studios including Armature, Twisted Pixel, and Sanzaru
Supernatural VR fitness app moved to maintenance mode after $400M acquisition
Reality Labs lost $4.4 billion on $470 million in sales last quarter
Why This Matters: Four years after betting on the metaverse, Meta is scaling back its VR ambitions. The brutal economics are clear: Reality Labs burns billions with minimal adoption while AI promises faster returns and keeps Meta competitive.
Higgsfield / AI-tool
🎬 Higgsfield Hits $1.3B Valuation with AI Video Tool
The AI Field: AI video startup Higgsfield, founded by Snap's former Head of Generative AI, raised an additional $80 million to close a $130 million Series A at a $1.3 billion valuation.
Details:
Reached 15 million users and is on a $200 million annual revenue run rate, doubling from $100 million in just two months
Founded by Alex Mashrabov, whose previous AI startup was acquired by Snap for $166 million in 2020
The company emphasizes its platform is primarily used by professional social media marketers, not just casual creators
Why This Matters: Higgsfield's explosive growth—from launch to $200 million run rate in nine months—shows AI video generation has moved beyond novelty into serious business tools. While the platform has generated controversy for some viral content, its adoption by professional marketers signals AI video is becoming essential infrastructure for social media teams competing in an increasingly video-first internet.
🛠️ Treding AI Tools
🎬 Higgsfield – AI-tool for making cinematic AI videos and images.
👨💻 Claude Cowork - Claude Code’s agentic features are now available on the Pro plan.
🗞️ More AI Hits
xAI: Elon Musk says Colossus 2 is now operational, calling it the world’s first 1 gigawatt AI training cluster, with plans to scale to 1.5GW in April.
Golden Nuggets
💬 OpenAI testing ads in ChatGPT free tiers
🚀 DeepSeek V4 coding model launching February
📉 Meta cuts 10% of Reality Labs workforce
🎬 Higgsfield hits $1.3B valuation in 9 months
What did you think of today’s edition?
Until next time!
Olle | Founder of The AI Field