Good Morning. Nvidia paid $20 billion to license chip technology and neutralize a GPU competitor. We break down the strategic play.

We also share lobster theft schemes, steakhouse economics, and how Shaq built $400M wealth (forwarded this email? Join 523k readers).

Nvidia paid $20 billion for a nonexclusive licensing agreement with AI chip startup Groq, announced Christmas Eve. The deal grants Nvidia access to Groq's specialized inference-chip technology for running artificial intelligence applications (WSJ).

Groq founder Jonathan Ross received an Nvidia stock package worth several hundred million dollars. The startup projected $1.4 billion in 2026 revenue, up from $500 million this year, driven largely by sovereign customers including Saudi Arabia's Aramco.

At least six companies are bidding on Groq's remaining assets, including AI-inference platform GroqCloud. Bids are expected to exceed $1 billion. Groq CFO Simon Edwards has been named CEO.

Thieves stole $400,000 worth of lobster from a Massachusetts cold-storage facility on December 12 using a sophisticated phishing and impersonation scam. The crustaceans, destined for Costco stores, haven't been recovered.

The scheme involved a slightly altered email domain mimicking a real trucking company. A perpetrator presented fake credentials and a trailer with authentic-looking company markings, then disabled GPS trackers after pickup.

The FBI is investigating the incident. Cargo thefts cause $15 billion to $35 billion in annual U.S. losses, according to Homeland Security. Transportation Intermediaries Association received over 40 theft reports within days of launching a December hotline.

Research shows gray wolves significantly reduce deer-vehicle collisions in the Midwest. University of Wisconsin economist Dominic Parker found wolves prevent approximately 1,100 crashes, 43 injuries, and one death annually in Wisconsin—a 24% reduction where wolves are present.

Wolves create a "landscape of fear" keeping deer from roads, according to the 2021 study. The economic benefit—nearly $11 million saved yearly in Wisconsin—exceeds state payments for livestock losses to wolves.

The Trump administration is removing federal protections, citing recovered populations (4,550+ wolves in three states). Conservationists argue wolves haven't recovered across their historical range and delisting threatens future populations.

▲ Highly recommended book about wolves.

A Last-Minute Gift That Pays Off for a Lifetime

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It is the best sale of the year and a remarkably simple way to give someone a skill that compounds over time.With an immersive method refined over decades, Rosetta Stone helps learners build genuine confidence, sharper thinking, and the kind of daily progress that feels motivating from the start.

It is a gift that fuels growth long after the wrapping is gone, and it takes just a moment to send. Give Lifetime Access for $149.

This documentary offers rare inside access to DeepMind, showing how scientific progress actually unfolds—through failed experiments, internal debates, and incremental breakthroughs rather than hype.

The film follows Demis Hassabis and his team developing AlphaFold, the protein-folding system that earned the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. You witness frontier AI research: lab meetings, technical disagreements, and the pressure of solving decades-old problems.

Produced by the AlphaGo documentary team and released free on YouTube by Google DeepMind, it reveals what building transformative AI systems actually looks like.

Full doc here.

Shaq built a $400+ million empire starting with a $14 "For Dummies" book. His first move? Incorporated his family, putting his parents on $500k salaries with cars as tax write-offs instead of giving money to the IRS. He studied equity and ownership, proving you don't need an MBA to build wealth.

Watch clip.

▲ Nestlé CEO fired over undisclosed romance as new boss cuts 16,000 jobs in cultural overhaul

▲ Russia threatens to change negotiating stance after Ukraine allegedly attacked Putin's residence with 91 drones

▲ Steakhouse profits collapse as $500 dinner yields just $25 with beef up 67% from prepandemic levels

▲ Justice Department targets Google, Verizon over DEI using False Claims Act against federal contractors

▲ Beyoncé reaches billionaire status as fifth musician ever, joining Jay-Z, Swift, Springsteen, and Rihanna

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