Friday Founders: Issue #9 | Highlights from 15–21 August 2025

Hi Founders,

It’s Friday, 22 August 2025, and the AI + infra drumbeat kept pounding. From Meta’s $10B cloud pact to a U.S. policy shift that could reshape crypto compliance, here are the 10 stories to scan before you unplug.

1) ☁️ Meta signs a $10B+ cloud deal with Google

TL; DR: Meta struck a six-year agreement to run workloads on Google Cloud, following July guidance that it would spend tens of billions building massive AI data centers. The pact reportedly covers compute, storage, networking and more as Meta scales Llama and consumer AI features. It’s Google Cloud’s second headline deal in weeks and reflects accelerating hyperscaler tie-ups around frontier AI.

Why you should care: This is yet another signal that even the richest tech giants prefer partnering for bursty AI demand rather than owning every rack. If you’re building on GCP, expect faster AI-infra roadmaps and more LLM-adjacent services; if you’re multi-cloud, plan for egress realities and vendor incentives. For startups selling developer tooling or data products, these mega-deals often open marketplaces and co-sell lanes time to knock.

Read more → Reuters

2) 🧠 Nvidia tells Foxconn to pause H20 chip work amid China uncertainty

TL; DR: Nvidia asked Foxconn to suspend work related to its China-focused H20 GPU as the company navigates shifting U.S.–China rules and security scrutiny. Reports also say Amkor and Samsung were told to halt parts of the H20 pipeline as Nvidia evaluates next steps and inventory. Jensen Huang, meanwhile, flew to Taipei to meet TSMC and discuss a potential H20 successor for China subject to U.S. approval.

Why you should care: If your roadmap assumes steady availability of “good-enough” China-compliant GPUs, build contingency models now. Export policy whiplash can ripple through lead times, pricing, and cloud availability especially for training and RAG at scale. Consider supplier redundancy and region-aware inference strategies to keep SLAs intact.

Read more → Reuters

3) OpenAI to open first India office in New Delhi this year

TL; DR: OpenAI said it will launch a New Delhi office as it deepens enterprise and developer engagement in a priority growth market. The move follows the company’s broader international build-out and intensifying talent competition. Expect local partnerships and programs aimed at Indian developers and public-sector buyers.

Why you should care: India’s developer density and cost profile make it a strategic place to hire, sell, and run pilots. If you depend on OpenAI’s stack, localized support and ecosystem activity can shorten your sales cycles and help with procurement. Competitively, assume faster API adoption by Indian SaaS, fintech, and gov-tech players.

Read more → Reuters

4) 🏛️ DOJ eases stance on “money transmitter” prosecutions, a win for crypto/fintech

TL; DR: The U.S. Justice Department is shifting away from aggressive criminal prosecutions under money-transmitter statutes in many crypto cases. Instead, DOJ will lean more on civil and regulatory pathways especially where conduct overlaps with sanctions or consumer protection issues. The pivot could de-risk some compliant crypto activity without giving cover to bad actors.

Why you should care: If you’re building wallets, on-ramps, stablecoin rails, or cross-border payouts, this materially changes legal calculus and fundraising narratives. It won’t remove licensing or KYC/AML obligations if anything, disclosure and sanctions controls matter more. Use this window to tighten compliance playbooks and revisit product lines you previously shelved.

Read more → Reuters

5) 🎥 Zoom lifts annual outlook on demand for agentic AI

TL; DR: Zoom raised revenue and EPS guidance as AI features like Virtual Agent 2.0 and a Custom AI Companion add-on gain traction and expand beyond meetings. Q2 revenue and EPS beat, and Q3 guidance came in ahead of the Street. Shares popped after hours on the print.

Why you should care: The “AI for revenue, not demos” era is landing in customer service, sales, and IT exactly where CFOs see ROI. If you sell into ops or CX, tie your pitch to agentic workflows (automations that complete tasks, not just summarize). Also expect budgets to consolidate around suites that bundle comms + AI; position your product as a complement, not a silo.

Read more → Reuters

6) 📺 Apple hikes TV+ monthly price to $12.99; annual stays put

TL; DR: Apple raised the ad-free TV+ monthly tier by $3 for new subscribers in the U.S. and selected markets; annual pricing and Apple One bundles remain unchanged. Peacock’s recent hike set the stage, and Apple’s content spend is still heavy despite reported losses. TV+ continues to lag Netflix/Disney/Amazon on subs but racks up prestige hits.

Why you should care: Subscription creep is real expect consumers and procurement teams to reassess bundles this fall. If you run B2C subscriptions, this is a timely A/B test moment for pricing psychology (annual vs. monthly, perks, and cross-product bundles). For B2B media/learning startups, the message is: premium content can justify pricing power when framed as outcomes.

Read more → Reuters

7) ⚖️ News IP wars: Perplexity loses bid to toss News Corp suit in SDNY

TL; DR: A federal judge refused to dismiss or transfer Dow Jones/New York Post’s copyright case against Perplexity, keeping it in New York. The court found jurisdiction appropriate based on Perplexity’s business and marketing footprint there. The case one of several against AI firms now proceeds to the merits.

Why you should care: If your product ingests third-party content, “we use public facts” may not shield you from venue or liability fights. Audit training and retrieval sources; get explicit licenses or implement opt-out, filtering, and provenance features. The compliance bar for generative products is rising fast, and investors are watching.

Read more → Reuters

8) 🧾 Workday’s in-line near-term outlook cools the stock; buys Paradox for AI hiring

TL; DR: Workday nudged up full-year subscription revenue guidance, but its current-quarter outlook merely matched estimates, sending shares down after hours. The company also announced a deal to buy Paradox, adding an AI-powered talent acquisition suite. Q2 revenue edged past expectations as AI features roll through HR workflows.

Why you should care: Enterprise buyers are still spending just selectively and with ROI scrutiny. If you sell HR/finance software, partner strategies (or being part of someone’s suite) can trump feature-by-feature battles. M&A remains a viable exit path for focused AI apps proving measurable lift.

Read more → Reuters

9) DeepSeek ships V3.1 tuned for domestic chips, adds “deep thinking” toggle

TL; DR: China’s DeepSeek released an upgraded V3 model that supports an FP8 precision format aimed at “next-gen” Chinese chips, plus faster processing. Users can flip between reasoning and non-reasoning modes via a new “deep thinking” button. API pricing adjustments land in early September.

Why you should care: Model performance is converging while deployment constraints diverge hardware compatibility is becoming a moat. If you serve APAC or run multi-region inference, assume a growing split in model/hardware pairings. Keep your abstractions portable (tokenizers, runtimes, quantization) to avoid lock-in.

Read more → Reuters

10) Russia will require state-backed “MAX” messenger pre-installed on devices

TL; DR: Starting September 1, Russia will mandate pre-installation of a government-linked messaging app, MAX, on phones and tablets and require RuStore on Apple devices, framing it as security and service integration. Critics call MAX a surveillance risk; the state media disputes that. The move follows limits on WhatsApp and Telegram calling features.

Why you should care: Platform distribution can be regulated overnight especially in strategic markets. If you rely on third-party app stores or comms rails, build contingency UX (web, PWA, multi-messenger). For data-sensitive products, expect tougher local-hosting and audit requirements across more jurisdictions.

Read more → Reuters