The popular AI framework Virtuals Protocol will host an in-person meet-up in Hong Kong on Friday, January 17.

Flash News from Insight: Beating AI. According to a Semafor report, Meta is laying off a group of employees it hired in June this year from AI security startup Virtue AI, with their collaboration lasting just around four months. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told Semafor that the staff were let go due to "work style misalignment", noting the partnership did not develop as expected. In June, Dawn Song, UC Berkeley computer professor and founder of Virtue AI, announced she would join Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, alongside Virtue AI co-founders Bo Li, Sanmi Koyejo, and other team members. The recruitment was framed as Meta bringing in an independent team, not acquiring the entire Virtue AI. Virtue AI specializes in AI security testing, red teaming, vulnerability discovery, as well as model runtime protection and governance. Meta’s earlier onboarding of the team was viewed as aligned with its push for AI agent and superintelligence strategies, as well as strengthening AI security and frontier risk governance. Semafor reports that Meta stated the Superintelligence Labs will continue to focus on AI security, alignment, and frontier risks. However, Meta did not disclose specific disagreements between the two parties, nor has it confirmed whether core Virtue AI members like Dawn Song have all left Meta. As of the report’s publication, Virtue AI had not yet responded. The report adds that the rapid shift in this partnership has once again sparked external discussion on the "organizational mismatch" issue when top research teams join large tech firms—referring to potential conflicts between the autonomy, flexibility, and high decision-making efficiency startup teams are accustomed to, and the organizational processes and corporate culture of big tech companies.

Market news: Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, said the U.S. debt crisis could erupt within three years.

According to Bitget's market data, South Korea's KOSPI index fell 1% intraday, with Samsung Electronics down 1.6% and SK Hynix down 2.8%.

Insight: Beating AI Flash News – According to Semafor, Meta is laying off a batch of employees it hired in June this year from AI security startup Virtue AI, with the partnership lasting only about four months. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told Semafor that the relevant personnel were let go due to "work style misalignment" and the collaboration did not develop as expected. In June this year, Dawn Song, a UC Berkeley computer professor and founder of Virtue AI, announced she would join Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, along with Virtue AI co-founders Bo Li, Sanmi Koyejo and other team members. The hiring was reported as Meta bringing in an independent team rather than acquiring the entire Virtue AI. Virtue AI mainly focuses on AI security testing, red teaming, vulnerability discovery, as well as model runtime protection and governance. Meta’s earlier recruitment of the team was seen as aligned with its advancement of AI agent and superintelligence strategies, and efforts to strengthen AI security and frontier risk governance. Semafor reports that Meta stated the Superintelligence Labs will continue to focus on AI security, alignment and frontier risks. However, Meta did not disclose the specific disagreements between the two sides, nor has it confirmed whether core Virtue AI members like Dawn Song have all left Meta. As of the report’s publication, Virtue AI has not responded. The report notes that the rapid shift in this partnership has once again sparked external discussion on the "organizational mismatch" issue when top research teams enter large tech companies – referring to potential conflicts between the autonomy, flexibility and high decision-making efficiency that startup teams are accustomed to, and the organizational processes and corporate culture of large tech firms.

CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost stated in a post that Bitcoin’s Bull Score Index remains firmly in bullish territory, currently standing at 80/100, with multiple metrics continuing to support BTC’s upward momentum. Darkfost pointed out that the only relatively lagging factor at present is spot demand. As observed earlier, the market’s spot trading volume remains low, so there is no obvious spot buying demand at this stage. He believes spot demand is the missing key factor in the current BTC market trend, and this part is often the last to materialize.

Liquid Capital founder Yi Lihua has published an article pointing out a "fatal" issue plaguing the current crypto industry: some projects lack contractual integrity, with cases including users being unable to withdraw deposited BTC, arbitrary deductions of investors' assets, and forced modifications of terms. He noted that such behavior poses indiscriminate reputational risks to VCs, KOLs, and secondary market investors, and recommended that trading platforms include project parties' reputation as a key evaluation metric. In traditional stock markets, companies involved in fraud typically face penalties or delisting. Yi added that he is currently actively seeking secondary market projects that are profitable, capable of buybacks, and reputable, and welcomed relevant projects or investors to reach out via private message, or to meet in Singapore for discussions in the near term.