Silicon Valley returned to work slowly and reluctantly following the holidays, starting about Wednesday based on the volume of story pitches sent to me, but there was still plenty of news.

Not surprisingly, artificial intelligence, which never seems to take a vacation, led the way. OpenAI is about to open a ChatGPT store — AI app store, here we come. Intel’s looking to join the generative AI fray with a software platform. And Perplexity AI got some big funding to take on Google in search with a gen AI interface.

Consolidation also appears to be quickening in cybersecurity, with several acquisitions announced. And layoffs kept coming, from Xerox and Orca Security.

You can hear more about that and other news and analysis, a sampling of which is below, in John Furrier’s and Dave Vellante’s theCUBE Podcast, coming later this afternoon. Also, check out Dave Vellante’s latest weekly technology deep dive Breaking Analysis, coming Saturday.

AI and big data

Ace analyst Tony Baer of dbInsight lays down what he thinks is coming in all things data this year, and no surprise: AI dominates. More specifically, he’s predicting a Cambrian explosion of smaller, fit-for-purpose foundation models to avoid the problems of large language models. But there’s a whole lot more here, so it’s worth reading the piece in detail, especially ahead of our next Supercloud event in February, which will focus on data and AI: Data 2024 outlook: Data meets generative AI

Can Intel do AI software? It’s giving it a whirl: Intel forms independent enterprise generative AI software firm Articul8 AI

It’s not all hype: OpenAI’s annualized revenue reportedly tops $1.6B And now it has a potential app store ready: OpenAI reportedly plans to launch its GPT Store next week

US Supreme Court chief justice warns against risks of AI adoption in legal circles

Another big bet on the reinvention of search. Given Google’s AI chops and its recognition of an existential threat to search from generative AI, it’s a risky bet. But when has that stopped VCs? Generative AI search engine Perplexity AI raises $74M at $520M valuation

Sign o’ the times: Microsoft to introduce dedicated Copilot keyboard key for Windows 11 devices

Cheaping out: Report: OpenAI is offering news publishers as little as $1M to use content for AI training

AI reveals that up to 75% of large fishing vessels avoid being tracked

Report: Google developing new version of Bard based on its flagship Gemini Ultra LLM

Google’s DeepMind shares advanced systems and models for autonomous robot training

Robin AI’s legal copilot gets $26M venture infusion

Nabla raises $24M for its AI-powered clinical note platform

In the enterprise, around the cloud

David Strom analyzes the prospects of open-source software as layoffs at big and small tech companies slash the number of people working on critical projects: The changing economics of open-source software

And Zeus Kerravala looks at Cisco’s brightening picture, assuming it can continue its drive to integrate its offerings, such as its networking and cybersecurity clouds: Looking ahead to Cisco Systems’ prospects in 2024

That’s a lot of excess inventory, somebody didn’t have their eye on the ball: Mobileye shares plunge on projected 50% drop in first-quarter revenue

US officials pressured ASML to cancel shipments of high-end chipmaking gear to China

And the flipside of the U.S. chipmaking push: Microchip Technology gets $162M in U.S. government funding to boost domestic chip production

Canva reportedly planning $1B+ secondary sale at $26B valuation

BT faces prospect of massive fine after missing cutoff date to replace Huawei-made tech

Cybersecurity beat

2024 kicks off with lots of M&A action:

SonicWall acquires Banyan Security to expand its cloud security portfolio

SentinelOne expands cloud security portfolio with acquisition of PingSafe

Atos confirms it’s negotiating sale of its cybersecurity business unit to Airbus

And in other cops ‘n’ robbers cyber news:

Google-owned cybersecurity firm Mandiant targeted in X account takeover

Google patches two vulnerabilities that left Kubernetes Engine vulnerable to attack

Chinese authorities arrest four in ransomware case involving ChatGPT

FCC seeks input on $200M cybersecurity initiative for schools and libraries

Population health software company HealthEC suffers major data breach

Xerox Business Solutions targeted by INC Ransom ransomware gang

Elsewhere around tech

Just in today from the NYT: U.S. Moves Closer to Filing Sweeping Antitrust Case Against Apple

Report: Premium phone sales grew 6% in 2023 as Apple’s market share declined

Facebook debuts Link History as a new way to keep tabs on users’ browsing habits

Qualcomm unveils next-gen Snapdragon XR2+ chip to support extended reality platforms

SpaceX launches first six Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell internet hardware

China’s Baidu backs out of $3.6B acquisition of livestreaming platform provider Joyy

Bitcoin exceeds $45,000 as rally anticipates ETF approvals

Startups suffer challenging year as funding plummets 38% in 2023

SpaceX accused of illegally firing staff who criticized CEO Elon Musk

Etherscan acquires Solscan to expand its blockchain data services

Comings and goings

Intel hires former HPE executive Justin Hotard to run its Data Center and AI group

Cloud architect, cartoonist and musician Forrest Brazeal is leaving Google Cloud after two-and-a-half years to do… something new.

Xerox to lay off 15% of its workforce amid broad restructuring initiative

Cyber unicorn Orca Security laying off 15% of workforce (from CTech)

Swiss computer scientist Professor Niklaus Wirth, who created the Pascal programming language, died Jan. 1 at age 89.

Image: Bing Image Creator