STARTUP X

The F42 brief #026

Here’s your Monday dose of The F42 Brief.

📈 Trending Now

• The one thing that’s making all the noise …. with a bit of fact checking.

💸 New Funds looking to give you cash

• The Raise Report

💡Innovator Spotlight

• Founders that are doing stuff differently.

🛠️ Tool of the Week

• Something useful to up your startups velocity.

📌 Note to Self

• Stuff I constantly remind myself about, don’t want make the same mistakes again.

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📈 Trending Now

Altman’s Bold Bet: Legalise the Unlawful?

On the 14th, I couldn’t help but be taken aback by Sam Altman’s candid admission. He essentially acknowledged that OpenAI’s practice of scraping vast amounts of data—without the proper legal nod—has been, well, on the wrong side of the law. His message was clear: if we don’t reform outdated copyright rules, American innovation will be forced into expensive, drawn-out legal battles while competitors (a nod to China) get unfettered access to data.

For me, as someone knee-deep in the tech and startup scene, his stance rings both alarm bells and opportunities. By pushing for a legal framework that recognises this ‘freedom to learn’, Altman isn’t just trying to dodge lawsuits; he’s arguing against a future where companies must fork out for exclusive datasets that stifle progress. It’s a pragmatic if risky, gambit—one that could level the playing field and keep innovation moving at pace.

For founders, framers, and funders, this isn’t just policy talk—it’s a call to engage with the regulatory debates shaping our industry. We need to ensure that while we protect intellectual property rights, we’re not inadvertently shackling the very innovation that drives growth.

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💸 New Funds looking to give you cash

Look out for the The Raise Report this wednesday, bring you all the new funds that have raised capital and looking to deploy.

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For Founders Who Want to Get **it Done

Fusion42 Global Super Accelerator 2025

The Ultimate Execution Accelerator for Serious Founders

We actually don't like the word accelerator but it is the best we could come up with 😁

Fusion42's Global Super Accelerator (GSA) isn't just another accelerator—it's a 10-week execution co-pilot built to drive relentless progress for founders. Every session, tool, and system is designed for immediate application—no fluff, just hard results.

📘 Startup Playbook: Get all your essentials organized.

📈 Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy: Focus on customer traction.

💼 Fundraising Plan: Prepare for investor readiness.

🤖 AI Roadmap: Integrate AI across your organization.

Relentless Execution - Build something people want to pay for and investors want to fund.

Full registration site now open

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💡Innovator Spotlight

Well this week i have to talk about last weeks AI for startups call with out very own Dr Manish Patel.

In this masterclass, Derek and Manish dissect the emerging role of AI agents in startups. They challenge the status quo of simple LLM wrappers, proposing a future where agents not only execute tasks but also evolve their own blueprints. This session offers actionable insights for founders aiming to harness AI’s power while remaining wary of its hidden risks.

Takeaways

• AI agents are moving beyond thin wrappers to become self-learning systems capable of modifying their own workflows.
  

• Integration of multiple tools and APIs with large language models is setting a new standard in operational efficiency—from market research to scheduling.
  

• Startups must blend traditional data science with AI; relying solely on LLMs may leave critical tasks under-served.
  

• The shift toward automated, self-modifying agents presents both opportunities for scale and risks to human oversight.
  
  

Perspectives

• Derek Watson’s analogy—“put your hand on a hot iron and learn not to do it again”—underscores the importance of iterative learning in AI.
  

• Manish Patel’s challenge to conventional AI use: it’s not enough to wrap an LLM; true innovation lies in creating adaptable blueprints.
  

• The discussion reframes language as a protocol rather than a measure of intelligence, urging founders to focus on the underlying architecture.
  

• The Matrix-inspired comparison to Agent Smith illustrates both the potential and the eerie autonomy of evolving AI agents.
  

Unique Nuggets

• The concept of ‘blueprints’ for agents introduces a dynamic model where AI systems can re-engineer their own processes based on performance feedback.
  

• A cautionary note: as agents learn to mimic and improve on their tasks, there’s a risk of eroding the critical human element in decision-making.
  

• Emphasis on using the right tool for the right job—recognising that LLMs excel at language but fall short in complex data science tasks.
  

• An unconventional call to action: founders should invest in building bespoke data strategies that empower AI to evolve while maintaining strategic control.
  

This masterclass pushes startup leaders to rethink the AI narrative—balancing rapid automation with the need for robust, human-informed oversight.

Check out the full session here

If you have not joined the Fusion42 Community on Telegram — A space for Founders, Framers, and Funders who show up to get **it done,
it is probably time to do so.

For the ❤️ of Startups

🛠️ Tools of the Week.

Jiva.ai: The Complete Package for Agentic AI

Well after our call last Tuesday I have to do a call out for Jiva.ai and, honestly, it’s a game-changer. Unlike other platforms, Jiva doesn’t just offer a zero-code environment for multimodal AI development—it also plugs in full data science and machine learning capabilities. This means you can seamlessly handle everything from data exploration and analysis to model training, evaluation, and deployment, all in one place.

If you’re looking to build truly agentic AI, this is the pace to be at. With Jiva.ai, you get an end-to-end solution that empowers you to innovate without the usual technical hassles.

*Full transparency. Jiva.ai is our AI partner and we are building Fusion42 AI agents using the platform. Dr Manish Patel is act as Fusion42s’ AI advisor.

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📌 Note to Self

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Thank you for reading. If you liked it, share it with your friends, colleagues and everyone interested in the startup Investor ecosystem.

If you've got suggestions, an article, research, your tech stack, or a job listing you want featured, just let me know! I'm keen to include it in the upcoming edition.

Please let me know what you think of it, love a feedback loop 🙏🏼

• ❤️ Love it, keep them coming!

• 👍 Great, always a good read.

• 😊 Enjoyable, but let’s see some variety.

• 👎 Okay, seen better.

• 🛑 Get a different job.
  
  Subscribe below and follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter to never miss an update. 

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For the ❤️ of startups

✌🏼 & 💙
Derek

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