🚀 Synthesia hit $4B valuation with $100M ARR, Harvey acquired Hexus as legal AI competition heats up, and TikTok confirmed its US joint venture. Meanwhile, Intel shares dropped 13% after struggling to meet AI data center demand.
Industry moves
Synthesia hits $4B valuation, lets employees cash out
British startup Synthesia raised a $200 million Series E round that brings its valuation to $4 billion, up from $2.1 billion just a year ago. Unlike some AI startups still far from profit, Synthesia has found lucrative business in transforming corporate training thanks to AI-generated avatars. With enterprise clients including Bosch, Merck, and SAP, the London-based company crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in April 2025.
Kirill Lazarev, CEO and Founder at Lazarev.agency: "Synthesia's $4B valuation on $100M ARR shows that enterprise AI products with clear ROI command premium multiples. Corporate training is expensive and time-consuming. AI avatars that reduce production costs and localization complexity solve real pain."
Legal AI giant Harvey acquires Hexus as competition heats up in legal tech
Harvey acquired Hexus – a two-year-old startup that builds tools for creating product demos, videos, and guides,as the company continues aggressive expansion amid fierce competition in the legal tech market.
Oleksandr Koshytskyi, Lead Designer at Lazarev.agency: "Harvey acquiring Hexus shows that legal AI is about client communication. Lawyers need to explain complex legal strategies to clients who aren't lawyers. Visual demos and guides improve comprehension."
Gates Foundation and OpenAI test AI in African healthcare
According to Gates Notes, the Gates Foundation and OpenAI are backing Horizon1000, an initiative that aims to introduce AI tools into primary healthcare clinics across several African countries. The project will begin in Rwanda and is intended to reach 1,000 clinics and surrounding communities by 2028, supported by a combined $50 million investment.
The challenge: Healthcare AI needs to work in low-connectivity environments with limited infrastructure. If the AI requires constant internet access or high-end devices, it won't scale in rural African clinics.
Intel struggles to meet AI data center demand, shares drop 13%
Reuters reports that Intel has struggled to satisfy demand for its server chips used in AI data centers, and forecast quarterly revenue and profit below market estimates, sending shares down 13% in after-hours trading. The forecast underscores difficulties Intel faces in predicting global chip markets, where current products result from decisions made years ago.
Kirill Lazarev, CEO and Founder at Lazarev.agency: "Intel dropping 13% despite strong AI demand shows that supply constraints kill growth as surely as weak demand. When you can't deliver products customers want to buy, competitors capture market share. For product teams, this is a reminder that infrastructure bottlenecks: manufacturing, logistics, talent, limit growth even when demand is infinite. Design can't save poor execution."
Samsung to start production of HBM4 chips next month for Nvidia supply
According to Bloomberg, Samsung Electronics plans to start production of its next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, or HBM4, next month and supply them to Nvidia. Samsung has been trying to catch up with cross-town rival SK Hynix, a primary supplier for advanced memory chips crucial for Nvidia's AI accelerators, after supply delays hit its earnings and share prices last year.
Oleksandr Koshytskyi, Lead Designer at Lazarev.agency: "Samsung competing with SK Hynix in HBM chips means AI infrastructure costs could drop as supply increases. For product teams building AI features, cheaper memory means more affordable AI deployments. But relying on two suppliers instead of one reduces risk. When SK Hynix couldn't meet demand, AI projects stalled. Samsung's HBM4 production provides backup supply."
TikTok confirms joint venture to comply with US law
TikTok officially confirmed it's established a new joint venture with a group of U.S. partners to meet requirements of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The majority American-owned Joint Venture will operate under defined safeguards protecting national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users.
Danylo Dubrovsky, Senior UX/UI designer at Lazarev.agency: "TikTok's US joint venture solves regulatory risk but creates operational complexity. When ownership splits across jurisdictions, product decisions get slower. TikTok's UX advantage is speed, they ship features faster than competitors. If governance structures slow decision-making, they lose that edge. The challenge is maintaining product velocity while satisfying regulatory oversight."
Leidos, OpenAI team up to build AI for federal agencies
According to WSJ, this collaboration aims to improve how federal agencies operate. Leidos and OpenAI are partnering to build artificial intelligence for customers including federal agencies.
Kirill Lazarev, CEO and Founder at Lazarev.agency: "OpenAI partnering with Leidos for federal AI shows that government adoption requires defense contractors as intermediaries. Federal agencies won't buy directly from startups. They buy through established contractors with security clearances."
Kuaishou's Kling AI reaches over 12 million monthly active users
Kuaishou Technology's AI has reached over 12 million monthly active users. Kuaishou raised its 2025 revenue guidance for Kling AI to $140 million from $100 million, after the product booked revenue of $43 million in Q3.
What this shows: AI video generation has product-market fit in China. Kling AI reaching 12M MAUs and $140M revenue run rate proves that users will pay for AI video tools when quality and speed are sufficient.
Product reality check
Pinterest adds Media Planner to help you manage your ad campaigns
Pinterest added a new "Media Planner" element to its advertising tools, providing another way to maintain oversight and control of Pin campaigns. You can track each ad set within each campaign, similar to Meta's Ad Manager platform.
As Pinterest explains: "The Pinterest Media Planner is built directly into the Ads Manager, giving you a single place to plan upper-funnel campaigns without needing any additional tools or manual modeling on spreadsheets."
Meta bans teen access to AI bot characters
Meta's banning teen access to its AI chatbots in different personas as it looks to implement a new system ensuring more safety in their usage. Back in October, Meta rolled out options for parents to control how kids interact with AI profiles amid concerns that some AI chatbots were providing potentially harmful advice on self-harm, disordered eating, and how to buy drugs.
Danylo Dubrovsky, Senior UX/UI designer at Lazarev.agency: "Meta banning teen AI chatbot access is risk mitigation. The core problem is AI giving harmful advice. Age-gating reduces liability but doesn't fix the product. For AI safety, the design challenge is building systems that refuse harmful requests reliably. When you can't guarantee safety, restriction is the only option. But it's an admission that AI moderation isn't working."
TikTok publishes new guide to its AI-powered campaigns
According to Social Media Today, with the app's future in the U.S. now secured, American brands can safely start planning TikTok strategies again. TikTok's AI-powered Smart+ campaign option could be a consideration for brands looking to raise awareness or drive sales.
Snapchat adds new insights to Family Center
Snapchat announced updates to its Family Center tools, giving parents more insight into how kids are using the app. Parents can now view expanded insight into how kids spend time in the app, with an updated display showing total time each day and how much time they're spending using specific Snapchat features.
X publishes AI-powered algorithm code
Elon Musk came through on his promise to publish the latest version of the X "For You" feed algorithm, providing more insight into how X maximizes user engagement. Considering that the average X user only sees 20-30 posts per day in the feed, algorithm optimization is more important than ever.
Kirill Lazarev, CEO and Founder at Lazarev.agency: "X publishing algorithm code is transparency theater. Seeing the code doesn't help users understand why they see specific posts. Most people can't read code, and even engineers can't reverse-engineer complex ML models from source. Real transparency means explaining decisions in plain language – 'you saw this post because you interact with similar accounts.' Code publication checks a box but doesn't improve user understanding."
Design wins
How Lazarev.agency helped Accern build a unified brand and attract strategic investments
Accern, a leading NLP company, transforms vast structured data into actionable business solutions. With new product launches on the horizon, Accern faced the strategic need to build a unified brand ecosystem that would position it as the primary, market-defining brand. Another key objective was to accelerate growth and attract strategic investment.
Our strategy: We focused on creating a scalable, modern, and audacious brand identity that underscores Accern's potential as a high-value investment. At the core of the brand is intelligent data processing, reflected in design principles of Minimalism, Boldness, Modernity, and Confidence, seamlessly integrated into the refreshed brand identity. The result we delivered is a unified brand positioning Accern for growth and investment readiness.
Oleksandr Koshytskyi, Lead Designer at Lazarev.agency: "Accern needed brand design that signals investment readiness. Investors evaluate companies through brand consistency, clarity, and confidence. We built an identity system that positions Accern as category-defining. When brand design directly supports fundraising goals, it becomes strategic infrastructure."
Trump's Board of Peace logo, resembling the UN
The Trump Peace Commission logo unveiled at Davos is increasingly criticized for its resemblance to the UN emblem. The logo, featuring an olive branch encircling the globe, has been praised for its resemblance to the UN emblem.
Kia AI Assistant brand design
Kia unveiled a brand identity development project for its next-generation in-vehicle AI assistant, the Kia AI Assistant. In a world where various AI assistants are emerging, the company aims to set a new standard for vehicle experience through distinctive design language and clear functionality. This project was conducted in collaboration with design studio BUCK.
Why this matters: In-vehicle AI assistants are becoming differentiators for car brands. Kia's investing in branded AI identity signals they're competing on software experience.
This week's reality check
Top AI UX strategy companies redefining how intelligent products behave
You open a product that claims to be powered by AI, and confusion sets in almost immediately. The system makes strong recommendations with no explanation. It acts on your behalf without clear consent. When the outcome feels wrong, there's no context and no way to recover. That breakdown is exactly the problem AI UX strategy companies are hired to fix.
Why AI UX strategy matters:
- AI UX strategy is the new baseline. AI-powered products fail when users don't understand or control them.
- Not all AI UX strategy companies are built the same. AI-native studios, product agencies, and consultancies solve very different problems.
- The best firms, like Lazarev.agency, design around genuine decision-making logic. Strong AI UX strategy explains your product's autonomy, transparency, and path to recovery long before visuals enter the picture.
Frog vs IDEO: how two icons of design thinking approach innovation differently
Frog and IDEO are globally recognized innovation consultancies with different strengths in enterprise execution and strategic problem framing, while specialized AI-native product design partners like Lazarev.agency offer faster, sprint-embedded UX cycles optimized for measurable product outcomes.
Key differences:
- Frog: Research + design + engineering, integrated into enterprise-wide product and brand initiatives (now part of Capgemini Invent)
- IDEO: Human-centered design focused on problem framing, ideation, systems thinking (part of Kyu Collective)
- Lazarev.agency: AI-native product design with sprint-embedded UX cycles optimized for measurable outcomes
What's coming next week
More enterprise AI acquisitions, more regulatory compliance pivots, and probably another tech giant missing forecasts despite strong demand.
🔥 Stay sharp. Stay with Lazarev.agency, your AI UX design agency.
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