Community | University 

Jan 19, 2026

Hello, GrowthHackers

Welcome to your daily unfair advantage.

Every morning, we cut through the noise to bring you sharp insights, fast news, and fresh sparks to light up your brain and fuel your hustle. From scrappy hacks to big tech moves, AI shifts to culture flips this is your intel to stay ahead, move fast, and break boring.

Think of it as your growth-fueled espresso shot.
Short. Smart. Addictive.

Let’s dive in.👇

Quick Hits

1. TikTok quietly launches a microdrama app called ‘PineDrama’
   (Short-form content evolving into short-form emotions)

2. ChatGPT users are about to get hit with targeted ads
   (From helpful assistant to sponsored bestie.)

3. OpenAI invests in Sam Altman’s brain computer interface startup Merge Labs
   (When prompts aren’t fast enough, just think them.)

The Growth joke of the day

Why did the AI start showing ads?
Because even mind-reading startups have burn rates.

What's New in Growth Hacking/Growth Marketing?

Strategies

• Google’s Mueller: Free Subdomain Hosting Makes SEO Harder

  John Mueller of Google has clarified that free subdomain hosting services tend to attract spam, which in turn makes it more difficult for legitimate websites using these services to achieve visibility in search results.

• Gemini introduces Personal Intelligence

  Personal Intelligence securely connects information from apps like Gmail and Google Photos to make Gemini uniquely helpful. If you turn it on, you control exactly which apps to link, and each one supercharges the experience.

• Edits Gets IG Links, Weekly Ideas and New Video Effects Features

  Instagram's separate video editing app, Edits, has received its first 2026 update. The new features include new internal linking capabilities to other IG accounts, new video effects, and updates to the storyboard function, among others.

• Wix’s Market Share Surges by 28.9% in Website Builder Shift

  Wix gained 28.9% market share between December 2024 and December 2025, signaling a strong trend toward managed website builders.

• Snowflake, Databricks challenger ClickHouse hits $15B valuation

  ClickHouse, which spun out from Russian search giant Yandex in 2021, develops database software designed to process the massive datasets required by AI agents. The company competes with Snowflake and Databricks.

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People

• Ed Zitron claims AI shows a desire to replace humans, connecting it to big tech's cyclical pattern.
  His blunt, brash scepticism has made the podcaster and writer something of a cult figure. But as concern over large language models builds, he’s no longer the outsider he once was

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What's New in Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

• Biotics AI, Battlefield 2023, gains FDA approval for its AI-powered fetal ultrasound product

  The product was envisioned by founder CEO Robhy Bustami, who was raised in a family of obstetricians, including his mother, sister, and uncle. He spent a lot of time in hospitals growing up, often traveling with his mother as she provided maternal care throughout the U.S. 

• Moxie Marlinspike has a privacy-conscious alternative to ChatGPT

  A new project, launched in December by Signal co-founder Moxie Marlinspike, is showing what a privacy-conscious AI service might look like. Confer is designed to look and feel like ChatGPT or Claude, but the backend is arranged to avoid data collection, with the open-source rigor that makes Signal so trusted. Y

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