Techmeme
December 11, 2023, 11:40 AM

Top News

Cade Metz / New York Times:
Paris-based Mistral AI raised €385M from a16z, Lightspeed, and others, sources say at a ~$2B valuation, and releases its open-source La plateforme model  —  The company has publicly released its latest technology so people can build their own chatbots.  Rivals like OpenAI and Google argue that approach can be dangerous.
Randy Nelson / data.ai:
TikTok reaches $10B in gross revenue, including $3.84B in 2023 so far, $3.32B in 2022, and $1.72B in 2021, the fifth mobile app and the first non-game to do so  —  The short video social phenomenon has added nearly $4 billion this year alone, and it's all from virtual coins used to purchase gifts for the platform's content creators.
More: TechCrunch
Olivia Poh / Bloomberg:
TikTok plans to invest $1.5B in a joint venture with GoTo, aiming to comply with regulations in Indonesia so that TikTok can restart its shopping service there  —  - Chinese firm will combine its shopping business with GoTo unit  — TikTok has used Indonesia as template for global shopping push
Washington Post:
US officials: China is ramping up its ability to disrupt key US infrastructure; 2023 victims include a Hawaii water utility, a West Coast port, and a pipeline  —  A utility in Hawaii, a West Coast port and a pipeline are among the victims in the past year, officials say
Jackie Davalos / Bloomberg:
Microsoft partners with 60 unions representing 12.5M workers for “an open dialogue” on AI's impact on workers, and signs a ZeniMax staff contract on AI use  —  Microsoft Corp. is teaming up with labor unions to create “an open dialogue” on how artificial intelligence will impact workers.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
London-based SumUp, which offers payments and other financial services to ~4M SMBs, raised €285M at a valuation higher than its $8.5B valuation in June 2022  —  SumUp — the fintech that provides payments and related services to some 4 million small businesses in Europe …
Ana Swanson / New York Times:
The US awards the first CHIPS Act grant to BAE Systems, giving the defense contractor $35M to boost production of chips used in F-15 and F-35 fighter jets  —  The award, which will go to BAE Systems, is part of a new government program aimed at creating a more secure supply of semiconductors.
Sara Dorn / Forbes:
In a 2+ hour talk on X with Alex Jones, Andrew Tate, Jack Posobiec, and others, Elon Musk said X should avoid outright bans unless users “do something illegal”  —  Elon Musk and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, newly reinstated to X after a five-year ban, launched a live-streamed chat …
Associated Press:
More: Engadget, The Verge, Reuters, Telegraph, Politico, The Hill, New York Post, Reuters, New York Magazine, Fortune, Axios, Washington Post, Social Media Today, Silicon Republic, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Business Insider, The Messenger, PCMag, Deadline, New.blicio.us, New York Daily News, The Messenger, CNBC, Reclaim The Net, Rolling Stone, CNN, South China Morning Post, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Variety
Quynh Nguyen / Bloomberg:
Vietnamese media reports Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sees Vietnam as a potential second home for the Silicon Valley company and plans to open a design center there  —  Huang, speaking at a Hanoi semiconductor and artificial intelligence conference hosted by a Vietnam ministry Monday …

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Washington Post:
Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
Kevin Roose / New York Times: