Techmeme
February 11, 2025, 12:55 AM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Investors led by Elon Musk make an unsolicited $97.4B bid to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI, complicating Sam Altman's plans to convert to a for-profit  —  Unsolicited offer complicates Sam Altman's plans to convert OpenAI to a for-profit company — A consortium of investors led …
The Hill:
In response to the $97.4B OpenAI bid, Sam Altman says on X “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want”; Elon Musk replies “swindler”  —  OpenAI CEO and co-founder Sam Altman appeared to shut down a reported offer from an investor group led …
CNBC:
Investors behind the $97.4B OpenAI bid include xAI, Baron Capital, Valor, Atreides, Vy Capital, Joe Lonsdale's 8VC, and an investment vehicle led by Ari Emanuel  —  Elon Musk is leading a group of investors in offering to buy control of OpenAI for $97.4 billion, CNBC confirmed.
Umar Shakir / The Verge:
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
Paris AI summit takeaways: Europe has regulation regrets, AI doomsayers have lost ground, and policymakers can't seem to grasp how soon powerful AI could arrive  —  At times, Kevin Roose writes, it feels like he is watching policymakers on horseback trying to install seatbelts on a passing Lamborghini.
Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
Google brings NotebookLM Plus, its AI research assistant tier with higher usage limits, to Google One AI Premium subscribers, and debuts a 50% student discount  —  Google has expanded NotebookLM Plus, a paid version of its AI-based note-taking and research assistant, to individual users subscribed …
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Bloomberg:
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis says DeepSeek's $5.6M training cost claim is “exaggerated and a little bit misleading” and a “fraction of the total cost”  —  DeepSeek Ramps Up Hiring for Arcane AI Field as Ambitions Swell  —  Mistral CEO Plans to Raise More Funds to Back AI Data Center
Matthew Garrahan / Financial Times:
Reuters:
Sources: OpenAI is finalizing its first in-house chip's design in the next few months, to cut its Nvidia reliance, and plans to send it for fabrication at TSMC  —  OpenAI is pushing ahead on its plan to reduce its reliance on Nvidia (NVDA.O) for its chip supply by developing its first generation …
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
An Alabama man pleads guilty in relation to the SIM-swap hack of the US SEC's X account, to falsely claim in January 2024 the agency had approved bitcoin ETFs  —  An Alabama man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., in connection with last year's hack of the U.S. Securities …
Bloomberg:
Sources: on February 7, DOGE staff gained access to all the CFPB's data systems, which hold potentially competitive info that may be useful to X's payments push  —  Government-efficiency team's initial ‘read-only’ access expanded quickly to encompass closely guarded data, internal emails say
Karoline Kan / Bloomberg:
Huawei's Watch D2 sees a sales bump in China after users discovered it can be registered as a medical device, allowing it to be purchased via medical insurance  —  After the launch of Huawei's new Watch D2 smartwatch in November, buyers discovered they can charge it to their medical insurance rather than paying for it themselves.

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Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Zuckerberg's Disappointment, OpenAI's Equity Gamble, Alex Karp's Rally Cry
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
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Hard Fork:
Fable Ban Reversed + Dr. Dana Suskind on Parenting With A.I. + Prediction Market Drama
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
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The Upstarts Podcast:
Blitzy's Brian Elliott: Cursor And Claude Code Are Looking At Your Enterprise Code 'Through A Straw'
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
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The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
Re-Release: The Death of Hollywood? W/ Allan Loeb
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
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Great Chat:
Maybe Twitter isn't real life
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Connecting the Unconnected: Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

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More News

The Logic:
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Earlier Picks

Anna Washenko / Engadget:
Dominic Chopping / Wall Street Journal:
Kelcee Griffis / Bloomberg: