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February 11, 2025, 9:45 PM
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Matt Levine / Bloomberg:
The bid for OpenAI's nonprofit is top-tier M&A trolling by Musk, as it complicates OpenAI's fundraising by likely altering the cost of equity for new investors  —  Also passthrough fees, memecoins and financial advisers who tell you how to give away all your money.  —  OpenAI hostile takeover
More: Reuters, OpenAI, Business Insider, and GeekWire
Bluesky: @marypcbuk.  Threads: @itismattlevine.  X: @binarybits and @pmddomingos
Ina Fried / Axios:
Sam Altman says “OpenAI is not for sale” and “OpenAI's mission is not for sale”, especially to “a competitor who is not able to beat us in the market”  —  - “OpenAI is not for sale. … - Altman said the board has not determined a valuation for OpenAI's operations yet …
Zoë Schiffer / Wired:
Sources: Sam Altman told staff that OpenAI's board has not received an offer from Musk and other investors, and if it happens, the board plans to reject the bid
The Hill:
In response to Elon Musk's $97.4B OpenAI bid, Sam Altman says on X “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want”; Musk replies “swindler”
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
Thomson Reuters wins the first major US AI copyright ruling against fair use, in a case filed in May 2020 versus legal research AI startup Ross Intelligence  —  The Thomson Reuters decision has big implications for the battle between generative AI companies and rights holders.
Reuters:
Paris AI summit: US VP JD Vance warns the EU that excessive AI regulation could strangle the tech and rejects content moderation as “authoritarian censorship”  —  U.S. Vice President JD Vance warned Europeans on Tuesday that what he called their excessive regulation …
Liv McMahon / BBC:
The US and the UK refuse to join France, China, India, and 57 other countries in signing the international agreement in Paris promoting “transparent”, “safe” AI  —  The UK and US have not signed an international agreement on artificial intelligence (AI) at a global summit in Paris.
Wall Street Journal:
AI Action Summit in Paris: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the EU plans to mobilize €200B to invest in AI to catch the US and China
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple now lets users migrate apps, music, books, shows, and movies between Apple accounts, but the feature isn't available to users in the EU, the UK, or India  —  If you have two Apple Accounts with multiple digital purchases between them, Apple now has a way for you to consolidate the accounts …
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Annual letter: YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says the TV has overtaken mobile as the “primary device for YouTube viewing in the US”, indicating YouTube is “the new TV”  —  YouTube CEO Neal Mohan released his annual letter Tuesday morning, outlining his priorities for the video platform.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google schedules I/O 2025 for May 20 to 21 in Mountain View, with the main keynote on May 20 at 10am PT; Gemini, Android 16, and more announcements are expected  —  Following the “Prism Shift” puzzle this morning, Google has announced that I/O 2025 is taking place Tuesday, May 20
Patrick Smith / NBC News:
Shopify shuts down Ye's store, which began selling swastika shirts and used a Super Bowl ad to boost traffic to the website, saying it violated Shopify's ToS
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple is renaming the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America in Apple Maps, following Google, first for users in the US and soon for all users globally  —  - Change to occur for US users and then roll out globally later  — Move follows Google; Microsoft and MapQuest haven't made shift
Anthony Capaccio / Bloomberg:
Anduril plans to assume the management and eventual manufacturing of the US Army's infantry goggles from Microsoft, in a $20B+ deal that the Army must approve  —  It expands the previously announced role of the defense technology startup in a project that could be valued at more than $20 billion …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Google confirms it removed Calendar's Pride Month, Black History Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and other events for not being “scalable or sustainable”  —  Google says it switched to only showing default entries for public holidays and national observances last year.
New York Times:
Elon Musk's six companies, which face 32+ ongoing probes, pending complaints, or enforcement actions from 11+ US agencies, score benefits from Trump shake-ups  —  Elon Musk controls six companies, including Tesla.  Mr. Musk's companies secured $13 billion in federal contracts …
The Information:
Source: Apple and Alibaba submitted their co-developed AI features for approval by China's cyberspace regulator; Apple considered but rejected DeepSeek's models  —  Apple has recently started working with Chinese internet and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group to roll out artificial intelligence features …
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Apple debuts the $250 Powerbeats Pro 2 with heart rate monitoring, an H2 chip, ANC, IPX4 water resistance, and a 20% lighter design than the previous generation  —  Apple's Beats brand is officially introducing the Powerbeats Pro 2 today, bringing significant updates to the wireless earphones aimed at active users.

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:45 PM ET, February 11, 2025.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: Bari Weiss is planning to create a masthead for CBS News as part of a broader overhaul of standards and procedures

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Comcast extends Mike Cavanagh's contract through January 1, 2029, and grants a ~$35M performance-based stock package; he's set to become co-CEO in January 2026

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD's board says it will “carefully review and consider” Paramount's revised offer, which includes a full backstop personally guaranteed by Larry Ellison

More News

Emma Goldberg / New York Times:
A look at ACTS 17, a nonprofit devoted to introducing Christianity to technologists by inviting Peter Thiel and other tech executives to talk about their faith
John Kang / Forbes:
Sources: Meta is in talks to acquire South Korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI, which has raised ~$115M since its 2017 founding; the deal could close this month

Earlier Picks

Gloria Li / Financial Times:
Chinese EV maker BYD unveils a “God's Eye” self-driving system and aims to install it on its entire lineup, including its ~$9,600 Seagull hatchback
Steve Nadis / Quanta Magazine:
In a January paper, three computer scientists presented a faster hash table, one of the oldest data structures, disproving a 40-year-old data science conjecture
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