Techmeme
April 1, 2025, 11:20 AM

Top News

CNBC:
OpenAI closes a $40B round, the most raised by a private tech company, at a $300B post-money valuation; SoftBank led with $30B; source: ~$18B is for Stargate  —  OpenAI on Monday announced it had closed what amounts to the largest private tech funding round on record.
Shirin Ghaffary / Bloomberg:
Source: SoftBank will invest an initial $7.5B in OpenAI's $40B round, plus $22.5B by 2025's end; other backers include Microsoft, Coatue, Altimeter, and Thrive  —  OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT, said it has finalized a funding round that will bring in $40 billion …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
OpenAI's new GPT-4o-powered image generator is now available to all users; Sam Altman last week mentioned a limit of three images per day for free-tier users  —  OpenAI's new image generator, powered by its GPT-4o model, is now available to all users, CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X …
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Sean Endicott / Windows Central:
Microsoft expands Copilot+ PC features exclusive to Snapdragon, like Live Captions, Cocreator, Restyle Image, and Image Creator, to PCs with AMD or Intel chips  —  Staggered feature releases make me ask “what even is a Copilot+ PC?”  —  Microsoft has a big update for Copilot+ PCs powered by Intel or AMD processors.
Ian King / Bloomberg:
Intel Vision conference: CEO Lip-Bu Tan says that Intel plans to spin off non-core assets, create new products including custom chips, hire engineers, and more  —  Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan said the chipmaker will spin off assets that aren't central to its mission …
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Google rolls out a new Gmail encryption model for enterprises in beta that doesn't require senders or recipients to use custom software or exchange certificates  —  The beta feature for enterprise accounts allows Gmail users to simply toggle encryption for external emails.
Bloomberg:
Kendra Barnett / Adweek:
Google is bringing its immersive Rewarded Video ads to Roblox, letting users watch ads in exchange for in-game benefits like virtual currency or power-ups  —  Advertisers can buy Rewarded Video ads on Roblox via Google Ad Manager, the company announced Tuesday
Megan Specia / New York Times:
Some UK parents created Smartphone Free Childhood, a charity with a pact signed by 124K+, after the UK government watered down a bill banning phones in schools  —  In Britain, amid growing evidence of harm to young people from extreme content online, a “Smartphone Free Childhood” campaign is going viral.

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F5:
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Featured Podcasts

Spotlight On:
Bonus Episode: n8n's Jan Oberhauser on building the Excel of AI
A podcast from Accel about how companies are built, from the people doing the building.
Subscribe to Spotlight On.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
The AI industry is at a major crossroads
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
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Lenny's Podcast:
First interview with Scale AI's CEO: $14B Meta deal, what's working in enterprise AI, and what frontier labs are building next | Jason Droege
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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Big Technology Podcast:
Anthropic Chief Product Officer: Why AI Model Development Is Accelerating — With Mike Krieger
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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Great Chat:
David vs. Goliath, but make it venture-backed
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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Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Vince Hankes from Thrive Capital
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
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More News

Yogita Khatri / The Block:

Earlier Picks

Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Caroline O'Donovan / Washington Post: