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April 1, 2025, 2:30 PM
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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
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.
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:
Sam Altman says OpenAI plans to “release a powerful new open-weight language model with reasoning in the coming months”, its first open-weight model since GPT-2
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: in recent weeks, Meta executives including Mark Zuckerberg have pressed US trade officials to oppose an impending EU fine and cease-and-desist order  —  Facebook owner presses trade officials to push back against European law that could undermine its ad business
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
Bloomberg:
With the Switch 2, Nintendo must do what it has rarely done before: follow one hit console with another; Nintendo sold 150M+ Switch units since its 2017 launch  —  The Japanese gaming giant is about to release its latest console.  The stakes have never been higher to end the boom-bust cycle that's plagued the company for years.
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.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
TikTok is shutting down its Instagram competitor, TikTok Notes, on May 8, directing users to Lemon8, a similar ByteDance-owned app  —  TikTok is shutting down its Instagram competitor, TikTok Notes, on May 8.  The photo-sharing app launched in testing in Canada, Australia, and Vietnam last year.
Bloomberg:
Sources: US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick signals withholding promised CHIPS Act grants as he pushes companies to substantially expand their US projects  —  Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has signaled he could withhold promised Chips Act grants as he pushes companies in line …
Ufonobong Umanah / Bloomberg Law:
A US judge rules Arkansas' Social Media Safety Act, which requires minors have parental permission before creating social media accounts, infringes on 1A rights  —  Arkansas' youth-focused Social Media Safety Act infringes on the First Amendment rights of internet users and is unconstitutionally vague …
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 …
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.
New York Times:
Xiaomi says it is cooperating with a Chinese police probe into a fatal crash by a car using its autonomous features; its stock is down 10%+ over the past week  —  A popular electric vehicle made by the Chinese consumer electronics giant Xiaomi crashed into a concrete guardrail while deploying its autonomous driving feature.

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:30 PM ET, April 1, 2025.

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From Mediagazer

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
The Washington Post's new Your Personal Podcast, which offers AI-generated customizable podcasts, was developed under a multiyear agreement with ElevenLabs

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Arkansas PBS severs ties with the PBS network, the first state public TV system to do so since Congress cut CPB funds, citing the annual $2M+ membership cost

Ashley Capoot / CNBC:
Disney and OpenAI sign a three-year deal to bring 200+ Disney characters to Sora; Disney will make a $1B investment in OpenAI and become a major OpenAI customer

More News

Yogita Khatri / The Block:
Tether acquired 8,888 bitcoin worth ~$735M in Q1 2025, taking its total holdings to ~$7.8B and making it the sixth-largest holder of bitcoin in a single wallet

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