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Techmeme
April 1, 2025, 3:15 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.
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
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 …
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.
Financial Times:
Current and former Google DeepMind scientists say a tougher vetting process and more bureaucracy at the Google AI arm have made it harder to publish AI research  —  Google's AI arm led by Demis Hassabis makes it harder for its researchers to publish studies in major change in approach
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 …
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Similarweb: Gemini's web app had 10.9M average daily visits in March, up 7.4% MoM; Sensor Tower: Claude and Gemini saw activity jump after flagship model debuts  —  OpenAI's ChatGPT may be the world's most popular chatbot app.  But rival services are gaining, according to data from analytics firms Similarweb and Sensor Tower.
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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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:15 PM ET, April 1, 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

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Memo: Skydance offers certain employees a voluntary buyout in a “one-time offer” and moves to a mandatory five-days-per-week in-office policy

Alex Ritman / Variety:
Disney and UK network Channel 4 strike a deal to bring Channel 4's linear channel and on-demand content to Disney+ in the UK and Ireland in early 2027

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Netflix hires Steve Wilson, who formerly managed partner relations at Apple Podcasts, as a consultant to oversee podcast content acquisition

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

Earlier Picks

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
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