|
April 1, 2025, 12:45 PM
|
Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop 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.
More: OpenAI, The Verge, Financial Times, DataBreachToday.com, Cautious Optimism, GZERO, Laptop Mag, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Sherwood News, VentureBeat, Fortune, Axios, Nairametrics, Digital Trends, StrictlyVC, TechSpot, Cryptopolitan, YourStory.com, Maginative, Benzinga, Forbes, Neowin, TechCrunch, Yahoo Finance, Tech Xplore, Tech in Asia, SiliconANGLE, Decrypt, PYMNTS.com, San Francisco Business Times, Thurrott, The Wrap, and AIN
Bluesky: @carnage4life, @edzitron.com, @andrewparker, @edsbs, and @edzitron.com
X: @sama, @mikeisaac, @garymarcus, @rogoswami, @kyliebytes, @apompliano, @danprimack, @mikebutcher, @edzitron, and @gavinpurcell
LinkedIn: LinkedIn, Hayden Field, and Geoff Lewis
Forums: Hacker News, r/OpenAI, r/singularity, r/technology, and Slashdot
| Bloomberg: |
Sources: SoftBank is seeking a bridge loan of as much as $16.5B to help fund AI investments in the US, its largest-ever borrowing denominated solely in USD — The bridge loan under discussion has a tenor of about 12 months, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters.
More: PYMNTS.com, Benzinga, Global Corporate Venturing, Sherwood News, Fortune, Tech in Asia, and Analytics India Magazine. LinkedIn: Kari Lindberg
| Shirin Ghaffary / Bloomberg: |
More: Entrepreneur, DatacenterDynamics, SoftBank Group Corp., Barron's Online, MarketWatch, Reuters, New York Post, Digital Music News, WinBuzzer, Global Corporate Venturing, PitchBook, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, The Decoder, Wall Street Journal, Quartz, New York Times, Benzinga, Washington Post, Euronews, Silicon Republic, YourStory.com, Business Today, Proactive, Tech Funding News, Blockonomi, TNGlobal, Pulse 2.0, Arabian Business, Interesting Engineering, Financial Express, Hindustan Times, Times of India, Verdict, The Information, The Crypto Times, Australian Financial Review, CRN, Sherwood News, Nikkei Asia, VC News Daily, The Japan Times, and DigiTimes
Forums: r/Economics and Beehaw
| 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: |
More: OpenAI, Reuters, Tech Monitor, The Decoder, The Indian Express, Tom's Guide, Business Standard, Silicon UK, Cointelegraph, Analytics India Magazine, WinBuzzer, Digit, The Crypto Times, Benzinga, CoinGape, SiliconANGLE, VentureBeat, Neowin, CNET, Business Insider, Decrypt, The Information, and Wired
X: @sama, @joheidecke, @clementdelangue, @garrytan, @dorialexander, @thexeophon, @gdb, @altcap, @levie, @joheidecke, and @sama
LinkedIn: Jake Saper and Romain Huet
Forums: r/LocalLLaMA and Slashdot
| 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
More: The Verge, PYMNTS.com, Fresno Bee, Cryptopolitan, Newsmax, Hindustan Times, The Independent, and WinBuzzer
| 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.
More: Google Workspace Blog, BleepingComputer, How-To Geek, The New Stack, 9to5Google, PCMag, CyberInsider, ComputerWeekly.com, WinBuzzer, Infosecurity, Forbes, SiliconANGLE, and TechRepublic. Forums: Slashdot
| 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.
More: Windows Experience Blog, HotHardware, Business Standard, PCWorld, The Verge, Tom's Hardware, Ghacks, Guru3D, BetaNews, TechRadar, Cryptopolitan, WinBuzzer, Beebom, Digital Trends, TechPowerUp, MakeUseOf, Liliputing, CRN, VideoCardz.com, XDA Developers, Neowin, and Thurrott
X: @zacbowden, @pavandavuluri, @windowsblog, @sasamarinkovic, @dylanonchips, @yusuf_i_mehdi, @amdryzen, and @dylanonchips. LinkedIn: Mark Linton
| 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.
More: Gameranx, Forbes, The Indian Express, Tech4Gamers, Tom's Guide, Comic Book, Laptop Mag, T3, and Engadget
| 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 …
More: XDA Developers, Investor's Business Daily, TechRadar, TechCrunch, Intel, Benzinga, Inc, TechSpot, PC Guide, Reuters, Financial Times, Intel on YouTube, Wall Street Journal, PC Gamer, Business Insider, Cryptopolitan, Capacity Media, TrendForce News, Tech in Asia, Oregonian, MarketWatch, Nikkei Asia, Wall Street Journal, CRN, PCWorld, Portland startups …, Barron's Online, Yahoo Finance, and Thurrott
Threads: @sung.kim.mw. X: @greengart, @intelnews, @iancutress, @iancutress, @greengart, @firstadopter, @underfox3, @underfox3, @intelnews, @iancutress, @intelnews, @intelnews, @iancutress, and @iancutress. Forums: r/intel
| Financial Times: |
TTP: Apple's and Google's app stores host popular “private browsing” apps operated by Shanghai-listed Qihoo 360, sanctioned by the US in 2020 for military ties — New findings reveal free ‘private browsing’ apps popular with US users have ties to blacklisted Qihoo 360| 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 … | 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| The Information: |
OpenAI says ChatGPT has hit 20M paid subscribers, up from 15.5M at the end of 2024, suggesting the company is making at least $415M in monthly revenue — Before today's main column about the AI attention war between OpenAI and Google, there's OpenAI news from my colleague Natasha … | Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg: |
Samsung says TM Roh, who oversees mobile, will temporarily step into a broader role overseeing its consumer electronics, after the death of co-CEO Han Jong-Hee — Roh will fill the vacancy at the top of Samsung's Device Experience group until the company's board approves a formal successor to Han …
More: Samsung Newsroom, Thurrott, GSMArena.com, and SamMobile
| 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| Zoë Schiffer / Wired: |
The USPTO suspends xAI's Grok trademark application, saying the name could be confused with companies Groq and Grokstream; startup Bizly claims it owns “Grok” — Elon Musk said he borrowed the name from a 1960s science fiction novel, but another AI startup applied to trademark it before xAI launched its chatbot.
More: WinBuzzer and eWeek
Bluesky: @paleofuture, @destroyer267, @mikewilsoninoz, and @elleisanisland
Forums: r/NewsOfTheStupid and r/inthenews
| Financial Times: |
The Alan Turing Institute, the UK's flagship AI agency, plans to focus on defense, environment, and health, after staff criticized its leadership in December — Agency responds to criticism and rapidly evolving technology by cutting back initiatives — Britain's flagship artificial intelligence agency … | Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg: |
Meta VP of AI Research Joelle Pineau says she plans to leave in May 2025 after nearly eight years; she has led the FAIR group since early 2023 — Joelle Pineau, the VP running Meta's FAIR group, to depart company in May — Meta Platforms Inc.'s head of artificial intelligence research plans …
LinkedIn: Joelle Pineau
| Nicole Sperling / New York Times: |
In a new strategy, Amazon plans to release 14 to 16 movies per year in theaters, rivaling other major studios, with most running for 45 days before streaming — The streaming giant is planning to release at least 14 movies a year in theaters around the country, rivaling other major studios.| 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.| 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.Sponsor Posts
Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Why eIDAS 2.0 might be the EU's boldest digital move yet — eIDAS: The first building block of digital trust More than a decade ago, the EU introduced the eIDAS regulation (Regulation [EU] No 910/2014) …
Why eIDAS 2.0 might be the EU's boldest digital move yet — eIDAS: The first building block of digital trust More than a decade ago, the EU introduced the eIDAS regulation (Regulation [EU] No 910/2014) …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.Featured Podcasts
Access:
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
CNBC's Jim Cramer: Big Tech Hot Takes, NVIDIA $10 Trillion?, Building Wealth In Any Market
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Neither Side Is Used to Losing." Lucas Shaw on What's Next for Netflix and Paramount in the Battle for Warner Bros.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Saam Motamedi from Greylock Partners
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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.
About This Page
This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 12:45 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
Shane O'Neill / Washington Post:Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Anna Betts / The Guardian:
Upcoming Tech Events
More News
| Yogita Khatri / The Block: |
| Stephen Nellis / Reuters: |
More: eeNews Europe, Network World, Lightmatter, HPCwire, Lightmatter, and SiliconANGLE
LinkedIn: Lightmatter and Lightmatter
| Marcus Hutchins / MalwareTech: |
More: Cybersecurity Insiders, Decrypt, and The Maritime Executive
Bluesky: @malwaretech.com, @malwaretech.com, and @swiftonsecurity.com
| Natalie Lung / Bloomberg: |
More: TechCrunch, Mashable, Tinder Newsroom, Inc, and Tech in Asia
Bluesky: @awssnarkitect, @thesnarkygent, and @niedermeyer.online