Techmeme
May 14, 2025, 2:00 PM

Top News

Google DeepMind:
Google DeepMind unveils AlphaEvolve, a Gemini-powered AI coding agent that designs and optimizes advanced algorithms using an evolutionary framework  —  New AI agent evolves algorithms for math and practical applications in computing by combining the creativity of large language models with automated evaluators
Financial Times:
The US Commerce Department issues guidance stating that “using Huawei Ascend chips anywhere in the world violates US export controls” as they likely use US tech  —  Commerce department guidance aims to toughen export controls on tech used by China to make AI processors
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Belle Lin / Wall Street Journal:
Databricks agrees to acquire cloud database startup Neon for ~$1B, set to close in Databricks' Q2 2025; Neon's platform is based on the open-source PostgreSQL  —  The deal is aimed at making it easier for businesses to build artificial intelligence agents with their own data, Databricks CEO says
Richard Leadbetter / Eurogamer.net:
Bloomberg:
Sony reports Q4 revenue down 24% YoY to ~$17.7B, PlayStation 5 units sold in FY 24 down 11% YoY to 18.5M, and expects a ~$700M impact from US tariffs in FY 25  —  Silicon Valley Is Coming for the Pentagon's $1 Trillion Budget  —  The Trump administration wants startups to remake the US military …
Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft extends security updates for Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10 until October 10, 2028, after previously planning to end support on October 14, 2025  —  Microsoft 365 apps will continue to get security updates on Windows 10 for another three years.
Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal reintroduce the Kids Online Safety Act, mandating platforms like Meta to mitigate harms; Apple supports KOSA  —  Sens. Blackburn and Blumenthal are reintroducing the sweeping bill that failed in the eleventh hour last year.
Natalie Lung / Bloomberg:
Uber debuts Route Share, a pooled rides option that is similar to a bus and up to 50% cheaper than UberX, available during commuting hours in SF, NYC, and more  —  In contrast, its existing pooled rides option cuts costs as much as only 20%.  But there's a catch: Route Share pickups run every 20 minutes …
Jessica Lyons / The Register:
The EU's Vulnerability Database project, announced in June 2024, is now fully operational, while the US' NVD struggles with a vulnerability submission backlog  —  EUVD comes into play not a moment too soon  —  The European Vulnerability Database (EUVD) is now fully operational …
Reuters:
At a JP Morgan event, Intel CFO David Zinsner says committed volumes of chips using Intel's 18A and 14A processes for customers are currently “not significant”  —  The volume of processors Intel (INTC.O) is set to produce for external customers using its upcoming manufacturing technology …
Grant Stoner / IGN:
Sources, including former AbleGamers staff, detail abuse, financial mismanagement, and other issues at the nonprofit dedicated to promoting gaming accessibility  —  20 Years after AbleGamers' founding, new reports detail abuse fostered by management, mismanaged funds, and leadership that failed to protect employees.
Tina Nguyen / The Verge:
President Trump's acting leaders for the Copyright Office are hostile to the tech industry and not the kind of people that generative AI proponents would want  —  What initially appeared to be a power play by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to take over the US Copyright Office …
New York Times:
US SEC filing: GD Culture Group, a struggling China-linked company that has only eight staff, plans to buy $300M in BTC and $TRUMP, creating ethical conflicts  —  The firm, which produces content for TikTok, recorded no revenue last year, but it announced this week that a mysterious stock sale …
Reed Albergotti / Semafor:
Meta releases the Open Molecules 2025 dataset and the Universal Model for Atoms family of models to accelerate the development of new drugs and materials  —  THE SCOOP  —  Meta released a massive trove of chemistry data Wednesday that it hopes will supercharge scientific research …
Ian King / Bloomberg:
Steven Levy / Wired:
A look at Brian Chesky's efforts to turn Airbnb into a storefront for real-world services, after its “experiences” experiment started in 2016 was unsuccessful  —  CEO Brian Chesky is spending hundreds of millions to relaunch his travel company as an everything app.  Fitness!  Food!
Bloomberg:
How Finland's district heating systems are harvesting heat from data centers; Microsoft's project in Kirkkonummi will be the largest in the world when completed  —  By pairing power-hungry computer processing facilities with district heating systems, Nordic countries are trying to limit their environmental downsides.
More: Tech.eu

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