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May 21, 2025, 7:15 PM
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| Bloomberg: |
OpenAI is buying io, Jony Ive's secretive AI startup, for ~$6.5B in stock; Ive and LoveFrom will remain independent but take over design for all of OpenAI — OpenAI will acquire the AI device startup co-founded by Apple Inc. veteran Jony Ive in a nearly $6.5 billion all-stock deal …
More: OpenAI on YouTube, CNBC, SiliconANGLE, USA Today, 9to5Mac, Associated Press, Axios, Livemint, PYMNTS.com, PitchBook, The Information, MarketWatch, Los Angeles Times, The Verge, WWD, CryptoSlate, AppleInsider, Michael Tsai, iTnews, Benzinga, Wallpaper*, The Economic Times, Spyglass, Telegraph, New York Post, Proactive, Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Yahoo News, Fortune, Wired, Channel NewsAsia, WebProNews, PhoneArena, iPhone in Canada, PetaPixel, Patently Apple, Redmond Pie, and Maginative
Bluesky: @brianmc, @edzitron.com, @stevekovach, @seanokane, @kevinbuist.com, @drewharwell.com, @ernie.tedium.co, @edzitron.com, and @drewharwell.com. Mastodon: @markgurman@mastodon.social
Threads: @benedictevans and @chriswelch
| OpenAI: |
In a video and letter signed “Sam & Jony”, Altman and Ive announce io, founded last year by Ive, Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan to create new products — This is an extraordinary moment. — Computers are now seeing, thinking and understanding.
More: MacRumors, Computerworld, BBC, SFGATE, Business Insider, How-To Geek, Ars Technica, Gizmodo, Inc, Decrypt, Gazetteer SF, Neowin, Thurrott, SFist, San Francisco Chronicle, PCMag, Wall Street Pit, NBC News, BetaNews, Yahoo Finance, The Decoder, The Wrap, Research & Development World, Mashable, Cult of Mac, iClarified, and Chat GPT Is Eating the World
Bluesky: @stevekovach. Mastodon: @harrymccracken@mastodon … and @_Davidsmith@mastodon.social. Threads: @vishwanathsarangkeller. LinkedIn: Aaron McReynolds
Forums: r/singularity and MacRumors Forums
| Wall Street Journal: |
Sources: Sam Altman and LoveFrom have been working for two years on a new device to move consumers beyond screens, including headphones and devices with cameras — OpenAI to buy Ive's startup in $6.5 billion deal, as Ive and CEO Sam Altman work on new generation of devices and other AI products
More: ZDNET, The Verge, Financial Times, Windows Central, CNET, PYMNTS.com, BGR, CNN, The Business Times, Washington Post, Tom's Guide, Quartz, TechRadar, Associated Press, 9to5Mac, iPhone in Canada, Android Headlines, and Reuters
Bluesky: @davekarpf and @caseynewton
LinkedIn: Benedict Evans, Alon Matas, and Pramod Gosavi
Forums: r/technology, r/apple, and r/business
| New York Times: |
Sources: OpenAI owned a 23% stake in io from a 2024 deal so is now paying ~$5B to fully acquire it; separately, OpenAI's Start-up Fund invested in io last year — Jony Ive, a former top executive at Apple, said that the goal with OpenAI was to create “amazing products that elevate humanity.”| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Epic v. Apple: Microsoft files an amicus brief supporting Epic Games and blames Apple for delaying the Xbox mobile gaming store, first announced in May 2024 — Microsoft has filed support for Epic Games' fight with Apple, as it wants to launch new Xbox mobile improvements.| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Epic v. Apple: Spotify says its recent update supporting web payments has resulted in “a significant increase in iOS users upgrading to a Premium subscription” — Spotify says its ability to direct its customers to external payment links in its iOS app has already had a positive impact on sales.
More: 9to5Mac, MediaPost, and Lifehacker
| Chance Miller / 9to5Mac: |
More: App Store, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, New York Times, MacRumors, AppleInsider, TheSixthAxis, The Verge, Daring Fireball, OS X Daily, AppleInsider, Spyglass, Michael Tsai, TechSpot, Silicon UK, Gameranx, VideoGamer, The Shortcut, How-To Geek, Game Developer, Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters, and Engadget
Mastodon: @johnvoorhees@mastodon …. X: @fortnite, @timsweeneyepic, @timsweeneyepic, @hydrakles, @donaldmustard, @openwebadvocacy, @markrein, @gergelyorosz, @dhh, @vbuckscurrency, @ballmatthew, @vortexlorefn, @zaidjilani, @timsweeneyepic, @matthewstoller, @markgurman, @drbarnard, @mgsiegler, @loudmouthjulia, @aaronp613, @rjonesy, @markgurman, @jason_kint, @zollotech, @shiinabr, @aaronp613, and @nickeh30. LinkedIn: Adam Smith
Forums: Hacker News, r/apple, r/FORTnITE, r/FortNiteBR, and r/FortNiteBR
| Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: |
Microsoft seizes about 2,300 domains globally to disrupt Lumma's malware-as-a-service operation, after finding over 394K Windows computers infected by Lumma — Earlier this month, a coordinated disruption action targeting the Lumma malware-as-a-service (MaaS) information stealer operation seized thousands …
More: Microsoft, Microsoft Security Blog, US Department of Justice, WeLiveSecurity, Europol, Connect, protect …, CyberScoop, Help Net Security, The Record, NBC News, XDA Developers, USA Today, The Register, iTnews, UPI, Cybersecurity Dive, Bitsight, KDFX-TV, CleanDNS, Solomon on Cybersecurity, Neowin, Forbes, DataBreachToday.com, Bloomberg, GeekWire, Nextgov/FCW, and CyberInsider. X: @eset
| Eleanor Olcott / Financial Times: |
Jensen Huang calls US AI chip export controls “a failure” that spurred Chinese rivals, cutting Nvidia's market share in China from 95% to 50% over four years — World's top AI semiconductor maker says export controls have accelerated Chinese rivals' advances
More: The Register, TheStreet, SiliconANGLE, Tom's Hardware, New York Times, Nikkei Asia, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Investor's Business Daily, Research & Development World, BBC, PC Gamer, Business Standard, Taipei Times, ZeroHedge News, Reuters, and Bloomberg
Bluesky: @carnage4life. X: @brianroemmele, @rnaudbertrand, @jukanlosreve, @theresaafallon, @okaythenme, @jcmittelstaedt, @business, and @ft. Forums: r/neoliberal
| Reuters: |
Distributed Denial of Secrets: the TeleMessage hacker stole messages from 60+ US government users spanning about one day ending on May 4, including travel plans — A hacker who breached the communications service used by former Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier …
More: Android Headlines, WinBuzzer, and The Independent
Bluesky: @raphae.li, @metacurity.com, @stokel, @zachsdorfman, and @micahflee.com
| Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: |
Google tests bringing ads to AI Mode, both below responses as well as “integrated into” them, and expands ads in AI Overviews to desktop in the US — Google on Wednesday detailed its plans to bring ads to AI Mode, the company's AI-powered experience in Google Search.| The Information: |
Amazon plans to sell Nike products directly for the first time since 2019, when Nike stopped selling through Amazon due to lingering counterfeit issues — Six years after Nike stopped selling through Amazon in favor of going direct to customers through its own stores and website, the two companies are getting back together.
More: Bloomberg, CNBC, Benzinga, Reuters, and Modern Retail
| Jason Leopold / Bloomberg: |
Sources and docs: a “major lapse” at Thoma Bravo's Opexus, which helps US agencies manage investigations and FOIA, let two convicted hackers delete databases — Failures in cybersecurity practices at a software company that helps federal agencies manage investigations … | Alfred Ng / Politico: |
Sen. Wyden says AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile failed to create systems for notifying about surveillance on Senate-issued devices, despite a requirement to do so — Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) revealed in a new letter to Senate colleagues Wednesday that AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile failed …
More: TechCrunch, The Register, The Hill, and Newsweek
Bluesky: @dell, @kimzetter, and @keithchu. Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social. Threads: @senatorwarner. Forums: r/technology
| Brody Ford / Bloomberg: |
Snowflake reports Q1 product revenue up 26% YoY to $996.8M, vs. $966M est., and forecasts Q2 product revenue above estimates; SNOW jumps 6%+ after hours — Product revenue, which makes up the bulk of Snowflake's business, will increase about 25% to as much as $1.04 billion in the quarter ending in July … | Eric Geller / Cybersecurity Dive: |
In a joint statement, the US, France, Germany, and eight other countries say Russia has stepped up cyber attacks on firms aiding Ukraine, often via Fancy Bear — One of Moscow's most infamous hacker teams is targeting logistics and technology companies supporting Kyiv's war effort. — Listen to the article| Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: |
Mistral partners with All Hands AI to release Devstral, a model to help with coding, in “research preview” under Apache 2.0, and says it outperforms Gemma 3 27B — AI startup Mistral on Wednesday announced a new AI model focused on coding: Devstral.| Andrew Romero / 9to5Google: |
AI videos from Google's Veo 3, which features synchronized audio as well as crisper, more detailed video, are both impressive and terrifying — If the internet wasn't already full of misinformation and general filler content, Veo 3 is going to take it to an entirely new level.| Margaux Nijkerk / CoinDesk: |
World Network raised $135M in a token sale to a16z and Bain Capital Crypto “to meet increasing demand for Orb-verified World IDs”; WLD jumped 14% on the news — Funds from the venture capital giants will be used for the network's expansion. — What to know:
More: World, Cointelegraph, The Block, Cryptopolitan, and NFTgators
| MIT Technology Review: |
An analysis of AI's energy footprint, from the demands for making a model and the impact of a query to the emissions from data centers and the future ahead — The emissions from individual AI text, image, and video queries seem small—until you add up what the industry isn't tracking and consider where it's heading next.
More: Scientist Sees Squirrel, The Register, and City Journal
Bluesky: @emollick, @adambecker, @davidgerard.co.uk, @caseycrownhart, @helenczerski, and @niallfirth
Mastodon: @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green, @DrPen@mastodon.social, and @mttaggart@infosec.exchange. LinkedIn: Janne Kalliola
Forums: Hacker News, r/TrueReddit, r/climate, r/ChatGPT, r/technews, Beehaw, Lobsters, and Slashdot
| Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch: |
Shopify launches new AI tools, including one for setting up storefronts and another for creating elements like banners, and upgrades its AI assistant Sidekick — Shopify is giving its merchants a slew of new AI-powered tools designed to help them enhance the online shopping experience for their customers.
More: BetaKit, PYMNTS.com, Shopify, Seeking Alpha, FashionNetwork.com, Retail Brew, Shopify, Canadian Press, financialpost, and Shopify
X: @liam_at_shopify, @tobi, @harleyf, @shopifydevs, @shopifydevs, @shopify, @benjaminsehl, @harleyf, @harleyf, @tobi, @brian_g_peters, @shopify, @igrigorik, @orenmeetsworld, @dhh, @liam_at_shopify, @gilgnyc, @shopifydevs, @liam_at_shopify, @shopifydevs, @eytanseidman, @mauriciom, @shopifydevs, @jplhomer, @kirplatonov, @michaelelmgreen, @mattjumper, @shopifydevs, @jzazove, @kvlly, @frehner_a, @liam_at_shopify, @harleyf, @gilgnyc, @john_speed, @madmath, @dave_cameron, @harleyf, and @steren
| Bloomberg: |
Baidu reports Q1 revenue up 3% YoY to ~$4.5B, above ~$4.3B est., and a ~$1B net profit, as the Chinese search giant fends off intensifying competition in AI — The company's shares rose more than 2% in US pre-market trading. It reported a 3% rise in revenue for the three months ended March … | Juby Babu / Reuters: |
Zoom reports Q1 revenue up 3% YoY to $1.17B, in line with expectations, Enterprise revenue up 6% YoY to $704.7M, and raises its FY 2026 forecast above estimates — Zoom Communications (ZM.O) raised its annual revenue forecast on Wednesday, benefiting from hybrid work trends and the integration … | Matthew Gault / 404 Media: |
Brazilian researchers scraped 2B+ Discord messages from 3,167 public servers using Discord's public API, covering 2015 to 2024, and publish the messages online — A Brazilian team used Discord's API to scrape 10% of its open servers. — Researchers published a massive database …
More: Hackread and Gizmodo
Bluesky: @josephcox, @cfiesler, @danhon.com, @vortexegg.com, @daphnek, and @acab.dad. LinkedIn: Casey Fiesler. Forums: r/technology
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft's AI security chief accidentally displayed internal Teams messages about Walmart's AI plans, after her Build talk was disrupted by a protest — Internal messages were displayed after two former Microsoft employees disrupted a Build session.
More: Windows Central, CNBC, Fortune, Gizmodo, and Cryptopolitan
| William Langley / Financial Times: |
Inside China's “stolen iPhone building”: electronics traders in Shenzhen describe how even remotely locked stolen iPhones can be stripped and sold for a profit — We track the roaring trade of mobiles grabbed in London and New York, then sold on a single district in Shenzhen| Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: |
Maine AG filing: Coinbase says its recent data breach impacted 69,461 individuals; stolen data included government IDs, account info, and personal identifiers — Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange with over 100 million customers, revealed that a recent data breach in which cybercriminals stole customer … | Blake Brittain / Reuters: |
A US district judge rules Google and Character.AI must face a Florida woman's lawsuit claiming Character.AI's chatbots caused her 14-year-old son's suicide — Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and artificial-intelligence startup Character.AI must face a lawsuit from a Florida woman …
More: Associated Press, The Verge, Reason, and Bloomberg Law
| Ben Schoon / 9to5Google: |
Google says weather apps have “graduated from beta” on Android Auto and cars with Google built-in, and that Android Auto will “soon” get browser and video apps — Google has revealed that Android Auto is about to get more apps, including wider access to weather apps …
More: Android Developers Blog, Ubergizmo, Tom's Guide, Android Authority, Droid Life, and Android Police. Forums: r/AndroidAuto
| Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge: |
Volvo expands its Google partnership to integrate Gemini across its model lineup, the first automaker to do so, hoping to ease its drivers' “cognitive load” — Gemini can ease a driver's “cognitive load” so they can keep their eyes on the road, the automaker says.
More: Volvo, Quartz, USA Today, WebProNews, HotHardware, KnowTechie, Telematics News, Android Authority, and InsideEVs. Forums: r/Polestar
| Milana Vinn / Reuters: |
AT&T agrees to acquire Lumen's consumer fiber business for $5.75B, in an all-cash deal expected to close in H1 2026; LUMN jumps 13%+ after hours — AT&T (T.N) has clinched a deal to acquire Lumen Technologies' (LUMN.N) consumer fiber operations for $5.75 billion in cash … Sponsor Posts
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