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August 25, 2025, 10:50 AM
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| Wall Street Journal: |
a16z, OpenAI's Greg Brockman, and others launch Leading the Future, a pro-AI super PAC network with $100M+ in funding, hoping to emulate crypto PAC Fairshake — Venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI President Greg Brockman are among those helping launch and fund Leading the Future| Dean W. Ball / Hyperdimensional: |
A look at the growing torrent of US state-based AI bills, as the states shift from comprehensive AI regulation to focus on narrower issues, like mental health — A check-in — Introduction — This newsletter first started picking up readers because of my writing about AI regulations in state governments.
More: Implicator.ai, The Colorado Sun, Marginal Revolution, Bloomberg, GovTech, GovTech, and Forbes. X: @deanwball
| Bloomberg: |
Perplexity launches Comet Plus, a $5/month tier offering curated content, and says it has allocated $42.5M for publishers, which will receive 80% of the revenue — The company has clashed with media outlets over use of their work. — Add us on Google — Perplexity AI Inc. is offering publishers … | Lora Kolodny / CNBC: |
Nevada records: xAI terminated its public benefit corporation status on May 9, 2024, and when xAI merged with X, the company remained without its PBC structure — When Elon Musk created his artificial intelligence startup xAI in 2023, he incorporated it as a Nevada public benefit corporation … | Wall Street Journal: |
Sources detail Intel's two-week roller-coaster ride, from Trump demanding CEO Lip-Bu Tan step down to the US government becoming Intel's biggest shareholder — The Truth Social post, the White House meeting, the deal: How the struggling chip company managed a two-week roller-coaster ride| Cheng Ting-Fang / Nikkei Asia: |
Sources: TSMC plans to stop using Chinese chipmaking equipment, like AMEC's etching tools, from its most advanced 2nm process to avoid potential US restrictions — TAIPEI — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is eliminating the use of Chinese chipmaking equipment in its most advanced chip plants … | Vicky Ge Huang / Wall Street Journal: |
An interview with Eric Trump on how he became a crypto evangelist after several banks cut off the Trump family's accounts following the January 6 Capitol riot — Real-estate executive has been at the vanguard of the first family's rapid entry into the cryptocurrency business
More: Bitcoin Insider, Blockchain News, and Cointelegraph
| Andrew Hill / Financial Times: |
How German delivery giant DHL uses automation and AI to help offset an ageing workforce, with one in three support staff set to retire in the next five years — The German delivery company says artificial intelligence is not taking jobs, but filling gaps in a stretched workforce| Jennifer Maas / Variety: |
Netflix plans to open its first Netflix House locations, 100K-sq-ft entertainment and shopping venues, in Philadelphia on November 12 and Dallas on December 11 — Netflix has set the opening dates for its much-hyped, 100,000-square-foot permanent entertainment and shopping destinations in Philadelphia and Dallas.| Financial Times: |
Spotify Co-President and CBO Alex Norström says price increases are “part of our toolbox now”, adding that they will be accompanied by new services and features — Price increases and cost-cutting led to streamer's first annual profit last year
More: PhoneArena, Benzinga, Trak.in, Reuters, Moneycontrol, and Daily Sabah
| Tatum Hunter / Washington Post: |
Vertical streaming apps charging $20/week are beating Netflix, Hulu, and Paramount+ in user growth with their 60-second mini dramas optimized for mobile viewing — Streaming apps that charge $20 a week for absurd, 60-second soap operas are winning audiences that rival Hulu and Paramount+.| Omar El Chmouri / Bloomberg: |
Riyadh-based Humain debuts Humain Chat, an Arabic and English conversational AI app powered by its Allam LLM and designed around Islamic values and heritage — Humain, Saudi Arabia's leading artificial intelligence company, has launched a conversational AI app for Arabs and Muslims …
X: @humainai
| David Keohane / Financial Times: |
Sony's gaming execs, designers, and studio founders describe how Sony wants its first-party studios to contribute more to revenue growth and take measured risks — PlayStation owner wants its standalone ‘first-party studios’ to contribute more to revenue growth and take measured risks
More: Game World Observer, Tech4Gamers, GamingBolt, GamesRadar, Gameranx, Screen Rant, Decrypt, Push Square, and TheGamer
| Brave: |
Researchers detail a now-fixed flaw in Perplexity's Comet AI browser that let an attacker use an indirect prompt injection to manipulate it into taking actions — The threat of instruction injection — At Brave, we're developing the ability for our in-browser AI assistant Leo to browse the Web on your behalf, acting as your agent.
More: Simon Willison's Weblog, Implicator.ai, Constellation Research, BleepingComputer, Engadget, ZDNET, The Register, and The Hacker News
X: @zack_overflow, @0x, @shivan_kaul, @lukemulks, @brave, @zack_overflow, @brave, @brave, @zack_overflow, @brave, @brave, @zack_overflow, and @brave. Bluesky: @sungkim. Mastodon: @simon@fedi.simonwillison.net
Forums: Hacker News, Hacker News, and Beehaw
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The Talk Show With John Gruber:
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The stories we told ourselves in 2025
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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.
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