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October 3, 2024, 5:00 AM
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Top News

Ina Fried / Axios:
OpenAI raised $6.6B led by Thrive Capital, the largest VC deal of all time, valuing it at $157B, with participation from Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank, and others  —  - Not taking part, a source confirms, is Apple, which reportedly had been in talks to invest.
Cade Metz / New York Times:
Source: Thrive invested ~$1.3B in OpenAI's $6.6B round, with an exclusive option to invest up to $1B more at the same $157B valuation through 2025
Financial Times:
Sources: OpenAI has asked investors to avoid backing rival startups such as Anthropic and xAI, an exclusive funding arrangement to keep its generative AI lead
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
Two Harvard students demo using Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, PimEyes, and other tools to instantly identify strangers' names, phone numbers, addresses, and more  —  The technology, which marries Meta's smart Ray Ban glasses with the facial recognition service Pimeyes and some other tools …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
WP Engine files a lawsuit in California against Automattic and WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, accusing them of extortion, abuse of power, and greed  —  Web hosting provider WP Engine has filed a lawsuit against Automattic, and WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, accusing them of extortion and abuse of power.
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Automattic demanded an 8% cut of WP Engine's monthly revenue to use the WordPress trademark in a seven-year deal proposed on September 20; WP Engine declined
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Amazon plans to increase the number of ads on Prime Video in 2025 after not seeing a sharp drop in subscribers since adding advertisements in January 2024  —  Ecommerce group attempting to win over more brands as it steps up push into ad-funded streaming services in 2025
Ryan McNeal / Android Authority:
Amazon announces a new lineup of Fire HD 8 tablets, with 50% more RAM than the previous models, and three new generative AI features for compatible Fire tablets  —  Amazon launches new Fire HD 8 tablets, rolls out three new AI features.  —  •  —  TL;DR  — Amazon is launching a new lineup of Fire HD 8 tablets.
Thomas Claburn / The Register:
Co-founders Tim Berners-Lee and Rosemary Leith plan to close the World Wide Web Foundation after 15 years of fighting to make the web safer and more accessible  —  Who wants to join his so Solid crew?  —  After fifteen years of fighting to make the web safer and more accessible, the World Wide Web Foundation is shutting down.
Dylan Martin / CRN:
Accenture says it will train 30K employees on Nvidia's AI tech and start a new Nvidia Business Group focused on driving enterprise adoption of AI agents  —  The global services powerhouse says its newly formed Nvidia Business Group will focus on driving enterprise adoption …
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google updates Gmail for Android and iOS with new summary cards that are more glanceable and actionable and a new “Happening soon” section above the inbox  —  Gmail for Android and iOS are getting new summary cards that are more glanceable and actionable, with Google also directly surfacing them in your inbox.
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Analysis: Microsoft's finance leases, mainly for data centers and commencing between FY 2025 and FY 2030, have risen by $100B+ in less than two years to $108.4B  —  As Microsoft investors get ready for quarterly earnings this month, there's one particular metric that's become increasingly important: finance leases.
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
The US SEC files a notice of appeal in its Ripple case, seeking to reverse a July 2023 ruling that XRP sales on retail exchanges didn't violate securities rules  —  A federal judge ruled last year that the SEC had not made its case that Ripple violated securities law by selling XRP to retail customers through exchanges.
Chris Tapsell / Eurogamer.net:
An in-depth account of how CD Projekt Red recovered from the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077, using a fully parallelized engine to test and resolve issues  —  “We knew we were in deep trouble.”  —  Follow Cyberpunk 2077  —  “Beep.”  —  On 10th January, 2018, Marcin Momot …
More: TheGamer.  X: @christapsell, @riotrmd, and @paultassi
Forums: r/xbox and r/Games
Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
A US judge temporarily blocks California's AG from enforcing AB 2839, which Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law on September 17 to remove election deepfakes  —  A federal judge blocked one of California's new AI laws on Wednesday, less than two weeks after it was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.

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From Mediagazer

Reuters:
Independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta plans to shut down after 30+ years, following pressure from Russian authorities and the persecution of its reporters

Gavin Blair / The Hollywood Reporter:
The Association of Japanese Animations: Japan's anime industry revenue grew 15.8% YoY to a record ~$28.5B in 2025, with overseas revenue reaching ~$16B

Selome Hailu / Variety:
Sources: Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine lays off about 30 employees, roughly 50% of its staff, as it focuses on film and TV projects and its book club brand

More News

Bloomberg:
Poolside, which is building AI-assisted software development tools, raised a $500M Series B led by Bain Capital Ventures, reportedly at a $3B valuation
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
Some iOS developers worry an iOS 18 change, which lets users choose contacts an app can access, may make growing social apps hard; Apple says it boosts privacy

Earlier Picks

Akila Quinio / Financial Times:
The UK FCA fines Starling Bank £29M over its “shockingly lax” controls against financial crime, like potential money laundering and sanctions breaches
Erin Griffith / New York Times:
VC firm CRV plans to return $275M from its $500M Select fund, citing worsening market conditions and high startup valuations relative to their potential payoff
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft releases a $150 standalone version of Office 2024 for consumers and SMBs, with core app updates and UI changes; the last standalone was Office 2021
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Microsoft unveils Copilot Vision, which analyzes text and images on webpages, Think Deeper, which reasons through more complex problems, Copilot Voice, and more
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