Techmeme: xAI raised a $6B Series C from a16z, BlackRock, Fidelity, Kingdom Holdings, Sequoia, Nvidia, and others, at a reported valuation of at least $40B (Antonio Pequeño IV/Forbes)

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December 24, 2024, 12:15 PM

Top News

Sheldon Reback / CoinDesk:

US and Japanese law enforcement say North Korean hackers were responsible for stealing 4,502.9 bitcoin, worth $308M, from Japanese exchange DMM in May 2024 — The $308 million hack of Japanese crypto exchange DMM in May was the work of North Korean hackers, the U.S. and Japanese law enforcement agencies said Monday.

More: Federal Bureau …, Coinspeaker, BleepingComputer, SecurityWeek, Cointelegraph, Coinpedia Fintech News, crypto.news, CCN.com, Cryptonews, and CryptoSlate

X: @fbi, @tayvano_, and @cheenanet

Muyao Shen / Bloomberg:

Hashed: Hyperliquid, the top DeFi derivatives exchange by volume, had $112M+ of USDC outflows on December 23, over concerns of trading by North Korean hackers — - Hyperliquid is the largest DeFi derivatives exchange by volume — Security expert says Hyperliquid faces threat from North Korea

Annie Palmer / CNBC:

Donald Trump announces Scott Kupor, a managing partner at a16z, will serve as director of OPM, and Michael Kratsios will serve as the White House OSTP director — President-elect Donald Trump is tapping tech heavyweights to join his new administration, continuing a trend …

More: @realDonaldTrump …, The Verge, Politico, @realDonaldTrump …, FedScoop, Tech in Asia, The Hill, Nextgov/FCW, Science, New York Times, Sifted, The Economic Times, YourStory.com, and Axios

Bluesky: @lorak. X: @skupor, @michaelkratsios, @skupor, @levie, @davidmarcus, and @levie

Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:

The US FTC orders Marriott and Starwood to implement a robust customer data security scheme after Starwood's 2014 to 2018 breaches and Marriott's 2018 breach — The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has ordered Marriott International and Starwood Hotels to define and implement …

More: Federal Trade Commission, 9to5Mac, TechRadar, and The Verge

X: @ftc. Forums: r/cybersecurity

Pranshu Verma / Washington Post:

Arizona's Maricopa County is set to have the second largest concentration of US data centers by 2028, as the state races to increase electricity production — As data centers drain America's power grids, a fierce battle is being waged for electricity. On Navajo Nation land, many are on the losing end.

More: MIT Technology Review and The Verge

Bluesky: @craigcwhite, @arjunsubgraph, @laurawags, @parismarx.com, @climatebrad.hillheat.com, @disabilitystor1, @ahjohnson, and @thetnholler

X: @michaelgiberso3 and @mbazilian

Laila Kearney / Reuters:

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report: data centers could account for 6.7% to 12% of US total electricity consumption by 2028, up from ~4% currently

More: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Department of Energy, and ITPro

LinkedIn: Laila Kearney. Forums: r/UraniumSqueeze

Paresh Dave / Wired:

West Bank residents, who have long complained of missing and outdated data on Google Maps, say the Israel-Hamas war has made the app even worse for navigation — One user told WIRED that Google Maps directed them to “drive right into a wall that's been up since 2003.”

More: TechCrunch. Bluesky: @katie-drummond, @peard33, and @lmatsakis

Mastodon: @evacide@hachyderm.io and @remixtures@tldr.nettime.org. Forums: r/Palestine

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:

Sources: the EU will conditionally approve US chip design software company Synopsys' $35B Ansys acquisition, the largest tech deal since Broadcom bought VMware — U.S. chip design software company Synopsys (SNPS.O) is set to win conditional EU antitrust approval for its $35 billion buy of Ansys …

More: Tech Monitor and Reuters

Sheldon Reback / CoinDesk:

Tass: the Russian government bans crypto mining in 10 regions from January 1 to March 15, 2031, citing power consumption, after legalizing mining in July 2024 — Temporary bans may be imposed in other regions during peak energy demand, Tass reported — What to know:

More: Engadget, Bitcoin Insider, Crypto Briefing, Cryptopolitan, CCN.com, CryptoSlate, Coinpedia Fintech News, Cryptonews, crypto.news, CoinGape, Cointelegraph, The Crypto Times, and Benzinga

Blake Brittain / Reuters:

Netflix sues Broadcom in California federal court, accusing VMware's cloud software of infringing five patents covering aspects of operating virtual machines — Netflix (NFLX.O) sued Broadcom (AVGO.O) in California federal court on Monday, accusing the chipmaker's cloud computing subsidiary VMware …

More: ip fray, The Verge, TechRadar, and Northern District of California. Forums: Slashdot

Antonio Pequeño IV / Forbes:

xAI raised a $6B Series C from a16z, BlackRock, Fidelity, Kingdom Holdings, Sequoia, Nvidia, and others, at a reported valuation of at least $40B — Elon Musk's xAI announced Monday it raised $6 billion in a Series C funding round, putting the company's value at more than $40 billion …

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:

OpenAI's o3 performance on benchmarks suggests that test-time compute is the next best way to scale AI models, raising new questions about costs and usage — Last month, AI founders and investors told TechCrunch that we're now in the “second era of scaling laws,” noting how established methods …

More: Import AI, Barron's Online, Tech in Asia, Forrester, The Algorithmic Bridge, Decrypt, Gadgets 360, and The Information

William J. Broad / New York Times:

How AI hallucinations are transforming scientific discovery, with some scientists calling the term “hallucination” misleading and likening it to exploration — Artificial intelligence often gets criticized because it makes up information that appears to be factual, known as hallucinations.

More: Fortune and Singularity Hub

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From Mediagazer

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Netflix users aren't opening the app on as many days a month as they did a couple of years ago, and the average user is spending less time watching

Derrick Bryson Taylor / New York Times:

Elvis Presley's rightsholders sue Anthropic over 274 songs allegedly used to train its models, seeking $41M+; Anthropic says it disagrees and will defend itself

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Ex-60 Minutes EP Bill Owens, who left after clashing with CBS execs, will join YouTube journalism startup Newpress, which raised $12M led by Emerson Collective

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More News

Stephanie Stacey / Financial Times:

The biggest online dating companies are in crisis, as women and younger users increasingly look elsewhere, toward niche apps, websites, or real-life meetups

More: Wired

Financial Times:

Analysis: SAP accounts for ~40% of Frankfurt DAX's 18.7% gains in 2024, with SAP up 70%+ as the software company transitions its business customers to the cloud

Reuters:

An investigator says he reported 26 OnlyFans accounts suspected of containing CSAM to NCMEC and that all of the accounts were removed within a day of his report

More: MEDIANAMA. Bluesky: @icarszoey. Forums: r/news

Cristina Criddle / Financial Times:

PitchBook: global edtech VC funding reached just $3B in 2024, the lowest amount since $2.3B in 2014, and down from $17.3B at the peak of the pandemic in 2021

Bluesky: @stevefaktor.com

Anna Heim / TechCrunch:

Balderton Capital and Dealroom: European AI startups attracted 25% of the region's VC funding, or ~$13.7B, in 2024, compared to 15% in 2020

X: @dorialexander and @jamespaulwise

LinkedIn: Ofer Mintz and James Wise

Reuters:

Filing: Chinese video surveillance provider Dahua to terminate or exit five government projects in Xinjiang; Hikvision made a similar announcement this month

X: @samgoodman22

Earlier Picks

Agence France-Presse:

Internet freedom advocates criticize Vietnam's Decree 147, taking effect on December 25 and requiring social media users to verify their identities and more

More: acecomments.mu.nu and Human Rights Watch

X: @ali_kyteler. Forums: r/worldnews and Slashdot

Lauren Thomas / Wall Street Journal:

Xerox agrees to acquire Lexmark from Ninestar, PAG Asia Capital, and Shanghai Shouda in a deal valued at $1.5B, including debt, closing in H2 2025

More: Beyond Search, Xerox Newsroom, TechRadar, Bloomberg, Seeking Alpha, MarketWatch, Seeking Alpha, Fudzilla, MarketWatch, heise online News, SiliconANGLE, Yahoo Finance, Benzinga, CRN, Reuters, Barron's Online, FinSMEs, and Pulse 2.0

X: @xerox. LinkedIn: Hayden Stine, Steven Bandrowczak, and Xerox. Forums: Slashdot

Alexander Osipovich / Wall Street Journal:

Experts: Bitcoin has time to adopt newer encryption that's resistant to attacks via potentially upcoming quantum systems, but such an overhaul could take years

More: CryptoGlobe, CryptoSlate, and Livemint

X: @aosipovich. LinkedIn: Vanessa Fernandes. Forums: r/ethereum

Reuters:

Sources: Microsoft is working on adding more first- and third-party AI models to power 365 Copilot, to lower its reliance on OpenAI amid cost and speed concerns

More: The Information, Thurrott, Financial Express, Neowin, Gizmodo, Gadgets 360, The Crypto Times, Analytics India Magazine, Business Standard, Business Insider, SiliconANGLE, Benzinga, Tech in Asia, and Sherwood News

Bluesky: @petetrainor.fyi. X: @andrewcurran_ and @rustybrick

Ryan Christoffel / 9to5Mac:

In a viral YouTube video, MegaLag claims PayPal's Honey browser extension doesn't show users the best coupons and deals, and steals creators' affiliate revenue