Techmeme
January 6, 2025, 7:35 AM

Top News

Josh Tyrangiel / Bloomberg:
Q&A with Sam Altman on OpenAI's and ChatGPT's first few years, his removal as CEO, OpenAI's structure, AGI, AI safety, nuclear fusion, Trump, Musk, and more  —  On Nov. 30, 2022, traffic to OpenAI's website peaked at a number a little north of zero.  It was a startup so small and sleepy …
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Sam Altman says OpenAI is currently losing money on its ChatGPT Pro plan, which costs $200 per month, because “people use it much more than we expected”  —  OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says that the company is currently losing money on its $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan because people are using it more than expected
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Samsung unveils a suite of AI experiences for its TVs, including Click to Search, Live Translate, and a way to recognize food on the screen and provide recipes  —  For this year's lineup, Samsung said that AI will come to life in more ways than just great picture quality.
Wall Street Journal:
A look at Chinese hackers' attacks on US infrastructure and telecoms; sources: Charter, Consolidated Communications, and Windstream networks were also breached  —  Massive ‘Typhoon’ cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure and telecoms sought to lay groundwork for potential conflict with Beijing …
Katrina Manson / Bloomberg:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Italy is in advanced talks for a €1.5B, five-year SpaceX deal to provide the government with secure telecom services, Europe's largest such project  —  - Starlink would provide secure internet for Italian government  — Prime Minister Meloni met with Trump in Florida on Saturday
Bloomberg:
Sources: India plans $2.7B in fresh subsidies and import tariff cuts to boost local manufacturing, especially of smartphones made by companies like Apple  —  - Proposed incentives will help smartphone makers like Apple  — Final decision to be made by cabinet; details likely in budget
Preetika Rana / Wall Street Journal:
Uber and Lyft are embracing autonomous vehicle operators like Waymo, May Mobility, and others, after abandoning their own self-driving car programs  —  After ending their own driverless plans, the ride-sharing companies are embracing autonomous-vehicle operators and offering new app features
More: Benzinga
Margaux MacColl / TechCrunch:
A profile of headhunter Peterson Conway, who worked with Palantir and other Silicon Valley defense and hard tech firms and is now the talent head at VC firm A*  —  In 2023, defense tech recruiter Peterson Conway VIII pulled up to the offices of nuclear fusion startup Fuse in a black suburban, donning his signature cowboy hat.
Teresa Xie / Bloomberg:
Advertising company Outfront, whose clients include Mercury, Brex, and Venmo, says fintech ad spend over the past three years has grown an average of 45%+ YoY  —  - Fintech ad spend has grown average of more than 45%: Outfront  — Push comes as companies mature and IPO, M&A buzz builds
More: PYMNTS.com
Jane Lanhee Lee / Bloomberg:
Foxconn reports Q4 revenue of ~$64.6B, up 15% YoY vs. est. of a 13% rise, boosted by data center spending, with December 2024 bringing in ~$19.8B, up 42% YoY  —  - Company sees significant sales growth for the first quarter  — December revenue advances 42% on strong AI server sales

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Earlier Picks

Bismah Malik / Inc42:
The Verge:
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Jacqueline Sweet / The Spectator World: