Techmeme: Source: Reflection AI, founded by ex-Google researchers and which makes the AI agent Asimov, has raised most of the $1B+ it is seeking to build open-source LLMs (The Information)

Top News

Cheng Ting-Fang / Nikkei Asia:

Sources: TSMC fires several employees for violating rules on obtaining sensitive information about its 2nm tech; TSMC says it detected “unauthorized activities” — TAIPEI — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has fired several employees for violating rules …

More: 9to5Mac, Moneycontrol, The Record, AppleInsider, Reuters, CNBC, The Information, Apple Must, iClarified, TechSpot, Bloomberg, Fortune, Neowin, Benzinga, DigiTimes, Patently Apple, and Notebookcheck

Forums: r/apple and r/hardware

Kathrin Hille / Financial Times:

Taiwanese prosecutors say two ex-TSMC employees and a third suspect were arrested for allegedly stealing proprietary tech; investigators searched Tokyo Electron — Taiwanese prosecutors probe ‘potential trade secret leaks’ in first case since key technologies added to national security legislation

More: Tom's Hardware, Reuters, Notebookcheck, Wall Street Journal, Implicator.ai, New York Times, The Register, Focus Taiwan, DigiTimes, MarketWatch, and Tech in Asia

Bloomberg:

White House OSTP Director Michael Kratsios says the US is exploring software or physical ways to track the location of AI chips, as part of its AI Action Plan — The US is exploring ways to equip chips with better location-tracking capabilities, a senior official said …

More: Financial Times, The Register, The Decoder, DigiTimes, Nikkei Asia, Tech in Asia, and PC Gamer

Bluesky: @sensehofstede.nl and @paleofuture

Wall Street Journal:

A draft White House EO shows President Trump plans to step up pressure against big banks over alleged discrimination against crypto companies and conservatives — The president is expected to sign an executive order as soon as this week that targets so-called debanking of businesses including crypto companies

Lydia Beyoud / Bloomberg:

The CFTC is asking for public comment by August 18 about trading spot crypto asset contracts listed on CFTC-registered futures exchanges — Takeaways by Bloomberg AI — Hide … Tell us how AI is shaping your news experience. Share your feedback — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission …

Sophia Fox-Sowell / StateScoop:

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill into law on August 1 banning the use of AI for mental health services, but allowing its use in administrative roles — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker approved a new law banning the use of artificial intelligence systems in providing psychotherapy services.

More: Mashable, IDFPR, Tallahassee Democrat, and Chicago Sun Times

Bluesky: @thebluenami.is.democrat. Forums: Slashdot

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Google DeepMind releases its Genie 3 model, which can generate 3D worlds from a prompt and has enough visual memory for a few minutes of continuous interaction — AI world models have many limitations, but Genie 3 offers improvements like real-time interaction and better memory.

More: Google DeepMind, The Guardian, TechCrunch, Ars Technica, Engadget, and Analytics India Magazine. X: @drjimfan

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

The UK's Online Safety Act shows the UK prioritized government control over improving safety, becoming a cautionary tale for democracies regulating the internet — Well, well, well. The “age assurance” part of the UK's Online Safety Act has finally gone into effect, with its age checking …

More: Columbia Journalism Review, Tom's Guide, and The Guardian

Bluesky: @glynmoody, @jennykaynz, @werd.io, @mmasnick, and @gnomeicide

Forums: r/ukpolitics, r/technews, r/GreenAndPleasant, r/technology, r/KotakuInAction, and Beehaw

Tobias Mann / The Register:

Google signs a deal with two power utilities to lower its power use by pausing non-essential AI workloads during demand surges or weather-based grid disruptions — Google will pause non-essential AI workloads to protect power grids, the advertising giant announced on Monday.

More: TechRadar, The Keyword, The Decoder, PhoneArena, ITPro, WinBuzzer, Benzinga, Reuters, The Hill, and Latitude Media

Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to. Forums: Slashdot

Ann-Marie Alcántara / Wall Street Journal:

Users say AI notetaking tools for meetings can misinterpret context when generating summaries or share content meant for a select audience with all participants — New note-taking software catches every word from your meetings—including the parts you didn't want the whole room to hear

Bluesky: @michae.lv and @hypervisible

John Herrman / New York Magazine:

Search-engine optimization feels dated as marketers look to generative-engine optimization, or GEO, which focuses on tricking AI chatbots rather than Google — Search-engine optimization now feels dated. Generative-engine optimization is all about trying to trick AI chatbots.

More: Ars Technica, The Information, Street Fight, Implicator.ai, Social Media Today, Forbes, Domain Name Wire, and Search Engine Journal

Bluesky: @lindsaygoldwert, @reckless, and @jwherrman

X: @jessfraz and @venturetwins

See also Mediagazer

Jordan Novet / CNBC:

Figma's stock dropped 27.38% to $88.60 on August 4 after last week's IPO pop; its fully diluted valuation sits at ~$56B, still almost triple Adobe's 2022 offer — Figma shares dropped 27% on Monday, cutting into the gains the design software company posted after hitting the market last week.

More: Yahoo Finance, CNBC, and Yahoo Finance. Forums: r/StockMarket

Anthony Hughes / Bloomberg:

Source: Figma considered a higher IPO price, but CEO Dylan Field wanted to bring on board certain long-term institutional shareholders and approved $33/share

More: Motley Fool, Fortune, Fast Company, SiliconANGLE, Reuters, San Francisco Business Times, and Financial Times

X: @vishalkgupta, @j0hnwang, @breakingsaas, @j0hnwang, @geoffreywoo, and @bgurley

Yazhou Sun / Bloomberg:

Netherlands-based dronemaker Destinus agrees to acquire Zurich-based Daedalean, which develops ML autopilot software for aviation, for ~$223M in cash and stock — Takeaways by Bloomberg AI — Hide … Tell us how AI is shaping your news experience. Share your feedback

More: Tech.eu, Sifted, and Tech in Asia

Reuters:

Sources: Intel's 18A process is facing significant yield challenges, with only ~5% of chips meeting its specifications in late 2024 and ~10% by summer 2025 — The production process that Intel (INTC.O) hoped would pave the way to winning manufacturing deals and restore its edge in churning out high-end …

More: Benzinga, Wall Street Pit, and WinBuzzer

Forums: r/hardware and r/intelstock

Bloomberg:

The US General Services Administration approves OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic for AI contracts with civilian federal agencies via its Multiple Award Schedule — The US government's central purchasing arm is adding OpenAI, Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Anthropic to a list of approved artificial …

More: TechCrunch, Livemint, and Reuters

Min Jeong Lee / Bloomberg:

Filings: SoftBank increased its Nvidia stake to ~$3B in Q1 and bought ~$330M worth of TSMC stock; source: Vision Fund monetized almost $2B of assets in H1 2025 — Takeaways by Bloomberg AI — Hide … Tell us how AI is shaping your news experience. Share your feedback

More: Tech in Asia

The Information:

Internal email: Cognition offers buyouts to its ~200 newly acquired Windsurf staff, with Cognition CEO Scott Wu writing “we don't believe in work-life balance” — Cognition, a two-year-old artificial intelligence coding startup last valued at $4 billion, has offered buyouts …

More: The Information and WinBuzzer

Bluesky: @edzitron.com. X: @theinformation and @lauramandaro. LinkedIn: Scott Johnson

Financial Times:

Sources: Core Scientific's hedge fund shareholders may reject CoreWeave's all-stock takeover, seeking better terms, as CRWV has fallen 30%+ post-announcement — Some investment funds may vote against deal unless protections are added to limit the potential downside — Unlock the Editor's Digest for free

More: Reuters, Sherwood News, and Yahoo Finance

Globes:

Israeli quantum computing startup QuamCore raised a $26M Series A led by Sentinel, taking its total funding to $35M, and plans to move into chip fabrication — The company has developed a fully designed and simulated architecture capable of scaling to 1 million qubits in a single cryostat.

More: Finextra, FinSMEs, CTech, HPCwire, and Tech Funding News

Belle Lin / Wall Street Journal:

ElevenLabs launches Eleven Music, letting individuals and businesses use its AI model to generate music cleared for commercial use via English-language prompts — New model allows customers to create music with AI that is cleared for commercial use. But AI-generated music still faces legal battles and stiff opposition from artists.

More: Implicator.ai, Shelly Palmer, Music Business Worldwide, and WinBuzzer

Kelly Lawler / USA Today:

Roku launches Howdy, an ad-free streaming service for $2.99 per month, initially only on Roku devices, with content from Lionsgate, WBD, FilmRise, and more — Roku is ready to say Howdy. — The company − which sells set-top streaming devices, smart TVs and has its own free …

More: CNET, PCMag, How-To Geek, TechCrunch, Business Wire, Variety, Decider, Streaming Better, Broadband TV News, TheDesk.net, Deadline, The Streamable, Awful Announcing, Advanced Television, The Hollywood Reporter, Cord Cutters News, and WORLD SCREEN

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