Sources: Huawei has sold 10+ sets of its AI chip cluster CloudMatrix 384, including to data centers that serve Chinese tech companies, in a bid to rival Nvidia — CloudMatrix 384 sent to data centres serving Chinese tech companies as they seek to fill gap created by US export controls
Washington state lawmakers pass new taxes amid a record budget deficit, targeting Amazon, Microsoft, and others to raise $9B+; Gov. Bob Ferguson can now sign — New taxes passed in the final days of Washington's legislative session seek to bridge a record budget deficit by shifting …
Spotify says it has paid $100M+ to podcast publishers and creators since January 2025 via a new creator program based on Premium subscribers' video engagement — The audio platform has branched out to video and has given its podcasters a raise as the war for creator talent heats up.
Music creation startup Splice buys London-based orchestral sound studio Spitfire Audio, a source says for ~$50M; sources say Splice has $100M+ in annual revenue — Music samples group Splice agrees deal to acquire London-based Spitfire Audio for its library of orchestral sounds
Architect Partners: crypto firms have struck 88 M&A and SPAC deals worth $8.2B so far in 2025, nearly 3x the $2.75B transaction value across 188 deals in 2024 — Companies seek to capitalize on lighter regulation, growing mainstream interest — President Trump's embrace of digital currencies …
Sources: Huawei has approached some clients to test the technical feasibility of the Ascend 910D, Huawei's newest AI chip that it hopes will beat Nvidia's H100 — Superpower rivalry over semiconductors heats up despite Washington's attempts to block Beijing
A look at the rise of “pure play” bitcoin companies like Twenty One, as the stock market is paying far more for crypto exposure than the crypto market itself is — Twenty One, Trumpcoin dinner, KKR empathy, carry on co-investments and quantitative analysis of hockey. — Project Mystery
India faces a shortage of agentic AI professionals, with executives estimating fewer than 100,000 available against a projected need of 200,000 by 2026 — India is grappling with a critical shortage of agentic AI professionals as demand surges, driven by the shift towards sophisticated AI agents capable of autonomous decision-making.
US v. Google: Chrome General Manager Parisa Tabriz testified that only Google can run Chrome, given the browser's “interdependencies” on other parts of Google — Google is the only company that can offer the level of features and functionality that its popular Chrome web browser has today …
Q&A with Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas on Motorola partnership, Perplexity's upcoming browser Comet, TikTok bid, ChatGPT's scale, Google's DOJ trial, and more — Aravind Srinivas discusses his partnership with Motorola, fighting Google, and why AI assistants are coming for browsers.
A look at efforts by Apple and others to become carbon neutral by investing in eucalyptus farms in Brazil's Cerrado region, amid skepticism from some ecologists — We were losing the light, and still about 20 kilometers from the main road, when the car shuddered and died at the edge of a strange forest.
Sources: Tencent Music is in advanced talks to buy Chinese podcasting startup Ximalaya in a $2.4B deal — An agreement could be reached as soon as the coming weeks, the people said. — Talks are ongoing and no final decisions have been made, the people said.
Baidu CEO Robin Li says demand for text-based models like DeepSeek's is “shrinking” and claims its model had a higher propensity for “hallucinations” — Search group's chief makes rare criticism of China's generative artificial intelligence darling
Toshiba Europe researchers say they used quantum key distribution cryptography to send messages over a 250km German commercial telecommunications network — Researchers harness quantum mechanics to create communications system that can avoid being hacked — Scientists have sent messages …
Adobe unveils its Firefly Image Model 4 and Model 4 Ultra, launches a redesigned Firefly web app, is testing a new Adobe Content Authenticity web app, and more — Adobe on Thursday launched the latest iteration of its Firefly family of image generation AI models, a model for generating vectors …
Trump Media partners with Crypto.com and Florida-based Yorkville America Digital to launch ETFs by the end of 2025, as it moves into financial services — The agreement will allow the president's social media company to market investment products, including crypto, to retail investors through a series of exchange-traded funds.
Duolingo plans to add a chess course, which uses short puzzles to help learn the game, in beta on iOS in English in the coming weeks before an Android launch — Practice the classic game with help from Duolingo. … Duolingo will soon be able to help you learn another new skill: chess.
DOJ v. Google: a Google VP says the company pays Samsung an “enormous sum of money” every month to preinstall Gemini on its devices as part of a two-year deal — The company began paying Samsung for Gemini in January, according to Peter Fitzgerald, Google's vice president …
Brand aggregator Upexi says it is raising $100M to accumulate Solana, causing its shares to surge over 400%, part of a trend of companies investing in crypto — Upexi Inc. is raising $100 million as part of a pivot that will see the company start to accumulate the cryptocurrency Solana, according to a Monday statement.
Sources: Circle, BitGo, and other firms plan to apply for bank charters or licenses, as the Trump administration pushes to bring crypto into mainstream finance — Circle, BitGo and other crypto firms plan to apply for bank charters or licenses — Crypto is pushing deeper into the banking system.
TSMC says its role in the semiconductor supply chain limits its ability to comply with export rules, after reports its tech was used in Huawei's Ascend 910B — “TSMC's role in the semiconductor supply chain inherently limits its visibility and information available to it regarding …
After lobbying US Congress to shelve the Senate-passed KOSA bill in 2024, Meta has now made headway in lobbying for an app store age-verification bill — The Facebook founder is lobbying Congress to leave his firm alone — and making headway. — To protect kids online …
A look at the race to turn brainwaves into fluent speech, as researchers at universities in California and companies use brain implants and AI to make advances — Californian researchers and groups such as Precision Neuroscience use implants and AI to make advances in ‘voice prosthesis’
The success of A Minecraft Movie, set to hit $700M in ticket sales globally this weekend, signals Hollywood's breakthrough in adapting video games into films — While superhero franchises flag, ‘A Minecraft Movie’ shows the industry has finally cracked the formula for translating popular games into films
India's Open Network for Digital Commerce has struggled to break the near-duopoly of Zomato and Swiggy in online food delivery after cutting back on discounts — A near-duopoly of Zomato and Swiggy controls almost 95% of India's digital platform-based food delivery market …
The Information : Sources: after five Thinking Machines staff left, investors are rattled, potentially impacting fundraising; two researc...
