Thursday, July 4, 2024

Evan Blass leaks Samsung's entire specs sheets and marketing materials for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6, expected at its Unpacked event on July 10 (Sean Hollister/The Verge)

Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Evan Blass leaks Samsung's entire specs sheets and marketing materials for the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6, expected at its Unpacked event on July 10  —  We're only one week away from Samsung's next Unpacked event on July 10th, where we're expecting the company's Galaxy Z Fold 6 …



A look at the inaugural Esports World Cup, a multi-genre tournament in Riyadh funded by Saudi Arabia, featuring 1,500+ gamers and a record $60M+ prize pool (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
A look at the inaugural Esports World Cup, a multi-genre tournament in Riyadh funded by Saudi Arabia, featuring 1,500+ gamers and a record $60M+ prize pool  —  - Esports World Cup has record prize pool of $60 million  — Crown Prince MBS wants to build esports capital in Riyadh



A look at a16z's Crypto Startup Accelerator, a Y Combinator-style program that provides $500K in funding and 10 weeks of coaching, most recently in London (Joel Khalili/Wired)

Joel Khalili / Wired:
A look at a16z's Crypto Startup Accelerator, a Y Combinator-style program that provides $500K in funding and 10 weeks of coaching, most recently in London  —  Andreessen Horowitz is betting the house on crypto.  (Yes, really.)  This spring, the VC firm schooled a new batch of founders …



Wednesday, July 3, 2024

WIPO: between 2014 and 2023, 54K generative AI patents were filed, 25% of which were filed in 2023; China leads with 38K+ patents, followed by the US with 6,276 (Emma Farge/Reuters)

Emma Farge / Reuters:
WIPO: between 2014 and 2023, 54K generative AI patents were filed, 25% of which were filed in 2023; China leads with 38K+ patents, followed by the US with 6,276  —  China is far ahead of other countries in generative AI inventions like chatbots, filing six times more patents than its closest rival …



Reddit users: Netflix is following through on its plan to phase out its cheapest $11.99/month ad-free tier, instead pushing its $6.99, $15.49, and $22.99 tiers (Emma Roth/The Verge)

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Reddit users: Netflix is following through on its plan to phase out its cheapest $11.99/month ad-free tier, instead pushing its $6.99, $15.49, and $22.99 tiers  —  Netflix is following through on its plan to phase out its cheapest ad-free tier for existing subscribers.



Proton launches Docs in Proton Drive, a privacy-focused alternate to Google Docs, after acquiring secure note-taking app Standard Notes in April 2024 (Natasha Lomas/TechCrunch)

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Proton launches Docs in Proton Drive, a privacy-focused alternate to Google Docs, after acquiring secure note-taking app Standard Notes in April 2024  —  Proton, the Swiss-based pro-privacy productivity app maker, has a new feather in its cap after bringing document creation …



Tuesday, July 2, 2024

A look at why Japan, due to its culture and employment laws, is not undergoing mass layoffs in the gaming industry as Microsoft owned Tango Gameworks closes (Alicia Haddick/GamesIndustry.biz)

Alicia Haddick / GamesIndustry.biz:
A look at why Japan, due to its culture and employment laws, is not undergoing mass layoffs in the gaming industry as Microsoft owned Tango Gameworks closes  —  After Microsoft shut down Tango Gameworks, we look at the reasons why Japan has otherwise been sheltered (but not immune) to many of the layoffs and trends seen further afield



A look at the national security fears around Microsoft's deal with Abu Dhabi's G42, including US DOD's skepticism that G42 will entirely uncouple from China (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
A look at the national security fears around Microsoft's deal with Abu Dhabi's G42, including US DOD's skepticism that G42 will entirely uncouple from China  —  US officials see the Microsoft-G42 partnership as way to help Washington combat Beijing's influence in the Global South.  —  LEARN MORE



VFX company DNEG raised $200M from Abu Dhabi's UASG at a $2B valuation, to expand its division Brahma, which is developing an AI-powered, photo-real CGI creator (Melanie Goodfellow/Deadline)

Melanie Goodfellow / Deadline:
VFX company DNEG raised $200M from Abu Dhabi's UASG at a $2B valuation, to expand its division Brahma, which is developing an AI-powered, photo-real CGI creator  —  London-based The DNEG Group has secured a $200M capital injection from Abu Dhabi investment firm United Al Saqer Group (UASG).



The Biden administration awards $504M in funding for 12 regional tech hubs, including in New York and Florida, to expand research in AI, chip making, and more (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
The Biden administration awards $504M in funding for 12 regional tech hubs, including in New York and Florida, to expand research in AI, chip making, and more  —  - Effort aims to draw private investment around more of the US  — Awards cover twelve centers, including in New York and Florida



Monday, July 1, 2024

Singapore is emerging as a destination for Chinese AI startups due to less stringent AI regulations and access to Nvidia's latest chips amid US chips ban (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Singapore is emerging as a destination for Chinese AI startups due to less stringent AI regulations and access to Nvidia's latest chips amid US chips ban  —  - AI founders lured by access to foreign capital, technologies  — Young AI companies finding it hard to go global from China



Japan-based SmartHR, which offers a cloud human resources and labor management software, raised a $140M Series E led by KKR and Teachers' Ventures Growth (Kate Park/TechCrunch)

Kate Park / TechCrunch:
Japan-based SmartHR, which offers a cloud human resources and labor management software, raised a $140M Series E led by KKR and Teachers' Ventures Growth  —  SmartHR, a cloud-based human resources and labor management software startup, said on Monday that it has raised $140 million …



Government data: the value of South Korea's chip shipments reached $13.4B in June, up 51% YoY; exports of display products up 26% YoY and computers up 59% YoY (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Government data: the value of South Korea's chip shipments reached $13.4B in June, up 51% YoY; exports of display products up 26% YoY and computers up 59% YoY  —  - Chip export tally reaches highest ever value in June  —  South Korea's export growth accelerated last month …



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 (Pranshu Verma/Washington Post)

Pranshu Verma / Washington Post : Arizona's Maricopa County is set to have the second largest concentration of US data centers by 202...