Email: TikTok plans to lay off several hundred UK trust and safety staff in the UK and Asia, citing “technological advances” such as LLMs in content moderation — Moves comes despite Online Safety Act requirements on dangerous material — TikTok is poised to lay off hundreds …
China's SSE Composite Index hits a decade high on Aug. 22, driven by gains in local chipmakers Cambricon and Hygon, after Nvidia reportedly halts H20 production — Chinese stocks were a standout performer in global markets on Friday, with a benchmark of onshore equities capping …
CBP data: between April and June 2025, CBP searched 14,899 devices carried by international travelers, up from a high of 12,766+ between January and March 2022 — Customs and Border Protection agents searched nearly 15,000 devices from April through June of this year, a nearly 17 percent spike …
Sources: Take-Two lays off 80 staff at BioShock studio Cloud Chamber, or ~33% of its 250 staff, and delays the next BioShock game to late 2026 or early 2027 — Thirty percent of the studio was laid off this week, adding more years to the game's production — Take-Two Interactive Software …
Sources: Elon Musk is quietly pumping the brakes on his plans to start a US political party, telling allies he wants to focus his attention on his companies — The billionaire has sought to maintain ties with JD Vance, a potential heir to Trump's MAGA political movement
Kick says it is “urgently reviewing” the circumstances of the death of a French livestreamer who was subjected to violence and sleep deprivation during streams — An investigation has been launched into the death of a French streamer known for extreme challenges.
Eight Sleep, which makes the AI-based Pod smart mattress cover to monitor sleep stages and more, raised $100M from HSG and more, after an $86M Series C in 2021 — Roughly one in three adults in the U.S. regularly gets insufficient sleep, driving demand for tools that can monitor, analyze, and enhance rest.
Sources: Databricks is finalizing a funding round that would value it at $100B, up 61% from December 2024, co-led by Thrive Capital; a16z is set to participate — The data analytics company, fueled by the AI boom, was valued at $62 billion less than a year ago
Medallion Raises $43 Million to Expand AI Infrastructure and Launch the First National Credentialing Clearinghouse — New $43M investment accelerates Medallion's AI-powered platform and launches CredAlliance™, a first-of-its-kind credentialing clearinghouse designed to eliminate redundant verification …
Humanoid Robot Games highlighted robotics advancements but also limitations, with robots tripping over each other; one robot ran faster than many amateur humans — The Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing — featuring running, kickboxing and soccer — highlighted advancements in robotics. Limitations, too.
Sources: Apple slow-walks immersive content it shot around the launch of Vision Pro; Meta may launch “Hypernova” smart glasses with display for ~$800 next month — Apple has slow-walked the release of immersive video, creating a conundrum for the Vision Pro.
A look at the “Palantir Mafia”, a group of Palantir alumni who have started or are leading 350+ tech companies, including at least a dozen valued at $1B+ — The network connects founders and venture capitalists with ‘Palantir Pals’ and a Russian River camping trip
PitchBook: 15.9% of VC-backed deals in 2025 so far have been down rounds, a 10-year high, with AI and ML startups accounting for 29.3% of the down rounds — Chime executives, along with family, celebrating the company's IPO at the Nasdaq. — The soaring valuations of the early 2020s are, finally, coming back to earth.
India's blueprint to displace China as the world's electronics workshop relies heavily on Chinese companies' technical expertise and manufacturing know-how — India's electronics manufacturing self-reliance strategy requires reliance on its biggest rival — India's blueprint for displacing China …
Anthropic enables Claude Opus 4 and 4.1 to end conversations in “cases of persistently harmful or abusive user interactions”; users can still start new chats — We recently gave Claude Opus 4 and 4.1 the ability to end conversations in our consumer chat interfaces.
New York Times : Sources: the US State Department ordered embassies to push back against foreign influence campaigns, as officials worry ...
