The Confession
SpaceX stayed private for two decades to disclose nothing, then absorbed xAI to grow. Its IPO filing forces both into the daylight — and the daylight is red.
SpaceX files publicly for its IPO, choosing Nasdaq to make its debut under the symbol SPCX; Elon Musk's shares give him 85.1% of the voting power in the company
SpaceX filed publicly for what stands to be the largest-ever initial public offering, revealing billions in losses …
Granta and the Commonwealth Foundation say they can't determine yet if AI was used to write a prize-winning short story after critics pointed to signs of AI use
Granta publisher says ‘perhaps we never will know’ true authorship of work that won Commonwealth prize
OpenAI says an internal general-purpose reasoning model has disproved the Erdős unit distance conjecture, a central problem in discrete geometry posed in 1946
For nearly 80 years, mathematicians have studied a deceptively simple question: if you place nnn points in the plane …
Nvidia reports Q1 revenue up 85% YoY to $81.62B, above $78.86B est., Data Center revenue up 92% YoY to $75.2B, and announces an $80B share repurchase program
- Record revenue of $81.6 billion, up 85% from a year ago — Record Data Center revenue of $75.2 billion, up 92% from a year ago
Internal memo: Mark Zuckerberg told employees that Meta does not expect more company-wide layoffs in 2026, after a 10% layoff and a report of more cuts coming
Meta (META.O) CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees in an internal memo on Wednesday that he does not expect more company-wide layoffs this year, according to a copy of the memo seen by Reuters.
Sources: OpenAI is preparing to file confidentially for an IPO as early as May 22 and has a goal to be ready to go public as early as September
The artificial-intelligence giant is working with bankers at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has been working …
Investor disclosures: Anthropic says it expects to generate $10.9B in revenue in Q2, up 127% from $4.8B in Q1, and turn a $559M operating profit, its first ever
The startup expects a 130% revenue surge to $10.9 billion in the June quarter and its first operating profit, defying skeptics of the AI boom
Internal memo: Xbox hires game industry analyst Matthew Ball as chief strategy officer, and names Scott Van Vliet, who led Azure AI infrastructure, as Xbox CTO
The second major Xbox leadership changes this month. … Microsoft has recruited game industry analyst Matthew Ball as Xbox chief strategy officer.
The White House postpones a planned Thursday ceremony for Trump to sign a new EO on AI and cybersecurity; Trump says “I didn't like certain aspects of it”
The White House has cancelled its planned ceremony for President Trump to sign a new executive order on AI and cybersecurity, per a note seen by Axios.
GitHub links the breach of 3,800 internal repositories to the TanStack npm supply-chain attack, saying hackers used a malicious Nx Console VS Code extension
GitHub says the hackers who breached 3,800 internal repositories gained access via a malicious version of the Nx Console VS Code extension …
Meta joins TikTok, Snap, and YouTube in settling with a Kentucky school district to avoid a trial over claims the platforms were designed to addict kids
Meta, TikTok, Snap and YouTube reached deal to avoid first of more than 1,200 consolidated lawsuits by school districts
Google says it is testing new ad formats in search results and AI Mode, including Conversational Discovery ads, Highlighted Answers, and AI-powered Shopping ads
Google is introducing a new generation of Gemini-powered ad formats across AI Mode and Search designed to make ads feel more conversational …
Ofcom says Meta, Snap, and Roblox have agreed to adopt stronger anti-grooming measures, while TikTok and YouTube “failed to commit to any significant changes”
- Snap, Meta and Roblox to adopt further safety measures to protect children from stranger danger online
Apple plans to broadcast an MLS game on Saturday shot entirely on 15 iPhone 17 Pros, the first major live sports event to be captured using only smartphones
Apple has frequently touted the use of professional-grade iPhones by filmmakers to make shorts, commercials and even feature-length movies.
Spotify Labs launches Studio, a NotebookLM-like desktop app to generate private, AI-powered podcasts, in research preview across 20+ markets
One of the common features for companies to build in the age of AI is to connect services like email, calendar, documents, and notes to create a daily brief in text or audio format.
Analysis: Samsung is set to distribute ~$26.6B to its 78,000 chip employees, or a ~$340K bonus to each, in early 2027 as part of a last-minute labor union deal
Samsung Electronics Co. could distribute about 40 trillion won ($26.6 billion) to chip employees as a bonus for this year …
Sources: OpenAI generated ~$5.7B in revenue in Q1, ~$1B more than Anthropic; its adjusted operating income margin was -122%, and ChatGPT user growth stalled
OpenAI generated about $5.7 billion in revenue in the first quarter, nearly $1 billion more than archrival Anthropic generated in the same period, according to two people with knowledge of the financi...
Airbnb says it is adding luggage storage, airport pickups, car rentals, grocery delivery, and thousands of boutique and independent hotels to its platform
Platform ramps up hotel-booking options, car rentals and AI-enabled features, expecting World Cup to drive record use
Crypto exchange Blockchain.com confidentially files for a US IPO; the UK-based company founded in 2011 was once valued at $14B
Long-running crypto exchange Blockchain.com has confidentially filed to take its business public via the U.S. markets. — In brief
Flipper unveils the Flipper One, a pocketable open Arm Linux computer with similar performance to a Raspberry Pi 5, and welcomes feedback to get it market-ready
But the devs admit there's still a lot of work to be done to get the Flipper One market-ready, and they are looking for contributors.
Cohere releases Command A+, a sparse MoE open model built for agentic tasks, with 218B total and 25B active parameters, its first under the Apache 2.0 license
Canadian AI lab Cohere made waves recently by announcing a merger with German AI startup Aleph Alpha, but now it has even more in store …
The US Commerce Department plans to award $2B in grants to nine quantum computing companies and will take equity stakes; IBM is set to get $1B of the package
Trump administration hopes to spur ‘a new era of American innovation,’ Commerce's Lutnick says — WASHINGTON—The Trump administration …
Arizona State University study: waste heat from Phoenix-area data centers raised downwind neighborhoods' air temperatures by up to 4°F above upwind temperatures
Waste heat from data centers can boost air temperatures in downwind neighborhoods by as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit …
London Mayor Sadiq Khan blocks the Met police's £50M Palantir deal to automate intelligence analysis, citing a “clear and serious breach” of procurement rules
Exclusive: Scotland Yard had been in talks to use Palantir's AI technology to automate intelligence analysis
Gavin Newsom signs an EO mandating state agencies work with the AI industry and others to study subsidies for companies that don't replace workers with AI
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to explore an overhaul of labor policies to deal with potential mass job displacement from artificial intelligence.
Commure, which offers AI, revenue cycle management, and workflow automation tools for healthcare providers, raised $70M led by GC at a $7B post-money valuation
Commure investment Artificial Intelligence General Catalyst — Healthcare AI company Commure has banked $70 million in fresh funding, reaching a $7 billion valuation.
AMD says its Mac Mini-sized Ryzen AI Halo PC starts at $3,999 with Ryzen AI Max 300 chips, for preorder in June, and unveils Ryzen AI Max 400 chips coming in Q3
They're direct shots at NVIDIA's AI systems — AMD's big pitch for 2026 seems to be: “Who needs cloud AI processing when you can do it all locally?”
Jeff Bezos dismisses AI job fears, defends billionaires against “vilification”, proposes eliminating income taxes for low earners, and praises President Trump
VIDEO 54:38 — Watch CNBC's full interview with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — Ultrabillionaire Jeff Bezos …
X resolved a three-year dispute with Australia's eSafety regulator after a court upheld a fine against the company for inadequate disclosures on combating CSAM
An Australian court upheld a regulator's fine against Elon Musk's social media company X Corp after it admitted violating the law …
Sources: the Pentagon is launching a task force to study how to safely deploy leading AI tools with hacking capabilities across Cyber Command and NSA missions
These people, like others in this report, were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive effort.
AMD pledges to invest $10B+ in Taiwan's chip industry to make advanced chip packaging for AI, and says TSMC will ramp up production of its next-gen Venice chips
The company is investing more to meet growing demand for artificial-intelligence infrastructure — Advanced Micro Devices …
Spotify closes up 13% after announcing new features and 2030 guidance, forecasting a compound annual growth rate in the mid-teens and gross margins of 35%-40%
Spotify shares jumped 15% on Thursday after the music streaming platform laid out guidance for 2030 and reached an artificial intelligence deal …
Taiwan is seeking to detain three people for forging documents to export Super Micro servers with Nvidia chips to China, Hong Kong, and Macau, breaking US rules
Taiwanese officials are seeking to detain three individuals for forging documents in order to export Nvidia Corp. AI chips to China …
Netflix and iHeartMedia say Charlamagne tha God's The Breakfast Club will stream live on Netflix on weekdays from June 1, the service's first daily live show
Charlamagne tha God's morning radio show has been a standout success among the streamer's video podcast efforts
Workday reports Q1 revenue up 13% YoY to $2.54B vs. $2.52B est., and lifts its full-year forecast, saying its AI strategy is working; WDAY jumps 9%+ after hours
Workday shares surged as much as 14% in extended trading on Thursday after the finance and human resources software maker reported results …
Take-Two reports Q4 bookings flat YoY at $1.58B, forecasts FY 2027 bookings below est., reiterates GTA VI's November 19 launch date; TTWO jumps 6%+ after hours
Take-Two Interactive (TTWO.O) forecast annual bookings below Wall Street expectations on Thursday, but reiterated …
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Meta, accusing WhatsApp of marketing its services as secure but failing to “deliver on those promises” by accessing encrypted messages
WhatsApp is able to access user's encrypted messages, Texas said in a lawsuit that accuses Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg …
SpaceX S-1: Anthropic is paying SpaceX $1.25B per month through May 2029 under their compute deal; Anthropic says it is expanding the deal to include Colossus 2
Anthropic is paying SpaceX $1.25 billion per month through May 2029 as part of the massive compute deal the companies signed earlier this month.
Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman's unnamed enterprise services JV buys Fractional AI, its first deal; sources say Fractional ends its OpenAI deal
The new artificial intelligence enterprise services firm backed by Blackstone Inc., Anthropic PBC and Hellman & Friedman …
Sources: Manus' co-founders are in talks to raise $1B+ to buy back the Chinese-founded startup, after Beijing ordered Meta to unwind its $2B Manus acquisition
The co-founders of Manus are exploring options to fulfill Beijing's demand to unwind a controversial takeover by Meta Platforms Inc. …
Cloud provider Railway says Google Cloud suspended its account without cause, resulting in an outage; in 2024, GCP deleted an Australian pension fund's account
Mercury, which provides banking services to startups, raised a $200M Series D led by TCV at a $5.2B valuation, up from $3.5B in March 2025
Source: smart ring maker Oura filed confidentially for a US IPO, set for later in 2026; SF- and Finland-based Oura had an $11B valuation in September 2025
Oura Health Oy, a maker of popular smart rings that track health, fitness and sleep, filed confidentially for a US initial public offering …
Sources: the EU will propose temporarily lifting sanctions, imposed in April, on a major Chinese semiconductor supplier after automakers warned of shortages
The European Union will propose temporarily lifting sanctions on a major Chinese semiconductor supplier after automakers warned …
S. “Soma” Somasegar, who led Microsoft's Developer Division for 12 years as part of his 27-year tenure at the company before leaving in 2015, has died at age 59
Waymo suspends operations in Atlanta and San Antonio as its robotaxis struggle with flooded roads and says it has yet to develop a “final remedy” for flooding
Waymo has now paused service in two cities because its robotaxis are struggling to deal with heavy rain and flooded roads …
Filing: SpaceX reports 2025 revenue up 33% YoY to $18.7B, a loss of $4.9B, down from a $791M profit in 2024, and $20.7B in capital expenditures, up from $11.2B
Mr. Musk's rocket and satellite maker disclosed its financial performance as it prepares to go public in what is set to be one of the largest offerings to date.
Hark, founded by Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock to build AI-powered devices, raised a $700M+ Series A led by Parkway Venture at a $6B post-money valuation
Entrepreneur Brett Adcock's new startup Hark has secured over $700 million in a funding round that values the artificial intelligence …
Ubisoft reports a record €1.30B operating loss for the year to March 2026 and expects sales in 2026-27 will fall by ~8% to 9%; UBI closed down 6.58% on May 20
Bluesky and Clemson University researchers detail a novel Russian influence campaign that hijacked influential Bluesky accounts to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda
The company said it was fighting Russian efforts to hijack real users' accounts to post fake content, an apparently novel tactic.
Internal memo: Intuit is laying off ~17% of its workforce, or ~3,000 employees worldwide, to streamline operations and sharpen its focus on key bets, like AI
Federal records: Grok was utilized in only 3 of 400+ publicly identified federal AI use cases in 2025, behind 234 for ChatGPT, 33 for Gemini, 26 for Claude
Apple says the App Store prevented over $2.2B in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2025, rejected over 2M problematic app submissions, and more
Samsung Electronics and its South Korean labor union reach a preliminary pay deal; the union says it has suspended a general strike and put the deal to a vote
Higgsfield AI premieres Hell Grind, a 95-minute fully AI-generated film, at Cannes and says it took two weeks and cost $500K to make, of which $400K was on AI
‘Hell Grind,’ a 95-minute fully AI-generated film, premieres this week at Cannes, where questions around the technology's encroachment remain center-stage
Sources: Anthropic is in talks to rent servers powered by Microsoft-designed chips; source: Anthropic has steadily increased its Azure usage since November 2025
SpaceX S-1: Starlink subscribers grew 105% YoY to 10.3M in Q1 2026; SpaceX's “Connectivity” business, which is primarily driven by Starlink, made $11.3B in 2025
Executive Summary — SpaceX should be framed first as a float-black-box …Yahoo Finance:SpaceX files for long-awaited public stock offering that could make Elon Musk a trillionaireCrypto Briefing:Star...
Bengaluru-based Scapia, which offers travel-focused co-branded credit cards and an app, raised $63M led by GC, a source says at a $500M+ post-money valuation
Zoom reports Q1 revenue up 5.5% YoY to $1.24B, vs. $1.22B est., AI Companion paid users up 184%, forecasts FY 2027 revenue above est.; ZM jumps 8%+ after hours
Zoom Communications Inc. projected stronger-than-anticipated sales growth, suggesting that customers are adopting its expanded suite of office products.
Paris-based Pivot, which develops AI tools for procurement and financial workflows, raised a $40M Series B co-led by Forestay Capital and Notion Capital
Jensen Huang says that Nvidia has “largely conceded” China's AI chip market to Huawei and should “expect nothing” regarding approvals to sell chips in China
Lee Ying Shan /CNBC:
Sources: Starbucks shut down an AI program for automating inventory counts, nine months after deploying it, after it frequently miscounted and mislabeled items
Starbucks (SBUX.O) terminated an AI program workers used for automating certain inventory counts this week …
Source: Cursor reached $3B in annualized revenue in late April and now has 3,000+ customers paying at least $100K each for its software on an annualized basis
Cursor's annualized revenue hit $3 billion in late April, according to a person familiar with the matter, indicating growing demand …
Filing: SpaceX set aside $530M for potential litigation losses, including lawsuits involving Grok's Spicy and Unhinged modes, which “present heightened risks”
OpenAI's Chris Lehane says he is pursuing “reverse federalism”, lobbying blue states to pass AI safety laws and create a de facto US standard, as DC dithers
Stability AI releases a new family of audio models called Stable Audio 3.0 that is trained on licensed data; the top model can generate six-minute songs
Spotify and UMG plan to let Premium users create AI covers and remixes using music from participating UMG artists as a paid add-on, without giving a launch date
Spotify and Universal Music Group have announced a major recorded-music and music-publishing licensing agreements …
SpaceX S-1: xAI plans to buy another $2.8B worth of turbines for its data centers, including a $2B deal for mobile gas turbines, the type NAACP is suing it for
Tim De Chant /TechCrunch:
Socket, which helps companies safeguard open-source code against hackers, raised $60M led by Thrive Capital at a $1B valuation
An interview with Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff about his plans for Tinder, including a redesign, AI features, live events, and group dating to win over Gen Z
Nvidia reports Q1 net income up 211% YoY to $58.3B, above $42.9B est., and raises its Q2 revenue forecast to $91B; Jensen Huang says “demand has gone parabolic”
Robbie Whelan /Wall Street Journal:
Exa, which offers a search engine that is designed for AI agents, raised $250M led by a16z at a $2.2B valuation, up from $700M in September 2025
NanoClaw creator NanoCo raised a $12M seed led by Valley Capital and says it is booking enterprise customers; co-founders say they rejected a $20M buyout offer
Modal Labs, which offers a serverless cloud platform to build AI apps and run AI inference, raised a $355M Series C at a $4.65B valuation, up from $1.1B in 2025
August Robotics, which makes autonomous robots for construction and industrial applications, raised $30M led by Big Pi Ventures
Spotify partners with Live Nation to launch Reserved, a new feature that sets aside tickets for the most dedicated fans, starting with Premium users in the US
Ethan Millman /The Hollywood Reporter:NEW
SpaceX S-1: xAI had a $6.4B operating loss on $3.2B in revenue in 2025; Grok and X had 550M MAUs combined as of March 2026, and 117M used Grok's AI features
Rebecca Bellan /TechCrunch:
Variational, which has built a protocol for decentralized derivatives trading aimed at gathering liquidity from traditional markets, raised a $50M Series A
Spotify says it has 1M+ subscriptions to Audiobook+, which is on track for $100M in ARR, and unveils an ElevenLabs-powered audiobook self-publishing tool
Ivan Mehta /TechCrunch:NEW