How smuggled Starlink receivers and customized software let some Iranians evade a near-total internet blackout as the regime brutally cracked down on protesters
Tehran went from ‘halal internet’ to near-total blackout but activists have smuggled in Starlink devices to get information out
Holistic Resilience, a US group that helps Iranians secure internet access, says SpaceX has waived Starlink subscription fees amid a days-long internet blackout
Makes It FreeTucker Reals /CBS News:Over 12,000 feared dead after Iran protests, as video shows bodies lined up at morgueBenoit Faucon /Wall Street Journal:Iran Is Hunting Down Sta...
Sources: Apple executive Ke Yang, who was appointed just weeks ago as the head of the AKI team developing AI-driven web search for Siri, is leaving for Meta
The Apple Inc. executive leading an effort to develop AI-driven web search is stepping down, marking the latest in a string …
The European Commission says it won't pause the rollout of its AI Act, after Alphabet, Meta, Mistral, ASML, and others urged the EU to delay the rules by years
As Europe prepares to roll out the landmark EU AI Act, we're seeing growing pushback from some of the biggest players in tech and industry … Forums: Msmash / Slashdot : EU Sticks W...
The EU says it has no plans to pause the implementation of the AI Act, after Meta, Google, Mistral, ASML, and others urged it to delay the rules by years
The European Union's landmark rules on artificial intelligence will be implemented according to the timeline agreed by legislators and EU countries …
WhatsApp launches optional Meta AI-generated summaries of unread messages in the US; Meta says it can't read the chats, and other users can't see the summaries
Are You Okay With That? Tyler Lacoma / CNET : WhatsApp Brings Meta AI-Powered Summaries to Your Texts Emma Roth / The Verge : WhatsApp rolls out AI-generated summaries for private ...
Sources: ~300 London-based DeepMind staff have sought to unionize with the CWU in recent weeks, to challenge AI sales to defense groups and Google's Israel ties
Move by employees at Google's AI arm follows discontent after weapons and surveillance pledge is dropped
Source: OpenAI is in talks to acquire Windsurf, an AI coding tool formerly known as Codeium, for ~$3B; Windsurf was valued at $1.25B in a 2024 funding deal
they are the black hole of Startups People still don't get it Evil institution Deedy / @deedydas : @EMostaque Perhaps the time (say even 6mos) it takes to build and grow a Windsurf...
The White House says that tariffs on China are set to rise to 104% at 12:01am ET on April 9 after China missed Trump's deadline to remove its reciprocal tariffs
President Donald Trump is set to impose an astounding 104% in levies across all Chinese imports on Wednesday …
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says that President Trump “believes” the US has the labor, workforce, and resources to build iPhones in the US
Trump's massive 104% tariffs on China are set to go into effect at midnight tonight, a move that will have a major impact on Apple and its supply chain.
Sesame, headed by Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe, exits stealth with an undisclosed amount of funding, unveiling an AI speech model and plans for AI glasses
Here's an embedded 13-minute audio clip of my first attempt! — www.theverge.com/news/621022/ ... X: @sesame : At Sesame, we believe in a future where computers are lifelike. Toda...
Sources: SoftBank is in talks to invest $15B to $25B in OpenAI on top of its $15B+ commitment to Stargate; the deal would make SoftBank OpenAI's biggest backer
Deal would make Japanese group biggest financial backer in ChatGPT maker — SoftBank is in talks to invest as much as $25bn into OpenAI …
Donald Trump says he will sign an executive order on January 20 to delay enforcing the TikTok US ban and argues for a TikTok joint venture with 50% US ownership
Yes, Trump said he's “most likely” to give #TikTok 90-day extension. — No, that's not a legally available option. — The 270 days lapsed. An extension is no longer available (e...
TikTok restores its service in the US, thanking Donald Trump for “the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties”
The company said this afternoon that it is “in the process of restoring service” and thanked President-elect Trump for …
Sources: a breakthrough in AI super-agents for complex human tasks may be announced soon; Sam Altman set up a closed-door briefing for US officials on Jan. 30
- Build from scratch: Imagine telling your agent, “Build me new payment software.” … - Make sense of chaos …
IBM reports Q2 revenue up 2% YoY to $15.8B, vs. $15.6B est., and says bookings for AI consulting and software have exceeded $2B since mid-2023, vs. $1B in Q1
Bloomberg :
Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs and Pudgy Penguins creator LSLTTT are among the NFT makers boycotting Blur and OpenSea for recently slashed royalty rates
Sidhartha Shukla / Bloomberg :
The FTC and 17 US states sue Amazon for allegedly using monopoly power to raise its prices, force sellers to pay fulfillment and ad fees, and harm its rivals
- Amazon is facing its first set of antitrust charges from the U.S. federal government after the Federal Trade Commission filed …
Sources: Arm looks to target its IPO at a $50B-$55B valuation, well below the $64B valuation implied by SoftBank's recent acquisition of a 25% stake in Arm
Wall Street Journal :
Sources: Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet, Intel, Samsung, and AMD have agreed to invest between $25M and $100M each in Arm's IPO
Customers of Arm Holdings Ltd including Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O) are set to invest …