Techmeme River
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
7:10 AM
Databricks agrees to acquire cloud database startup Neon for ~$1B, set to close in Q2 2025; Neon's platform is based on open-source database PostgreSQL
Wall Street Journal
7:00 AM
Sources: Guangzhou-based autonomous driving company Pony AI confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO; Pony AI raised ~$413M in a US IPO in November 2024
Bloomberg
6:35 AM
French IT group Atos says it will simplify its organization, cut expenses, and focus on AI, aiming to reach €9B to €10B in 2028 sales, after years of setbacks
Bloomberg
6:25 AM
FTC v. Meta: Meta's lawyer disparaged tech journalists Kara Swisher and Om Malik, calling Malik a “failed blogger”, showing Meta's long-simmering media tensions
The Verge
6:10 AM
Filing: GD Culture Group, a struggling China-linked company that has only eight staff, plans to buy $300M in BTC and $TRUMP, creating clear ethical conflicts
New York Times
6:00 AM
Sources: Shenzhen government-owned chip equipment maker SiCarrier, a key Huawei supplier, is seeking ~$2.8B at an $11B valuation in its first fundraising round
Reuters
5:50 AM
Tencent reports Q1 revenue up 13% YoY to ~$25B, above ~$24.3B est., net profit up 14% YoY to ~$6.6B, below ~$7.3B est., driven by gaming business growth
CNBC
5:40 AM
Foxconn reports Q1 revenue up 24% YoY to ~$54B, net profit up 91% YoY to ~$1.38B, above est.,; cloud and networking, like AI servers, was 34% of its Q1 revenue
Wall Street Journal
5:00 AM
How Finland's district heating systems are harvesting heat from data centers; Microsoft's project near Helsinki will be the largest of its kind when completed
Bloomberg
4:40 AM
Sony reports Q4 revenue down 24% YoY to $17.7B, 18.5M PlayStation 5 units sold in FY 24, down from 20.8M in FY 23, and expects a $700M US tariff impact in FY 25
Bloomberg
4:25 AM
Q&A with Marc Benioff on how AI is disrupting work, Salesforce's AI agent platform Agentforce, the Trump administration's tariffs and economic policy, and more
Financial Times
3:45 AM
Appfigures: mobile gamers spent $65.4B in 2024, up 4% YoY, but less than $4B went to games released in 2024; studios launched 126K games in 2024, down 43% YoY
Bloomberg
3:35 AM
Sources including former AbleGamers staff detail abuse, financial mismanagement, and other issues at the influential nonprofit promoting gaming accessibility
IGN
3:25 AM
A profile of Tether Chief Investment Officer Richard Heathcote, who manages a $150B asset portfolio and has helped deepen Tether's ties with Cantor Fitzgerald
Bloomberg
3:15 AM
The US Commerce Department issues guidance stating that “using Huawei Ascend chips anywhere in the world violates US export controls” due to the use of US tech
Financial Times
1:15 AM
Microsoft extends support for Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10 until October 10, 2028, after previously announcing plans to end support by October 14, 2025
The Verge
1:10 AM
Source: Arista plans to acquire Broadcom's VeloCloud, which provides SD-WAN tech to telecoms, for less than $1B; VMware bought VeloCloud for ~$450M in 2017
The Information
1:05 AM
The EU's Vulnerability Database project, first announced in June 2024, is now fully operational, while the US's NVD struggles with a backlog of submissions
The Register
12:50 AM
Filing: Cantor Equity Partners bought $458.7M in BTC as part of a pending merger with Twenty One Capital, the BTC investment vehicle backed by Tether and others
CoinDesk
12:35 AM
Sea reports Q1 revenue up 29.6% YoY to $4.84B vs $4.89B est., net profit of $403M vs $23M net loss in Q1 2024, and e-commerce revenue up 28.3% YoY to $3.5B
Nikkei Asia
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
11:15 PM
Sources: Baidu plans to test its Apollo Go robotaxi service in Switzerland by the end of 2025, its first expansion in Europe, and also launch it in Turkey
Wall Street Journal
10:50 PM
UK-based Space Forge, which aims to develop ultra-efficient semiconductors and other materials in orbit, raised a $30M Series A led by the NATO Innovation Fund
Axios
9:50 PM
Amazon's Zoox offers free robotaxi rides to employees and other invited users in Las Vegas, after receiving approval to accept paying customers in Clark County
The Information
9:05 PM
Former DeepSeek employees, analysts, VCs, and executives detail how the Chinese AI company works and how it fits into China's broader AI ambitions
Bloomberg
8:05 PM
Sources: TikTok is working on a new feature to let US users share photos over DMs inside the app, and also plans to introduce voice messaging
The Information
7:50 PM
eToro prices its shares at $52 for its IPO, above its expected range of $46 to $50, raising nearly $310M and valuing the company at about $4.2B
CNBC
7:25 PM
Glass Imaging, which develops AI-powered software to improve digital image quality, raised a $20M Series A led by Insight Partners
VentureBeat
6:25 PM
Trump's acting replacements for the Copyright Office are known to be unfriendly to the tech industry and not the kind of people that AI proponents would support
The Verge
5:25 PM
WhatsApp v. NSO Group: NSO kept targeting WhatsApp users even after Meta sued, NSO spent $59M on R&D in 2024, and its customers pay ~$3M-$30M to use Pegasus
TechCrunch
5:00 PM
AMD and Humain partner to invest up to $10B on AI infrastructure over the next five years, including in data centers stretching from Saudi Arabia to the US
Bloomberg
4:55 PM
Google says it is testing an “AI Mode” button on the Search homepage with Labs users, replacing the “I'm Feeling Lucky” button
CNBC
4:40 PM
Chime files for a Nasdaq IPO under the symbol CHYM, reporting 8.6M active members at the end of March, up 23% YoY, and average revenue per active member of $251
CNBC
3:45 PM
The FCC will investigate EchoStar's compliance with requirements to build a nationwide 5G network and EchoStar's use of spectrum, sought by SpaceX and others
Wall Street Journal
3:45 PM
Amazon says it will work with Humain to invest $5B+ in a strategic partnership to help build an “AI Zone” in Saudi Arabia
TechCrunch
3:30 PM
A look at Brian Chesky's efforts to turn Airbnb into a storefront for real-world services, after struggling with previous experiments to expand beyond vacations
Wired
3:17 PM
House Republicans introduced language to the Budget Reconciliation bill that would ban US states from enforcing any AI regulation for 10 years
404 Media
3:05 PM
The UK House of Lords again rebuffs the government's AI plans by adding an amendment to a bill to require AI firms list copyrighted content used to train models
The Guardian
2:59 PM
Airbnb revamps its app with a Services section featuring personal chefs, trainers, hair stylists, and more; bookings can be made without vacation reservations
CNN
2:30 PM
Unlike most mainstream social networks, Instagram hasn't scrubbed Kanye West's pro-Nazi song “Heil Hitler”; several posts featuring the song have 1M+ views
404 Media
2:20 PM
TikTok launches TikTok AI Alive, which lets users turn static photos into videos in TikTok Stories using Story Camera
TechCrunch
2:15 PM
Google rebrands Find My Device to Find Hub, which recently added a People tab to track contacts, and adds UWB support to the app for more precise tracking
The Verge
2:00 PM
Sources: the US mulls a deal to let the UAE import 500,000 of the most advanced AI chips each year until 2027; ~20% would go to G42 and the others to US firms
Bloomberg
1:50 PM
Google plans to add Gemini to Wear OS 6, Android Auto, Google TV, and Android XR later in 2025
The Keyword
1:45 PM
PayPal reportedly launches iPhone NFC payments in Germany, after the EU's DMA forced Apple to open up
The Verge
1:33 PM
Google says Android 16 adds device-level security features for its Advanced Protection Program, including intrusion logging for threat analysis
Google Online Security Blog
1:30 PM
Google says that users send over 1B RCS messages each day in the US on Android and iOS devices, based on a 28-day average
TechCrunch
1:20 PM
Google announces its Material 3 Expressive design, set to roll out to Android 16 and Wear OS 6 devices, nearly four years after introducing Material You
The Keyword
1:15 PM
Google announces Android 16 security features like expanded fraud detection in Messages, prevention of some actions while on calls, like side loading apps, more
TechCrunch
12:51 PM
Global tablet shipments grew 8.5% YoY to 36.8M in Q1, led by consumer and education refresh cycles; Apple shipments grew 14% YoY for a 37% market share
Canalys
12:40 PM
FTC v. Meta: the US case may come down to whether Judge James Boasberg believes blockchain social platform MeWe is a closer competitor to Instagram than TikTok
The Verge
12:20 PM
The US Commerce Department formally rescinds the Biden-era AI Diffusion Rule, which would have limited US AI chip exports and taken effect on May 13
TechCrunch
12:14 PM
Yuga Labs sells its CryptoPunks NFT collection, acquired in 2022, to Infinite Node Foundation for an undisclosed sum, after its market value and sales stagnated
The Verge
12:05 PM
Microsoft says it will lay off 6,000 staff in a bid to cut management layers, including at LinkedIn; Microsoft had 228K staff in June 2024 and cut 10K in 2023
Bloomberg
10:38 AM
Microsoft laying off about 6,000 people, or 3% of its workforce
CNBC
10:33 AM
Sources: Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund-backed AI company Humain picked US-based chipmaker Groq for inference; Groq plans to expand its Dammam data center
Semafor
10:26 AM
Elliptic: Colorado-registered Xinbi Guarantee runs a Telegram black market for Chinese crypto scammers that has facilitated $8.4B in transactions since 2022
Wired
10:00 AM
Intel says it certified Shell's lubricant-based method for cooling AI data center servers more efficiently after a two-year trial, in a bid to use less energy
Bloomberg
9:50 AM
Nvidia and Humain partner to build data centers in Saudi Arabia over the next five years, with the first phase involving 18,000 GB300 Grace Blackwell chips
Bloomberg
9:45 AM
Carbon credit certifier Verra suspends a Kenyan project used by Netflix, Meta, and others to burnish their green credentials over a dispute with Maasai herders
Wall Street Journal
9:15 AM
Spotify updates its AI DJ to let Premium subscribers use English voice commands to personalize what music it plays, like taking artist, genre, and mood requests
The Verge
9:05 AM
Dallas-based Bestow, which offers software and services to life insurance companies, raised a $120M Series D led by Goldman Sachs and Smith Point Capital
TechCrunch
8:45 AM
Sources: Google plans to showcase an AI “software development lifecycle agent” for developers and a Pinterest-like feature for consumers at Google I/O on May 20
The Information
8:30 AM
Audible partners with US publishers to convert print books and e-books into audiobooks narrated by 100+ AI voices across English, Spanish, French, and Italian
Bloomberg
8:20 AM
Chinese drone company DJI unveils the €2,099 Mavic 4 Pro with a 360° rotating gimbal, and says it won't be available in the US at launch, a first for its drones
The Verge
8:15 AM
Apple has worked with brain-computer interface startup Synchron to explore letting iPhone users control the device using brain signals via a stent-like implant
Wall Street Journal
8:11 AM
Apple unveils iOS and macOS accessibility features: App Store Accessibility Nutrition Labels, Magnifier for Mac, Accessibility Reader, Braille Access, and more
9to5Mac
7:40 AM
Restaurant tech startup Owner.com, which offers AI website building, marketing, and other tools, raised $120M co-led by Meritech and Headline at a $1B valuation
Bloomberg
7:25 AM
Robinhood acquires Toronto-based WonderFi, which owns Bitbuy, Coinsquare, and other crypto exchanges, for CA$250M, or CA$0.36 per share, set to close in H2 2025
BetaKit
7:00 AM
Analysis: Google faces €12B+ in damage claims from dozens of EU price comparison websites that allege it stole their customers, after a €2.4B EU fine in 2017
Bloomberg
6:40 AM
Sources: investors in US chipmaker Wolfspeed offered ~$600M to refinance a large convertible bond coming due in 2026, to pre-empt a potential bankruptcy filing
Financial Times
6:25 AM
JD.com reports Q1 revenue up 16% YoY to ~$41.8B and net income up 53% YoY to ~$1.5B, driven by Chinese government stimulus measures to counter the US' trade war
Bloomberg
6:10 AM
German defense tech startup Helsing unveils an autonomous mini submarine, the SG-1 Fathom, powered by its AI system Lura, which can detect and classify sounds
Financial Times
6:01 AM
UK retailer M&S says hackers stole customer data during a cyberattack reported on April 22; UK retailers Harrods and Co-op also reported hacks in recent weeks
Wall Street Journal
5:50 AM
Dealroom.co: content licensing and data marketplace startups like Pip Labs and ProRata have raised $215M since 2022 to help artists sell content for AI training
Financial Times
5:30 AM
SoftBank reports Q4 net profit up 124% YoY to ~$3.5B, a surprise profit and above a ~$182M loss est., due to improving valuations of Alibaba, T-Mobile, and more
Financial Times
5:15 AM
Beijing-based Meituan says it plans to spend $1B over five years to bring its food delivery service Keeta to Brazil, after a Saudi Arabia rollout in 2024
Bloomberg
Monday, May 12, 2025
10:20 PM
US SEC Chair Paul Atkins says blockchains could enable novel use cases for securities and “policymaking will no longer result from ad hoc enforcement actions”
Cointelegraph
9:10 PM
Galaxy S25 Edge hands-on: sturdy, the thin design is a breath of fresh air, and similar specs to the S25, but the 3,900 mAh battery is below the S25's 4,000 mAh
CNET
8:55 PM
Theom, which helps businesses safeguard and track sensitive data, raised a $20M Series A led by Wing VC, after an oversubscribed $16.4M seed in September 2022
Wall Street Journal
8:40 PM
Samsung unveils the $1,100+ Galaxy S25 Edge, which is 5.8mm thick and weighs 163g, making it 30% thinner and 25% lighter than the S25 Ultra, arriving on May 30
Bloomberg
7:50 PM
In the age of deepfakes, some people are using tactics like asking rapid-fire questions or sharing code words with each other to verify every online interaction
Wired
6:50 PM
Ticketmaster says it now shows the full price of a ticket up front, as part of its efforts to comply with the US FTC's junk fees ban that takes effect on May 12
The Verge
5:30 PM
E-commerce logistics startup Cart.com raised $50M at a $1.6B valuation, says it is on track to cross $500M in revenue in 2025, and is planning more acquisitions
Axios
5:27 PM
Coinbase is joining the S&P 500, replacing Discover Financial Services in the index, effective before trading on May 19; COIN jumps 15%+
CNBC
5:26 PM
GM names Aurora co-founder and CPO Sterling Anderson as its VP of Global Product and its Chief Product Officer, a newly created position, starting on June 2
TechCrunch
4:00 PM
Sources: the US government is considering a sale of hundreds of thousands of US AI chips to the UAE's G42, and is set to sign a deal with Saudi Arabia's Humain
New York Times
3:40 PM
Google updates its “G” icon for the first time in nearly 10 years, with its red, yellow, green, and blue colors now blending together on a gradient
9to5Google
2:55 PM
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz disclosed in April that he had gifted $1B+ worth of CrowdStrike stock to undisclosed recipients, cutting his voting power to 2.5%
Bloomberg
2:35 PM
Google's Gemma models passed 150M downloads and 70K+ variants on Hugging Face, after its February 2024 launch; Meta's Llama passed 1.2B downloads in April 2025
TechCrunch
2:30 PM
Sources: Apple is planning an AI-powered battery management mode for iOS 19 that analyzes how a person uses their phone and makes adjustments to conserve energy
Bloomberg
2:10 PM
American Bitcoin, a bitcoin miner backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, says it will list on the Nasdaq via an all-stock merger with Gryphon Digital Mining
Reuters
1:40 PM
Chegg reports Q1 subscribers down 31% YoY to 3.2M, and says it will lay off 248 employees, or ~22% of its staff, to cut costs as students turn more to AI tools
Reuters
1:15 PM
Financial guidance service Stash raised a $146M Series H, has 1.3M paying subscribers, and its recently launched Money Coach AI has had 2.2M client interactions
PYMNTS.com
1:06 PM
President Trump signs an EO to cut the de minimis tariff from 120% to 54% on shipments from China, but keeps the $100 minimum flat fee, effective from May 14
Axios
12:50 PM
Amazon says Prime Video's ad tier now reaches 130M+ US customers and it plans AI-powered tools for advertisers on and off Amazon, including contextual ad copy
The Hollywood Reporter
12:16 PM
Sources: Perplexity is in advanced talks to raise $500M led by Accel in a round that values it at $14B, up from $9B in November 2024
Wall Street Journal
10:06 AM
Saudi Arabia launches Humain, a multibillion-dollar AI company chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the main vehicle to drive the kingdom's AI strategy
Financial Times
9:45 AM
Senator Tom Cotton introduces a bill to mandate that AI chip makers use geo-tracking tech to comply with export rules, taking effect six months after it passes
Tom's Hardware
8:10 AM
Chinese government data: Chinese shipments of foreign-branded cellphones, including iPhones, dropped by 49.6% YoY to 1.887M units in March 2025
Reuters
7:45 AM
Tel-Aviv based quantum computing startup Classiq raised a $110M Series C led by Entree Capital, taking its total funding since its 2020 founding to $173M
Reuters
7:20 AM
Honor unveils a free AI image-to-video generator powered by Google's Veo 2, first in the Honor 400 and 400 Pro, which ship from May 22; Google limits Veo 2 use
The Verge
7:05 AM
The Trump administration appears more interested than Biden's was in striking AI chip deals in the Middle East, where Trump has deep financial and business ties
New York Times
6:35 AM
Sources: SoftBank and OpenAI's $100B Stargate investment hits snags on tariff fears; talks with dozens of lenders started earlier in 2025 have yielded no deals
Bloomberg
6:14 AM
Sources: Apple considers raising prices for its fall iPhone lineup, a step it is seeking to couple with new features and design changes, without blaming tariffs
Wall Street Journal
6:00 AM
How India aims to become a regional data center hub, leveraging its low energy prices and AI-skilled workforce; the power grids' capacity is a major challenge
Financial Times
4:20 AM
The US and China agree to a deal to lower tariffs for the next 90 days, a sign of easing tensions; the US plans to cut tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%
Financial Times
3:55 AM
A profile of Genshin Impact creator HoYoverse, which is exploring new game genres as its titles begin to cannibalize each other and its revenue declined in 2024
Bloomberg
1:30 AM
Cairo-based Nawy, Africa's largest proptech platform, which combines property listings with brokerage services, raised a $52M Series A led by Partech Africa
TechCrunch
12:50 AM
A look at Foresight, an AI model trained on anonymized NHS data from 57M people in England, which could help predict diseases or forecast hospitalization rates
New Scientist
Sunday, May 11, 2025
8:50 PM
How OpenDNS, Cloudflare, and Google responded to EU court orders to block the DNS resolution of pirate sites; OpenDNS left France and Belgium rather than comply
TorrentFreak
5:45 PM
How “AI-native” startups, which integrate AI into their workflows and team structures, are trying to scale faster with fewer employees and consolidate tasks
Bloomberg
3:15 PM
Singapore unveils a blueprint for global collaboration on AI safety, developed in consensus with researchers and experts from the US, China, and other countries
Wired
1:00 PM
Q&A with Whitney Wolfe Herd on returning as Bumble's CEO, her Tinder lawsuit, being bullish about using AI in dating apps, funding for female founders, and more
New York Times
10:25 AM
As the consumer metaverse stumbles, the World Economic Forum projects the industrial metaverse will reach $100B by 2030, led by platforms like Nvidia Omniverse
Wired
9:35 AM
Sources: OpenAI is negotiating with Microsoft to launch a future IPO; Microsoft is offering to cut its equity stake for access to OpenAI's new tech beyond 2030
Financial Times
6:05 AM
Q&A with Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark on the parts of the economy AGI will affect last, why he's relatively bearish on AI-fueled economic growth, and more
Conversations with Tyler
2:00 AM
Court filing: internal Pornhub documents show it had 706K videos in May 2020 flagged for child rape or other problems, often not removed until flagged 16+ times
New York Times
1:40 AM
CMU researchers unveil LegoGPT, an AI model that designs physically stable Lego structures from text prompts and currently supports eight standard brick types
Ars Technica
1:25 AM
London-based StackOne, which develops tech to integrate SaaS products and AI agents with enterprise systems more efficiently, raised a $20M Series A led by GV
Silicon Canals
1:10 AM
Thoma Bravo invests $100M+ in HubSync, a Tennessee-based tax and accounting automation and client experience platform for accounting firms and tax professionals
FinSMEs
12:50 AM
Lloyd's of London insurers launch a product to cover companies for losses if they are sued over AI chatbot errors, with policies developed by YC-backed Armilla
Financial Times
12:40 AM
US SEC filing: Vanguard marks down Ola's valuation to $1.25B, a drop of 80%+ from a 2021 peak of $7.3B, as the ride-hailing company loses market share in India
Entrackr
12:10 AM
Amsterdam-based AppSignal, which develops an app monitoring tool that it says is used by 2,000+ organizations, raised a $22M Series A led by Elsewhere Partners
SiliconANGLE
Saturday, May 10, 2025
11:55 PM
The Trump administration fired US Copyright Office head Shira Perlmutter; her office had raised concerns about using copyrighted content to train AI models
CBS News
8:55 PM
TSOLife, whose software is in use in 1,300 senior living facilities in 47 US states, raised a $43M Series B led by PeakSpan, bringing its total funding to $52M
Axios
4:55 PM
The US FTC delays the start of its “click-to-cancel” rule that requires companies to make canceling subscriptions as easy as signing up, from May 14 to July 14
Engadget
3:50 PM
Source: Tel Aviv-based AI21 Labs, which is building its own LLMs and launched an AI orchestration system in March, is raising a $300M Series D
Business Insider
2:40 PM
Ramp: 32.4% of US businesses using Ramp cards had OpenAI subscriptions in April, up from 28% in March; Google AI subscriptions fell to 0.1% in April
TechCrunch
1:30 PM
Q&A with Sonos interim CEO Tom Conrad on the disastrous app redesign, the Ace headphones, subscriptions, the canceled video player, Google, and more
The Verge
12:15 PM
Pope Leo XIV says he chose his name to honor Pope Leo XIII's work during the first industrial revolution, as AI poses challenges in a new industrial revolution
CNN
11:10 AM
The UK stopped asking Uber to pay VAT on the full cost of rides, instead collecting VAT only on its commission, after a setback in a similar dispute with Bolt
Financial Times
9:35 AM
A look at Microsoft's Threat Intelligence Center, staffed largely by ex-intelligence and military personnel, which has become a key pillar of US cyber defense
Bloomberg
1:40 AM
US real estate analytics provider CoStar agrees to acquire Domain, an Australian property listings website that competes with News Corp's REA, for about $1.92B
Wall Street Journal
12:40 AM
SoundCloud quietly changed its policies to allow the company to use audio uploaded by users on its platform to “inform, train, develop or serve as input to AI”
TechCrunch
12:10 AM
How the three largest US gig economy companies, Lyft, DoorDash, and Uber, are aggressively expanding into Europe and Turkey through acquisitions
Bloomberg
Friday, May 9, 2025
11:55 PM
Datadog acquires Eppo, which offers feature flagging and app experimentation tools, reportedly for $220M; Eppo had raised $47.5M and was valued at $80M in 2022
TechCrunch
10:45 PM
The US FDA plans to deploy AI tools to all centers by June 30, 2025 to speed up scientific reviews, after completing a pilot and naming its first AI chief
Fierce Biotech
10:15 PM
Meta unveils AssetGen 2.0, an AI system that generates higher quality 3D assets compared to AssetGen 1.0, rolling out to Horizon creators later in 2025
UploadVR
9:45 PM
Q&A with SAP CEO Christian Klein on data security, Databricks partnership, building a “social network for B2B”, positioning SAP as a neutral player, and more
Stratechery
7:35 PM
Google agrees to pay Texas $1.4B to settle two lawsuits claiming it tracks Texans' personal location and maintains their facial recognition data without consent
Bloomberg Law
7:30 PM
Pinterest agrees to pay $34.7M to settle a 2021 lawsuit from Christine Martinez, an early adviser who claimed she co-created the platform without compensation
New York Times
7:10 PM
Google agrees to pay Texas $1.4 billion data privacy settlement
CNBC
6:45 PM
A profile of Gail Slater, the head of the DOJ's antitrust unit who has become the leader of the MAGA antitrust movement over Big Tech “censorship” concerns
Politico
5:15 PM
President Claudia Sheinbaum says Mexico is suing Google for ignoring requests not to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America on Google Maps in the US
BBC
5:05 PM
Brian Armstrong says Coinbase considered allocating 80% of its balance sheet into bitcoin but decided against the scheme as it was too risky
Bloomberg
4:40 PM
Sources: Snowflake challenger ClickHouse is in talks to raise hundreds of millions led by Khosla Ventures at a $6B valuation, triple its valuation from 2021
The Information
4:20 PM
After a backlash, Whoop says members with more than 12 months remaining are now automatically eligible for a free upgrade to 5.0
The Verge
3:25 PM
Source: US DOL ended its probe into Scale AI's Fair Labor Standards Act compliance, after announcing a friendlier approach to classifying workers as contractors
TechCrunch
3:05 PM
Tech companies warn they may pull back from US investment pledges if Congress doesn't fully reinstate the R&D tax deduction pared back in Trump's 2017 tax bill
Bloomberg
2:40 PM
Google agrees to pay $50M to settle a lawsuit accusing it of systemic racial bias against Black employees, covering 4,000+ employees in California and New York
Reuters
2:25 PM
Sources: the US Treasury asked Benchmark whether its Manus AI funding is covered by restrictions on investments in tech destined for “countries of concern”
Semafor
1:12 PM
Rippling raised a $450M Series G at a $16.8B valuation, up from $13.4B during its $200M Series F in 2024; it is also conducting a $200M tender offer
TechCrunch
12:55 PM
Epic Games says it has submitted Fortnite to the US App Store for review
9to5Mac
12:30 PM
Coinbase Derivatives, the company's CFTC-regulated derivatives arm, launches 24/7 Bitcoin and Ethereum futures trading for retail and institutional users
The Block
10:15 AM
How Apple's extraordinary measures to keep its App Store commissions after the Epic v. Apple trial led to a civil contempt ruling and weakened its credibility
New York Times
7:25 AM
Sources: CoreWeave plans to raise ~$1.5B through a high-yield bond offering, aiming to refinance part of its massive liabilities just weeks after its muted IPO
Financial Times