Washington Post: Sources: Marc Andreessen and Travis Kalanick are involved in the Department of Government Efficiency, with Andreessen acting as a key networker for recruitment — The Tesla executive and the former presidential candidate are meeting with staff and interviewing experts as they plan for massive federal cuts.
Published: 2024-11-25 00:20:01
Aya Wagatsuma / Bloomberg: Shares of Japan's Fujikura, which specializes in fiber optic cables for data centers, are up 400%+ in 2024 due to the AI boom, leading the Nikkei 225 index — - Fujikura has benefited from surging demand for data centers — The global boom in AI has turned an obscure 139-year-old Japanese company into a stock-market star.
Published: 2024-11-24 23:30:02
Reporters Without Borders: Investigation: how hack-for-hire Appin tried silencing 15+ outlets since 2022 over articles, newsletters, and podcasts covering Appin's “ethical hacking” — Whether based in the US, Switzerland, France or India, any media outlet investigating the “ethical hacking” of Appin …
Published: 2024-11-24 22:00:31
David Pan / Bloomberg: A profile of Chris Maurice, the CEO of US stablecoin startup Yellow Card, which operates in 20 African countries and has traded $3B+ worth of crypto in 2024 — Cryptocurrencies that track the dollar are becoming a popular workaround for companies stymied by currency shortages on the continent.
Published: 2024-11-24 20:20:02
Steven Overly / Politico: Q&A with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on what happens to the $50B CHIPS program under the Trump administration, the future of AI safety, China, and more — With a massive legacy program hanging in the balance, the Commerce secretary wants to get billions in microchip money out the door in the next two months.
Published: 2024-11-24 18:30:02
Bloomberg: Sources: Cantor Fitzgerald plans a $2B+ program to lend USD to clients who put up BTC as collateral and is talking with Tether about supporting the program — - Lutnick set to be next commerce secretary under Trump — Howard Lutnick is moving to strengthen his alliance with one of the most important …
Published: 2024-11-24 17:10:02
Benedict Evans: An overview of macro tech trends for 2025, focusing on generative AI, LLMs, scaling challenges with training ever bigger AI models, the capex surge, and more — Presentations Every year, I produce a big presentation exploring macro and strategic trends in the tech industry. For 2025, ‘AI eats the world’.
Published: 2024-11-24 16:50:00
Wall Street Journal: How Tim Cook developed a personal relationship with Donald Trump, in part by zeroing in on areas of mutual interest between Apple and Trump's agenda — The election is leading to a return of personal lobbying by CEOs, hoping to develop ties with the new administration; Cook's one-topic meals
Published: 2024-11-24 16:10:06
Wall Street Journal: Sources: in the past year, Cantor Fitzgerald agreed to invest as much as $600M in Tether for about a 5% stake; Cantor holds most of Tether's $134B in assets — Before becoming Trump's commerce secretary pick, Lutnick deepened Cantor's ties with a stablecoin firm under investigation
Published: 2024-11-24 15:35:02
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: Thoughts on Apple TV's history and future; sources: Apple postponed a larger-than-usual number of iOS 19 features to spring 2026, when iOS 19.4 is set to debut — Apple doesn't need its own TV set. But it should make a low-cost TV streaming stick to bring its content, apps and smart home features to more households.
Published: 2024-11-24 15:10:00
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch: Profiles of Teresa Ribera, Henna Virkkunen, and Ekaterina Zaharieva, the three incoming EU commissioners in charge of key tech policy areas into 2029 — The European Union looks to have clinched political agreement on the team of 26 commissioners who will be implementing President Ursula …
Published: 2024-11-24 13:15:03
Franz Lidz / New York Times: How researchers used AI and drones to find 303 previously uncharted Nazca Lines in Peru in six months, almost doubling the number that had been mapped by 2020 — With drones and A.I., researchers managed to double the number of mysterious geoglyphs in a matter of months.
Published: 2024-11-24 11:10:06
Bloomberg: Gamers who prefer playing together are fueling demand for esports hotels across China; research firm Niko Partners says China has more than 21,000 such hotels — With bunkbeds, 24/7 tech support and state-of-the-art consoles, China's 21,000 esports hotels cater to gamers who prefer to play together.
Published: 2024-11-24 09:05:03
Michel Martin / NPR: Q&A with Eric Schmidt about the DOJ's proposal for Google to sell Chrome, a new book about AI he co-authored with Craig Mundie and Henry Kissinger, and more — The Department of Justice is pushing for Google to spin off its Chrome browser. In August, a landmark ruling found Google …
Published: 2024-11-24 07:01:21
Reuters: Utilities, regulators, and researchers in six countries say the power demand surge caused by AI and data centers is being met in the near-term by fossil fuels — A spike in electricity demand from the world's big data providers is raising a worrying possibility for the world's climate: a near-term surge in fossil-fuel use.
Published: 2024-11-24 06:40:05