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OpenAI's Computing Power Shift: From Microsoft to SoftBank-Backed Stargate

2025-02-21

OpenAI's Computing Power Shift: From Microsoft to SoftBank-Backed Stargate

OpenAI projects a significant shift in its computing power sources within the next five years. By 2030, it anticipates three-quarters of its data center capacity will come from Stargate, a project heavily funded by SoftBank, a recent investor. This marks a departure from its current reliance on Microsoft, its largest shareholder. While OpenAI will continue increasing spending on Microsoft's data centers in the near term, its overall costs are poised for dramatic growth. The company projects a $20 billion cash burn in 2027, significantly exceeding the reported $5 billion in 2024. By 2030, inference costs (running AI models) are expected to surpass training costs.

(techcrunch.com)

AI AI infrastructure

Mistral's Le Chat Hits 1 Million Downloads

2025-02-20

Mistral's Le Chat Hits 1 Million Downloads

Mistral AI's Le Chat has surpassed one million downloads just weeks after its release, reaching the top spot on the French iOS App Store's free downloads chart. French President Emmanuel Macron even endorsed Le Chat in a recent TV interview. This success follows OpenAI's ChatGPT, which garnered 500,000 downloads in six days last November, and DeepSeek's app, which hit one million downloads between January 10th and 31st. The rapid growth highlights the fierce competition in the AI assistant market, with tech giants like Google and Microsoft also vying for a place on users' phones with Gemini and Copilot respectively.

(techcrunch.com)

AI

US Soldier Pleads Guilty to Stealing Millions of Phone Records from AT&T and Verizon

2025-02-19

A U.S. Army soldier, Cameron John Wagenius, pleaded guilty to hacking AT&T and Verizon, stealing a massive trove of phone records. He faces a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to 20 years in prison. This case is linked to the major 2024 Snowflake data breach, which also involved two other hackers, Connor Moucka and John Binns. The Snowflake hack resulted in the theft of massive amounts of data from AT&T, LendingTree, Santander Bank, Ticketmaster, and at least 160 other companies.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

Nikola's Fall from Grace: From $30B Valuation to Bankruptcy

2025-02-19

Nikola's Fall from Grace: From $30B Valuation to Bankruptcy

Hydrogen electric trucking startup Nikola Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, marking the dramatic downfall of a once-promising Silicon Valley darling. After achieving a $30 billion valuation in 2020, a series of scandals involving founder Trevor Milton sent the company into a tailspin. Despite attempts to raise capital and sell assets, Nikola ultimately failed to secure its future, leading to bankruptcy. The case serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of ethical business practices and robust risk management in the tech industry.

(techcrunch.com)

Startup

Google Play Books Bypasses Apple's App Store Commission on iOS

2025-02-19

Google Play Books Bypasses Apple's App Store Commission on iOS

Google Play Books iOS app users can now purchase ebooks and audiobooks directly through the Google Play website, bypassing Apple's 30% commission on in-app purchases. This is enabled by an exception stemming from Apple's settlement with Japan's Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), allowing eligible "reader apps" to utilize external link account entitlements. Users are redirected to Google Play's website for purchases, maintaining access to features like Family Library. This represents a significant shift in Apple's app store policies and sets a precedent for other app developers.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech External Links

Salt Typhoon Continues Telecom Attacks Despite US Sanctions

2025-02-15

Salt Typhoon Continues Telecom Attacks Despite US Sanctions

Despite US sanctions, the Chinese government-linked hacking group Salt Typhoon continues its attacks on telecommunication providers, according to Recorded Future. Five telecom firms were breached between December 2024 and January 2025, including a US affiliate of a major UK provider, and companies in Italy, South Africa, and Thailand. Salt Typhoon exploited vulnerabilities in Cisco devices and conducted reconnaissance on Myanmar's Mytel. Universities were also targeted, possibly for research access. While the US Treasury sanctioned Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology, linked to Salt Typhoon, Recorded Future expects the attacks to persist.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

Airbnb's Cautious AI Approach: Customer Service First, Trip Planning Later

2025-02-15

Airbnb's Cautious AI Approach: Customer Service First, Trip Planning Later

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky announced that the company will initially integrate AI into its customer support system, rather than directly into travel planning tools. He believes the current AI technology is still nascent, similar to the early days of the internet. While AI will offer multilingual support and efficient handling in customer service, AI-powered trip planning tools are still some time away. Airbnb plans to expand AI to search and personalized travel concierge services in the future, and anticipates that AI will gradually improve internal productivity in the coming years, particularly in customer service and engineering, leading to potential cost savings and profit growth. The company reported strong Q4 earnings, exceeding expectations.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech Customer Service

Anthropic's Hybrid AI Model: Deep Reasoning Meets Speed

2025-02-14

Anthropic's Hybrid AI Model: Deep Reasoning Meets Speed

Anthropic, an AI startup, is preparing to release its next major AI model, a hybrid approach blending deep reasoning capabilities with fast response times. This new model will reportedly offer a 'sliding scale' for developers to control costs, as deep reasoning is computationally intensive. Early reports suggest it outperforms OpenAI's o3-mini-high model on certain programming tasks and excels in analyzing large codebases and business benchmarks. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently hinted at the model's impending release.

(techcrunch.com)

AI deep reasoning

Arm to Start Making Its Own Chips This Year

2025-02-14

Arm to Start Making Its Own Chips This Year

Arm, the SoftBank-owned semiconductor giant, is entering the chip manufacturing arena. Secured by a major deal with Meta, Arm will launch its first in-house server CPU chip this year, targeting large data centers. While production will be outsourced, this marks a significant strategic shift for Arm, potentially turning some existing licensees into competitors and reshaping the semiconductor landscape.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

OpenAI Quietly Removes DEI Commitment Page Amidst Growing Backlash

2025-02-14

OpenAI Quietly Removes DEI Commitment Page Amidst Growing Backlash

OpenAI has silently removed a webpage detailing its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This follows similar moves by tech giants like Meta, Google, and Amazon, who have adjusted or eliminated DEI initiatives. While OpenAI's replacement page emphasizes contributions from employees with diverse backgrounds, the omission of terms like "diversity" sparks speculation about internal policy shifts. This action may be linked to increasing government scrutiny and legal challenges against DEI programs in the US, potentially influenced by OpenAI's existing government contracts and collaborations.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech Tech Company Policies

Tumblr's Fediverse Integration: A WordPress Migration Play

2025-02-12

Tumblr's Fediverse Integration: A WordPress Migration Play

Tumblr, owned by Automattic, is integrating with the fediverse via a planned migration to the WordPress infrastructure. Once complete, all Tumblr users will gain ActivityPub federation, mirroring current WordPress.com functionality. This move also opens doors to other open web integrations like custom plugins and themes. While Automattic hasn't revealed a timeline, this migration is a significant step towards Tumblr's promised fediverse integration, offering users a more open and interconnected social experience. Integration with the AT Protocol (Bluesky) remains unconfirmed.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

TikTok Sidesteps US Ban: Encourages Android Users to Sideload APK

2025-02-11

TikTok Sidesteps US Ban: Encourages Android Users to Sideload APK

Facing potential US bans, TikTok has implemented a workaround. While President Trump's executive order temporarily halted a ban, TikTok is encouraging Android users to download the app directly from its website as an APK file, bypassing the Google Play Store. This allows TikTok to temporarily circumvent app store bans, though a similar option isn't yet available for iOS users.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech APK Sideloading

Open Source: Illusion or Reality?

2025-02-09

Open Source: Illusion or Reality?

This article delves into the complexities surrounding the definition and practice of 'open source'. While the Open Source Initiative (OSI) certification serves as a crucial benchmark, the cultural aspects of open source—transparency and governance—are equally vital. Android, despite its open-source code, exemplifies the blurred lines due to Google's control and commercial strategies. Companies often modify licenses for commercial gain, leveraging the 'open source' brand to circumvent regulations. Similar issues plague open-source AI projects like DeepSeek and Llama, raising questions about their true openness. While expanding the definition to encompass the spirit of open source is debated, the license-based definition remains a clear and practical standard.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech software license

India's RBI Launches .bank.in Domain to Combat Digital Payment Fraud

2025-02-07

India's RBI Launches .bank.in Domain to Combat Digital Payment Fraud

To combat rising digital payment fraud and boost trust in online banking, India's Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will introduce a dedicated “.bank.in” domain for banks starting April 2025. The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) will be the exclusive registrar. A separate “fin.in” domain is planned for non-bank financial institutions. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra cited increasing digital payment fraud as a major concern, stating the new domain aims to reduce cybersecurity threats and phishing scams. This move comes amidst a surge in fraudulent activities and predatory lending apps in India. The RBI will issue detailed guidelines to banks regarding the initiative, designed to help users identify legitimate banking websites.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

Boston Dynamics Partners with RAI Institute to Boost Atlas Robot's Reinforcement Learning

2025-02-06

Boston Dynamics Partners with RAI Institute to Boost Atlas Robot's Reinforcement Learning

Boston Dynamics announced a partnership with its own Robotics & AI Institute (RAI Institute) to leverage reinforcement learning and enhance the capabilities of its electric humanoid robot, Atlas. The collaboration aims to accelerate Atlas's learning of new tasks and improve its movement and interaction in real-world environments, such as dynamic running and manipulating heavy objects. This marks a significant advancement in reinforcement learning for robotics and highlights the importance of vertically integrating robot AI, echoing Figure AI's decision to abandon its partnership with OpenAI.

(techcrunch.com)

AI Humanoid Robot Boston Dynamics

Sub-$50 AI Reasoning Model Rivals Cutting-Edge Competitors

2025-02-06

Sub-$50 AI Reasoning Model Rivals Cutting-Edge Competitors

Researchers at Stanford and the University of Washington trained an AI reasoning model, s1, for under $50 using cloud compute. s1's performance matches state-of-the-art models like OpenAI's o1 and DeepSeek's R1 on math and coding tasks. The team leveraged knowledge distillation, using Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental as a teacher model and a dataset of 1,000 carefully curated questions. This low-cost replication raises questions about the commoditization of AI and has reportedly upset large AI labs.

(techcrunch.com)

AI knowledge distillation low-cost AI

Google Deletes AI Pledge Against Weapons and Surveillance

2025-02-04

Google Deletes AI Pledge Against Weapons and Surveillance

Google quietly removed a pledge from its website this week promising not to develop AI for weapons or surveillance. The change, first reported by Bloomberg, sparked controversy. While Google now emphasizes responsible AI development aligned with international law and human rights, its contracts with the US and Israeli militaries, coupled with Pentagon claims that Google's AI is accelerating the military's 'kill chain,' raise concerns about the gap between its stated principles and actions. Internal employee protests and public scrutiny highlight the ethical dilemmas surrounding AI development and deployment.

(techcrunch.com)

AI military applications

Cruise Axes Nearly Half Its Workforce, Pivots to Personal Autonomous Vehicles

2025-02-04

Cruise Axes Nearly Half Its Workforce, Pivots to Personal Autonomous Vehicles

Self-driving car company Cruise announced it's laying off nearly 50% of its workforce, including the CEO and other top executives, and shutting down its robotaxi operations. The remaining parts of Cruise will be integrated into parent company General Motors (GM), which will focus its resources on improving its hands-free driver assistance system, Super Cruise, and eventually rolling out personal autonomous vehicles. The layoffs follow a December strategy shift by GM to cut costs and focus on personal autonomous vehicle development. Affected employees will receive severance packages and career support.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

China Launches Antitrust Probe into Google Amid Escalating Trade War

2025-02-04

China Launches Antitrust Probe into Google Amid Escalating Trade War

China has launched an antitrust investigation into Google in apparent retaliation for President Trump's new tariffs on Chinese goods. The probe by China's State Administration for Market Regulation will examine alleged monopolistic practices. While Google's search engine is blocked in China, it maintains a presence there, primarily focused on advertising. This action further escalates trade tensions between the US and China, with Beijing also imposing tariffs on various US goods and adding several US companies to a restricted entities list.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech US-China trade war antitrust investigation

OpenAI's Trademark Filing Hints at Ambitious Hardware and Quantum Computing Plans

2025-02-03

OpenAI's Trademark Filing Hints at Ambitious Hardware and Quantum Computing Plans

OpenAI's recent trademark application reveals its exploration of a range of exciting new product lines, including AI-assisted hardware devices (headphones, glasses, smartwatches, etc.), humanoid robots, and custom AI chips and quantum computing services. While OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated that AI hardware products are still years away, this move signifies OpenAI's proactive positioning in the hardware and quantum computing fields to reduce AI model training costs and enhance performance. This could foreshadow a further extension of the AI industry chain and new directions for future AI technology development.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech AI Hardware

EU AI Act's First Compliance Deadline: High-Risk AI Banned

2025-02-03

EU AI Act's First Compliance Deadline: High-Risk AI Banned

February 2nd marks the first compliance deadline for the EU AI Act, banning AI applications deemed to pose 'unacceptable risk'. These include AI used for social scoring, manipulative decision-making, exploiting vulnerabilities, crime prediction, and unauthorized biometric data collection. Non-compliant companies face fines up to €35 million. While some companies preemptively signed the EU AI Pact, clarity on implementation details, including interactions with other regulations and exemptions, remains pending. Further guidelines are expected in early 2025.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech AI Act AI regulation

OpenAI Uses Reddit's r/ChangeMyView to Benchmark AI Persuasion

2025-02-02

OpenAI Uses Reddit's r/ChangeMyView to Benchmark AI Persuasion

OpenAI leveraged Reddit's r/ChangeMyView subreddit to evaluate the persuasive abilities of its new reasoning model, o3-mini. The subreddit, where users post opinions and engage in debates, provided a unique dataset to assess how well the AI's generated responses could change minds. While o3-mini didn't significantly outperform previous models like o1 or GPT-4o, all demonstrated strong persuasive abilities, ranking in the top 80-90th percentile of human performance. OpenAI emphasizes that the goal isn't to create hyper-persuasive AI, but rather to mitigate the risks associated with excessively persuasive models. The benchmark highlights the ongoing challenge of securing high-quality datasets for AI model development.

(techcrunch.com)

AI persuasion

Threads Surges Past 320 Million MAUs, Outpacing Rivals

2025-02-01

Threads Surges Past 320 Million MAUs, Outpacing Rivals

Meta's microblogging app, Threads, continues its rapid growth, surpassing rivals like X. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced 320 million monthly active users (MAUs), a jump from 300 million last month. This growth contrasts with the slowing expansion of Bluesky. Threads boasts over 1 million daily sign-ups. Meta is enhancing user engagement with features like post scheduling and view counts, and is exploring new ad experiments in the US and Japan. Improvements to recommendation algorithms prioritize recent posts and top creators, alongside enhanced personalized feeds.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

OpenAI AMA: Admitting Lag, Embracing Open Source?

2025-02-01

OpenAI AMA: Admitting Lag, Embracing Open Source?

In a wide-ranging Reddit AMA, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted that OpenAI's lead in AI is shrinking, partly due to competitors like DeepSeek. He hinted at a shift towards a more open-source strategy, potentially releasing older models. OpenAI is also navigating pressure from Washington, a massive funding round, and the need to build out substantial data center infrastructure. To compete, the company plans to increase model transparency by revealing the reasoning process behind its outputs. Altman expressed optimism about the potential for rapid AI advancement but acknowledged the risk of misuse, particularly in the development of weapons.

(techcrunch.com)

AI AI Race

Swiss Canton Buys Typo-Filled Domain to Fix 100k Flyer Error

2025-01-31

Swiss Canton Buys Typo-Filled Domain to Fix 100k Flyer Error

The Basel-Stadt canton in Switzerland accidentally omitted '.ch' from the URL printed on over 100,000 tax filing flyers, resulting in a '.bs' (Bahamas) domain. Instead of reprinting at a cost of roughly $100,000, they opted to purchase the erroneous domain for $1,000 and set up a redirect to the correct URL. The redirect is not yet live, pending domain registration completion.

(techcrunch.com)

Misc domain typo printing error government efficiency

OpenAI Launches Cheaper, Faster Reasoning Model: o3-mini

2025-01-31

OpenAI Launches Cheaper, Faster Reasoning Model: o3-mini

OpenAI unveiled o3-mini, a new AI reasoning model in its 'o' family. While comparable in capability to the o1 family, o3-mini boasts faster speeds and lower costs. Fine-tuned for STEM problems, particularly programming, math, and science, it's available in ChatGPT with adjustable 'reasoning effort' settings balancing speed and accuracy. Paid users get unlimited access, while free users have a query limit. Also accessible via OpenAI's API to select developers, o3-mini offers competitive pricing and improved safety, though it doesn't surpass DeepSeek's R1 model in all benchmarks.

(techcrunch.com)

AI

Intel Cancels Falcon Shores GPU, Pivots to System-Level AI Solutions

2025-01-31

Intel Cancels Falcon Shores GPU, Pivots to System-Level AI Solutions

Intel has announced the cancellation of its next-generation high-performance computing and AI GPU, Falcon Shores, shifting focus to Jaguar Shores. This strategic adjustment comes after a series of disappointing product launches and substantial losses, as Intel attempts to regain its footing. Intel acknowledges that a standalone chip isn't enough; customers demand a complete system-level solution. This move also reflects Intel's challenges in the AI data center market, facing stiff competition from AMD and Nvidia, and acknowledges the underperformance of its Gaudi 3 chip.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech

India Welcomes Chinese AI: DeepSeek Deploys Amidst Massive Compute Center Launch

2025-01-30

India Welcomes Chinese AI: DeepSeek Deploys Amidst Massive Compute Center Launch

India's IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company, will host its large language models on Indian servers, marking a rare opening for Chinese technology in India. This comes as India invests heavily in its own AI sector, unveiling a new AI compute facility boasting 18,693 GPUs and offering significant discounts to Indian firms. DeepSeek's R1 model, recently released to much fanfare for its performance relative to its development cost, has shaken the tech industry, impacting Nvidia's market cap. India aims to attract $30 billion in hyperscaler and data center investments over the next few years, fostering the development of homegrown AI models and establishing a regulatory body to ensure AI safety.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech China Tech

US Teens' Trust in Big Tech Plummets

2025-01-30

US Teens' Trust in Big Tech Plummets

A new report from Common Sense Media reveals a significant decline in trust among US teens toward major tech companies like Google, Apple, Meta, TikTok, and Microsoft. The survey found low levels of trust regarding these companies' concern for teen well-being, ethical decision-making, and data privacy. This distrust is linked to several tech scandals over the years, including government mass data collection, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and Meta whistleblower leaks. Teens also express skepticism about these companies' responsible use of AI, with many believing AI exacerbates online misinformation and impacts the accuracy of online information. The report calls for increased AI privacy safeguards and transparency, suggesting AI-generated content should be labeled and watermarked.

(techcrunch.com)

Tech teens tech trust

DeepSeek's Rise: Are US AI Chip Export Controls Working?

2025-01-30

DeepSeek's Rise: Are US AI Chip Export Controls Working?

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei commented on the implications of Chinese AI company DeepSeek's success on US AI chip export controls. He argues that while DeepSeek has made strides in cost-effectiveness, it still lags behind US models, suggesting the controls are working. He predicts the future hinges on the Trump administration's export policies: strengthening controls could maintain US leadership, while easing them could let China gain an advantage in military AI applications.

(techcrunch.com)

AI AI chip export controls US-China AI competition

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