Week 24, 2025
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highlights
1
Meta buys 49% of Scale AI for $14.3B
—Leading data labeling company
—CEO Wang, 28, joins Meta
—Will run superintelligence division
2
Scale AI customers fleeing post-Meta deal
—Google canceling $200M contract
—Data leak fears drive exodus
—80% revenue at risk
—Rivals Labelbox, Handshake benefit
3
Apple confirms AI crisis at WWDC
—AI-upgraded Siri delayed again
—Too buggy to release
—Revealed 'Liquid Glass' UI instead
—First major redesign since iOS 7
4
AMD teams with OpenAI on new chips
—Unveils MI400 and 'Helios' server rack
—Helios bundles thousands of chips like supercomputer
—Market shifting from chips to full servers
—Altman announces partnership on stage
—OpenAI offering design input for MI450
5
OpenAI launches o3 Pro model
—New reasoning model replaces o1 Pro
—Thinks longer, more reliable
—Beats Gemini 2.5 Pro, Claude 4 Opus
—Cut original o3 pricing by 80%
6
Meta launches world model 'V-Zefa 2'
—Gets 3D spaces and how things move
—Trained on 1M+ hours of video
—Self-learns rules, runs simulations
—65-80% success rate handling objects
—Big help for delivery bots and self-driving
7
Tesla's robotaxi safety sparks controversy
—Musk shares test drive footage
—Black Model Y with "Robotaxi" graffiti stopping at crosswalks for pedestrians
—Citizen group shows different video ignoring stop sign and hitting dummy
—Austin launch planned for Jan 22
8
Waymo halts LA robotaxi operation
—5 cars torched in anti-Trump protests
—Toxic fumes leak from batteries
—Scaling back SF and other cities too
—Possibly viewed as police surveillance.
9
Neuralink plans 'Blindsight' chip trials
—Feeds camera directly to brain
—Works even with damaged eyes or nerves
—Currently low-res, limited vision.
—Claims future infrared and enhanced vision possible, but experts remain skeptical
10
Amazon·Walmart eye their own stablecoins
—Could save billions in credit card fees
—Faster overseas payments attract airlines too
—Payment stocks tank on the news
—Congress pushing stablecoin legislation
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more
ai
Disney sues Midjourney
OpenAI's ChatGPT down 20 hours
OpenAI hits $10B annual revenue
OpenAI to make AI toys w/ Mattel
OpenAI signs Google cloud deal
Microsoft builds Copilot for Pentagon
Meta cracks down on nudify apps
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chips / cloud
Nvidia excludes China from future earnings outlook
AWS opens Asia-Pacific region in Taipei
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robotics
China opens world's first humanoid robot store
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commerce
Shopify adds USDC stablecoin payments
Amazon considers Ripple XRP payments
Amazon launches AI ad video generator
Amazon expands Latin America air cargo
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social media
France bans social media for under-15s
Meta adds DM feature to Threads
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device / hardware
Nintendo Switch 2 sells 3.5M in four days
Snap to launch 'Specs' next year
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app / software
Google unveils Android 16
Microsoft redesigns Windows 11 menu
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ev / autonomous
Tesla sued by French owners
XPeng unveils new electric SUV G7
—10k pre-orders in 46 mins
BYD launches ultra-cheap 'Seal 06'
—starts at $1530
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space
Amazon delays Kuiper second launch due to weather
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crypto / blockchain
Stripe acquires crypto wallet 'Privy'
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etc
Musk backtracks on Trump criticism
Google offers voluntary exit to US staff
China blocks AI tools during college entrance exams
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