News

Camilla Hodgson / Financial Times: After its early OpenAI bet, Microsoft hiring Mustafa Suleyman and Inflection’s staff continues a strategy of developing close ties with leading AI practitioners  —  Satya Nadella’s hiring of Mustafa Suleyman continues strategy of developing close… Read More »After its early OpenAI bet, Microsoft hiring Mustafa Suleyman and Inflection’s staff continues a strategy of developing close ties with leading AI practitioners (Camilla Hodgson/Financial Times)

Muyao Shen / Bloomberg: Filing: MicroStrategy bought 9,245 bitcoin for $623M between March 11 and 18, taking its total holding to 214,246 bitcoin, worth ~$14B, or 1%+ of all bitcoin  —  – Purchase were made with proceeds from a convertible… Read More »Filing: MicroStrategy bought 9,245 bitcoin for $623M between March 11 and 18, taking its total holding to 214,246 bitcoin, worth ~$14B, or 1%+ of all bitcoin (Muyao Shen/Bloomberg)

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: Bengaluru-based audio platform Pocket FM, which offers series with short episodes, raised a $103M Series D led by Lightspeed, a source says at a $750M valuation  —  India-based audio platform Pocket FM has secured $103 million… Read More »Bengaluru-based audio platform Pocket FM, which offers series with short episodes, raised a $103M Series D led by Lightspeed, a source says at a $750M valuation (Ivan Mehta/TechCrunch)

Brian Westover / PCMag: Lenovo updates its $1,239+ ThinkPad X13, available as a laptop or 2-in-1, and $1,199+ ThinkPad L-series, adding a 16″ model, available with Intel or AMD chips  —  The Lenovo ThinkPad family grows with new X- and… Read More »Lenovo updates its $1,239+ ThinkPad X13, available as a laptop or 2-in-1, and $1,199+ ThinkPad L-series, adding a 16″ model, available with Intel or AMD chips (Brian Westover/PCMag)

Liz Alderman / New York Times: France begins work on “a national solution” to protect IT giant Atos, which manages nuclear data and cybersecurity, after Airbus talks failed; ATO.PA drops 20%+  —  The French government said it would seek “a… Read More »France begins work on “a national solution” to protect IT giant Atos, which manages nuclear data and cybersecurity, after Airbus talks failed; ATO.PA drops 20%+ (Liz Alderman/New York Times)

Zheping Huang / Bloomberg: Tencent reports Q4 revenue up 7% YoY to ~$21.6B, vs. ~$21.8B est., a ~$3.8B net income, vs. ~$4.6B est., and plans a $12.8B+ stock buyback, as gaming sales slow  —  Revenue rose a less-than-expected 7% to… Read More »Tencent reports Q4 revenue up 7% YoY to ~$21.6B, vs. ~$21.8B est., a ~$3.8B net income, vs. ~$4.6B est., and plans a $12.8B+ stock buyback, as gaming sales slow (Zheping Huang/Bloomberg)

Financial Times: The US awards Intel $8.5B in CHIPS Act funding and $11B in loans to expand in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon; Intel plans to spend $100B over five years  —  Preliminary agreement under US Chips Act also… Read More »The US awards Intel $8.5B in CHIPS Act funding and $11B in loans to expand in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon; Intel plans to spend $100B over five years (Financial Times)

Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg: France fines Google €250M for failing to broker deals with media outlets over content linking and using press content to train AI, after a €500M fine in 2021  —  – Firm accused of failing to meet… Read More »France fines Google €250M for failing to broker deals with media outlets over content linking and using press content to train AI, after a €500M fine in 2021 (Samuel Stolton/Bloomberg)

Ash Parrish / The Verge: How Sweet Baby, a small video game narrative development company, became the focus of Gamergate 2.0, a harassment campaign against “forced” diversity in gaming  —  A group of gamers has mobilized a harassment campaign against… Read More »How Sweet Baby, a small video game narrative development company, became the focus of Gamergate 2.0, a harassment campaign against “forced” diversity in gaming (Ash Parrish/The Verge)

Clothilde Goujard / Politico: Analysts warn that welcoming TikTok, Temu, and Shein to Ireland’s low-tax jurisdiction could backfire, as the country tries to reduce reliance on US tech giants  —  Analysts warn that welcoming TikTok, Temu and Shein to Dublin’s… Read More »Analysts warn that welcoming TikTok, Temu, and Shein to Ireland’s low-tax jurisdiction could backfire, as the country tries to reduce reliance on US tech giants (Clothilde Goujard/Politico)