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February 19, 2025, 11:05 AM
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| Brody Ford / Bloomberg: |
HP plans to acquire assets from Humane for $116M, wind down Humane's Ai Pin business, and add Humane's team, including its founders, as an AI-focused division — - Humane's Ai pin business to be wound down after rocky launch — New unit at HP will focus on implementation of AI in devices
More: Humane Ai Pin, Humane, The Verge, Gizmodo, eWeek, How-To Geek, Tom's Hardware, The Register, New York Times, AppleInsider, KnowTechie, Wareable, Digital Trends, The Decoder, Spyglass, TechCrunch, Pivot to AI, Silicon Republic, TechIssuesToday.com, Beebom, Benzinga, Forbes, Android Police, Digit, TechRadar, Android Authority, The Information, Verdict, Tom's Guide, The Indian Express, CNET, 9to5Mac, and Axios
Bluesky: @theopriestley.com, @techsocial, @quillmatiq.com, @wandrme.paxex.aero, @parkscopejoe, @edzitron.com, @quinnypig.com, @daniloc.xyz, @dub, and @caseynewton
Threads: @vishwanathsarangkeller, @joannastern, @benedictevans, @documentingmeta, @carnage4life, @young.mete, @young.mete, @eshumarneedi, @tomgara, and @tomgara
X: @basicappleguy, @linusekenstam, @raywongy, @michaelmacleod1, @bearlyai, @scobleizer, @markgurman, @gergelyorosz, @maxwinebach, @charliemelbye, @mkbhd, @zck, @nearcyan, @aallan, @sdw, @sammdec, @gartenberg, @ettinger, @chrisjbakke, @hemeon, @counternotions, @humane, @cohensite, @gonzalo__nunez, @aviel, @rjonesy, @gergelyorosz, @growing_daniel, @willahmed, @mkbhd, @mycoliza, @kateclarktweets, @burnedlead, @mikeisaac, @brianroemmele, @kyliebytes, @gergelyorosz, @trungtphan, @sdw, @thdxr, @jnnnthnn, @pitdesi, @neilcybart, and @gergelyorosz
Forums: r/hardware, r/LinusTechTips, r/Android, r/gadgets, r/technology, and r/apple
| Aaron Souppouris / Engadget: |
Humane says Ai Pin's online features will stop working at 12PM PT on February 28, when it will delete all customer data, and it will refund some newer customers — Humane is discontinuing the AI Pin and selling out to HP. — AI hardware startup Humane has given its users just ten (10!) …
More: Ground Control, Daring Fireball, The Verge, Fortune, Ghacks, Boing Boing, PetaPixel, MakeUseOf, en.ain.ua, TechSpot, Mashable, MacRumors, and Business Insider
| VentureBeat: |
Sources: Chinese game publisher NetEase has been directed to divest its overseas holdings, starting with hit game Marvel Rivals, which laid off its Seattle team — Chinese game publisher NetEase raised fears with recent moves that it is unloading as much as all of its overseas holdings …
More: PC Gamer, VentureBeat, Engadget, The Verge, Nintendo Life, IGN, Kotaku, Metro.co.uk, Pandaily, Wccftech, VideoGamer, Cryptopolitan, Gameranx, Push Square, Eurogamer.net, en.ain.ua, GamesIndustry.biz, Dot Esports, Beebom, 80 Level, Dexerto, TrueAchievements, Pure Xbox, Neowin, TechRadar, GamingOnLinux, GeekWire, and Eurogamer.net
X: @stephentotilo, @zhugeex, @marvelrivals, @gigawattconduit, @lordbalvin, @wario64, @rivalsassembled, @slashlp89, @hh_varuna, @directfeedgames, @1exi, @alecrobbins, @bellulargaming, @coopercooperco, @neferpitoup, @jakesucky, @lordbalvin, @knoebelbroet, and @ianrile42523693
LinkedIn: Thaddeus Sasser and Jack Burrows
| Andy Greenberg / Wired: |
Signal updates its app with phishing protections after Google warned Russia-linked hackers are using fake QR codes for group invites to trick Ukrainian soldiers — Google warns that hackers tied to Russia are tricking Ukrainian soldiers with fake QR codes for Signal group invites that let spies steal their messages.
More: Google Cloud Blog, BleepingComputer, The Record, Infosecurity, CyberInsider, Forbes, Politico, SiliconANGLE, GovInfoSecurity.com, ComputerWeekly.com, and Cyber Security News
Forums: Hacker News, r/technology, and r/technews
| Bloomberg: |
Sources: Niantic is in talks to sell its video games unit to Saudi Arabia-owned Scopely for ~$3.5B; the deal would include Pokémon Go and its other mobile games — A deal could be announced in coming weeks. The price being discussed is about $3.5 billion, according to one of the people.
More: Android Police, Kotaku, Neowin, Game Developer, TechRaptor, Game Rant, Destructoid, Dot Esports, en.ain.ua, Ghacks, Metro.co.uk, PocketGamer.biz, TheGamer, Video Games Chronicle, MIXED Reality News, Comic Book, TechCrunch, Eurogamer.net, Mobilegamer.biz, Polygon, IGN, My Nintendo News, and Dexerto
Mastodon: @steveriggins@mastodon.social. X: @wario64 and @ballmatthew. LinkedIn: Cecilia D'Anastasio
Forums: Hacker News, r/PikminBloomApp, r/Ingress, r/gaming, r/nintendo, r/pokemongo, r/TheSilphRoad, and Slashdot
| Danny Nelson / CoinDesk: |
Source: in text messages, Libra co-creator Hayden Davis bragged he could “control” Argentine President Javier Milei by making payments to Milei's sister, Karina — A key player behind the Libra token bragged about buying access to Argentine President Javier Milei's inner circle months …
More: Gizmodo, Protos, Bloomberg, Coinpedia Fintech News, CryptoSlate, and The Block
X: @bykatherineross, @marchochstein, @beaniemaxi, @tier10k, @chilearmy123, @realdannynelson, @skesslr, and @tier10k. Forums: Hacker News
| Olga Kharif / Bloomberg: |
More: Wired, Blockchain News, Yahoo Finance, CoinDesk, CoinGape, and The Crypto Times
X: @davidrkadler, @divine_economy, @harikunzru, @trading_axe, @asslatam, @0xpepo, and @julian__fahrer. Forums: r/CryptoCurrency
| Katie Roof / Bloomberg: |
Sources: X is in talks to raise funds at a $44B valuation, matching the price Elon Musk paid for Twitter in 2022, as his proximity to Trump alters X's prospects — - Valuation is the same as Musk's 2022 Twitter acquisition — Billionaire has recently tapped private markets for big sums| Chance Miller / 9to5Mac: |
Apple unveils the $599+ iPhone 16e, with an A18 chip, a 48MP camera, Apple Intelligence, and an Apple-designed 5G cellular modem, the C1, shipping February 28 — Apple has officially taken the wraps off of the all-new iPhone 16e. The device features an all-new design paired with the A18 chip inside …
More: Apple, MacRumors, The Verge, and TechRadar
X: @mkbhd, @aaronp613, @zollotech, and @maxwinebach
| Emilia David / VentureBeat: |
OpenAI researchers build the SWE-Lancer benchmark and find that real-world freelance software engineering work remains challenging for frontier language models — Large language models (LLMs) may have changed software development, but enterprises will need to think twice …
More: arXiv, OpenAI, WinBuzzer, Analytics India Magazine, and Maginative
X: @openai, @openai, @tejalpatwardhan, @paul_cal, @charliermarsh, @btibor91, @kylevasulka, @tmychow, @nearcyan, @andreyfradkin, @nickadobos, @jakub__kraus, and @evanon0ping
Forums: r/accelerate and Slashdot
| James Hunt / The Block: |
Binance.US resumes USD deposits and withdrawals for the first time since June 2023, when the US SEC sued Binance, Binance.US, and co-founder Changpeng Zhao — - Binance.US customers can deposit and withdraw U.S. dollars on the platform for the first time in nearly two years.| Erik Larson / Bloomberg: |
TMTG and Rumble sue a Brazilian Supreme Court Justice in Florida for allegedly illegally suppressing the US social media activity of conservative Brazilians — - Suit, joined by Rumble, accusing the judge of stifling speech — Brazilian judge has long attacked ‘fake news,’ disinformation
More: New York Times, NBC News, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, pressviewer.com, Business Insider, Louder With Crowder, Reuters, and CNBC
Forums: r/Brazil and r/worldnews
| Melissa Heikkilä / Financial Times: |
Google launches an AI co-scientist, a new Gemini 2.0-based system to help scientists create novel hypotheses and research plans, available to select testers — Lab assistant powered by artificial intelligence can help generate scientific hypotheses — Google has built an artificial …
More: Telegraph, New Scientist, Google Research, The Keyword, Analytics India Magazine, The Independent, and Imperial News. Forums: Slashdot
| Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch: |
French privacy startup Murena unveils the €539 Murena Pixel Tablet, running its open-source, forked /e/OS, after releasing a “deGoogled” smartphone in 2023 — Murena, the French privacy firm that's forked Android to deliver so-called deGoogled smartphones, has repeated the trick with a tablet.| Ina Fried / Axios: |
Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati unveils AI startup Thinking Machines Lab, which she's leading as CEO, with Barret Zoph as CTO and John Schulman as chief scientist — - “Instead of focusing solely on making fully autonomous AI systems, we are excited to build multimodal systems that work …
More: Thinking Machines Lab, The Verge, Reuters, VentureBeat, The Decoder, AI News, New York Times, BGR, Wired, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Times, Analytics India Magazine, Inc42 Media, Neowin, Unite.AI, Business Today, The Indian Express, Maginative, Silicon Republic, WinBuzzer, Livemint, YourStory.com, Benzinga, Hindustan Times, and TechCrunch
Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to. X: @miramurati, @thinkymachines, @karpathy, @dchaplot, @katie_roof, @kateclarktweets, @erikbryn, @kimmonismus, @jacobsteinhardt, @luke_metz, @lilianweng, @stochasticchasm, @chipro, @sschoenholz, @chrszegedy, @nearcyan, @kipperrii, @shiringhaffary, @_alex_kirillov_, @nim_chimpsky_, @jonlachman, @erinkwoo, and @johnschulman2
| Muvija M / Reuters: |
UK CMA submission: Apple says some of the CMA's mobile browser remedies will slow innovation and it would “not be appropriate” to mandate WebKit and iOS access — Apple (AAPL.O) has told Britain's competition regulator that some of the remedy options proposed by the watchdog … | Bloomberg: |
Some US ByteDance investors argue that they don't need US TikTok for success, as China, which accounts for 80% of ByteDance's revenue, is the real driving force — Some American ByteDance investors say they don't need US TikTok for success — As TikTok fights to keep its popular video app available … | Samantha Subin / CNBC: |
Intel's stock closed up 16.1% days after a February 15 report that Broadcom and TSMC are potentially weighing independent deals that could split the chipmaker — Intel shares rallied 16.1% on Tuesday following a Wall Street Journal report that both Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing …
More: PCWorld, Capacity Media, and MarketWatch
| Reuters: |
President Trump says tariffs on semiconductors would start at “25% or higher” and that he planned to provide some time for chip makers to set up US factories — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he intends to impose auto tariffs “in the neighborhood of 25%” …
More: PCMag, Engadget, Tom's Hardware, Nairametrics, BusinessLIVE, Bitcoinist.com, Yahoo Finance, Daily Mail, Bloomberg, STAT, PC Gamer, CNBC, Raw Story, The Rio Times, Benzinga, MarketWatch, CNN, and EV
| Allie Garfinkle / Fortune: |
Verkada, which makes smart cameras, alarms, sensors, and more for enterprises, raised a $200M Series E at a $4.5B valuation, up from $3.2B in September 2022 — In 2017, Filip Kaliszan pulled an all-nighter at the Beverly Hills Equinox. — A luxury gym isn't the obvious place to work through the night … | The Information: |
Sources: Alibaba and others approached DeepSeek about funding after its rise, but CEO Liang Wenfeng is cautious; High-Flyer is discussing a pivot from research — DeepSeek's sudden rise to artificial intelligence stardom has created a dilemma for the Chinese startup: whether to raise money.
More: Reuters
| Bloomberg: |
Internal documents, emails, and federal data suggest Indian IT giant TCS has used L-1A manager visas in ways that raise concerns about undercutting US workers — New data show how TCS makes heavy use of employment visas reserved for managers. Ex-staffers say it was to get around H-1B rules.| Camillus Eboh / Reuters: |
Court documents: Nigeria sues Binance to reclaim $79.5B in alleged economic losses it says were caused by its operations in the country and $2B in back taxes — Nigeria has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel cryptocurrency exchange Binance to pay $79.5 billion for economic losses it says were caused …
More: Nairametrics, CryptoSlate, Techpoint Africa, and CryptoNinjas
| Belle Lin / Wall Street Journal: |
Crunchbase launches AI tools to predict where startups are heading, including funding, acquisitions, and IPOs, based on its 17 years of startup data — The data company is using AI to forecast startup funding, acquisitions and public offerings—but its biggest challenge may be predicting its own future| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Google Play Books for iOS now lets users complete their e-book or audiobook purchase on the Google Play website, under Apple's “reader apps” exception — Google has gained permission to sell its e-books and audiobooks directly to customers through its iOS app, Google Play Books.
More: The Keyword, Moneycontrol, MacRumors, New Jersey Online, Good e-Reader, BGR, Neowin, and Gizchina.com
| Lauren Thomas / Wall Street Journal: |
Shift4 agrees a $1.5B deal to buy Swiss tax-free shopping services provider Global Blue Group; Shift4 handles $250B in annual payments from 200K+ companies — Global Blue helps retailers including Nike and Prada with tax-free transactions — Shift4 Payments has struck a deal for Global Blue Group …
More: FinTech Futures and Global Blue
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