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April 1, 2025, 6:40 PM
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Top News

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
OpenAI's new GPT-4o-powered image generator is now available to all users; Sam Altman last week mentioned a limit of three images per day for free-tier users  —  OpenAI's new image generator, powered by its GPT-4o model, is now available to all users, CEO Sam Altman said in a post on X …
The Information:
OpenAI says ChatGPT has hit 20M paid subscribers, up from 15.5M at the end of 2024, suggesting the company is making at least $415M in monthly revenue  —  Before today's main column about the AI attention war between OpenAI and Google, there's OpenAI news from my colleague Natasha …
CNBC:
Circle files for an IPO, with plans to list on the NYSE; Circle is reportedly seeking a valuation between $4B and $5B  —  Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, has filed for an initial public offering and plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
John Hudson / Washington Post:
Sources: WH national security adviser Michael Waltz and other National Security Council members have conducted government affairs over personal Gmail accounts  —  Trump's national security adviser is trying to manage his way out of a crisis.  But new revelations about his team's operational security are piling up in the inbox.
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
YouTube suspends two major fake movie trailer channels from its partner program, after a report on how the AI-heavy trailers generated millions in ad revenue  —  The Google-owned video-hosting giant has turned off ad revenue on Screen Culture and KH Studio trailers after a Deadline investigation chronicled …
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Meta VP of AI Research Joelle Pineau says she plans to leave in May 2025 after nearly eight years; she has led the FAIR group since early 2023  —  Joelle Pineau, the VP running Meta's FAIR group, to depart company in May  —  Meta Platforms Inc.'s head of artificial intelligence research plans …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Meta is ramping up work on its first AR glasses with a display, which could be introduced as early as the end of 2025 and cost between $1K and $1,400  —  The company intends to introduce its first glasses with a screen as early as the end of this year — a product it sees …
More: Gizmodo, UploadVR, ZDNET, and Social Media Today
Threads: @markgurman and @jw
X: @dylanmcd8 and @markgurman.  Forums: r/OculusQuest
Kendra Barnett / Adweek:
Google is bringing its immersive Rewarded Video ads to Roblox, letting users watch ads in exchange for in-game benefits like virtual currency or power-ups  —  Advertisers can buy Rewarded Video ads on Roblox via Google Ad Manager, the company announced Tuesday
Financial Times:
Sources: a16z is in talks to join the Oracle-led frontrunner bid for TikTok's US arm, after being approached along with Blackstone Group and others  —  Venture capital group could join last-gasp bid by allies of Donald Trump to take control of video app owned by ByteDance
Ufonobong Umanah / Bloomberg Law:
A US judge rules Arkansas' Social Media Safety Act, which requires minors have parental permission before creating social media accounts, infringes on 1A rights  —  Arkansas' youth-focused Social Media Safety Act infringes on the First Amendment rights of internet users and is unconstitutionally vague …
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Google rolls out a new Gmail encryption model for enterprises in beta that doesn't require senders or recipients to use custom software or exchange certificates  —  The beta feature for enterprise accounts allows Gmail users to simply toggle encryption for external emails.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: in recent weeks, Meta executives including Mark Zuckerberg have pressed US trade officials to oppose an impending EU fine and cease-and-desist order  —  Facebook owner presses trade officials to push back against European law that could undermine its ad business
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Similarweb: Gemini's web app had 10.9M average daily visits in March, up 7.4% MoM; Sensor Tower: Claude and Gemini saw activity jump after flagship model debuts  —  OpenAI's ChatGPT may be the world's most popular chatbot app.  But rival services are gaining, according to data from analytics firms Similarweb and Sensor Tower.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
TikTok is shutting down its Instagram competitor, TikTok Notes, on May 8, directing users to Lemon8, a similar ByteDance-owned app  —  TikTok is shutting down its Instagram competitor, TikTok Notes, on May 8.  The photo-sharing app launched in testing in Canada, Australia, and Vietnam last year.
Financial Times:
Current and former Google DeepMind scientists say a tougher vetting process and more bureaucracy at the Google AI arm have made it harder to publish AI research  —  Google's AI arm led by Demis Hassabis makes it harder for its researchers to publish studies in major change in approach
Bloomberg:
With the Switch 2, Nintendo must do what it has rarely done before: follow one hit console with another; Nintendo sold 150M+ Switch units since its 2017 launch  —  The Japanese gaming giant is about to release its latest console.  The stakes have never been higher to end the boom-bust cycle that's plagued the company for years.
Yazhou Sun / Bloomberg:
Sources: Finland-based IQM, which builds full-stack superconducting quantum computers, is in talks to raise more than €200M; it raised a €128M Series A2 in 2022  —  IQM, a Finnish startup that builds quantum computers, is in talks to raise more than €200 million ($216 million) …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
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UiPath:
UiPath Unveils 10 Innovations that Will Shape the Agentic Future  —  Orchestration engine, API workflows and agentic testing among key features of new UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation, launched at UiPath DevCon 2025
Zoho:
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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:40 PM ET, April 1, 2025.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:
PBS and a public TV affiliate in Minnesota sue the Trump administration, saying his executive order to cut federal funding violated PBS' First Amendment rights

Max Tani / Semafor:
The California State Senate opens an inquiry into whether Paramount's reported $15M proposed settlement with Trump violated bribery and unfair competition laws

Chris Willman / Variety:
Taylor Swift acquires the rights to her first six albums from Shamrock Capital; sources say the deal was in the mid-$300M range

More News

New York Times:
Xiaomi says it is cooperating with a Chinese police probe into a fatal crash by a car using its autonomous features; its stock is down 10%+ over the past week
Yogita Khatri / The Block:
Tether acquired 8,888 bitcoin worth ~$735M in Q1 2025, taking its total holdings to ~$7.8B and making it the sixth-largest holder of bitcoin in a single wallet

Earlier Picks

Natalie Lung / Bloomberg:
Match Group unveils The Game Game, a free voice-based game in Tinder that invites users to flirt with chatbots powered by OpenAI's GPT-4o and GPT-4o mini models
Bloomberg:
Sources: US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick signals withholding promised CHIPS Act grants as he pushes companies to substantially expand their US projects
Sean Endicott / Windows Central:
Microsoft expands Copilot+ PC features exclusive to Snapdragon, like Live Captions, Cocreator, Restyle Image, and Image Creator, to PCs with AMD or Intel chips
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