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July 12, 2025, 5:35 AM
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| Hayden Field / The Verge: |
Google hires Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and some of Windsurf's R&D employees to focus on agentic coding efforts at DeepMind — Key researchers from the AI coding startup are also heading to Google. … OpenAI's deal to buy Windsurf is off …
More: Moneycontrol, Financial Express, TechCrunch, Tech Startups, New York Times, CNBC, Reuters, Neowin, implicator.ai, WinBuzzer, The Indian Express, Maginative, Analytics India Magazine, DevOps.com, Bloomberg Law, and Business Insider
X: @jeffwsurf, @jeffwsurf, @officiallogank, @deedydas, @haydenfield, @demishassabis, @mikeisaac, @morqon, @gergelyorosz, @thdxr, @pitdesi, @luke_metro, @garymarcus, @prashant_1722, @gergelyorosz, @hipcityreg, @koraykv, @varunramg, @devahaz, and @kyleasay_
LinkedIn: Dan Hockenmaier and Ariel Serber
Forums: Hacker News, r/cursor, r/OpenAI, r/singularity, and Slashdot
| Bloomberg: |
Sources: Google is paying $2.4B for a nonexclusive license to certain Windsurf tech and hire some of its employees, but won't be taking a stake in the company — Google is hiring Windsurf Chief Executive Officer Varun Mohan and co-founder Douglas Chen, along with a small group of staffers … | The Information: |
Sources: OpenAI and Windsurf talks ended after Windsurf raised concerns over how its tech would fit into OpenAI's agreement to share tech with Microsoft — OpenAI's discussions to buy Windsurf, the maker of a popular artificial intelligence coding assistant formerly known as Codeium, have ended.| Allie Garfinkle / Fortune: |
The exclusivity period for OpenAI's $3B offer to acquire coding startup Windsurf, entered into in May, has expired — The exclusivity period on OpenAI's $3 billion offer to acquire coding startup Windsurf has expired, an OpenAI spokesperson told Fortune. — The expiration of the exclusivity … | Steven Levy / Wired: |
| Financial Times: |
Sources: xAI prepares a new fundraising round, its third in two months, targeting a valuation of $170B to $200B, up 10x from its May 2024 valuation of $18B — Grok chatbot maker in early talks with investors to boost its value as much as 10 times from last year
More: StrictlyVC, Bloomberg, Reuters, Benzinga, SiliconANGLE, WinBuzzer, Yahoo Finance, and NewsMax.com
Bluesky: @dmnd.me, @caseynewton, @kbsutt, @skeet.best, @kingkool68.com, @wilkos, @jentrification.com, @doghousereilly, @b1gd1ll, @richburroughs.dev, @billthepony, @creamcityjw, @joshuaerlich, @self.agency, and @wagatwe.com. Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to. Threads: @simondowens
| Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch: |
Sam Altman announces another delay for OpenAI's open-weight model, for further safety testing; the model was slated to be released next week — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Friday the company is delaying the release of its open model, which was already pushed back a month earlier in this summer.
More: Moneycontrol, Livemint, The Economic Times, and Benzinga
Bluesky: @quinnypig.com. X: @sama, @_aidan_clark_, @fadalaudza_, @ai_for_success, @sog_on_bird_app, @n30n_41, @miles_brundage, @scaling01, @generatorman_ai, @traskjd, @lidothegreat, @kalomaze, @daniel_mac8, @angaisb_, @dee_bosa, @david_kasten, @jachiam0, @cryptopunk7213, @deliprao, and @lukeolympus
Forums: Hacker News and r/singularity
| Reuters: |
More: The Hans India, MarkTechPost, VentureBeat, and WinBuzzer
X: @kimi_moonshot, @awnihannun, @youjiacheng, @pigeon__s, @chetaslua, @prashant_1722, @yuchenj_uw, @jasonbotterill3, @shalev_lif, @zrdianjiao, @khazzz1c, @chetaslua, @youjiacheng, @phill__1, @aibattle_, @roteksong, @cedric_chee, @yulun_du, @ai_for_success, @test_tm7873, @khazzz1c, @teknium1, @ivanfioravanti, @elaina43114880, @zxytim, @testingcatalog, @cedric_chee, @victormustar, @reach_vb, @deedydas, @chetaslua, @crystalsssup, and @airesearch12
Forums: Hacker News and r/singularity
| Tripp Mickle / New York Times: |
Nvidia's rise after ChatGPT's release is reminiscent of dot-com era titans like Cisco and Juniper; Cisco's share price grew over 1000x between 1990 and 2000 — The A.I. chip maker reached the landmark before Apple and Microsoft, as its value rose more than tenfold after ChatGPT's release in late 2022.| Politico: |
French prosecutors open a criminal investigation into X over allegations that the company manipulated its algorithms for the purposes of “foreign interference” — The probe is based on complaints from a lawmaker and an unnamed senior civil servant.
More: Le Monde, Politico, Digital Journal, Cryptopolitan, Cointelegraph, Mashable, TechCrunch, Daily Sabah, Associated Press, and Semafor
Bluesky: @laurenmeidasa, @bremaininspain.com, @stevepeers, @alexvonwitzleben, and @marietjeschaake
X: @democrats_eu, @fatima_khatun01, and @menchosint
Forums: r/anime_titties, r/law, r/worldnews, and r/technology
| Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg: |
Meta has completed a deal to acquire AI voice technology startup PlayAI, and the “entire PlayAI team” is set to join Meta next week, per an internal memo — The “entire PlayAI team” is set to join Meta next week, according to an internal memo that was reviewed by Bloomberg.| Gregorio Sorgi / Politico: |
The European Commission drops plans to impose a digital tax on tech giants in its upcoming 2028-2034 budget proposal, amid ongoing EU-US trade negotiations — BRUSSELS ― The European Commission has dropped plans to levy a tax on digital companies, a move that hands victory to Donald Trump …
More: Financial Times, Reuters, and The European Union
Forums: r/EU_Economics, r/europeanunion, and r/worldnews
| SemiAnalysis: |
A look at Meta's revamped GenAI strategy, as Mark Zuckerberg poaches top AI talent for the Superintelligence team with a typical offer of $200M over four years — Meta's shocking purchase of 49% of Scale AI at a ~$30B valuation shows that money is of no concern for the $100B annual cashflow ad machine.
X: @mjolley22, @staysaasy, @lefttailguy, and @blader
| Kelcee Griffis / Bloomberg: |
T-Mobile has received FCC and DOJ approval for its $4.4B acquisition of US Cellular, after agreeing to phase out DEI programs to comply with FCC policy — The approval comes after T-Mobile committed to eliminating diversity and inclusion programs to win the favor of the commission.| Zach Vallese / CNBC: |
A New Hampshire court rejected TikTok's request to dismiss the state AG's suit accusing the company of using manipulative design features aimed at kids — A judge this week rejected TikTok's attempt to dismiss a lawsuit by the state of New Hampshire accusing it of using manipulative design features aimed at children and teens.
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| The Economic Times: |
Analysis: YC picked just four Indian startups in 2024 vs. 66 in 2021, amid a growing trend of startups shifting their parent entities to India for domestic IPOs — Y Combinator's selection of Indian startups has decreased significantly. This decline is attributed to factors …
LinkedIn: Tanishka Dubey and Ramesh Loganathan
| Natalia Kniazhevich / Bloomberg: |
PitchBook: 27 VC-backed companies went public in the US in the first half of 2025, the smallest number in at least 10 years, raising a total of $44.4B — Venture capital-backed companies are on track for the fewest US initial public offerings in a decade, according to data provider PitchBook …
More: PitchBook
| Simon Willison / Simon Willison's Weblog: |
When asked “Who do you support in the Israel vs Palestine conflict? One word answer only.”, Grok 4 searches for Musk's views, but only if “you” is in the query — If you ask the new Grok 4 for opinions on controversial questions, it will sometimes run a search to find …
More: The Verge, The Intercept, CNBC, Windows Central, Gizmodo, Read Max, Business Insider, Neowin, Mashable, WinBuzzer, Simon Willison on GitHub, and Pixel Envy
Bluesky: @andersen.buzz, @historyofthesecondworldwar …, @jjvincent, @simonwillison.net, @noupside, and @simonwillison.net
X: @jeremyphoward, @elonmusk, @ramez, @simonw, @simonw, @builtbyvibes, @jeremyphoward, @bensand, @luke_metro, and @jeremyphoward
Forums: Hacker News, r/EnoughMuskSpam, r/LocalLLaMA, r/skeptic, r/ChatGPT, r/grok, r/singularity, and MacRumors Forums
| Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch: |
More: The Atlantic, Associated Press, Washington Post, Blaze Media, Scientific American, MacRumors, Financial Times, Engadget, Fortune, Marcus Schuler, and TechIssuesToday.com
Bluesky: @joelhs, @dfhoughton, @drewharwell.com, @willoremus.com, @tradersabacus.fellas.army, @smcgrath.phd, @craigcheslog.com, @justinhendrix, @kat.meangirls.online, @kwcollins, @seanokane, and @socialmedialab.ca
Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to and @bretcarmichael@mastodon …
Forums: r/teslastockholders, r/Fauxmoi, r/grok, r/artificial, r/politics, and Beehaw
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Newest
SemiAnalysis:
A look at Meta's revamped GenAI strategy, as Mark Zuckerberg poaches top AI talent for the Superintelligence team with a typical offer of $200M over four yearsFind
3 hours ago
Zach Vallese / CNBC:
A New Hampshire court rejected TikTok's request to dismiss the state AG's suit accusing the company of using manipulative design features aimed at kidsFind
3½ hours ago
The Economic Times:
Analysis: YC picked just four Indian startups in 2024 vs. 66 in 2021, amid a growing trend of startups shifting their parent entities to India for domestic IPOsFind
4 hours ago
Tripp Mickle / New York Times:
Nvidia's rise after ChatGPT's release is reminiscent of dot-com era titans like Cisco and Juniper; Cisco's share price grew over 1000x between 1990 and 2000Find
4½ hours ago
Natalia Kniazhevich / Bloomberg:
PitchBook: 27 VC-backed companies went public in the US in the first half of 2025, the smallest number in at least 10 years, raising a total of $44.4BFind
5 hours ago
Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
Sam Altman announces another delay for OpenAI's open-weight model, for further safety testing; the model was slated to be released next weekFind
7 hours ago
Bloomberg:
Sources: Google is paying $2.4B for a nonexclusive license to certain Windsurf tech and hire some of its employees, but won't be taking a stake in the companyFind
7 hours ago
From Mediagazer
New York Times:Lindsey Holden / Politico:
Bloomberg:
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| Bloomberg: |
More: American Banker, The Information, and Reuters
Bluesky: @wdzepper, @geoffbelknap, @quinnypig.com, and @itsterrymcd
X: @malekanoms, @sethfrotman, @willhild, @hexidethmal, and @willhild. LinkedIn: Luke Voiles. Forums: r/MonarchMoney
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Bluesky: @luxalptraum.com, @picketer, @socialmedialab.ca, @mikestabile, @ajsta, @flaky.blue, @mikestabile, and @vintangled
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| Mike Rogoway / Oregonian: |
More: Moneycontrol, SFGATE, Wccftech, AzerNews, The Verge, Gizmodo, WinBuzzer, TechRadar, The Economic Times, TechSpot, Tech in Asia, PCWorld, CTech, and The Register
Bluesky: @cptjinglepants, @economymedicine, @sillycentrist, and @carnage4life
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More: Fast Company, TechCrunch, The American Bazaar, Benzinga, WinBuzzer, nextbigwhat, Cryptopolitan, and NBC News
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Mastodon: @faassen@hachyderm.io and @hailey@hails.org
X: @metr_evals, @ruben_bloom, @bethmaybarnes, @bethmaybarnes, @thestalwart, @domenic, @bethmaybarnes, @johnsdvorak, @sadsciencee, @runekvist, and @adamrodmanmd
LinkedIn: Yonas Bekele, Adrian Booth, Chris Baker, Sara Kubik, Gerben Wierda, and Fedir Skitsko
| Marcus Mendes / 9to5Mac: |
More: MacRumors, India Today, PCMag, iPhone in Canada, nextpit, BGR, T3, arXiv.org, PhoneArena, and AppleInsider
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More: Ars Technica, The US Sun, The Verge, Belkin US, Android Police, PCMag, PCWorld, TechCrunch, and AppleInsider
Bluesky: @gigastacey, @davidcmurphy, @paulusschoutsen.nl, @jadp.mastodon.social …, @dapomeroy, @djarum.org, @lukasneville.com, @mattkelland, and @hudsonicus
Mastodon: @kim_harding@mastodon.scot and @stooovie@mas.to
X: @owednada, @beyondthetech, @manan, @greengart, @dpstud, and @farringtonb
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