Week 14, 2025
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in 30 seconds
xAI bought X.
Grok now on Telegram.
OpenAI raised $40B.
GPT4o now generates images.
Ghibli-style AI memes go viral.
Apple working on AI doctor.
Amazon unveiled shopping AI.
Amazon hired most H1-Bs.
Alibaba stock up 60%.
Facebook revived 'Friends' tab.
Instagram copied TikTok again.
SpaceX secretly took Chinese money.
Trump pardoned Nikola founder.
Trump launched stablecoin.
Nvidia anchored CoreWeave IPO.
There may be an AI data center bubble.
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by category
AI - Tech/Product
OpenAI launched a high-quality GPT-4o image generator using autoregression technology that produces superior images but at slower speeds.
- Studio Ghibli-style AI art has sparked copyright controversies.
OpenAI updated its Advanced Voice Mode to be more personable yet less interruptive.
Google is offering Gemini 2.5 Pro for free, which outperforms competiting models in math, coding, and multimodal processing.
Google unveiled TxGemma to streamline drug development by understanding and predicting therapeutic compound structures and properties.
Apple is developing an AI-based health coaching service called "Project Mulberry" targeted for 2026 release.
Alibaba released the lightweight model "Qwen2.5-Omni-7B" designed for efficient performance on edge devices.
Anthropic publicly shared how Claude works, a rare transparency measure in the AI industry.
Microsoft launched AI agents "Researcher" and "Analyst" that perform complex analytical tasks and generate business insights.
Nvidia released an AI chatbot specifically for PC gamers that assists with gameplay and provides system optimization information.
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AI - Business
xAI is acquiring X for $33 billion in an all-stock transaction, with xAI valued at $80 billion.
xAI has integrated "Grok" into Telegram, marking its first service expansion beyond the X platform.
OpenAI is pursuing a $40 billion investment round led by SoftBank, contingent on converting to a for-profit entity by year-end.
OpenAI expects revenue to triple year-over-year, growing from $3.7 billion last year to $12.7 billion this year.
Anthropic and Databricks signed a five-year contract to collaborate on delivering customized AI agents for enterprises.
Alibaba's stock has rebounded 60% this year, recovering $100 billion in value due to AI investments and Jack Ma's return.
Manus is seeking investment from US venture capital firms, targeting a minimum company valuation of approximately $500 million.
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AI - Other
OpenAI's motion to dismiss The New York Times lawsuit was rejected by the court.
OpenAI is embracing Anthropic's open-source MCP protocol, showing rare cooperation between AI rivals.
China is developing a sophisticated AI censorship system that leverages large language models to detect and filter sensitive content.
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Chips / Cloud
CoreWeave raised $1.5 billion through its IPO, with Nvidia serving as an anchor investor by placing a $250 million order.
Qualcomm has launched a global antitrust campaign against Arm.
TSMC and other chip makers are slowing their expansion in Japan and Malaysia due to weak demand for older chips and tariff uncertainties.
TSMC is accelerating its factory construction in the United States, expecting a timeline similar to Taiwan's two-year schedule.
Intel's ex-CEO Pat Gelsinger criticized the effectiveness of TSMC's US investments, arguing that semiconductor leadership is impossible without local R&D.
FuriosaAI rejected Meta's $800 million acquisition offer.
Ant Group claims to have reduced AI training costs by 20% using only Chinese-made chips.
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Commerce
Amazon has launched "Interests," a new AI shopping feature that recommends products based on users' prompts about their preferences and interests.
Perplexity is working to merge search and shopping experiences by partnering with Firmly.ai to sell products directly from search results.
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Social Media
Musk has sparked controversy by allegedly interfering with Reddit's content moderation, sending private messages to the CEO requesting specific thread removals.
Reddit's stock has plummeted 50% since February, largely due to traffic losses stemming from Google's algorithm changes.
Facebook is reviving its "Friends Tab" feature, framing it as a return to the "OG" Facebook experience.
Instagram has added a "2x playback speed" option to Reels, continuing its pattern of copying popular features from rival TikTok.
TikTok has launched an advertising campaign against the ban legislation, with support for banning TikTok among US adults dropping from 50% to 34%.
TikTok has expanded its e-commerce presence by launching TikTok Shop in France, Germany, and Italy.
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Content / Entertainment
YouTube Shorts is changing how it counts views, now registering a view as soon as a video starts playing, bringing its methodology in line with TikTok and Instagram Reels.
Amazon Luna is expanding its game catalog by adding Electronic Arts (EA) titles to its cloud gaming service.
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App / Platform
Google has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a lawsuit from 2011 that accused the company of charging advertisers for clicks that occurred outside their targeted geographic regions.
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EV / Autonomous
Tesla is expected to benefit from the 25% tariff on imported vehicles, as it produces all its cars domestically at its California and Texas factories.
Waymo plans to launch its robotaxi service in Washington, DC by 2026.
Rivian is spinning off a micromobility startup to diversify beyond electric trucks and SUVs.
BMW is partnering with Alibaba to jointly develop AI systems for vehicles.
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Crypto / Finance
World Liberty Financial is launching a stablecoin, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest with Trump's stablecoin legislation efforts.
Fidelity is preparing to release its own stablecoin, signaling traditional financial institutions' expanding interest in digital assets.
Ripple reached a dramatic $50 million settlement with the SEC, which many interpret as a sign of easing cryptocurrency regulations.
Binance disciplined employees caught in "front running" practices and rewarded the whistleblower with $100,000.
Block laid off 931 employees while emphasizing that the cuts weren't due to AI replacements.
Robinhood is expanding into banking services by launching checking and savings accounts for its premium subscribers.
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Etc
Apple has scheduled its 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) for June 9-13.
Amazon has maintained its position as the top employer of H-1B visa holders for five consecutive years.
GameStop has made the decision to purchase Bitcoin with corporate funds.
Genetic testing company 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy.
Vertical farming startup Plenty has filed for bankruptcy.
A new book chronicling Sam Altman's ouster from OpenAI has been published.
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