Apr 21, 2025 4 min read

Week 17, 2025

highlights

1 / Google ruled ad-tech monopoly

Judge said Google illegally tied its publisher ad server to AdX, wielding 90% market share and violating antitrust law.
This is Google's second monopoly loss in eight months.
Faces potential forced divestiture when remedies are determined later this year.

2 / Meta's FTC antitrust trial begins

FTC claims Meta bought Instagram/WhatsApp to eliminate competition citing internal emails.
Zuckerberg says Meta "supercharged" both services.
FTC argues Meta monopolizes social media with only Snapchat competing.
Meta cites TikTok and YouTube as bigger rivals.
Critics question FTC's market definition.
Potential breakup threatens Meta, as Instagram produces 40% of US ad revenue.

3 / OpenAI targets $3B Windsurf acquisition

Despite having its own coding platform Codex CLI, OpenAI seeks three benefits from acquiring the "vibe coding" platform:
- Immediate access to a platform with millions of developers across 70+ languages
- Valuable coding data to enhance ChatGPT
- And customer retention through bundled subscriptions
This signals AI's shift toward "model+app portfolios" and could trigger similar acquisitions across multiple sectors.

OpenAI is testing a social feed prototype using ChatGPT's image generation, capitalizing on the Ghibli-style image trend.
Altman has been seeking external feedback.
Launch plans remain undecided between standalone app or ChatGPT integration.
This move likely aims to capture real-time user data for AI training, similar to Meta and X strategies.

5 / OpenAI's O3 and O4-Mini disappoint

OpenAI's newest models show alarming hallucination rates.
o3 (33%) and o4-mini (48%) far exceed previous models o1 (16%) and o3-mini (14.8%).
OpenAI admits needing "further research" to explain this deterioration.
This threatens reliability-critical sectors like legal and accounting.
Meanwhile, OpenAI launched lower-cost Flex processing, halving API costs for these models.

6 / Microsoft unveils hyper-efficient BitNet

The new 1-bit AI model runs on CPUs, reducing energy consumption by over 80%.
Yet it outperforms Meta's Llama 3.2 1B, Google's Gemma 3 1B, and Alibaba's Qwen 2.5 1.5B in some tests.
It doesn't require high-performance GPUs, enabling use on laptops and embedded devices.
This significantly expands AI applications across educational settings, local testing environments, and industrial devices.

7 / Nvidia announces massive US investment

Nvidia plans to invest up to $500B in US AI infrastructure over 4 years.
The initiative aims to manufacture both AI chips and supercomputer hardware domestically, seeking to align with Trump's priorities.
Blackwell production has begun at TSMC's Arizona plant, while Foxconn and Wistron build supercomputer facilities in Texas.
However, the announced figure—4x Nvidia's annual revenue—may be exaggerated and likely includes existing commitments.

8 / Jensen Huang visits China after H20 ban

Despite the $500B pledge, Trump administration effectively banned Nvidia's H20 AI chips designed specifically for China.
With 1.3M units in pre-order, Nvidia faces $5.5B loss in Q1.
Jensen Huang immediately flew to Beijing, meeting China's Vice Premier and tech executives, affirming "China remains an important market."
Chinese state media portrayed this positively, while some US lawmakers criticized Huang's diplomacy and demanded tighter restrictions.
Meanwhile, Huawei's Ascend 910B emerges as the likely beneficiary of this market gap.

9 / TSMC denies Intel partnership

During Q1 earnings, TSMC CEO C.C. Wei firmly rejected Intel collaboration rumors.
He stated: "No discussions with any company about joint ventures or technology sharing."
This contradicts media reports of a US-based foundry partnership amid speculation about Trump administration pressure.
TSMC shares rose 0.9% while Intel dropped 2.3% after analysts dismissed the rumor as politically motivated.

10 / Netflix targets $1 trillion market cap

Netflix posted record Q1 results: $10.5B revenue (12%↑) and $2.9B profit, exceeding forecasts.
Market cap rose 52% yearly, with JP Morgan calling it "best defensive stock" against Trump tariffs.
Netflix aims for $1T valuation by 2030, planning doubled revenue, tripled profits, and 410M subscribers.
Its ad tier has proven successful, attracting 55%+ of new users.
The company will stop reporting quarterly subscriber counts, focusing instead on profitability metrics.

more

OpenAI releases GPT-4.1 series

OpenAI adds image library to ChatGPT

Anthropic's Claude adds Research and Google Workspace integration

Anthropic also working on voice mode

MS adds computer use to Copilot Studio

xAI unveils Grok studio

xAI adds memory to Grok

Google roles out Gemini 2.5 Flash

Google rolls out text-to-video Veo 2

Google introduces DolphinGemma

Google offers students free AI plan

Meta to train AI on public content in EU

Perplexity-Samsung discuss on-device AI

chips / cloud

OpenAI-Softbank discuss Stargate in UK

TSMC Q1 net income up 60.3%

ASML Q1 net sales up 46%

Intel sells 51% take in Altera

Intel flattens leadership team

social media

TikTok tests Footnotes, similar to Community Notes

Instagram launches Blend, invite-only Reels feed

Zuckerberg cashes out before stock crash

content / entertainment

Netflix's Hastings shifts to chairman role

Amazon to release first TV streaming device

Spotify back online after global outage

ev / autonomous

Tesla delays cheaper Model Y

China bans "autonomous driving" in ads

space / environment

Starlink is no. 2 ISP in Nigeria

Apple reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 60%

etc

Figma files for IPO

Notion releases Notion Mail

Coinbase sued by Oregon

Docusign unveils AI contract agents

Neuralink rival approved by FDA

Palantir's Maven used by NATO

Lyft acquires German taxi app FreeNow

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