Tech Meme

Gerrit De Vynck / Washington Post: Documents: Google gave Israel access to its latest AI tools from the early weeks of the Israel-Hamas war, directly assisting the Defense Ministry and the IDF  —  The company fulfilled requests from Israel’s military for more access to AI tools, as it sought to compete with Amazon, documents obtained by The Post show. Lees verder op Tech Meme

James O’Donnell / MIT Technology Review: Filing: OpenAI spent $1.76M on lobbying in 2024, up from 2023’s $260K, with focus on the AI Advancement and Reliability Act and the Future of AI Innovation Act  —  OpenAI spent $1.76 million on government lobbying in 2024 and $510,000 in the last three months of the year alone … Lees verder op Tech Meme

Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat: Tencent unveils Hunyuan3D 2.0, an AI system that turns single images or text prompts into 3D models in seconds, and open sources it on HuggingFace and GitHub  —  Tencent has unveiled “Hunyuan3D 2.0,” an AI system that turns single images or text descriptions into detailed 3D models within seconds. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Washington Post: Sources: a deep philosophical rift over how DOGE should operate helped spur Vivek Ramaswamy’s exit, with Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 EO embodying Elon Musk’s vision  —  A deep philosophical rift between the two billionaire leaders of the “Department of Government Efficiency” left Musk to run the group. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat: Tencent unveils Hunyuan3D 2.0, an AI system that turns single images or text prompts into 3D models in seconds, and open sources it on HuggingFace and GitHub  —  Tencent has unveiled “Hunyuan3D 2.0,” an AI system that turns single images or text descriptions into detailed 3D models within seconds. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Financial Times: Sources: ByteDance plans to spend ~$5.5B to acquire AI chips in China in 2025, double the amount spent in 2024, with ~60% going to Chinese suppliers like Huawei  —  Chinese owner of video app seeks growth from AI as its social media business comes under pressure in US Lees verder op Tech Meme

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg: Netflix reports Q4 revenue up 16% YoY to $10.2B and 301.6M global subs, adding 18.9M subs, more than doubling Wall Street estimates; NFLX jumps 14%+ after hours  —  – Netflix is raising subscription prices in its biggest market  — Report marks the end of regular quarterly customer updates Lees verder op Tech Meme

Bloomberg: StackBlitz, which offers an AI tool to create websites using text prompts, says it’s finalizing raising $83.5M at a $700M valuation, following a $22M Series A  —  – StackBlitz is set to raise over $80 million from investors  — Struggling startup turned around fortunes with AI product Lees verder op Tech Meme

New York Times: Trump grants a pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road and a cryptocurrency cult hero, serving a life sentence on money laundering and drug charges  —  Ross Ulbricht was serving a life sentence for creating a site in a shady corner of the internet to sell heroin, cocaine and other illicit substances. Lees verder op Tech Meme

Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat: Tencent unveils Hunyuan3D 2.0, an AI system that turns single images or text prompts into 3D models in seconds, and open sources it on HuggingFace and GitHub  —  Tencent has unveiled “Hunyuan3D 2.0,” an AI system that turns single images or text descriptions into detailed 3D models within seconds. Lees verder op Tech Meme