a16z Tech Investor Donates Millions to Las Vegas Police to Fund Portfolio Company Drones Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz secretly donates millions to the Las Vegas police to purchase drones from his portfolio company Skydio, bypassing standard public procurement processes.
chatgpt ChatGPT Redirects 2 Million Users to Trusted News Sources on Election Day OpenAI reveals that ChatGPT directed approximately 2 million users to traditional news outlets and voting resources during the recent election. The AI industry views the event as a successful, gaffe-free test of chatbots as information hubs.
monarch tractor Monarch Tractor Cuts 35 Jobs to Pivot Toward Software Licensing Monarch Tractor lays off 35 employees in a restructuring effort to prioritize software sales, non-agricultural clients, and autonomous technology licensing. The move follows a slowdown in agricultural equipment purchasing and a crash in California's vineyard industry.
openai OpenAI Safety VP Lilian Weng Departs Amid Ongoing Researcher Exodus OpenAI loses another top safety researcher as VP Lilian Weng announces her departure after seven years with the company. Her exit adds to a growing trend of safety-focused talent leaving the AI startup.
exosonic Supersonic Startup Exosonic Shuts Down After Failing to Secure Contracts Exosonic is closing its doors after five years due to a lack of customer support for its quiet supersonic aircraft and drone technology. The company successfully test-flew a subscale UAV but ultimately cannot overcome the defense tech funding gap.
amazon Amazon Considers Multi-Billion Dollar Anthropic Investment With Chip Catch Amazon is in talks to invest billions more into AI startup Anthropic, but only if the company agrees to use Amazon's custom silicon for training. The deal comes as Anthropic faces massive expenses and seeks new funding at a $40 billion valuation.
trump presidency Trump Presidency Reshapes Transportation Sector as Tesla and Canoo Face Shifting Fortunes Speculation swirls around how a new Trump administration will impact transportation and tech, particularly regarding Elon Musk's companies and EV incentives. Meanwhile, Tesla confirms a major strategic pivot toward robotaxis and Canoo faces fresh executive departures and worker furloughs.
rivian Rivian Revenue Falls Short as In-House Motor Supply Crisis Bites Rivian misses third-quarter revenue estimates due to a severe component shortage in its in-house Enduro motor. The EV maker also faces a growing gap between production and deliveries, prompting wider annual loss projections.
roblox Roblox Announces New Safety Rules to Restrict Under-13 Users Roblox introduces stricter safety measures that block children under 13 from accessing unrated experiences, social hangouts, and unmoderated 2D creation spaces. The company requires developers to complete a questionnaire by December 3 to classify their games for younger audiences.
apple Apple Releases iOS 18.2 Public Beta With New AI Features and Waitlists Apple opens its iOS 18.2 public beta, giving users access to AI tools like Genmoji, Image Playground, and ChatGPT integration with Siri. Some features still require users to join a waitlist before they can try them.
australia Australia Proposes Strict Social Media Ban for Children Under 16 Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announces a plan to ban social media access for children under 16, placing enforcement responsibility directly on tech platforms without exceptions for parental consent.
irobot iRobot Cuts 105 More Jobs as Workforce Shrinks by Half iRobot lays off an additional 105 employees as part of an ongoing operational restructuring following the collapse of its Amazon acquisition. The company now operates with half the global workforce it started the year with.
openai OpenAI Acquires Premium Chat.com Domain From HubSpot Co-Founder OpenAI officially purchases the highly valuable Chat.com domain, which now redirects users directly to ChatGPT. The deal likely involves HubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah receiving OpenAI shares for the historic web address.
perplexity Perplexity Wins AI Election Night While Rivals Stumble or Sit Out Perplexity provides accurate, real-time election results while competitors like Grok fail and ChatGPT refuses to answer. This success highlights both the startup's capabilities and its growing conflicts with traditional media publishers.
generative ai AI Leaders Argue Generative Tools Empower Rather Than Replace Artists Generative AI executives compare their technology to historical innovations like digital cameras, arguing that AI enhances human creativity instead of destroying it. Despite ongoing lawsuits from record labels, these founders maintain that skilled artists will ultimately produce higher-quality work.