Big tech is paying for Trump’s White House ballroom
Trump’s $250 million White House ballroom will be funded in part by big tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft.
The Download: AI’s impact on the economy, and DeepSeek strikes again
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The State of AI: Welcome to the economic singularity —David Rotman and Richard Waters Any far-reaching new technology is always uneven in its adoption, but few have been more uneven than generative AI.…
With an Intel recovery underway, all eyes turn to its foundry business
Intel added $20 billion to its balance sheet in Q3 but didn’t offer many details on the progress of its floundering foundry business.
Ford isn’t going to make more F-150 Lightnings for a while
Ford is prioritizing its gas and hybrid F-150 trucks instead.
Meta Lays Off Risk Employees As Technology Takes Over Jobs
The tech giant also cut 600 roles from the Superintelligence Labs division, its AI arm.
Trump credits Benioff, Huang for decision not to ‘surge’ Fed troops into San Francisco
Trump said he scrapped plans to send the National Guard into San Francisco after calls from Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Salesforce’s Marc Benioff. Mayor Daniel Lurie confirmed the plan was canceled.
OpenAI buys Sky, an AI interface for Mac
OpenAI has acquired Software Applications, Inc., the startup behind Sky — an AI-powered natural language interface for Mac that can view your screen and take actions in your apps.
Rivian CEO takes top marketing role in shakeup ahead of R2 launch
Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe will be wearing yet another hat as the company preps for arguably its most important vehicle launch — the mass market R2 SUV — in 2026.
YouTube paid out $8B to the music industry in 12 months
The milestone marks a new record for the platform, as YouTube’s annual music industry payout increased by $2 billion since 2022.
20-year-old dropouts built AI notetaker Turbo AI to 5 million users
Rudy Arora and Sarthak Dhawan, two 20-year-old college dropouts, grew an AI note-taker app to five million users and an eight-figure ARR, they say.
Instagram users can now use Meta AI editing tools directly in IG Stories
Meta AI’s photo editing tools can be found in Instagram Stories when tapping the paintbrush icon. Users can describe what they want to add, remove, or change.