The Download: the EU AI Act is here, and preventing deadly cancer

December 11, 2023
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. Why the EU AI Act was so hard to agree on On Saturday, European Union lawmakers announced they’d finally agreed the terms of the final version of the EU AI Act, a major…

PwC is acquiring Surfaceink, the hardware designer that was once a close partner of Apple’s

December 11, 2023

A lesser-known but significant player in the Silicon Valley tech world is getting acquired today — a move that underscores the changing economics in the world of hardware, and who wants to get more involved in that space. Surfaceink, a company that got its start as Apple’s key hardware engineering partner after the return of […]

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Mistral AI, a Paris-based OpenAI rival, closed its $415 million funding round

December 11, 2023

French startup Mistral AI has officially closed its much anticipated Series A funding round. The company has raised €385 million, or $415 million at today’s exchange rate — according to Bloomberg, it values the company at roughly $2 billion. Mistral AI is also opening up its commercial platform today. As a reminder, Mistral AI raised […]

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Why the EU AI Act was so hard to agree on

December 11, 2023
This article is from The Technocrat, MIT Technology Review’s weekly tech policy newsletter about power, politics, and Silicon Valley. To receive it in your inbox every Friday, sign up here. Update: On December 8, 2023, the EU AI Act was agreed on, after this story was written and sent as MIT Technology Review’s weekly tech…

TikTok to invest $1.5B in GoTo’s Indonesia e-commerce business

December 11, 2023

ByteDance’s TikTok will take a 75.01% controlling stake in a joint venture entity formed in partnership with GoTo’s e-commerce unit Tokopedia, the two tech firms announced on Monday. TikTok will invest $1.5 billion in the combined entity over time “to provide future funding required by the business, without any additional dilution to GoTo’s 24.99% stake,” […]

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Amazon loses second AWS India and South Asia top exec in less than a year

December 11, 2023

Vaishali Kasture, the executive Amazon appointed as the interim head of AWS India and South Asia, has quit the firm, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch, merely seven months into the top role. Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by email and phone. Amazon counts India as one of its […]

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US-China tech war escalates over EV battery dominance

December 11, 2023

Semiconductors have in recent years become a focal point in the U.S.’s efforts to impede China’s technological advancement. Now Washington has its eye on yet another red-hot tech sector where China is making great strides: batteries for electric vehicles. Earlier this month, the Departments of Treasury and Energy proposed rules that would limit electric vehicle […]

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