Elon Musk is reportedly taking control of the inner workings of US government agencies

February 5, 2025

XOi raises $230M, acquires Specifx to expand its tech for field service technicians

Field service engineers may not be the first group of customers that come to mind when you think about lucrative opportunities in B2B technology. But that same blind spot speaks of the opportunity in the space for those who are stepping up and targeting “the job site.” One of the players in that space, XOi […]

January 31, 2025

People working for, or with, Elon Musk are reportedly taking over the inner workings of multiple government agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management and the Treasury Department. The Washington Post reported Friday that the highest-ranking career official at Treasury is leaving the department after “a clash” with people working for Musk’s so-called Department of […]

Guo’s Conviction Partners adds Mike Vernal as GP, raises $230M fund

January 31, 2025

When in mid-2022 Sarah Guo left Greylock to launch her own AI-focused fund, Conviction Partners, she indicated that she was tagging the word “Partners” to the firm’s name because she would eventually bring on other GPs. Now, more than two years later, Guo is being joined by Mike Vernal, who was a partner at Sequoia […]

‘Gen Z Is Obsessed’: Chili’s Sales Are Skyrocketing Thanks to the Triple Dipper and Turbo Chefs

January 31, 2025

On an earnings call this week, one analyst said the company’s turnaround was “the best one of all time” in the restaurant industry.

Google Is Offering a ‘Voluntary Exit’ For Some Employees After a Petition Signed by 1,400 Googlers Calls For Job Security

January 31, 2025

The buyouts apply to U.S. employees in Google’s platforms and devices division.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is trying to duck a deposition in an OpenAI copyright lawsuit

January 31, 2025

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is trying to avoid being deposed in a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI, according to new court filings. In response, lawyers for the plaintiff — the Authors Guild — have filed a motion to compel testimony from Amodei and his Anthropic co-founder, Benjamin Mann. Authors Guild’s lawyers claim that Amodei and Mann, […]

CFPB fines fintech Wise, alleging it charged deceptive fees

January 31, 2025

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has hit UK-based remittance company Wise with about a $2 million fine for what it described as “a series of illegal actions.” Those actions include advertising inaccurate fees and failing to properly disclose exchange rates and other costs, the CFPB alleges. Specifically, the agency claims that the fintech company […]

OpenAI releases its new o3-mini reasoning model for free

January 31, 2025

On Thursday, Microsoft announced that it’s rolling OpenAI’s reasoning model o1 out to its Copilot users, and now OpenAI is releasing a new reasoning model, o3-mini, to people who use the free version of ChatGPT. This will mark the first time that the vast majority of people will have access to one of OpenAI’s reasoning…

‘Retiring the Hybrid Policy’: Dell Issues a Strict Return-to-Office Mandate for Most Employees

January 31, 2025

Dell Technologies has around 43,000 employees in the U.S.

Apple will pay $20M to settle Watch battery swelling suit, ‘denies wrongdoing’

January 31, 2025

Apple has agreed to pay $20 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit over battery swelling on the Apple Watch. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in 2019, the suit alleges that the problem affected the first four Apple Watch models. Battery swelling is pretty much what it sounds like: […]

Meta turns to solar — again — in its data center-building boom

January 31, 2025

The announcement comes as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg maintains the company’s ambitious AI strategy, which will require hefty capital investments in data centers.

XOi raises $230M, acquires Specifx to expand its tech for field service technicians