Instagram has hit 3 billion monthly users, parent Meta Platforms announced this week, an increase of one billion since the company last disclosed figures in October 2022. Meta’s other social platforms, Facebook and WhatsApp, both crossed the 3 billion mark earlier this year. The milestone coincides with a redesign of the Instagram app’s homepage putting more emphasis on Reels short-form videos and private messaging that have largely driven the platform’s growth. Meta has begun testing a version of the app in India that opens directly into Reels instead of a traditional feed. Continue reading Instagram Touts 3 Billion Global Users, Redesigns Homepage

In one of the largest cloud computing deals ever, OpenAI has contracted with Oracle for $300 billion in processing power over five years starting in 2027. Oracle has committed to 4.5 gigawatts of capacity. A typical nuclear plant caps at 1 gigawatt of output generated at any given instant. The deal involves risk for both companies. OpenAI’s annual revenue of about $10 billion is far short of the amount needed to cover this tab. Oracle’s exposure comes with depending on a small number of large customers for so much revenue and the expense of expanding infrastructure to fulfill the obligation. Continue reading OpenAI Signs $300 Billion Cloud Computing Deal with Oracle

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is the latest customer to purchase spectrum from EchoStar as that company continues to restructure. The firms have reached a definitive agreement for SpaceX to acquire $17 billion worth of AWS-4 and H-block spectrum, designated for mobile and satellite communications. SpaceX will also fund approximately $2 billion of cash interest payments payable on EchoStar debt through November of 2027. In addition, EchoStar is entering into a long-term commercial agreement that will allow it to access SpaceX’s next-generation Starlink Direct to Cell service for EchoStar’s Boost Mobile subscribers. Continue reading SpaceX Paves Starlink Mobile Path with $17B EchoStar Deal

Sky-based entertainment powered by drones is a nascent entertainment medium that just got a boost from Jeffrey Katzenberg. WndrCo, the investment firm led by Katzenberg and partner Sujay Jaswa, has joined a $50 million funding round for Nova Sky Stories, the drone light show company co-founded by Kimbal Musk. The younger brother of billionaire Elon Musk acquired the technology from Intel in 2022 and says it’s in the early stages of what’s possible. Katzenberg has joined Nova’s board of directors and will serve as a strategic advisor, helping to grow the company’s studio of animators and storytellers. Continue reading Katzenberg’s WndrCo Invests in Nova Sky Stories Drone Firm

Elon Musk’s xAI has made Grok 4 available on its free tiers as it seeks to take advantage of initial user dissatisfaction with OpenAI’s new GPT-5. The company has positioned Grok as freewheeling and uncensored, a contrast to GPT-5, which has been criticized on Reddit and other social platforms as a “corporate beige zombie” with too many guardrails. After its February debut, Grok 3 was reined-in with checks including removal of its native image generator in March. Grok 4 was released in July with integrated image and video features as well as a “Spicy” mode for creating risqué content. Continue reading Grok 4 Offered Free in xAI Move on ChatGPT-5 Market Share

Grok Imagine is xAI’s new video and image generator, which is currently available via the X social platform, the Grok mobile app, and Grok web interface. Imagine replaces AI image generator Aurora, which was retired in May following a string of offensive posts that led to media criticism and user concerns. Despite the backlash, Elon Musk’s xAI seems determined to have Imagine push conventional limits, with a “spicy” mode that outputs imagery including adult content. Its text-to-image capabilities work with text or voice prompts, while the video tool relies on image prompts to make short clips using images from a user’s gallery or generated by Grok. Continue reading Grok Imagine from xAI Offers Video Generation, ‘Spicy’ Mode

Tesla has selected Samsung to manufacture its new A16 system-on-a-chip, developed by the carmaker for its next-generation artificial intelligence applications, including for autonomous driving, Optimus robots and AI data centers. The multiyear deal is reportedly worth $16.5 billion to Samsung and represents a major win for its foundry division. The South Korean company’s soon-to-open plant in Taylor, Texas will focus on making Tesla’s new AI6 chip, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Samsung began producing Tesla’s A14 chip in 2023, but the A15 contract went to TSMC, which is in the testing phase using its 3nm N3P process. Continue reading Samsung Inks $16.5 Billion Deal to Produce Tesla’s A16 Chip

Oracle and OpenAI have confirmed the $30 billion per year AI data center contract reported earlier this month. The deal will provide OpenAI’s Stargate project with 4.5 gigawatts of additional data center capacity in the U.S. Oracle is a Stargate partner and has been working in partnership with OpenAI on the Stargate I site, coming online in Abilene, Texas. “This additional partnership with Oracle will bring us to over 5 gigawatts of Stargate AI data center capacity under development, which will run over 2 million chips,” OpenAI explains. The “investment will create new jobs, accelerate America’s reindustrialization, and help advance U.S. AI leadership.” Continue reading OpenAI and Oracle Confirm $30B Annual Data Center Contract

Meta Platforms has embarked on an ambitious data center build-out to power its AI ambitions. This includes Hyperion, a massive facility to be built in Louisiana that “will be able to scale up to 5 gigawatts over several years,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on Threads with a graphic illustrating how its planned footprint is nearly big enough to cover most of Manhattan. The first new plant to come online will be Prometheus in Ohio in 2026, Zuckerberg said, indicating his company will not be looking to OpenAI and Stargate partners to power Meta AI processing. Continue reading Meta Power Play Includes Data Centers of Up to 5 Gigawatts

YouTube has loosened its rules regarding content moderation, instructing its moderators to prioritize “freedom of expression” over perceived risks of harm in assessing what to take down for the popular video platform. Although the move hasn’t been widely publicized, it was gleaned through leaks of moderator training material that made its way to the media. YouTube becomes the latest in a string of social platforms that have relaxed content moderation standards. Unlike Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, YouTube and its parent Google have refrained from public comment on the move. Continue reading YouTube Latest Social Platform to Loosen Content Moderation

Stargate UAE is the first major deal announced by the OpenAI-led Stargate consortium in its march to develop giant data centers for artificial intelligence around the world. The massive Abu Dhabi cluster is expected to go live with 200 megawatts in 2026 then scale up to 1 gigawatt — enough to power a million homes — eventually taking its place as part of a 5GW UAE-U.S. AI technology cluster in the region. Stargate partners G42, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco and SoftBank are participating in the build-out, which OpenAI explains was “developed in close coordination with the U.S. government.” Continue reading OpenAI-Led Stargate UAE Is Latest in Middle East Tech Push

Adobe has released its free Content Authenticity web app in beta. The app is designed to help protect creators’ work and allows them to embed a request that generative AI models don’t use their work for training. Users can apply tags for up to 50 images at once. In addition to applying tags, users can customize and inspect Adobe Content Credentials using the the Adobe Content Authenticity browser extension for Google Chrome. The information is invisible until the inspection tool is opened and can include links to a creator’s social media account, website or other identifying attributes. Continue reading Adobe Launches Its Content Authenticity App in Public Beta

After testing advertising in select markets, Meta Platforms is now offering ads on Instagram’s Threads globally to all eligible advertisers, providing access to the more than 320 million monthly active users the social platform has accrued since launching in July 2023. The Threads feed ad placement will be set on by default for new campaigns using either Advantage+ or Manual Placements unless an advertiser toggles to opt out. Global Threads advertisers will also have access to the platform’s inventory filter, which provides increased control over the distribution of ads. Continue reading Meta Opens Threads Advertising Globally to Eligible Accounts

OpenAI is working to build a social network that will compete against Elon Musk’s X and Meta’s Instagram, reports say. Though still in the early stages, the project is revolving around an internal prototype that is said to involve a social feed that leverages ChatGPT’s image generator. It’s unclear if an OpenAI social app would be standalone or integrated with ChatGPT, but either way it would most likely heighten the competition between rivals Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who recently fended off an unsolicited offer by Musk to purchase his company for $97.4 billion. Continue reading OpenAI Reportedly Has Prototype for Its Own Social Network

OpenAI has closed a $40 billion funding round, a record for a private tech firm. The infusion gives the nine-year-old San Francisco startup a $300 billion valuation making it the second most richly apprised private firm in the world, second only to SpaceX at $350 billion and tied with ByteDance, according to CNBC. The round was led by SoftBank Group contributing $30 billion, which likely gives the Japanese holding company the second largest stake, after Microsoft, which is said to have received a commitment for 49 percent of any profits in exchange for nearly $14 billion. Continue reading OpenAI Closes the Largest Private Tech Funding Round Ever