In a surprising deal announced on Monday, Disney is set to combine its Hulu Live TV business with Fubo, the live TV streaming service known for its extensive sports coverage. Under the terms of the deal, Disney will own about 70% of Fubo, which will continue to be available to viewers as a separate offering.   This new deal is expected to shake up the streaming TV business as the combined Fubo and Hulu Live TV player will let it take on major competitor YouTube TV, which has over 8 million subscribers. Hulu ...

Microsoft's AI Investment Strategy - Microsoft has allocated $80 billion in fiscal 2025 to build AI-enabled data centers, with over half of the investment focused in the United States [1] - The data centers are designed to train AI models and deploy AI and cloud-based applications globally [1] - Microsoft's fiscal year 2025 ends in June [1] AI's Economic Impact and Global Leadership - AI is expected to drive innovation and boost productivity across all economic sectors, positioning the United States at the forefront of this technological wave [2] - Microsoft emphasizes the importance of leveraging US strengths and international partnerships to maintain leadership in AI [2] Microsoft's AI Infrastructure Developments - Microsoft and OpenAI were in discussions in April regarding the construction of a $100 billion AI supercomputer facility named Stargate [2] - Microsoft later referred to OpenAI as a "competitor" in an SEC filing, indicating a shift in their relationship [2] Challenges in AI Infrastructure - The increasing electricity demand from AI operations is expected to lead to potential power shortages for data centers in the coming years [3]

Core Viewpoint - PayPal is facing a lawsuit from Nisha Desai, founder of Andav Capital, who alleges racial discrimination in the company's diversity and equity program, claiming she was excluded due to her Asian ethnicity [1][7]. Group 1: Lawsuit Details - The lawsuit was filed in a New York federal court, where Desai claims that PayPal's program is racially exclusionary, focusing primarily on Black and Hispanic-led businesses [4][7]. - Desai asserts that she applied for PayPal's $530 million commitment aimed at supporting minority-led businesses but was overlooked because the program prioritized Black and Hispanic firms [2][5]. - The suit alleges that PayPal's executives explicitly stated a preference for Black and Hispanic-led firms over other races, including Asian Americans [5][6]. Group 2: Financial Impact - Desai claims that her exclusion from the investment program resulted in significant financial losses for her firm, which she estimates to be "vital capital worth millions of dollars" [6]. - The lawsuit highlights that recipients of PayPal's funding were able to leverage those awards for additional investments and resources, while rejected funds like Desai's suffered from negative perceptions [6]. Group 3: Legal Representation and Context - Desai is represented by Consovoy McCarthy, a legal firm known for challenging race-based programs, including previous cases against Pfizer and educational institutions [8]. - The lawsuit is part of a broader trend where individuals and organizations are contesting diversity initiatives that they claim discriminate against non-Black and non-Hispanic groups [10].

Company Strategy - ByteDance plans to spend $7 billion on Nvidia chips in 2025, potentially becoming one of the world's top owners of these chips [1][3] - The company is technically adhering to U S restrictions by storing the chips in data centers located in regions like Southeast Asia rather than directly bringing them to China [4] Product and Market - ByteDance operates Doubao, China's "hottest" AI chatbot with 51 million active users [2] Regulatory Environment - The U S announced export restrictions on certain kinds of AI chips to countries including China in 2022, and these restrictions have been tightened multiple times since [5] Media Engagement - TechCrunch reached out to ByteDance for more information regarding their plans [6]

Company Strategy - ByteDance plans to spend $7 billion on Nvidia chips in 2025, potentially becoming one of the world's top owners of these chips [1] - The company is technically adhering to U S restrictions by storing the chips in data centers located in regions like Southeast Asia rather than directly bringing them to China [2] Industry Context - The U S announced export restrictions on certain kinds of AI chips to countries including China in 2022, and these restrictions have been tightened multiple times since [3] Product and Market - ByteDance operates Doubao, China's "hottest" AI chatbot with 51 million active users [6]

In Brief The Competition and Markets Authority, the U.K.’s antitrust watchdog, has opened an investigation into whether IBM’s planned acquisition of cloud software vendor HashiCorp would affect competition.The CMA said Monday it was inviting comment on the merger from interested parties by January 16. The regulator set a provisional February 25 deadline to decide whether to clear the deal or refer it for further review. As The Wall Street Journal reports, IBM announced it agreed to buy HashiCorp in April f ...

U.S. telecom giant Verizon says it has secured its network after being targeted by the China-linked Salt Typhoon cyberespionage group.In a statement given to TechCrunch on Sunday, Verizon spokesperson Richard Young said the company has “contained the cyber incident brought on by this nation-state threat actor,” and that it has not detected any threat actor activity on its network “for some time.”  Verizon’s containment of the incident has been confirmed by a “highly respected cybersecurity firm,” the compa ...

Core Insights - CEO Sundar Pichai emphasized that 2025 will be a "critical" year for the company, highlighting the urgency for faster movement and the high stakes involved [1][2] - The primary focus for the company in the upcoming year will be scaling the Gemini AI application on the consumer side [2] - The company is currently making significant investments in AI, acknowledging the need to catch up in this area and aiming to establish a leadership position by 2025 [4] Summary by Sections - **Company Strategy** - Pichai indicated the necessity for the company to internalize the urgency of the current moment and to accelerate its pace of operations [2] - The company plans to prioritize the scaling of the Gemini app, which is based on its AI model, as a major focus for the next year [2] - **Industry Context** - The tech industry, including the company, is heavily investing in AI, although results have been mixed [4] - Pichai acknowledged that the company has work to do in 2025 to close the gap in AI capabilities and to secure a leadership position in the market [4]

In Brief Microsoft and OpenAI have a very specific, internal definition of artificial general intelligence (AGI) based on the startup’s profits, according to a new report from The Information. And by this definition, OpenAI is many years away from reaching it.The two companies reportedly signed an agreement last year stating OpenAI has only achieved AGI when it develops AI systems that can generate at least $100 billion in profits. That’s far from the rigorous technical and philosophical definition of AGI m ...

Google has offered up its own proposal in a recent antitrust case that saw the US Department of Justice argue that Google must sell its Chrome browser.US District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled in August that Google had acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online search, with the DOJ then proposing a number of remedies, including the sale of Chrome, the spinoff of its Android operating system, and a prohibition on entering into exclusionary search agreements with browser and phone companies. Google file ...