Category: Consumer Assistance

Financial Times:
Sources: a16z, Sequoia Capital, and Tribe Capital commit to joining xAI’s new funding round, in which the company seeks to raise ~$6B at an $18B valuation  —  Billionaire’s artificial intelligence start-up closes in on $6bn funding round as it seeks more financial firepower

Forbes:
Sources: Helsing, which provides AI tools to militaries, is raising a $400M+ Series C led by General Catalyst at a ~$4B valuation, after raising $200M+ in 2023  —  The Munich-based company is raising at least $400 million in a funding round led by General Catalyst, sources tell Forbes.

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Alphabet and Meta are in talks with Hollywood studios about licensing content for use in AI video generation tools; Disney and Netflix aren’t willing  —  – Studios seek to harness AI’s promise without losing control  — Warner weighs licensing content; Disney, Netflix say no

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
A bill strengthening the UK Competition and Markets Authority to regulate tech giants like Apple and Google heads toward approval before the UK’s July election  —  The UK will shortly get its own rulebook for Big Tech, after peers in the House of Lords agreed Thursday afternoon to pass the Digital Markets …

Reed Abelson / New York Times:
US hospital operator Ascension, which has ~140 hospitals, remains down indefinitely after a May 8 cyberattack, an eerily similar hack to Change Healthcare  —  For two weeks at the 140-hospital system, doctors and nurses have had little access to digital records for patient histories, resorting to paper and faxes to treat people.

Tom Warren / The Verge:
An interview with Microsoft Windows and Devices head Pavan Davuluri on his vision, Copilot AI, Windows Copilot Runtime, streaming Windows to devices, and more  —  Pavan Davuluri hasn’t even been the head of Windows for two months, but he’s already been tasked with announcing Microsoft’s transition …

Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Leaked contract: Samsung requires independent repair shops to notify Samsung, share customer data, and “immediately disassemble” devices with aftermarket parts  —  In exchange for selling them repair parts, Samsung requires independent repair shops to give Samsung the name …

Sean Hollister / The Verge:
iFixit and Samsung end their repair partnership after two years; iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens says that “Samsung does not seem interested in enabling repair at scale”  —  iFixit and Samsung are parting ways. … “Samsung does not seem interested in enabling repair at scale,” …

Ryan Christoffel / 9to5Mac:
Kuo: Apple targets a 2026 launch for the full-screen foldable MacBook and is considering 20.25″ and 18.8″ panels, with an M5 chip and Vision Pro-like price  —  Apple is working on all-screen foldable devices.  Unlike its competitors, however, its focus seems less on foldable smartphones and tablets …

CNBC:
US DOJ and state AGs sue to break up Ticketmaster parent Live Nation over alleged antitrust violations, following a DOJ probe and Taylor Swift fan complaints  —  The U.S. Department of Justice is suing to break up Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, over alleged antitrust violations.