RT Watson / The Block:
Immutable Games launches Guild of Guardians, its flagship mobile fantasy RPG that let players win GOG tokens, NFTs, and more; Immutable raised $200M in 2022 — “Guild of Guardians” is launching worldwide on both Apple and Android devices. — Immutable Games is offering up to $1 million in prizes.
Billionaire tech critic Frank McCourt says he is preparing a “people’s bid” for TikTok to buy and rebuild the app as “a new and better version of the internet” (Ben Smith/Semafor)
Ben Smith / Semafor:
Billionaire tech critic Frank McCourt says he is preparing a “people’s bid” for TikTok to buy and rebuild the app as “a new and better version of the internet” — The Scoop — A billionaire tech critic says he is mounting a bid to buy TikTok …
Weka, which offers a parallel file system and data management tools for AI and HPC, raised a $140M Series E led by Valor Equity at a $1.6B post-money valuation (Kyle Wiggers/TechCrunch)
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Weka, which offers a parallel file system and data management tools for AI and HPC, raised a $140M Series E led by Valor Equity at a $1.6B post-money valuation — While an increasing number of companies are investing in AI, many are struggling to get AI-powered projects into production — much less delivering meaningful ROI.
Sources: Neuralink’s disclosure last week that tiny wires inside its first patient’s brain had pulled out of position is an issue it has known about for years (Rachael Levy/Reuters)
Rachael Levy / Reuters:
Sources: Neuralink’s disclosure last week that tiny wires inside its first patient’s brain had pulled out of position is an issue it has known about for years — Neuralink’s disclosure last week that tiny wires inside the brain of its first patient had pulled out of position is an issue …
Humanity Protocol, a blockchain-based identity system that uses scans of people’s palms, raised a $30M seed led by Kingsway Capital at a $1B valuation (Hannah Miller/Bloomberg)
Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
Humanity Protocol, a blockchain-based identity system that uses scans of people’s palms, raised a $30M seed led by Kingsway Capital at a $1B valuation — The startup raised $30 million at a $1 billion valuation as it looks to challenge projects like Worldcoin.
Amazon made its debut pitch at the Upfronts annual ad sales event on May 14, competing with major media networks and highlighting its push beyond digital ads (Annie Palmer/CNBC)
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon made its debut pitch at the Upfronts annual ad sales event on May 14, competing with major media networks and highlighting its push beyond digital ads — Amazon has become a growing threat to digital ad incumbents Meta and Google, attracting billions of dollars a quarter from brands …
Bipartisan US Senators release a long-awaited plan for AI, calling for spending $32B annually by 2026 on R&D, creating a federal data privacy law, and more (New York Times)
New York Times:
Bipartisan US Senators release a long-awaited plan for AI, calling for spending $32B annually by 2026 on R&D, creating a federal data privacy law, and more — Their plan is the culmination of a yearlong listening tour on the dangers of the new technology.
Kentucky-based PayHOA, a bootstrapped startup that offers software for self-managed homeowner associations, raised a $27.5M Series A and reports 652K+ users (Mary Ann Azevedo/TechCrunch)
Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch:
Kentucky-based PayHOA, a bootstrapped startup that offers software for self-managed homeowner associations, raised a $27.5M Series A and reports 652K+ users — PayHOA, a previously bootstrapped Kentucky-based startup that offers software for self-managed homeowner associations (HOAs) …
A US federal court orders Elon Musk to testify again in an SEC investigation into his $44B Twitter takeover; the SEC sued Musk in October 2023 to testify (Reuters)
Reuters:
A US federal court orders Elon Musk to testify again in an SEC investigation into his $44B Twitter takeover; the SEC sued Musk in October 2023 to testify — A federal court ordered on Tuesday that Elon Musk must testify again in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into his $44 billion takeover of Twitter.
As India’s elections run from April 19 to June 1, a look at the BJP’s vast WhatsApp operations, including using the app to campaign free from public scrutiny (Srishti Jaswal/Rest of World)
Srishti Jaswal / Rest of World:
As India’s elections run from April 19 to June 1, a look at the BJP’s vast WhatsApp operations, including using the app to campaign free from public scrutiny — An analysis of thousands of messages reveals how India’s ruling party uses the app to campaign free from public scrutiny. — • MANDI, INDIA
