Angel Au-Yeung / Wall Street Journal:
Inside JD Vance’s VC career: five years, two firms before co-founding Narya, investing in AppHarvest, which faced lawsuits and filed for bankruptcy, and more — Five years, three firms, two SPAC deals and a bankruptcy are the hallmarks of his stint in the tech industry
As xAI builds a supercomputer in Memphis, many locals are wary of its benefits, and environmental advocates are puzzled over its potential effects (Patrick Sisson/Bloomberg)
Patrick Sisson / Bloomberg:
As xAI builds a supercomputer in Memphis, many locals are wary of its benefits, and environmental advocates are puzzled over its potential effects — The billionaire’s artificial intelligence company is moving quickly to build one of the world’s largest computers in South Memphis.
A look at the flood of “fancam” videos and memes about Kamala Harris on short-form video platforms, echoing “meme armies” that have supported Donald Trump (Washington Post)
Washington Post:
A look at the flood of “fancam” videos and memes about Kamala Harris on short-form video platforms, echoing “meme armies” that have supported Donald Trump — A grassroots network of TikTok creators, energized by the new likely Democratic nominee …
Self-driving startup Applied Intuition raised $300M+ as part of a secondary deal that allowed shareholders and employees to sell shares in the $6B company (Katie Roof/Bloomberg)
Katie Roof / Bloomberg:
Self-driving startup Applied Intuition raised $300M+ as part of a secondary deal that allowed shareholders and employees to sell shares in the $6B company — The auto software startup’s employees sold shares to investors including Fidelity, General Catalyst and Mary Meeker’s Bond.
Florida-based IntelePeer, which develops software to help businesses automate customer contact centers using AI, raised $140M in equity and debt (Denver Business Journal)
Denver Business Journal:
Florida-based IntelePeer, which develops software to help businesses automate customer contact centers using AI, raised $140M in equity and debt — Artificial intelligence communications provider IntelePeer raised $140 million in growth funding and debt financing on Thursday to help businesses automate call centers.
Binarly: UEFI Secure Boot is completely compromised on 200+ device models sold by Acer, Dell, Gigabyte, Intel, and Supermicro due to a cryptographic key leak (Dan Goodin/Ars Technica)
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Binarly: UEFI Secure Boot is completely compromised on 200+ device models sold by Acer, Dell, Gigabyte, Intel, and Supermicro due to a cryptographic key leak — Keys were labeled “DO NOT TRUST.” Nearly 500 device models use them anyway. — In 2012, an industry-wide coalition of hardware …
FTC’s Lina Khan says open-weights AI models can promote competition and “liberate startups from the arbitrary whims of closed developers and cloud gatekeepers” (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg:
FTC’s Lina Khan says open-weights AI models can promote competition and “liberate startups from the arbitrary whims of closed developers and cloud gatekeepers” — – Khan comments made at San Francisco event on AI startups — Agency is probing Microsoft, OpenAI over antitrust concerns
The US DOJ indicts a North Korean hacker, who remains at large, for his alleged role in Andariel group’s cyberattacks on US hospitals, NASA, and military bases (Associated Press)
Associated Press:
The US DOJ indicts a North Korean hacker, who remains at large, for his alleged role in Andariel group’s cyberattacks on US hospitals, NASA, and military bases — A North Korean military intelligence operative has been indicted in a conspiracy to hack into American health care providers …
Kamala Harris joins TikTok, following an explosion of Harris memes since announcing her presidential run; her account has attracted 400K+ followers in ~2 hours (Todd Spangler/Variety)
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Kamala Harris joins TikTok, following an explosion of Harris memes since announcing her presidential run; her account has attracted 400K+ followers in ~2 hours — Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now running for president in 2024 against Donald Trump, on Thursday launched her own account on social-entertainment app TikTok.
A decade-old drama between David Sacks and Parker Conrad has blown up into a fight on X over VC behavior, drawing in Paul Graham and other Silicon Valley names (Julie Bort/TechCrunch)
Julie Bort / TechCrunch:
A decade-old drama between David Sacks and Parker Conrad has blown up into a fight on X over VC behavior, drawing in Paul Graham and other Silicon Valley names — A decade-old drama involving VC David Sacks and Rippling founder Parker Conrad over their previous company Zenefits has blown …
