Replit Inc., an artificial intelligence coding startup, is in talks with investors for a new funding round that would nearly triple its valuation to $3 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The company's use of AI for software development has attracted Silicon Valley investors, highlighting their interest in such technologies.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/mergers-and-acquisitions/vibecoding-leader-replit-in-talks-for-3-billion-valuationAlibaba is preparing to release its flagship AI model, with the exact date set for April 2025. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump will discuss plans for selling TikTok at a meeting on Wednesday. Nintendo's stock valuation has surged after the announcement of Switch 2, while UltraGreen.ai is considering an IPO in Singapore worth up to S$400 million. OpenAI has secured $40 billion in funding at a value of $300 billion. GlobalFoundries and Taiwanese chipmaker UMC are reportedly considering a merger.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/telcos-media-tech/tiktok-bidders-pile-deadline-looms-amazon-onlyfans-founder-mixBrinker, a Mastercard portfolio company, is an award-winning disinformation threat mitigation platform founded by Benny Schnaider, Daniel Ravner, and Oded Breiner. The platform uses proprietary narrative intelligence technology to detect, analyze, and neutralize malicious narratives and influence campaigns. Brinker's comprehensive suite includes automated legal escalations, platform takedowns, and behavioral economics-based counter-narratives, providing active influence mitigation. The company serves governmental intelligence agencies, major enterprises, law firms, and NGOs globally, offering a range of tools to combat disinformation at the press of a button.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brinker-named-among-10-most-promising-defense-tech-startups-of-2025-302418965.htmlChina is seeking to balance its diplomatic approach with a legislative strategy as it navigates the country's geopolitical and economic currents. The two sessions reaffirmed China's commitment to modernization, focusing on three key elements: technological advancements, skilled workforce development, and expanding global presence. This vision is exemplified by innovations in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and renewable energy, which are expected to drive significant growth, with AI revenue projected to reach $3.98 billion by 2030.
https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3304629/china-showcases-its-role-stabilising-force-amid-us-turbulence?module=top_story&pgtype=sectionThe European Union is revising its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) due to criticism from businesses and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who argued that the law hampers innovation by imposing complex regulations on tech companies. Danish Digital Minister Caroline Stage Olsen stated that while privacy is necessary, the current regulation needs to be simplified to make it easier for businesses to comply. The EU's Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath has confirmed a proposal to simplify the GDPR, which was initially planned for April 16 but has been rescheduled for May 21.
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-gdpr-privacy-law-europe-president-ursula-von-der-leyen/Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency launch deviated from best practices, allowing a small group of large investors to control most of the available tokens, potentially leading to price manipulation.
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/economy/political-complications-leading-to-increasing-fall-out-for-crypto.phtmlStudio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazaki is "irreplaceable" according to his son Goro Miyazaki, who believes artificial intelligence could potentially replace anime artists' jobs. The rise of ChatGPT's image generator has led to a surge in fan-made images mimicking the studio's style, raising concerns over copyright infringement. Despite this, Goro Miyazaki thinks nothing can replicate Hayao Miyazaki's creative depth, citing his iconic films like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro as examples of painstakingly drawn artwork that cannot be replicated by AI.
https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3304976/ai-will-take-anime-artists-jobs-studio-ghiblis-hayao-miyazaki-irreplaceable-son-says?module=top_story&pgtype=sectionIndia's adoption of AI is outpacing the global average, according to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. This trend has been observed in various industries, including technology and business. The growth of AI in India is attributed to the country's large pool of skilled engineers and its growing economy. As a result, Indian companies are increasingly investing in AI-powered solutions to stay competitive in the market.
https://www.livemint.com/technology/tech-news/india-outpacing-the-world-in-ai-adoption-openai-ceo-sam-altman-after-viral-ghibli-style-image-trend-chatgpt-11743641987836.htmlKazlauskas met Art Abal at Harvard University's Emergent Ventures class, where they aimed to develop a distributed network for training AI systems. They sought to address the issue of most models being trained by scraping public data online and big tech companies buying large datasets from other companies. Kazlauskas' experience working at Celo after graduation influenced their approach, while her time at MIT helped shape her thinking on these problems.
https://news.mit.edu/2025/vana-lets-users-own-piece-ai-models-trained-on-their-data-0403