SoftBank Makes Good on $40 Billion OpenAI Investment

PYMNTS / pymnts - SoftBank completed its promised $40 billion investment commitment to OpenAI, CNBC reported Tuesday (Dec. 30), citing unnamed sources. The Japanese investment firm last week gave the artificial intelligence startup a final payment of $22 billion to $22.5 b…

Editor: So the big question here is what did Softbank have to do to make this happen? We already know ~6B of it came from liquidating Nvidia stock, but what else? Selling off more bets? Taking on more debt? It feels like a lot of exposure.

Back to Top / Tuesday, December 30, 2025, 12:21 pm / permalink 17368 / 9 stories in 2 months

LG unveils Gallery TV, a canvas-style rival to Samsung's The Frame

techspot - The LG Gallery TV will use the company's Gallery+ content service launched earlier this year. The library offers more than 4,500 pieces of artwork. Owners can also create pieces using generative AI or add their own images from a personal gallery – it even…

Editor: Having seen the Samsung equivalent in the wild, I can appreciate why these qualify as a "craze" - they look fantastic and really add to a space.

Back to Top / Tuesday, December 30, 2025, 9:21 am / permalink 17366 / 7 stories in 2 months

TCL’s New Paper-Like Tablet Has a Bunch of AI in It

James Pero / gizmodo - The Note A1 Nxtpaper throws a lot of AI features at the wall.

Back to Top / Tuesday, December 30, 2025, 9:21 am / permalink 17365 / 6 stories in 2 months

Britain’s Octopus Energy To Spin Off AI Arm Kraken At $8.65 Billion Valuation

Kailee Rainse / startuprise - British renewable-energy startup Octopus Energy is spinning off its utility management platform, Kraken Technologies, with a valuation of $8.65 billion. The move follows Kraken’s first standalone $1 billion equity raise, led by D1 Capital Partners and joi…

Back to Top / Tuesday, December 30, 2025, 5:20 am / permalink 17362 / 4 stories in 2 months

iPhone Fold Design Revealed By Leaker Who Apple Sued Earlier This Year

bgr - Leaker Jon Prosser is back with a detailed look at the unannounced foldable iPhone despite the fact that Apple sued him just months ago.

Back to Top / Monday, December 29, 2025, 1:20 pm / permalink 17352 / 12 stories in 2 months

Apple's Developer Academy Costs $20,000 Per Student, Taxpayers Footing Millions of the Bill [Report]

iclarified - Apple's Developer Academy in Detroit is drawing attention for its steep operating costs and the heavy burden it places on public funding, raising questions about whether the program delivers enough value for the investment. An in-depth review of the initi…

Back to Top / Monday, December 29, 2025, 12:20 pm / permalink 17350 / 3 stories in 2 months

'I Switched To eSIM in 2025, and I am Full of Regret'

msmash / slashdot - Google's Pixel 10 series arrived this year as the company's first eSIM-only lineup in the United States, forcing users who wanted to review or buy the new phones to abandon their physical SIM cards entirely. Ryan Whitwam, a senior technology reporter at A…

Back to Top / Monday, December 29, 2025, 11:21 am / permalink 17347 / 4 stories in 2 months

Google Photos Is Coming To Your TV, Starting With Samsung Models

bgr - Samsung is making it easier than ever to share photos and videos with guests by bringing a Google Photos experience to its TVs in 2026.

Back to Top / Monday, December 29, 2025, 10:20 am / permalink 17344 / 11 stories in 2 months

UK Accounting Body To Halt Remote Exams Amid AI Cheating

msmash / slashdot - The world's largest accounting body is to stop students being allowed to take exams remotely to crack down on a rise in cheating on tests that underpin professional qualifications. From a report: The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), …

Editor: Is it AI cheating, or AI productivity boosting? Accounting is about the application of rules and judgment en masse - it strikes me that the exams need to test student's ability to validate their sources (is the model's output factually correct?) and apply their own judgment - or validate the model's work. I wonder how much of the problem here is poor test design methodology.

Back to Top / Monday, December 29, 2025, 9:20 am / permalink 17342 / 4 stories in 2 months

Apple assembly partner victim of a supply chain cyberattack

appleinsider - A Chinese assembler working for Apple was the target of cyberattacks in December, with the event potentially causing product line details to be leaked to attackers.Manufacturing for AppleApple's massive supply chain is a prime target for hackers keen to e…

Back to Top / Monday, December 29, 2025, 8:20 am / permalink 17339 / 4 stories in 2 months

DigitalBridge shares jump 50% after report SoftBank is in talks to acquire firm

cnbc - The premarket move comes shortly after Bloomberg reported Japan's SoftBank was in advanced talks to acquire the data center investment firm.

Back to Top / Monday, December 29, 2025, 4:20 am / permalink 17335 / 13 stories in 2 months

China outlines rules to regulate human-like AI companion apps

Mike Wheatley / siliconangle - China’s internet regulator issued new draft rules on Saturday that aim to regulate the use of artificial intelligence “companions,” which are defined as systems that interact with humans and display “human-like traits and behavior.” The new rules, called …

Back to Top / Monday, December 29, 2025, 3:20 am / permalink 17334 / 6 stories in 2 months

China to let banks pay interest on digital yuan to drive adoption

Timmy Shen / theblock - China's central bank will allow commercial banks to pay interests on digital yuan holdings in a new framework taking effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

Back to Top / Monday, December 29, 2025, 2:20 am / permalink 17333 / 6 stories in 2 months

Xiaomi Co-Founder Lin Bin Announces Long-Term Share Sale Plan of Up to USD 2 Billion

pandaily - Xiaomi co-founder and Vice Chairman Lin Bin has announced a planned sale of up to $2 billion worth of shares over several years, starting in late 2026, with proceeds earmarked for a new investment fund.

Back to Top / Monday, December 29, 2025, 12:20 am / permalink 17327 / 2 stories in 2 months

Former IBM CEO and savior Louis Gerstner dies aged 83

Mike Wheatley / siliconangle - Louis Gerstner, the former Chief Executive Officer credited with saving IBM Corp. from bankruptcy, has died aged 83, the company revealed on Sunday. Gerstner (pictured) served as Chairman and CEO of IBM from 1993 to 2002, taking over during one of the dar…

Back to Top / Monday, December 29, 2025, 12:20 am / permalink 17326 / 10 stories in 2 months

(LEAD) Coupang unveils nearly 1.69 tln-won compensation plan over data breach

Choi Kyong-ae / co - SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Yonhap) -- E-commerce giant Coupang Inc. announced a compensatio...

Back to Top / Sunday, December 28, 2025, 11:20 pm / permalink 17325 / 8 stories in 2 months