Artificial Intelligence
Ongoing coverage on Artificial Intelligence.
Latest coverage
"Mass layoffs" expected at EA, as $55bn buyout by Saudi Arabia's PIF and Donald Trump's son-in-law officially goes through
Electronic Arts has officially been acquired by a consortium including Silver Lake, Affinity Partners led by Jared Kushner, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, making it a privately owned company. The deal, valued at $55 billion, will see EA delisted from NASDAQ, with stockholders receiving $210 per share. The acquisition is a leveraged buyout, with EA taking on $18 billion in debt, leading to speculation of significant cost-cutting measures, including mass layoffs, to manage annual interest payments.
Google’s Pixel 11 glowing dot has a real name — HiLight — and it sits on the rear
A leak reveals that the glowing dot on Google's upcoming Pixel 11 Pro Fold is named 'HiLight' and serves as a combined flash and notification light. This feature can illuminate for calls from favorite contacts or when interacting with Gemini, Google's AI assistant. The HiLight is positioned on the rear of the device, intended for use when the phone is face down.
AI model distillation, explained: the cheap way to inherit an expensive model’s brain
AI model distillation, also known as knowledge distillation, is a technique where a smaller "student" model learns from a larger "teacher" model. This process allows for the creation of cheaper, more efficient AI systems by inheriting the capabilities of expensive, pre-trained models. However, concerns exist regarding the potential loss of safety knowledge and the inheritance of biases during this distillation process.
EA to Cut Costs by $700 Million Annually, Potential Mass Layoffs Inbound – Rumor
Electronic Arts is reportedly planning to cut $700 million in annual costs following its acquisition by the Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners. This move is expected to lead to significant layoffs across the company, despite EA's current financial stability. New investors plan to leverage AI in game development, which could also impact staffing.
EA Completes Deal to be Acquired by Saudi Arabia’s PIF and its Partners for $55 Billion
Electronic Arts has officially been acquired by a consortium including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners for $55 billion, taking the company private. CEO Andrew Wilson stated the new ownership will invest in next-generation games and experiences. The Public Investment Fund now holds a 93.4 percent stake in the company.
Perplexity has successfully overturned Amazon's injunction on its AI shopping bot
Perplexity has successfully overturned Amazon's injunction against its AI shopping bot. The legal dispute began in November 2025, concerning Perplexity's use of online shopping data.
The deal is done: Electronic Arts is now officially owned by Saudi Arabia
Electronic Arts has been officially acquired by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, along with Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. The deal, valued at a significant sum, gives Saudi Arabia a 93.4% ownership stake. Concerns have been raised regarding the company's future support for inclusive games given Saudi Arabia's human rights record, while EA leadership emphasizes continued innovation and investment, including in AI.
AI Yi-Yi!
OpenAI's ChatGPT influencer brand trip faced backlash, while NVIDIA is joining the National Science Foundation's AI Hubs program to expand AI research and education across the US. This initiative aims to foster advancements in artificial intelligence.
SpaceX's first public earnings statement shows the financials of an AI company in 2026
SpaceX has released its first public earnings statement, revealing the financial status of the company in 2026 with a significant focus on artificial intelligence operations. The statement highlights substantial capital expenditures related to these AI initiatives.
AMD plans to launch new rack-scale AI platforms every year, says Lisa Su
AMD CEO Lisa Su announced the company's intention to launch a new rack-scale AI platform annually, starting after the Helios system ships before Q3 2026. Each new generation will aim to deliver significant performance, efficiency, and total cost of ownership gains for AI workloads.
EA Has Officially Been Sold, And What Comes Next Could Be Painful
Electronic Arts has been acquired by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund in a $55 billion leveraged buyout, making it the largest LBO in history. The deal has raised concerns about potential layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations due to the significant debt involved. EA CEO Andrew Wilson will remain in his position, but the company's future financial operations will be less transparent as it moves from public to private ownership.
Apple caps bug bounty program due to deluge of AI submissions
Apple has placed a cap on its bug bounty program due to an overwhelming number of submissions related to artificial intelligence. This influx has led the company to limit the scope and rewards for AI-focused security vulnerabilities.
Sui’s AI treasury experiment: agents get the job, an MPC committee keeps the keys
Mysten Labs has developed a prototype for the Sui blockchain that allows an AI agent to manage a company's treasury without direct access to private keys or balances. Payments are proposed by the AI but require approval from a Multi-Party Computation (MPC) committee, which verifies them against predefined spending policies written in Move. This system utilizes Seal MPC and Sui's confidential transfer technology to encrypt amounts and balances while keeping sender, receiver, and token type visible.
AI Yi-Yi!
The article discusses the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence in Hollywood and proposes SAFE guidelines for cybersecurity transparency, with mentions of OpenAI and NVIDIA. It highlights the broad adoption of AI across various industries.
Morning Safety Dance
Cloudflare has largely moved away from third-party security tools, a strategy not recommended for others. The article also highlights how artificial intelligence is being used as both a tool and a target in the latest wave of cyberattacks.
Spotify’s Premium Tier Passes the 300 Million Subscriber Mark
Spotify has surpassed 300 million premium subscribers, a nine percent increase year-over-year, contributing to a quarterly revenue of €4.78 billion. The company also highlighted new features like concert ticket presales and AI-powered personalized podcasts. However, Spotify faced significant platform outages and criticism regarding AI-generated content proliferation during the quarter.
Stellar Blade: Blood Rain – Release Date, Gameplay, And Everything We Know
Shift Up is developing Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, the sequel to their 2024 hit Stellar Blade. While a release date is not yet announced, the game is in early development and will feature a new protagonist, Evie, with a different combat style. The sequel is expected to explore new story elements and potentially launch on PC and PlayStation 5, with Shift Up self-publishing.
Palantir posts $1.9B quarter, then its CEO accuses AI labs of Marxism
Palantir reported $1.9 billion in revenue for its latest quarter, a 93% year-over-year increase. CEO Alex Karp also criticized AI labs, accusing them of having Marxist overtones and intending to capture the means of production by migrating intellectual property into their models. He suggested that companies partnering with these labs are funding rivals that will eventually compete with them directly.
Xbox’s next round of price increases have landed, and they’re worse than we thought
Xbox has implemented price increases for its Series S and Series X consoles, effective August 1st, with steeper hikes in Australia than initially anticipated. These increases are attributed to a significant rise in console storage and memory component costs, driven partly by the AI boom redirecting fabrication efforts. Despite the price hikes, Microsoft continues to incur losses on each console sold.
Stellar Blade: Blood Rain studio CEO defends AI music video because Evie was originally "created from head to toe" by the devs, but fans say that's not the point
Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung Tae defended the studio's use of AI in a music video for Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, stating the character Evie was created by human artists. He clarified that AI was used for rendering based on existing data, not for generating the character from scratch. Despite his explanation, fans remain critical, citing ethical concerns regarding labor and the perceived shortcut of using AI.
