A co-lead on Sora, OpenAI’s video generator, has left for Google

One of the co-leads on OpenAI’s video generator, Sora, has left for Google. Tim Brooks, who was heading development on Sora with William Peebles, announced in a post on X that he’ll be joining Google DeepMind, Google’s AI research division, to work on video generation technologies a…Read More

Judge blocks California’s new AI law in case over Kamala Harris deepfake

A federal judge blocked one of California’s new AI laws on Wednesday, less than two weeks after it was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Shortly after signing AB 2839, Newsom suggested it could be used to force Elon Musk to take down an AI deepfake of Vice President Kam…Read More

Venture firm CRV returns $275 million citing overvaluation of mature startups

CRV, a more than 50-year-old venture firm, is returning to investors $275 million from its $500 million Select fund, which backs later-stage rounds of existing portfolio companies, the New York Times reported. The firm is one of the first Silicon Valley outfits to…Read More

Here is what’s illegal under California’s 18 (and counting) new AI laws

In September, California Governor Gavin Newsom considered 38 AI-related bills, including the highly contentious SB 1047, which the state’s legislature sent to his desk for final approval. He vetoed SB 1047 on Sunday, marking the end of the road for California’s con…Read More

YouTube blocks videos from Adele, Green Day, Bob Dylan, others in dispute with SESAC

A number of YouTube videos featuring music from artists such as Adele, Green Day, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, and R.E.M. have been unplayable in the United States since Saturday. For example, if you try to play Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” (whether it’s the classic…Read More

A Russian warlord said he’ll take Cybertrucks into Ukraine; some experts think that’s unwise

In August, a Russian warlord posted a video on Telegram, showing a pair of Cybertrucks patrolling a road in Chechnya, armed seemingly with heavy machine guns. Leaving aside unanswerable (for now) questions about how the vehicles were obtained, Wired tho…Read More

WordPress.org temporarily lifts its ban on WP Engine

WordPress.org has lifted its ban on hosting provider WP Engine until October 1, after putting a block on it earlier this week. The block prevented several sites from updating their plug-ins and themes and exposing them to potential security risk. WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, who has…Read More

Binance founder ‘CZ’ released from custody after four-month sentence

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was released from US custody on Friday after serving out his four-month sentence in a low-security correctional facility. CZ’s sentence was the product of a federal investigation that found Binance had failed to stop widespread criminal act…Read More

AI dominated both YC Demo Day and startup news

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. This week was a busy one for the startup and VC world, with its fair share of funding news and, of course, the latest edition of YC’s […]
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Meta fined $101.5M for 2019 breach that exposed hundreds of millions of Facebook passwords

Reset your clocks: Meta has been hit with yet another privacy penalty in Europe. On Friday, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced a reprimand and a €91 million fine — around $101.5M at current exchange rates — after concluding a multi-year i…Read More

Starlink hits 4 million subscribers

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet network is expected to hit a new customer milestone this week, company President Gwynne Shotwell told Texas legislators on Tuesday.  “This week, by the way, we will pass 4 million customers for Starlink, which is quite exciting,” she said while testifying before a state…Read More