Elon Musk's claim his brain-machine interface startup Neuralink implanted a device in its first live human subject comes after the company navigated a rigorous approval process, with some bumps along the way.
Why it matters: If successful, Neuralink says its technology will allow users to operate devices like a phone using only brainpower, and could be used to treat neurological diseases. While the technology is unproven, starting human testing is a major step.
PayPal will lay off around 9% of its global workforce, the company's president and CEO Alex Chriss announced in a letter to employees Tuesday.
The big picture: PayPal is just the latest tech giant to slash jobs as more than 25,000 tech workers across nearly 100 companies have already been let go in 2024, according to tracking site Layoffs.fyi.
Even if you think the Grammy Awards are always predictable, the 66th annual edition airing Sunday on CBS comes with some intrigue.
Why it matters: The night will feature big names like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and U2, with the biggest of the bunch (Swift) attempting to break the record for most album of the year trophies in a career.
The Ankler, the entertainment media startup from veteran Hollywood editor Janice Min and insider columnist Richard Rushfield, has hired David Lidsky as executive editor, Min told Axios. It's also struck a deal with LAist, Southern California Public Radio's flagship station and digital news site.
Why it matters: The deal extends The Ankler's reach to a broader entertainment news audience as it looks to double down on Hollywood coverage.
Minute Media, the parent company to sports and entertainment sites like The Players' Tribune and Mental Floss, has raised a new round of funding, valuing the firm at over $1 billion, CEO and founder Asaf Peled told Axios.
Why it matters: Amid an otherwise grim digital media landscape, Minute Media has continually raised cash while also becoming profitable, thanks to its niche focus on digital sports video.
G/O, formerly Gizmodo Media Group, has no plans to sell its whole portfolio this year, CEO Jim Spanfeller told Axios in an interview, despite a rough past year for G/O and media in general.
What they're saying: "We're not strapped for cash," Spanfeller said when asked whether the firm plans to raise money if it doesn't sell. But if there was an opportunity to bring in a different financial partner "in a way that helps and benefits" G/O Media's parent company, "that's possible," he said.
iRobot shares fell nearly 9% on Monday, after its $1.4 billion takeover by Amazon was scuttled by European antitrust regulators, and was down even further in early Tuesday trading.
Zoom in: The Roomba maker also announced plans to lay off 31% of its employees, which represents around 350 people, and said that it no longer plans to work on non-floorcare products like autonomous lawn mowers.
Rebellions, a Seoul-based artificial intelligence chipmaker, has raised $124 million in Series B funding led by Korean telecom giant KT.
Why it matters: This is partially an effort to eat into the market share of Nvidia, whose stock price has more than doubled over the past year, but it's more a bet that the overall market for AI chips will grow exponentially.
Eric Resnick isn't sweating the weather, even on the growing number of days when his ski resorts empire is unseasonably balmy.
Driving the news: KSL Partners, the $21 billion private equity firm that Resnick co-founded and leads, just raised a $3 billion continuation fund for Alterra Mountain Co., whose properties include Palisades at Tahoe (California), Steamboat (Colorado), and Sugarbush (Vermont).
A Hong Kong court has ordered the failed Chinese property developer, China Evergrande, to liquidate.
Why it matters: The process by which the company is sold for parts — and how the money is returned to creditors — will be closely watched at a time when global investors have quickly been losing confidence in China.
Portal has raised a new $34 million funding round to build a decentralized exchange for trading bitcoins with assets on other blockchains.
Why it matters: Centralized exchanges, like FTX and Binance, have been a liability for an industry created to undermine financial intermediaries. The better the DeFi variety gets, the less their centralized cousins will be needed.
Your next beer glass might have a hole in the bottom — the better to fill it from the base up.
What's happening: A new breed of beer dispenser fills cups from the bottom, injecting the liquid to the right level automatically and leaving bartenders free for other tasks.
X blocked searches for Taylor Swift after fake sexually explicit AI-generated images of the singer circulated on the social media platform, an executive said on Sunday.
The latest: Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X, said in a statement to media Monday: "Search has been re-enabled and we will continue to be vigilant for any attempt to spread this content and will remove it if we find it."
