Former President Trump’s social media app Truth Social remains unavailable for many, despite promises that it would be "fully operational" in the U.S. by Thursday.
Why it matters: Trump fans flooded into a SPAC that agreed to take Truth Social public and could lose their investments if the app doesn't get its act together.
Production needs to be the “chief area of innovation for gaming,” prolific game designer Xalavier Nelson Jr. tells Axios.
Why it matters: Nelson sizes up an industry full of stressed people who are struggling to make great games in a satisfying, healthy way and he wants to solve for that.
Better Financial Corp., a graduate of the Y-Combinator winter class of 2022, is looking to raise $5 million in funding at a $50 million valuation for its seed round, sources with knowledge of the matter tell Axios.
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating a breakfast meeting between Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and investor Alexander von Furstenberg, as part of its probe into possible insider trading related to Microsoft's $69 billion takeover bid for Activision, per the WSJ.
Why it matters: There's often unusual options trading activity ahead of big merger announcements, but the Feds either look the other way or nab small-timers. If there's a real case to be made here, it would be the highest-profile in memory.
Bitcoin hit a milestone today that gets the world ever closer to the moment when the final new bitcoin will enter the world — the supply of coins broke 19 million.
Why it matters: Bitcoin was created to be money with a fixed supply that no one can change. It launched amidst The Great Recession, when governments were issuing lots of new money to help ease the economic pain.
Facebook parent Meta found itself back in the spotlight this week, largely through controversies of its own making.
Why it matters: Meta’s stock has already struggled to rebound from the "Facebook Files" fiasco and Apple’s app changes (down 33% year-to-date), but it had begun to rally in March. Now, a series of setbacks could further hinder its comeback.
Eric Schmidt has taken on big challenges before, fighting Microsoft when he led Novell and taking on Brussels when he was CEO at Google. Today, the billionaire is focusing his energy on rousing the U.S. to fight what he sees as its biggest tech struggle yet: competition with China.
What they're saying: "We have to do whatever it takes," he told Axios in an interview in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.
Customer service chatbots are becoming kinder, smarter and even more helpful, thanks to huge leaps in artificial intelligence.
Why it matters: Chatbots can be aggravating if their formulaic responses don't provide the help you're searching for — what customer service experts refer to as "the spiral of misery," per the New York Times.
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