Your Hub for Tech News and Handy Online Tools.

Social Media Updates

Instagram Enhances Map Feature with Privacy Indicators and Clarifications

Instagram has updated its Map feature to improve user awareness of location sharing. The update includes prominent indicators to show whether location sharing is enabled or disabled.

The update addresses previous confusion by removing profile photos from Map content to clarify that tagged locations don't indicate real-time presence. Instagram is also adding educational reminders about location tags on stories, Reels, and posts.

These changes aim to enhance user understanding of location settings and how their content appears on the map. The Map feature, initially launched in the US and Canada, has now been extended to users in India.

Artificial Intelligence

AMD and OpenAI Forge Multi-Billion Dollar AI Partnership

AMD has entered into a multi-year agreement with OpenAI to supply 6 gigawatts of compute capacity, potentially generating tens of billions in revenue for AMD. The deal involves multiple generations of AMD's Instinct GPUs, starting with the Instinct MI450 GPU, with the first gigawatt deployment scheduled for the second half of 2026. AMD claims its MI450 series will outperform Nvidia's offerings, with improvements made in collaboration with OpenAI. As part of the agreement, OpenAI has the option to purchase up to 160 million shares of AMD stock, contingent on achieving specific deployment milestones and stock price targets. This partnership aims to bolster OpenAI's AI infrastructure development and expands the Stargate data centers.

Defense Industry

Firefly Aerospace Expands into Defense with $855M Acquisition of SciTec

Firefly Aerospace has announced its acquisition of SciTec, a defense analytics firm, for approximately $855 million in cash and stock. The deal aims to position Firefly as a major player in the national security market.

The acquisition involves roughly $300 million in cash and $555 million in new Firefly shares, with the deal expected to be finalized by the end of 2025. SciTec, based in Princeton, specializes in missile-warning and tracking systems, space domain awareness tools, and analytics for defense and intelligence clients. Notably, SciTec was recently awarded a $259 million contract by Space Force to develop a ground system for missile-detection satellites and reported $164 million in annual revenue as of June.

This move follows Firefly's recent IPO and reflects its strategic shift from a launch-and-spacecraft manufacturer to a vertically integrated defense contractor. Integrating SciTec will aid Firefly in meeting the Pentagon's increasing demand for commercial partners in missile tracking and early-warning systems, including programs like the "Golden Dome" missile-defense initiative. Following the acquisition, SciTec will operate as a Firefly subsidiary, led by its current CEO, Jim Lisowski.

Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI and Jony Ive Tackle Hurdles in Developing Screen-less AI Device

OpenAI and Jony Ive are encountering technical difficulties in their collaboration to create a screen-less, AI-powered device. The project, initiated after OpenAI's $6.5 billion acquisition of Ive's device startup, aims to produce a palm-sized device that responds to user requests using audio and visual cues. Key challenges involve defining the device's 'personality,' ensuring privacy, and managing computing infrastructure. The device is intended to be 'always on,' but the team is working to refine its responsiveness and conversation management.

Transportation and Investments

EV Sales, DOE Cuts, and Toyota's Startup Investment: A Week in Mobility

EV Sales and Tax Credits: Automakers like Tesla, Ford, GM, and Rivian saw sales bumps before the $7,500 federal tax credit expired. It remains to be seen how the industry will navigate the post-tax credit era, with Rivian already adjusting its guidance down for 2025.
DOE Project Cancellations: The Department of Energy canceled 321 clean energy projects totaling $7.56 billion, disproportionately affecting states that voted for Kamala Harris.
Toyota's Startup Investment: Toyota is committing $1.5 billion to invest in startups through Toyota Invention Partners Co. and Woven Capital.
Notable Deals: Einride raised $100 million, Electroflow raised $10 million, and Flai raised a $4.5 million seed round.
Other Tidbits: Amazon Prime Air delivery drones collided, DoorDash is working on an autonomous delivery robot, Faraday Future had an explosion at its headquarters, and Waymo received an extension for its testing permit in New York City.

Artificial Intelligence

AI's Uneven Progress: The Reinforcement Learning Divide

AI coding tools are rapidly improving due to reinforcement learning (RL) and easily measurable tests. However, skills like writing emails are progressing slowly. The key factor is whether a task can be automatically graded, allowing for billions of iterations without human input.
Software development is well-suited for RL because of existing testing methodologies like unit and integration testing. These tests provide systematized and repeatable validation for AI-generated code. Conversely, subjective tasks like writing emails are harder to measure at scale.
The "reinforcement gap"—the difference between capabilities that can be automatically graded and those that can't—is a critical factor in AI development. Unexpected advancements like OpenAI's Sora 2 model demonstrate that some processes may be more testable than initially thought, likely due to robust RL systems.
As long as RL remains a primary tool, this gap will widen, impacting startups and the economy. The testability of a process will determine its potential for automation, potentially leading to job displacement in certain sectors. The future of healthcare services, for example, will depend on which aspects can be effectively trained with RL.

Labor & Employment

California Grants Union Rights to Uber and Lyft Drivers

California has passed a bill granting Uber and Lyft drivers the right to unionize as independent contractors. This legislation is part of a broader agreement between lawmakers, unions, and ride-hailing companies. More than 800,000 drivers in California will now have the ability to collectively bargain for improved pay and benefits. Uber's head of public policy in California views the bill as a compromise that reduces costs for riders while empowering drivers.

Venture Capital & Artificial Intelligence

AI Dominates Venture Capital: A Bifurcated Market Emerges

New PitchBook data reveals a significant shift in startup investment, with AI projected to account for over half of all VC funding in 2025. VCs have invested $192.7 billion in AI this year out of a total of $366.8 billion. In the latest quarter, AI received 62.7% of U.S. VC investments and 53.2% of global investments.

Much of the funding is directed towards major players like Anthropic, which secured a $13 billion Series F. The number of successful startups and venture funds raising capital is at its lowest in years, with only 823 funds raised globally in 2025 compared to 4,430 in 2022.

PitchBook's Kyle Sanford describes the market as "bifurcated," emphasizing the growing divide between AI-focused entities and others, as well as the dominance of large firms.

Data Privacy

Eufy Pays Users for Theft Videos: AI Training or Privacy Risk?

Anker's Eufy offered users $2 per video of staged or real thefts to train its AI, aiming for 20,000 videos each of package and car thefts. Users uploaded videos via Google Forms, providing their PayPal details for payment. Eufy has launched similar programs offering rewards like badges, cameras, or gift cards for video donations. In the Eufy app, an 'Honor Wall' ranks users by video contributions, with the top donor exceeding 200,000 videos. Despite Eufy's claims of using videos solely for AI training and not sharing them with third parties, concerns arise due to past privacy issues, including a 2023 incident where The Verge revealed unencrypted camera streams advertised as end-to-end encrypted.

Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI's Sora to Introduce Opt-In Copyright Controls for AI-Generated Videos

OpenAI's Sora video app is shifting its approach to copyright, potentially requiring rights holders to opt-in to allow their IP to be used in AI-generated videos. This change comes after concerns about users creating videos with copyrighted characters. OpenAI is also exploring video monetization options and potential revenue sharing with rights holders. The company hopes the new interactive fan fiction engagement will be valuable, alongside revenue opportunities.