Nvidia plans to invest $3.5B into MediaTek through convertible bonds; MediaTek forecasts AI chip revenue of about $2B this year (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-31/nvidia-to-invest-3-5-billion-in-chipmaker-mediatek
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-31/nvidia-to-invest-3-5-billion-in-chipmaker-mediatek
Bloomberg.com
Nvidia to Invest $3.5 Billion in Chipmaker MediaTek
Nvidia Corp. is investing $3.5 billion in MediaTek Inc., deepening collaboration with the Taiwanese chipmaker at a time when it’s working to persuade more companies to build chips that plug into its dominant data center ecosystem.
OpenAI says its advertising business has hit $1B in annualized revenue run rate, touting its "diversified business model" ahead of an expected IPO (Ashley Capoot/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/open-ai-chatgpt-ads-revenue.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/open-ai-chatgpt-ads-revenue.html
CNBC
OpenAI's ad business shows blistering growth, hits $1 billion annualized revenue run rate
OpenAI's move to serve ads in ChatGPT earlier this year drew ridicule from its chief rival, Anthropic, in the form of a Super Bowl commercial.
Instagram says it will reduce the reach of accounts featuring AI-generated personas if they don't use a new "AI-generated profile" label (Karissa Bell/Engadget)
https://www.engadget.com/2246914/instagram-will-demote-ai-generated-influencers-if-they-dont-clearly-label-their-account/
https://www.engadget.com/2246914/instagram-will-demote-ai-generated-influencers-if-they-dont-clearly-label-their-account/
Engadget
Instagram will demote AI-generated influencers if they don't clearly label their account - Engadget
The app isn't cracking down on other kinds of AI slop, though.
Sources: CXMT has begun producing HBM3E memory chips in small quantities and plans to expand production in 2027, a major advance for China's chip industry (The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/chinas-cxmt-makes-breakthrough-advanced-memory-chips
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/chinas-cxmt-makes-breakthrough-advanced-memory-chips
The Information
China’s CXMT Makes Breakthrough in Advanced Memory Chips
China’s leading memory-chip maker, ChangXin Memory Technologies, has begun producing advanced high-bandwidth memory in small quantities, a milestone that could ease a key constraint on the country’s development of homegrown AI processors. CXMT is making HBM3E…
Interior Secretary says President Trump "reached out to Apple directly" about changing Lake Ontario to Lake America and the company may soon alter its maps (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/apple-may-change-lake-ontario-lake-america-soon-after-talk-with-trump-us-2026-08-31/
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/apple-may-change-lake-ontario-lake-america-soon-after-talk-with-trump-us-2026-08-31/
Former NY GOP Rep. George Santos receives Kalshi's first lifetime ban after the CFTC alleged he made $17K by betting on his appearance at the State of the Union (Brian Schwartz/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/politics/ex-congressman-george-santos-receives-kalshis-first-ever-lifetime-ban-b50eeaf1?st=oPyg7e&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
https://www.wsj.com/politics/ex-congressman-george-santos-receives-kalshis-first-ever-lifetime-ban-b50eeaf1?st=oPyg7e&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
The Wall Street Journal
Ex-Congressman George Santos Receives Kalshi’s First-Ever Lifetime Ban
The decision comes after a federal regulator alleged he made more than $17,000 by placing bets on his attendance at the State of the Union address.
Together AI, which serves open models, announces a deal to use compute from Humain in Saudi Arabia, where it can bypass US backlash over data centers (Niko Gallogly/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/business/dealbook/together-ai-humain-saudi-arabia-data-center.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9lA.oOPI.h2UKXnt1l8Cz
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/business/dealbook/together-ai-humain-saudi-arabia-data-center.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9lA.oOPI.h2UKXnt1l8Cz
Nytimes
U.S. Start-Up and Saudi Arabia Form Data Center Partnership (Gift Article)
Together AI, which serves open-source artificial intelligence models, announced a deal to use compute from Humain in Saudi Arabia, where it can bypass U.S. backlash over data centers.
Sources: South Korea's dismissal of a US congressional report saying it discriminated against US-based Coupang is causing strains between the two countries (Justin Papp/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/coupang-south-korea-us-tariffs.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/coupang-south-korea-us-tariffs.html
CNBC
Coupang dispute fuels new U.S. tariff pressure on South Korea
South Korea's dismissal of Congress' allegations that it discriminated against U.S.-based Coupang is straining the country's ties with the U.S., sources said.
MapQuest becomes the top free iPhone app on the App Store in Canada and fourth on the US App Store after refusing to change Lake Ontario to Lake America (Joe Rossignol/MacRumors)
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/31/mapquest-tops-app-store-charts/
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/31/mapquest-tops-app-store-charts/
MacRumors
MapQuest Tops App Store Charts After Refusing 'Lake America' Change
MapQuest is in the spotlight this week after refusing to change "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" on its map following an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump last week. As of Monday morning, the MapQuest app is the top free iPhone app on…
The UK unveils a £100M Sovereign AI R&D Procurement Scheme for domestic AI startups focused on public services, amid growing opposition to Palantir contracts (Jim Pickard/Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/5a10fc78-9a3e-4f12-81e3-dc843b529948
https://www.ft.com/content/5a10fc78-9a3e-4f12-81e3-dc843b529948
a16z says its fifth growth fund has closed additional capital, bringing its total to $8.5B (Andreessen Horowitz)
https://a16z.com/expanding-the-a16z-growth-fund-and-platform/
https://a16z.com/expanding-the-a16z-growth-fund-and-platform/
Andreessen Horowitz
Expanding the a16z Growth Fund and Platform | Andreessen Horowitz
Capital, Network & Expertise to Help Founders Scale
Gurman: Apple is moving App Store to services unit run by Eddy Cue, who previously oversaw it until 2015; Cue is taking on a more influential role under Ternus (Chance Miller/9to5Mac)
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/31/phil-schiller-steps-down-from-leading-the-app-store-and-apple-events/
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/31/phil-schiller-steps-down-from-leading-the-app-store-and-apple-events/
9to5Mac
Phil Schiller steps down from App Store and Apple events - 9to5Mac
Phil Schiller is handing off the App Store to Eddy Cue's services team and Apple events to Nola Weinstein, remaining an Apple Fellow.
Sources: Hyperliquid is in talks to enter the US market through Kraken parent Payward, weeks after Trump said he was working to bring the platform onshore (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-31/hyperliquid-in-talks-with-kraken-parent-on-us-market-entry
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-31/hyperliquid-in-talks-with-kraken-parent-on-us-market-entry
Bloomberg.com
Hyperliquid in Talks With Kraken Parent on US Market Entry
Hyperliquid Labs is in advanced talks to bring its perpetual futures to US traders through Kraken’s parent company Payward, just weeks after President Donald Trump said his administration was working to bring the fast-growing platform into the US.
Reframe, which uses AI and industrial robot arms to make modular homes in a factory, raised a $40M Series A extension round led by Energy Impact Partners (Rocket Drew/The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/exclusive-reframe-raises-funds-bring-amazon-robotics-know-home-building
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/exclusive-reframe-raises-funds-bring-amazon-robotics-know-home-building
The Information
Exclusive: Reframe Raises Funds to Bring Amazon Robotics Know-How to Home Building
For all the talk of robots that look like humans, the next robots to move into people’s houses could look more like ducks. Sales of such a robot, made by open-source model platform Hugging Face, reached more than $2.5 million on its first day on Thursday.Microduck…
Trump says communities that reject data centers will end up "backwards and poor" and that "China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement" (Cheyanne M. Daniels/Politico)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/31/trump-data-centers-midterms
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/31/trump-data-centers-midterms
POLITICO
Trump: Communities that reject data centers will end up ‘backwards and poor’
Sony launches Live TV on PS5 in the US, letting users stream 100+ free, ad-supported TV channels with content from Amazon MGM Studios, Crunchyroll, and more (Kris Holt/Engadget)
https://www.engadget.com/2247806/sony-is-adding-free-tv-channels-to-ps5/
https://www.engadget.com/2247806/sony-is-adding-free-tv-channels-to-ps5/
Engadget
Sony is adding free TV channels to PS5 - Engadget
Ad-supported streaming channels are hitting Sony's console in the US today.
Sources: the FTC and 20+ state AGs plan to sue Amazon for allegedly making tens of billions over seven years by manipulating ad prices on its retail platform (Dave Michaels/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ftc-to-file-lawsuit-alleging-amazon-deceived-advertisers-d71039ee?st=o4WjgG
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ftc-to-file-lawsuit-alleging-amazon-deceived-advertisers-d71039ee?st=o4WjgG
The Wall Street Journal
Exclusive | FTC to File Lawsuit Alleging Amazon Deceived Advertisers
The commission, along with more than 20 states, will allege the e-commerce giant reaped billions by manipulating ad prices on its retail platform.
On his last day as CEO, Tim Cook pens an emotional memo reflecting on his time at Apple and says he takes "enormous comfort" in handing the helm to John Ternus (Chance Miller/9to5Mac)
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/31/read-tim-cooks-full-memo-to-apple-employees-on-his-last-day-as-ceo/
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/31/read-tim-cooks-full-memo-to-apple-employees-on-his-last-day-as-ceo/
9to5Mac
Read Tim Cook's full memo to Apple employees on his last day as CEO - 9to5Mac
Today is Tim Cook’s last day as Apple CEO, with John Ternus set to take over tomorrow. To mark his...
The FTC and 22 state AGs sue Amazon, alleging it "secretly and systematically overcharged" advertisers more than $20B since 2019 by using "hidden surcharges" (Annie Palmer/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/amazon-ftc-lawsuit-advertisers.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/31/amazon-ftc-lawsuit-advertisers.html
CNBC
FTC sues Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of misleading advertisers
The FTC sued Amazon, alleging the company misled advertisers through a deceptive auctioning system.
Amazon says the FTC's complaint over Sponsored Ads cites no evidence of consumer price increases or advertiser harm, and misunderstands how advertisers operate (About Amazon)
https://www.aboutamazon.com/company-news/amazon-ftc-sponsored-ads-lawsuit-response
https://www.aboutamazon.com/company-news/amazon-ftc-sponsored-ads-lawsuit-response
Amazon News
Amazon’s response to the FTC’s lawsuit regarding Sponsored Ads
The FTC today filed a misguided lawsuit claiming Amazon misled advertisers about its Sponsored Ads pricing and auction. Amazon strongly disagrees.
The Pentagon launches ChatGPT Mil and Grok for Government on its GenAI.mil platform, giving its 3M personnel access to AI tools "tailored to warfighter needs" (Kirsten Korosec/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/31/the-pentagon-now-has-its-own-version-of-chatgpt-and-grok/
https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/31/the-pentagon-now-has-its-own-version-of-chatgpt-and-grok/
TechCrunch
The Pentagon now has its own version of ChatGPT and Grok | TechCrunch
Versions of OpenAI's ChatGPT and SpaceXAI's Grok will join Google's Gemini on the Pentagon's central portal for AI tools.