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Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet plan massive AI spending in 2025, defying concerns of a slowdown.
The US government removed the spoon emoji option from its videoconferencing platform following a protest by federal workers who rejected Trump's resignation offer. Let’s dive deeper…
In today's ContentBuffer update:
AI Demand Soars as Prices Drop
GSA removes spoon emoji from videoconferencing platform after federal workers protest Trump's 'Fork in the Road' resignation offer.
Meta sued by early employee over sexual harassment in Horizon Worlds
OpenAI updates ChatGPT's chain of thought with more detailed reasoning steps
Doge engineer quits over racist posts
Testing the 2024 Kia Niro EV in winter
5 new AI tools & 5 new AI jobs
More tech news
Latest Development
Artificial Intelligence Trends
Image source: TechCrunch
Summary: The tech giants' decision to ramp up AI spending is driven by the growing demand for AI-powered services across industries. As prices drop due to advancements in AI technology, companies are expected to increase their adoption rates.
Key Points:
Amazon plans to spend over $100 billion on AI capabilities for its cloud division AWS in 2025.
Meta expects to spend 'hundreds of billions' on AI in the long term, citing rising inference demand across its user base.
Alphabet has boosted its capex spending by 42% to $75 billion in 2025, with a focus on AI-based projects.
Why it matters: The massive investment in AI reflects the technology's potential to drive innovation and growth across industries. As AI becomes more accessible and affordable, companies are expected to leverage its capabilities to improve their operations and stay competitive.
Us Politics
Image source: TechCrunch
Summary: The US government removed the spoon emoji option from its videoconferencing platform following a protest by federal workers who rejected Trump's resignation offer. The removal was made after employees expressed their dissatisfaction through the digital cutlery, sparking a wave of online protests and demonstrations.
Key Points:
Trump administration's 'Fork in the Road' resignation offer sparked widespread protests among federal workers
GSA removed spoon emoji option from its videoconferencing platform following employee protest
Federal employees expressed their dissatisfaction through digital cutlery, sparking online protests and demonstrations
Why it matters: The removal of the spoon emoji highlights the growing discontent among federal workers over Trump's resignation offer, which has sparked concerns about government transparency and accountability.
Tech
Image source: TechCrunch
Summary: A former Meta employee is suing the company over allegations of sexual harassment in Horizon Worlds. The employee claims to have raised concerns about underage users, racist behavior, and content moderation, but was ignored or punished for speaking out.
Key Points:
The employee, Stonelake, led 'go-to-market' strategies to bring Horizon Worlds to a broader audience, including teenagers, international markets, and mobile device users.
Stonelake alleges that she flagged patterns of racist behavior on the app, which proliferated due to a lack of robust content moderation tools.
The employee claims she was excluded from weekly leadership meetings after raising concerns about safety and content moderation.
Why it matters: This lawsuit highlights concerns over online harassment, particularly in virtual reality platforms like Horizon Worlds.
Artificial Intelligence
Image source: TechCrunch
Summary: OpenAI's o3-mini AI model will now provide a chain of thought that shows more of the model's reasoning steps, making it easier to understand how the AI arrives at answers. This change is designed to improve clarity and safety by removing any unsafe content and simplifying complex ideas.
Key Points:
The updated chain of thought will show users more detailed reasoning steps, giving them a better understanding of how the AI model thinks.
The change is part of OpenAI's efforts to make its AI models more transparent and accountable, allowing users to have more confidence in their responses.
The new chain of thought feature will be available for free and paid users of ChatGPT, including premium subscribers who use o3-mini in the 'high reasoning' configuration.
Why it matters: This change is important because it allows users to better understand how AI models think and make decisions, which can improve their trust and confidence in AI-powered systems.
Government Technology
Image source: TechCrunch
Summary: A 25-year-old engineer at DOGE resigns due to racist posts discovered on his social media account. The posts, which included statements about marrying outside of one's ethnicity and normalizing Indian hate, were made on an X account tied to him. He previously worked at SpaceX and had access to confidential federal payment records.
Key Points:
The engineer's resignation comes after the discovery of racist posts on his social media account, which included statements such as 'You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity' and 'Normalize Indian hate'.
The posts were made on an X account tied to him, which also advocated for a 'eugenic immigration policy' in the weeks leading up to President Trump's inauguration.
The engineer previously worked at SpaceX and had access to confidential federal payment records at the Treasury Department.
Why it matters: This resignation highlights concerns about the security clearance process for government employees, particularly those with access to sensitive data. It also raises questions about the impact of social media on professional lives and the importance of accountability.
Transportation
Image source: TechCrunch
Summary: We test drove the 2024 Kia Niro EV, finding that its battery only lasted an hour and a half before dropping to half empty. We also had issues with the volume control, which required navigating through menus on the touch screen.
Key Points:
The battery life was a major concern
Volume control requires navigation through menus
Why it matters: Understanding the challenges of electric vehicles in winter is crucial for their widespread adoption.
New Tools & Job
Innov8️iq - AI-powered content creation platform for innovative thinking.
RareGenie 📝 - AI writer and copywriting tool for crafting captivating content.
Kolibri 👻 - AI-powered creative tools for innovative storytelling and design.
Emblify 🎨 - AI-generated Google doodles for creative expression and storytelling.
PerfectPresents 💡 - Gift idea generator for thoughtful and unique gift-giving experiences.
Scalable Path - Machine Learning Engineer for Agentic AI
EveryoneSocial - Senior Backend Engineer (profitable startup, veteran team, market leader)
SKYCATCHFIRE - Senior Django Developer
Novabyte Solutions - Data Engineer (GIS experience preferred)
NERIS Analytics Limited - Experienced Backend Developer (Laravel/Vue)
QUICK HITS
🏎️ Panasonic and SK Battery America are leading the charge in onshoring battery manufacturing for electric vehicles (EVs) in the United States.
🤖 Snapchat adds custom AI-generated stickers and self-destructing snaps to its subscription service.
💸 Philadelphia Eagles' star running back Saquon Barkley invests in fintech startup Ramp, marking his largest private tech investment to date.
📊 The European Union has published guidance on what constitutes an AI system under its new AI Act, which came into force last summer.
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