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Crypto.com founder Kris Marszalek has made the priciest domain purchase in history, buying AI dot com for $70 million. The deal was paid entirely in cryptocurrency to an unknown seller and will be debuted during Sunday's Super Bowl.
An Amazon-backed AI startup is attempting to recreate lost footage from Orson Welles' classic film 'The Magnificent Ambersons' using generative AI. The project aims to recreate the original 43 minutes of footage that were cut from the film after its initial release. The startup, Fable, is working with filmmaker Brian Rose, who has spent years trying to achieve the same thing using animated scenes based on the movie's script and photographs. Let's dive deeper…
In today's ContentBuffer update:
Waymo's Robotaxi Growth
Longer Horizons
Tech Titans Flock to Super Bowl
Data Center Pause
5 new AI tools & 5 new AI jobs
More tech news
Latest Development
Tech News
Summary: Crypto.com founder buys AI dot com domain for $70 million, plans to debut site during Super Bowl. The deal is the priciest domain purchase in history, surpassing previous records.
Key Points:
The AI dot com domain will offer consumers a personal AI agent for messaging, app usage, and stock trading.
Kris Marszalek, founder of Crypto.com, believes that AI will be one of the greatest technological waves of our lifetime.
The purchase rewrites the domain record books, with previous records held by CarInsurance.com and VacationRentals.com.
Why it matters: The significance of this deal lies in its unprecedented scale and the potential impact it could have on the AI industry.
Film Preservation
Summary: An Amazon-backed AI startup is attempting to recreate lost footage from Orson Welles' classic film 'The Magnificent Ambersons'. The project uses generative AI to recreate the original 43 minutes of footage that were cut from the film after its initial release. Fable, the startup behind the project, is working with filmmaker Brian Rose, who has spent years trying to achieve the same thing using animated scenes based on the movie's script and photographs.
Key Points:
The AI-powered project aims to recreate the original 43 minutes of footage that were cut from 'The Magnificent Ambersons' after its initial release.
Fable is working with filmmaker Brian Rose, who has spent years trying to achieve the same thing using animated scenes based on the movie's script and photographs.
The project uses generative AI to recreate the original actors and their voices, as well as recreate the rich lighting and shadows found in Welles' footage.
Why it matters: This project highlights the potential of AI in preserving cultural heritage and bringing lost films back to life. It also raises questions about the importance of authenticity and the role of technology in storytelling.
Mobility
Summary: Waymo's robotaxi fleet expansion, plans for international growth, receives significant funding to support operations.
Key Points:
Waymo operates in six markets with commercial robotaxi services
The company has received a $16 billion investment
Waymo's ridership and autonomous miles driven stats are exploding
Waymo still must solve several problems including cost and increasing attention from regulators
Why it matters: Waymo's rapid expansion and significant funding demonstrate the company's commitment to developing self-driving technology.
Startup-reform
Summary: The Indian government has doubled the period for which deep tech startups are treated as startups from 10 to 20 years. This change aims to align policy timelines with the long development cycles typical of science- and engineering-led businesses. The move is part of India's effort to build a long-horizon deep tech ecosystem.
Key Points:
The updated framework will reduce friction in fundraising, follow-on capital, and engagement with the state for founders.
India's RDI fund aims to increase funding available to deep tech companies at early and growth stages.
Private investors are already backing deep tech startups in India, but government support is crucial for scaling up.
Why it matters: The change will give deep tech startups the necessary runway to achieve commercial success, making them more attractive to investors and paving the way for India's emergence as a major player in the global deep tech ecosystem.
Tech Events
Summary: Tech billionaires are spending big on tickets for the Super Bowl in Silicon Valley, with some last-minute seats still available on StubHub for closer to $3,600. The event is expected to attract tech money, including YouTube CEO Neal Mohan and Apple's Tim Cook.
Key Points:
Tech billionaires are paying top dollar for tickets to the Super Bowl
The event is expected to attract a range of tech executives, including YouTube CEO Neal Mohan and Apple's Tim Cook
Some last-minute seats still available on StubHub for closer to $3,600
Why it matters: The Super Bowl in Silicon Valley highlights the intersection of sports and technology, with big spending on tickets by tech executives.
Digital Infrastructure
Summary: A bill has been introduced in New York state to pause data center construction due to concerns about environmental impact and energy costs. This move follows similar proposals in other states and comes as tech companies plan to invest heavily in AI infrastructure.
Key Points:
New York state lawmakers have proposed a moratorium on permits for new data centers
Concerns about environmental impact, including increased home electricity bills
Tech companies are planning to spend large amounts of money on AI infrastructure
Why it matters: This proposal highlights the need for careful consideration of the environmental and energy implications of data center construction, as well as the potential consequences for surrounding communities.
New Tools & Job
AuraWrite AI - Humanize AI text from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and more with AuraWrite's AI Humanizer. Make your content more natural, engaging, & human in seconds. Try now!
Genaraera - Create professional infographics with AI in seconds. Infographics AI offers the best infographics generator for digital marketing, data visualization, and content creation. Try our AI-powered infographics tool free today.
Nano Banana Pro Studio - Create professional 4K images in 3-10 seconds with Gemini 3 Pro Image. Advanced multimodal AI delivers studio-grade visuals and precise text control.
UX Magic - Create stunning AI-generated mockups and figma ready wireframes in seconds with UXMagic. Simplify UX design workflows and boost creativity—no design skills needed.
Rizzy Agent - Rizzy is your 24/7 AI Lead Generator on X (Twitter). It finds people talking about what you sell and sends them straight to you.
Infrastructure Engineer - L3 - Design and implement cloud infrastructure solutions, develop and maintain Infrastructure-as-Code templates and automation scripts, and troubleshoot complex issues.
Senior Procurement Analyst - The Senior Procurement Analyst drives operational excellence across Clio's global procurement ecosystem. This role leads cross-functional initiatives that enhance procurement strategy, compliance, spend visibility, and process automation.
Director of Talent Acquisition, R&D - Lead, scale and evolve Clio's global technical talent function. Partner with senior leadership to design a Talent Acquisition function capable of meeting ambitious growth targets.
RFI Compliance Specialist - Join Clio's Compliance team as a RFI Compliance Specialist. Partner with Sales Engineering and Account Executives to represent cybersecurity and compliance practices at Clio. Create and maintain due diligence artifacts, track activity, drive conversations, lead pre-sales security calls, and more.
Head of Applications and Customer Success - Sanctuary AI is seeking a Head of Applications and Customer Success to lead the commercial deployment and customer-facing delivery of physical AI-enabled automation solutions.
QUICK HITS
Cerebras Systems announced that it raised $1 billion in fresh capital at a valuation of $23 billion, nearly threefold increase from the $8.1 billion valuation the Nvidia rival had reached just six months earlier.
The tech industry is up in arms over a proposed wealth tax in California, with some founders planning to stage a march in San Francisco. The billionaire's tax act would require Californians worth over $1 billion to pay a one-time 5% tax on their total wealth.
Apple is planning to allow outside voice-controlled AI chatbots in CarPlay, citing anonymous sources. This move would theoretically bring Google's Gemini, Anthropic's Claude, and OpenAI's ChatGPT into the car, potentially putting Siri assistant in the backseat.
WordPress has launched a new Claude connector, allowing site owners to share backend data with Anthropic's chatbot. Users can control what specific data they want to share and revoke access at any time.
Terradot, a carbon-removal startup, has acquired Eion, another company in the same field. This acquisition is driven by large investors who want to work with companies that can handle big contracts. Both Terradot and Eion use enhanced rock weathering (EWR) to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The latest release of Anthropic's Opus 4.6 has improved AI agents' capabilities, scoring just shy of 30% in one-shot trials and an average of 45% when given a few more attempts. This significant jump from the previous state-of-the-art is a sign that progress on foundation models isn't slowing down.
Elon Musk has merged SpaceX and xAI, creating what might be the blueprint for a new Silicon Valley power structure. With his $800 billion net worth already rivaling historic conglomerate GE's peak market cap, and Musk being vocal about his view that 'tech victory is decided by velocity of innovation,' the question isn't whether a personal conglomerate can be built, but rather how far Musk himself is going to take it.
Reddit, a popular online forum site, has revealed its plans to acquire more businesses to leverage its scale and grow its user base. The company's CFO, Andrew Vollero, made the announcement during an earnings call, stating that Reddit is looking for capabilities, technologies, and companies that can add value to its business.
Roblox recently introduced mandatory facial verification for access to chats on its platform. The company says that 45% of daily active users have undergone age checks, with 35% under 13 and 38% between 13-17.
US Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has expressed deep concerns about certain activities by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Although the nature of these activities and specific concerns are not disclosed, Wyden's statement follows a pattern in recent years where he has publicly hinted at wrongdoing or illegality within the federal government. The CIA responded to Wyden's concerns, saying it was 'ironic but unsurprising' that he is unhappy.
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