Google is ruled an illegal monopoly. Again. But for a different reason this time. Switch 2 pre-orders are back on. Americans are flocking to Temu and Shein alternatives. And in the Weekend Longreads Suggestions, what if I told you 25 percent of community college applicants are now AI bots? And not only that, the bots are now “attending classes” in quotes.

Sponsors:

• FactorMeals.com/ride50off and code ride50off

Links:

• Google Broke the Law to Keep Its Advertising Monopoly, a Judge Rules (NYTimes)
• Google loses online advertising monopoly case (Axios)
• Google Found GUILTY of Monopolization Again (The Big Newsletter)
• Nintendo Switch 2 preorders start April 24th and the price is still $449.99 (The Verge)
• The latest viral ChatGPT trend is doing ‘reverse location search’ from photos (TechCrunch)
• Chinese shopping app Taobao joins DHgate in Top 5 on US App Store (TechCrunch)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• As ‘Bot’ Students Continue to Flood In, Community Colleges Struggle to Respond (Voice Of San Diego)
• Astronomers Detect a Possible Signature of Life on a Distant Planet (NYTimes)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

OpenAI has a new reasoning model, and more lower cost models as well. Is OpenAI about to acquire a coding startup? Is Perplexity turning to Samsung for distribution and branding? A Neuralink rival gets FDA approval. And why is Jensen Huang on a code-red mission to China at the moment?

Sponsors:

• 1Password.com/ride

Links:

• OpenAI's new o3 and o4-mini models are all about 'thinking with images' (Engadget)
• OpenAI debuts Codex CLI, an open source coding tool for terminals (TechCrunch)
• Vibe Check: o3 Is Here—And It’s Great (Every)
• OpenAI In Talks to Buy Windsurf for About $3 Billion (Bloomberg)
• Perplexity AI in Talks to Integrate Assistant Into Samsung, Motorola Phones (Bloomberg)
• Neuralink Rival Gets FDA Clearance in Path to Less Invasive Brain Implants (Bloomberg)
• Nvidia chief Jensen Huang flies to Beijing for talks (FT)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Well, it looks like DOGE has finally come for cybersecurity. It sounds like the tariff stuff is already biting Nvidia to the tune of $5 billion. Why is OpenAI building a social network? The government would have settled the antitrust case with Meta to the tune of $30 billion. And why did Mark Zuckerberg consider spinning off Instagram voluntarily?

Sponsors:

• SelectQuote.com/ride

Links:

• Uncle Sam abruptly turns off funding for CVE program. Yes, that CVE program (The Register)
• Nvidia says it will record $5.5 billion charge tied to H20 processors exported to China (CNBC)
• OpenAI is building a social network (The Verge)
• Figma confidentially files for IPO more than a year after ditching Adobe deal (CNBC)
• Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Failed Negotiations to End Antitrust Case (WSJ)
• Zuckerberg Says He Considered Spinning Off Instagram in 2018 (Bloomberg)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.