Tech

IRL’s founder, Abraham Shafi, faces federal charges and an SEC lawsuit alleging $170 million investor fraud. The DOJ claims Shafi inflated IRL’s user base, misreported advertising spending to investors, and misused funds for personal expenses, including luxury items and wedding costs. IRL, once valued at $1 billion, shut down in June 2023. Shafi is indicted on wire fraud, securities fraud, and obstruction of justice. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison per count if convicted.

Saudi Arabia, through Humain, aims to become a global AI leader, rivaling the US and China, by leveraging its resources for data centers. Backed by the PIF, Humain is investing heavily in AI infrastructure, partnering with Nvidia and AMD, with plans to build massive data centers. The Kingdom faces challenges including competition from the UAE, talent acquisition, and economic feasibility. While significant investments are being made, questions remain about attracting and retaining AI engineers and long-term environmental impacts of large-scale data center operations.

Nvidia is set to release its fiscal Q2 earnings, with analysts anticipating $1.01 EPS and $46.02 billion in revenue. Investors are focused on Nvidia’s data center performance, especially demand for Blackwell chips and developments in the Chinese market. Supply constraints for Blackwell racks and the impact of US export controls on H20 sales in China are key concerns. Analysts expect guidance to exclude China, projecting approximately $53 billion in sales for fiscal Q3, a 51% year-over-year increase.

Gusto, a $9.3 billion payroll and HR software company, has acquired Guideline, a corporate retirement plan provider. The deal aims to streamline employee benefits for small businesses. Gusto plans to integrate Guideline’s expertise to capitalize on the growing trend of state-mandated employer-sponsored retirement plans and cross-sell services to its 400,000+ customers. Guideline’s integrations with other payroll providers will remain. Gusto aims to add 150,000 new clients this year, expanding its market share in the U.S.

MongoDB (MDB) shares soared over 30% after Q2 fiscal results exceeded expectations with revenue of $591 million (a 24% YoY increase) and adjusted EPS of $1.00. MongoDB Atlas sales grew by 29% YoY, driven by increased cloud adoption. The company added over 5,000 new customers, a record for the first half of the year. MongoDB’s focus on larger enterprise deals is proving successful. The company’s Q3 and full-year guidance surpassed analysts’ estimates, signaling strong growth and investor confidence.

A potential court ruling threatens Google’s $26 billion default search agreements, with Apple receiving $20 billion annually. The Apple-Google alliance has shaped the internet, but is now under antitrust scrutiny. While Google faces potential traffic loss, Apple could suffer a greater financial impact. The ruling’s effect hinges on Apple’s ability to secure new deals. Some analysts believe Google might benefit long-term, freed from costly contracts as AI becomes more integral to search. The DOJ advocates for limiting exclusive AI distribution agreements, possibly reshaping the competitive landscape.

Cambricon, a Chinese semiconductor firm, reported significant revenue and profit growth in the first half of the year, driven by the increasing demand for AI chips. This surge reflects China’s strategic push for domestic AI chip alternatives to Nvidia amidst potential US export restrictions. While Nvidia still dwarfs Cambricon in overall revenue, the Chinese government’s support and diversified sourcing strategies are boosting Cambricon’s prospects. The company is focused on improving its software to compete more effectively. However, export controls pose a challenge to long-term technological advancement.

Today marks the official launch of “TimeValue Pro – income cal” on the A…

Alibaba open-sourced its modular Wan2.1-VACE video generation model (1.3B/14B parameters), featuring multimodal input support (text, images, video clips) and Lego-like customizable modules. The lightweight 1.3B version runs on consumer GPUs, democratizing AI video creation. Released on GitHub/Hugging Face, it has gained 330K+ downloads and 11K+ stars, becoming a leading open-source video generation framework.