Project Stargate, Apple's 'fork in the road,' TikTok buyers, quantum computing

Start Slideshow

Image for article titled Project Stargate, Apple's 'fork in the road,' TikTok buyers, and quantum computing: Tech news roundup — Photo: Andrew Harnik (Getty Images), Marijan Murat/picture alliance (Getty Images), Andrew Harnik (Getty Images), Kimberly White (Getty Images), Christopher Furlong/Getty Images (Getty Images), Luis Alvarez (Getty Images), Cheng Xin (Getty Images), Julia Demaree Nikhinson (Getty Images), Jason Redmond/AFP (Getty Images), Image: J Studios (Getty Images)

Previous Slide

Next Slide

2 / 11

Elon Musk bashes the $500 billion ‘Stargate’ deal between OpenAI and SoftBank — and backed by Trump

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks at the White House as a major investment deal between Oracle, SoftBank, and OpenAi is announced on January 21, 2025.

Elon Musk is already casting doubt on OpenAI’s new, up to $500 billion investment deal with SoftBank (SFTBY) and Oracle (ORCL), despite backing from his allies — including President Donald Trump.

Previous Slide

Next Slide

3 / 11

Quantum computing could go big this year. Here’s a glossary to get you started

upward view of quantum computers — A model of the suspension of a quantum chip of the Quantum System Two quantum computer at IBM’s first quantum data center in Ehningen, Germany on October 1, 2024.

When Google (GOOGL) unveiled its latest quantum chip in December, it said Willow achieved an almost three-decade-long challenge in the world of quantum computing.

Previous Slide

Next Slide

4 / 11

What to know about ‘Stargate,’ the $500 billion AI infrastructure project touted by Trump

Donald Trump speaking at a podium with the presidential seal on it, Masayoshi, Larry, and Sam all have suits on and are standing in a row looking to their right and watching Trump — From left, President Donald Trump, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in the White House’s Roosevelt Room on January 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C.

After scrapping the Biden administration’s executive order on artificial intelligence, President Donald Trump announced a half-a-trillion-dollar AI infrastructure plan alongside some of the technology’s top leaders.

Previous Slide

Next Slide

5 / 11

From Elon Musk to MrBeast, here are some of TikTok’s potential buyers

With the future of popular social media app TikTok on the line, a number of potential buyers have come out of the woodworks to potentially snap up the platform — and its 170 million monthly U.S. users.

Previous Slide

Next Slide

6 / 11

Google-backed, AI-developed drugs are headed to trial by 2026, DeepMind CEO says

Researchers are attempting to use generative artificial intelligence to help discover new ways to treat diseases.

Drugs developed by Alphabet’s drug discovery subsidiary and designed by artificial intelligence are expected to head to trial by the end of the year, according to a Google (GOOGL) executive.

Previous Slide

Next Slide

7 / 11

Apple faces a ‘fork in the road year,’ analysts say

As Apple (AAPL) stock takes a tumble to kick off 2025, analysts at Wedbush don’t see cause for concern.

“We believe the panic and bear frenzy around Apple is way overdone” heading into next week’s December earnings report, analysts led by Dan Ives said in a research note Wednesday.

Previous Slide

Next Slide

8 / 11

Researchers just stumped AI with their most difficult test — but for how long?

Conceptual image of an AI symbol floating with a speech bubble above it — Image: J Studios (Getty Images)

Despite facing increasingly harder tests, artificial intelligence models have been advancing quickly and passing even PhD-level exams with high scores, making it somewhat difficult to track just how good they’re getting. But it seems the AI models have met their match — at least for now.

Previous Slide

Next Slide

9 / 11

Tech leaders praise Trump’s rollback of Biden’s ‘AI red tape’

Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and Elon Musk standing beside each other in a row — From left: Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and Elon Musk attend the inauguration of Donald Trump in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C.

Some of President Donald Trump’s executive orders from his first day in office are being applauded by tech industry leaders.

NetChoice, a trade organization representing tech companies such as Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOGL), and Meta (META), said Trump’s rollback of Biden administration regulations on U.S. energy production and “artificial intelligence (AI) red tape” are “critical” for the U.S. to lead in technological development.

Previous Slide

Next Slide

10 / 11

OpenAI’s agent that can do work for you is here

Sam Altman wearing a brown shirt and looking out in front of a black backdrop that says OpenAI in white letters — Sam Altman at Microsoft Build in Seattle, Washington on May 21, 2024.

OpenAI has launched a research preview of its artificial intelligence agent, Operator, which can perform tasks on the web on behalf of users.

Operator uses its own browser, and can interact with a webpage by typing, clicking, and scrolling, OpenAI said. Users can have Operator do tasks such as completing online forms and grocery shopping, according to the startup.

Project Stargate, Apple's 'fork in the road,' TikTok buyers, and quantum computing: Tech news roundup

Plus, researchers stumped AI with their most difficult test — but for how long?