The venture firm that ate Silicon Valley just raised another $15 billion; plus, X restricts Grok’s image generation to paying subscribers only

In a blog post published Friday morning, Ben Horowitz writes that "as the American leader in Venture Capital, the fate of new technology in the United States rests partly on our shoulders." It's the kind of statement certain to cause agita at rival firms. Also, Elon Musk's AI company has restricted Grok's controversial AI image-generation feature to only paying subscribers on X, after the tool invited heated criticism from across the world for letting users generate sexualized images of women and children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The infamous spyware maker released a new transparency report claiming to be a responsible spyware maker, without providing insight into how the company dealt with problematic customers in the past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ford says the new generation of BlueCruise will be 30% cheaper to build than the current technology. Also, the new ChatGPT Health feature is expected to roll out in the coming weeks and will offer a dedicated space for conversations with ChatGPT about health. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Caterpillar is piloting Cat AI, a system of AI agents in one of its excavators built on Nvidia's physical AI platform. Also, Calacanis, General Catalyst's Taneja, and McKinsey's Sternfels discussed how AI is reshaping technology and the labor force. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The studio's board unanimously rejected Paramount Skydance's revised $108.4 billion bid, calling the proposal a "leveraged buyout" that would saddle the company with $87 billion in debt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Narwal's new robo vacuum cleaner switches to quiet mode near a baby's crib. Also, AMD announced the latest version of its AI-powered PC chips designed for a variety of tasks from gaming to content creation and multitasking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The fusion power frontrunner said that construction on its Sparc reactor was proceeding as planned. Meanwhile, it's building a digital twin to help dial it in. Also, Meta had originally planned to launch the glasses in France, Italy, Canada, and the U.K. in early 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A hacker known as Martha Root broke in and deleted three white supremacists websites at the end of a talk during the annual hacker conference Chaos Communication Congress in Germany. Also, developers of off shore wind projects seek to reverse the Department of the Interior's stop-work order which affected five offshore wind projects off the Eastern Seaboard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lidar-maker Luminar says its founder and former CEO Austin Russell has been evading requests for information — including a subpoena — that the company needs in order to decide whether it should take legal action against him. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp have raised new funding for their social media startup West Co. The startup launched an invite-only version of its first app, Tangle, in November. Now the Financial Times has pieced together more details from comments made by Stone and Sharp, as well as from regulatory filings and job listings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

India's IT ministry has given X 72 hours to submit an action-taken report. Also, Jeff Bezos led the way. The Amazon founder sold 25 million shares for $5.7 billion in June and July, right around the time he was getting hitched to Lauren Sanchez in Venice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices