Good morning folks. Today marks the 300th edition of 5 Things, so we just want to say thank you for reading this darn thing and starting your day with us. It wouldn’t be an edition of 5 Things without some Elon Musk news, so let’s start there (once again).
1. Musk is bullying Wikipedia
Thought we’d defer to Futurism for this one, as they put it so perfectly:
Though Musk seemingly thinks otherwise, running a massive platform like Wikipedia, which is open-access and free to anyone online, is no small feat. Sure, the troves of text found on Wikipedia’s pages might be able to fit on a smartphone, but effectively managing Wikipedia pages and their incredibly high user traffic numbers is another beast entirely; as explained by Wikimedia on its clearly-marked “Where Your Money Goes” page.
Let’s not forget the man is 52.
2. Microsoft pumps $5 billion into Australia
We’ll go into this in more detail later today, but the summary is that Microsoft has announced a major $5 billion investment in Australia over the next two years. The investment spans digital infrastructure, skilling, and cybersecurity, and the Redmond giant said it will help Australia “seize the artificial intelligence opportunity ahead of us, strengthen our economic competitiveness, create high-value jobs, and help protect Australia from the increasing threat of cyberattacks”. Epic.
3. Nvidia goes after Intel
Reuters is reporting that Nvidia is coming after Intel’s longtime stronghold of PCs, quietly designing CPUs that would run Windows and use technology from Arm Holdings. The report says the AI chip giant’s new pursuit is part of Microsoft’s effort to help chip companies build Arm-based processors for Windows PCs, noting that Microsoft plans take aim at Apple, which has nearly doubled its market share in the three years since releasing its own Arm-based chips in-house for its Mac computers. A battle is upon us, folks.
4. Sounds like hell
Per The Verge, Instagram is testing a toggle that lets you only see posts from Meta Verified users. The new Meta Verified toggle will appear as an option under “Following” and “Favourites” when you tap the Instagram logo at the top of the app. The prominence of the toggle could make paying for Meta Verified, which costs $19.99 on the web or $24.99 in an app, a more attractive proposition as it gives people a new way to try and appear more prominently in an Instagram feed. It sounds like it would just be a tonne of sponsored posts flogging terrible weight loss supplements and virtue signalling from those not wanting to seem narcissistic.
5. 15-minute TikToks (ie YouTube)
In further hell, TechCrunch is reporting that TikTok is testing the ability for users to upload 15-minute videos. Per the report, the new upload limit is being tested in select regions with a limited group of users, and gives the option increases the video upload limit on the app from 10 minutes to 15 minutes.
BONUS ITEM: The bonus item today is merely a timeline cleanser. The news cycle has been rough of late, so please let small animals do their thing.
Have a fantastic day.