Plans by Zuckerberg to build a nuclear-powered AI data centre in the US have been scuppered in part because rare bees was discovered on land earmarked for the project🐝 Meta is continuing to explore nuclear deals, per sources - story w Cristina Criddle ft.com/content/ed602e…

Can confirm West Coast FT team on the pizza

The DOGE is coming: Musk is set to become one of Trump's most influential advisers and head a new Department of Government Efficiency, as his bet on the incoming president paid off. “A star is born: Elon,” said Trump last night. Tesla stock rose ~15%. ft.com/content/f1d49c…

Selling pro-life diapers, supplements for “primal strength”, and gun financing dubbed 'shoot now, pay later' 'Anti-woke' companies such as Rumble and PublicSquare increasingly rely on niche revenue sources. Can Trump's victory boost their businesses? ft.com/content/daae53…

NEW: Telegram booked over $500mn in revenue & $335mn in profit in the first half of 2024, according to financials obtained by the FT But this was largely due to various intriguing crypto endeavours - including a Toncoin side deal Story w/ Robert Smith ft.com/content/a48acd…

🤨

SCOOP: Marc Andreessen, one of the world’s most powerful VCs, is playing a central role in recruiting for Elon Musk’s DOGE department While he has no formal role, he's helping identify & interview potential candidates, per sources w/ George Hammond on.ft.com/3D2I4kD

🗞️ JOB NEWS 🗞️ I'm delighted to have started as the FT's Washington Correspondent this week. I’ll be writing about Trump 2.0's relationship with business & private capital, and the reshaping of the economy, + other matters. I’m a DC newbie - all story/restaurant tips welcome!

Another milestone for the Everything App: Visa is our first partner for the X Money Account, which will debut later this year. 💰Allows for secure + instant funding to your X Wallet via Visa Direct 🪪 Connects to your debit card allowing P2P payments 🏦 Option to instantly

Big tech is growing confident in their efforts to challenge EU regulations, believing new backing from the Donald Trump administration will allow them to fight what they see as hostile rules on AI and market dominance. With Hannah Murphy Michael Acton ft.com/content/3e75c3…

Delighted to have won a SABEW Best in Business award in the Technology division for Financial Times coverage of Telegram & Pavel Durov w/ Adrienne Klasa Polina Ivanova & Christopher Miller Read my interview with Pavel just months before his arrest here: on.ft.com/4ijv9dI

SCOOP: Andreessen Horowitz in talks to help buy out TikTok’s Chinese owners The politically connected firm is in serious talks ahead of April 5 deal deadline. ⁦Antoine Gara⁩ ⁦George Hammond⁩ ⁦Hannah Murphy⁩ ⁦James Fontanella-Khan⁩ on.ft.com/4jbjM7F

SCOOP: Telegram had a bumper 2024, booking over half a billion dollars in profit after a lossmaking 2023 The app has told investors that the French investigation could be a barrier to an IPO, as it launches a $1.5bn bond offering w/ Robert Smith on.ft.com/3FgbXzm

NEW: - Musk felt Yaccarino wasn't transparent about the company’s status with advertisers & put a gloss on reality - He wanted her to more quickly restore X to financial health - Post-DOGE, he started making unilateral decisions that blindsided her ft.com/content/833c5b…

If it wasn’t already, Midjourney is now definitely the most profitable AI lab

Meta’s AI strategy in some areas shifting towards buy over build