SAN FRANCISCO — Toronto-based chip startup Taurus said Thursday it has raised $169 million and developed a chip that can run AI applications faster and cheaper than traditional approaches.
Taurus has raised a total of $219 million from investors including Quiet Capital, Fidelity, and chip industry venture capitalist Pierre Lamond.
Taalas’ announcement comes weeks after Nvidia signed a $20 billion deal to license intellectual property from chip startup Groq. This has reignited interest in a range of startups and technologies used to perform specific elements of AI inference. AI inference is the process by which an AI model, such as the one that powers OpenAI’s ChatGPT, responds to user queries.
Taalas’ approach to chip design involves printing parts of the AI model onto silicon, effectively manufacturing custom chips suitable for specific models, such as a smaller version of Meta’s Llama model. Reuters
Supreme Court blocks President Trump’s tariffs, companies assess refunds
WASHINGTON — Companies that hedged their bets by selling potential tariff refund claims to investors celebrated Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping emergency tariffs.
Now comes the difficult part.
“This is a small victory in what seems to be an ever-changing environment,” said Mark Mintman, chief financial officer of Atlanta-based toymaker Kids2. Kids2 received a total of $2 million from a Boston hedge fund in exchange for a claim for $15 million in duties the company paid to U.S. Customs through September of last year.
Mintman said the company, which imports 95% of its toys and infant products from China, is currently working with its lawyers to assess what steps to take to preserve its right to a refund. Reuters
OpenAI targets $600 billion in compute spending in IPO plans
WASHINGTON — OpenAI is targeting total computing spending of about $600 billion by 2030, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday, as the ChatGPT maker lays the groundwork for an IPO that could value the company as much as $1 trillion.
OpenAI’s 2025 revenue totaled $13 billion, exceeding expectations of $10 billion, while annual spending was $8 billion, below the $9 billion goal, the people said.
The development comes as NVIDIA nears completion of a $30 billion investment in OpenAI as part of a funding round in which the AI startup is seeking more than $100 billion.
The deal values Sam Altman’s company at about $830 billion, making it the largest private financing in history.
According to CNBC, which earlier reported the development, Microsoft-backed OpenAI expects to generate more than $280 billion in total revenue by 2030, split roughly evenly between the consumer and enterprise sectors. Reuters
Judge upholds $243 million verdict against Tesla in crash case
NEW YORK — A federal judge has denied Tesla’s request to overturn a $243 million jury verdict in a 2019 crash in which a Model S equipped with Autopilot killed a 22-year-old woman and seriously injured her boyfriend.
In a decision released Friday, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami said the evidence at trial “more than corroborated” the August 2025 ruling and that Tesla did not make any new arguments to invalidate it.
Elon Musk’s Tesla is expected to appeal. Neither Tesla nor its attorney immediately responded to requests for comment.
The incident stems from an incident that occurred on April 25, 2019 in Key Largo, Florida, when George McGee was driving a 2019 Model S through an intersection at approximately 60 mph and bent down to search for his dropped cell phone. Reuters
Sharma becomes head of the division after retiring as head of games at Microsoft
NEW YORK — Microsoft announced Friday that in a major leadership shakeup, head of gaming Phil Spencer is stepping down after 38 years with the software maker.
The company has appointed insider Asha Sharma as executive vice president and CEO of its gaming division. Previously, Sharma led product development for AI models and services at Microsoft.
Sharma said there will be a renewed focus on Xbox consoles, aiming to “recommit to our core Xbox fans and players.”
Microsoft Gaming is dealing with cost pressures from tariffs, intense competition and uncertain consumer spending, which is driving up prices for Xbox hardware.
Microsoft last month reported that gaming revenue fell by about 9.5% in the December quarter and it recorded an undisclosed impairment charge in the division. Reuters
Airbus could split due to tensions over FCAS fighter jet project
PARIS—The head of Airbus said he hopes Europe can continue joint development of a new fighter jet, but added that the company is ready for any scenario, including two entirely separate programs led by France and Germany to replace the troubled FCAS project.
CEO Guillaume Faury reiterated in remarks on France’s BFM television broadcast on Friday that splitting the project into two sides was one scenario, but raised questions about the extent to which cooperation in the broader system could be restored.
The Future Combat Air System is a €100 billion initiative to develop fighter aircraft supported by armed drones and secure links. But the company is threatened by conflicts with France’s Dassault Aviation and Germany-Spain’s Airbus, stemming from disputes over work share and technology rights. Reuters
