A new analysis by Bloomberg looked at wholesale electricity prices and found that in the past five years, areas near data centers saw their prices spike as much as 267%. More than 70% of the price increases took place in areas less than 50 miles from a data center.
As tech companies race to build colossal data centers, unprecedented energy demands from the projects are passing some of the costs on to consumers.
OpenAI brought in $4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of this year, 16% higher than its total revenue in 2024, The Information reports, citing financial disclosures to shareholders. The ChatGPT maker also burned through $2.5 billion in the same time frame.
Currently the company is generating more than $1 billion in revenue each month, which puts it on track to reach its full-year projection for $13 billion in revenue and $8.5 billion in cash burn — a paltry sum compared to the $115 billion it expects to burn through 2029.
OpenAI is planning to launch its own social media app to showcase AI videos generated by its Sora 2, Wired reports. The Sora 2 stand-alone app apparently looks a lot like TikTok with vertical videos, a For You page, and the ability to remix videos — which, unlike TikTok, are all created by AI. So far it’s only available internally.
The drawn-out TikTok negotiations have given OpenAI a window to launch a short-form video app without ties to China, sources told Wired.
The Sora 2 app also includes an “identification verification feature” that would let users confirm their likeness and let others use it as well.
The Sora 2 app also includes an “identification verification feature” that would let users confirm their likeness and let others use it as well.
Snap jumped as high as 5% Monday after the social media company announced that it would be charging users for its Memories features after they reach 5 gigabytes of storage. Snapchat, which has clocked more than 1 trillion saved Memories on its platform, told TechCrunch the Memory Storage plans would range from $1.99 a month for 100 gigabytes of storage to $15.99 for 5-terabyte plans. The fees will be a new revenue stream for the company, whose ad revenue isn’t growing as fast as its peers’.
Snap rose more than 20% this month amid positive r/WallStreetBets chatter, buyout speculation, and increased investment by Saudi investor Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud. And the US spin-off of TikTok doesn’t seem to be taking the wind out of Snap’s sales.
