tech

Rani Molla3/25/25

US Signal downloads are on track for a record this year

It looks like Pete Hegseth — the defense secretary who mistakenly included a reporter in his war group chat — and government workers fearful of reprisal from the Trump administration are onto something: Signal.

This year the encrypted messaging app is on track to be downloaded a record number of times in the US. Not even three months into 2025, Signal has been downloaded 3 million times, according to data provided to Sherwood News by market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. If that pattern holds, downloads could reach a record 12 million by year-end.

Already this year it’s been downloaded more than in any of the first three years of President Trump’s first administration, when the app, a favorite in Silicon Valley and among activists but not really normies, began taking off. Since then, it’s seen a surge in downloads any time there’s political uncertainty — e.g., now.

It’s currently the sixth-most-downloaded social networking app on the App Store, where it shares space with Meta’s perennially popular Threads and WhatsApp.

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Two’s a crowd

Lucid announces Cybercab competitor and self-driving tech subscription in a bid to take on Tesla

Lucid’s vehicle has two seats and no steering wheel... a lot like another vehicle we’ve been hearing a lot about lately.

Lucid’s Lunar

tech

Matt Phillips8h

Palantir announces slew of defense- and security-themed partnerships

Defense, intelligence, and AI software company Palantir Technologies announced a series of security-themed partnerships Thursday, ahead of its annual conference promoting its artificial intelligence software platform (AIP).

Shares were recently up 1.7%, stretching the stock’s gains over the past month to 19%.

The deals include partnerships with uranium enrichment company Centrus Energy, jet engine maker GE Aerospace, unmanned aerial vehicle maker Ondas, and privately held World View, which sells intelligence and surveillance balloons that operate in the upper atmosphere.

Separately, it also announced a new “sovereign AI OS reference architecture,” a collaboration Palantir says “delivers customers a turnkey AI data center from hardware procurement to application deployment.”

Reference architectures are effectively blueprints that tell organizations how to set up and use AI hardware and software systems.

Known as the Palantir OS Reference Architecture, it’s based on similar AI blueprints Nvidia already sells, and it will enable customers to use Palantir’s entire product set, including the AIP and Foundry, its data organization and management product.

Palantir Unveils Nvidia Software Pact, Defense Partnerships At AI Conference

Palantir Unveils Nvidia Software Pact, Defense Partnerships At AI Conference

The deals include partnerships with uranium enrichment company Centrus Energy, jet engine maker GE Aerospace, unmanned aerial vehicle maker Ondas, and privately held World View, which sells intelligence and surveillance balloons that operate in the upper atmosphere.

Separately, it also announced a new “sovereign AI OS reference architecture,” a collaboration Palantir says “delivers customers a turnkey AI data center from hardware procurement to application deployment.”

Reference architectures are effectively blueprints that tell organizations how to set up and use AI hardware and software systems.

Known as the Palantir OS Reference Architecture, it’s based on similar AI blueprints Nvidia already sells, and it will enable customers to use Palantir’s entire product set, including the AIP and Foundry, its data organization and management product.

tech

Tesla’s China sales jump as EV market slumps

Tesla’s China sales grew 43% to 38,206 vehicles in February, compared a low baseline a year earlier.

Still, thanks to strong sales of its Model Y, Tesla defied countrywide trends — overall China EV sales fell 35% last month.

As a result, Tesla’s market share in China, its second-biggest market, grew to nearly 14% — its highest level in nearly two years.

Tesla's China sales rebound in Feb as market share hits nearly 2-year high

Tesla's China sales rebound in Feb as market share hits nearly 2-year high

Uber, which exited self-driving in 2020, is now at the center of the robotaxi era

Uber, which plans to launch a robotaxi service with Wayve and Nissan in Tokyo this year, has deals with every major AV player.

Uber Nissan Wayve Tokyo partnership

US Lifts Restrictions on Chinese Chip EDA

Chris Stokel-Walker15h

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