Bytes: What’s new in tech

Altman’s multitrillion-dollar plan

Having already conquered the AI market,

Sam Altman is now taking on the global chip industry, said Keach Hagey and Asa Fitch in The Wall Street Journal. “The OpenAI chief is in talks with investors including the United Arab Emirates government to raise funds for a wildly ambitious tech initiative that would boost the world’s chip-making capacity.” Nvidia—a company whose total value is now neck and neck with Amazon’s—is the market leader in AI chips, but its products have been in short supply. Altman wants to build “dozens of chip-fabrication plants” around the world, at a cost of as much as $5 trillion to $7 trillion—a sum that’s “larger than the national debt of some major global economies.”

Enticing kids into the casino

“Social casinos” are skirting laws on legal sports betting, said Rick Maese and Roman Stubbs in The Washington Post. The popular app Fliff claims it is a “sweepstakes contest, not a sports-betting contest,” which lets it operate in states where sports betting is still illegal. A pillar of its business involves betting with virtual money. But users can also deposit cash to make real wagers on a platform that “looks similar to a licensed sportsbook.” The app is marketed as “suitable for ages 13 and up” and doesn’t verify ages of signups. Two other quasi-gambling apps, PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy, host contests that “bear a strong resemblance to parlay betting” and have been criticized for targeting young people susceptible to problem gambling.

Starlink terminals in Russian hands

Russian forces appear to be using Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, said Sam Skove in Defense One. “Ukrainian troops first detected Russia’s frontline use of the satellite-connected devices several months ago,” and the instances have been gradually increasing. Ukrainian sources believe Russia has used “tens” of terminals; they worry that the number could grow to hundreds. SpaceX, which owns Starlink, provided thousands of terminals to Ukraine at the start of the war in 2022, and they have been regarded as “a key element of Ukraine’s stout response” to the invasion. SpaceX denied allegations that it sold equipment to Russia, “but Russians can easily acquire Starlinks from abroad.” SpaceX could prevent “the use of Starlink devices in Russian-occupied territory,” but it may be hesitant to intervene and mistakenly knock out Ukraine’s terminal access.