Lots has happened this past week in the tech world! With 400 million active users for OpenAI this week, Oppo releasing a new folding phone, and more, there’s much to catch up on. So, let’s get started!
400 Million Active Users For OpenAI
OpenAI seems to be experiencing rapid growth despite rising competition. As of February, the San Francisco-based tech company reached 400 million weekly active users, a 33% increase from 300 million in December, according to Brad Lightcap, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, who spoke with CNBC. These figures have not been previously disclosed.
Lightcap attributed the growth to the “natural progression” of ChatGPT as it becomes more useful and widely adopted.
Oppo Releases New Folding Phone
Chinese smartphone tech maker Oppo unveiled its latest flagship folding phone on Thursday, highlighting a sleeker design and AI-driven features in a bid to rival high-end foldable devices from competitors like Samsung and Huawei.
The company’s new Find N5, which folds in half, will be priced starting at 2,499 Singapore dollars ($1,867.70). When closed, the Find N5 resembles a traditional bar-shaped phone with a 6.62-inch display. It can be unfolded to reveal a larger 8.12-inch tablet screen.
Startup Baseten Raises $75 Million
Baseten, a startup that operates artificial intelligence models for clients using their cloud infrastructure, has secured $75 million in funding, the company announced on Wednesday.
The latest funding round values Baseten at $825 million, signaling that venture capitalists see potential in the AI boom benefiting a wide range of startups, not just those focused on large language models. Recently, companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI have raised billions, much of which is directed toward tech servers equipped with Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs).
Microsoft Announces Majorana 1
On Wednesday, Microsoft unveiled Majorana 1, its first quantum computing chip. This milestone follows nearly two decades of research in the field, with Microsoft claiming that the creation of Majorana 1 required the development of an entirely new state of matter, which the company refers to as a topological state.
The chip features eight topological qubits made from indium arsenide, a semiconductor, and aluminum, a superconductor.
Amazon Workers Reject Unionizing
Amazon workers at a facility near Raleigh, North Carolina, voted overwhelmingly against unionizing on Saturday. Out of the 3,276 ballots cast, 2,447 votes were against the union, while 829 were in favor, according to the National Labor Relations Board. There were 77 challenged ballots, a number too small to alter the outcome. The results are still pending certification by the NLRB.
The election took place at the RDU1 facility in Garner, a suburb of Raleigh after organizers from the Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (CAUSE) spent three years campaigning at the warehouse. The facility employs around 4,700 workers.
