On GOOGLE MAPS, Lake Ontario now changes name at the border
GOOGLE MAPS now displays “Lake America” to users in the United States, “Lake Ontario” to Canada, and both names to the rest of the world. GOOGLE says it applies the American GNIS nomenclature, modified after a decree from Donald Trump in a context of trade tensions with Ottawa.
OPENAI reaches $1 billion in annualized advertising revenue in 200 days
OPENAI claims that its advertising activity has crossed the billion dollars in annualized revenue, compared to 100 million less than two months after its launch, a theoretical rate, and not a turnover already collected over twelve months. Ads are now available in more than 40 countries and served to free and Go plan users, who represent the bulk of ChatGPT’s 1 billion weekly users. As its IPO project approaches, OPENAI adds a fourth revenue driver to subscriptions, APIs and offers intended for businesses
CHATGPT enters the European regime for systemic digital services
The European Commission has designated CHATGPT as a “very large search engine”, while REDDIT and ROBLOX join the category of “very large platforms”, having each exceeded 45 million monthly users in the Union. The three services have until January 2027 to assess and reduce the risks linked in particular to illegal content, minors, fundamental rights, elections and public security.
NEXPERIA: Chinese justice freezes $300 million in assets
A Chinese court has frozen NEXPERIA BV’s stakes in four local entities worth up to $300 million. This decision offers its Chinese parent company WINGTECH new leverage in its attempt to regain control of the Dutch semiconductor manufacturer. The industrial dispute thus shifts to legal terrain, where each party now seeks to lock up assets located in its own jurisdiction.
SHEIN goes public in Hong Kong with valuation reduced to $26 billion
SHEIN raised $1.7 billion during its listing in Hong Kong, for a capitalization of $26 billion, almost four times lower than its 2022 private valuation. This discount reflects the slowdown in its growth, the weight of customs duties and the intensification of competition in ultra-fast fashion. The IPO opens the public markets to it, but above all marks the end of an era during which investors valued the group at nearly 100 billion dollars.
The Mac emerges as an unexpected infrastructure for AI
According to The InformationOPENAI would have purchased several tens of thousands of Mac mini and Mac Studio for its reinforcement learning work, while ANTHROPIC would rent APPLE machines. Their unified memory appeals to developers wishing to run models locally, to the point that NVIDIA now considers APPLE as its main competitor in this segment.
Infostealers hijack CLAUDE sessions to consume quotas
ANTHROPIC disconnected some CLAUDE users after malware stole their session cookies, allowing attackers to access accounts without entering passwords or passing two-factor authentication. The company has removed stored payment methods and is refunding charges identified as fraudulent. The incident did not result from a compromise by CLAUDE: the victims’ terminals had been infected by general infostealers, including Vidar, LummaC2, StealC, RedLine and Atomic Stealer.
INSTAGRAM will reduce the visibility of unreported AI influencers
INSTAGRAM is replacing its old optional label “AI creator” with the more explicit “AI-generated profile” for accounts featuring an artificial person. Concerned profiles who do not identify themselves may be excluded from recommendations addressed to non-subscribers in Reels and Explore, with an appeal procedure in the event of an error.
ELEKTA obtains 100 million euros from the EIB for its cancer treatment technologies
The European Investment Bank will grant up to €100 million to ELEKTA, covering half of a €200 million R&D program carried out mainly in Sweden and the Netherlands between 2026 and 2029. The Swedish group will invest in radiotherapy, radiosurgery, brachytherapy and software to plan and automate treatments.
LUPIN DENTAL raises 15 million euros to automate the dentist’s procedure
The Montpellier company LUPIN DENTAL has completed a Series A of 15 million euros, including 10 million provided by FYNVEUR, supplemented by a loan from BPIFRANCE. Its robotic system transforms the preparation of teeth before the installation of veneers into a procedure that is digitally planned and then executed under the supervision of the practitioner, with the ambition of encoding the know-how of expert dentists in software. Already used in India and certified in the United Kingdom, the device is not yet authorized in the European Union or the United States: the lifting will therefore finance as much the regulatory battle as the industrialization and commercial deployment.
