Jeff Bezos "is in early talks to raise $100 billion," reports the Wall Street Journal, "for a new fund that would buy up manufacturing companies and seek to use AI technology to accelerate their path to automation." "The Amazon.com founder is meeting with some of the world's largest asset managers to raise funding for the project." A few months ago, [Bezos] traveled to the Middle East to discuss the new fund with sovereign wealth representatives in the region. More recently, he went to Singapore to raise funding for the effort as well, according to people familiar with the matter. The fund, described in investor documents as a "manufacturing transformation vehicle," is aiming to buy companies in major industrial sectors such as chipmaking, defense and aerospace... Bezos was recently appointed co-CEO of Project Prometheus, a new startup that is building artificial-intelligence models that can understand and simulate the physical world. Bezos plans to use the company's technology to boost the efficiency and profitability of businesses owned by the fund, a playbook that some investment firms are similarly deploying in sectors such as accounting and property management... [Prometheus has also hired employees from OpenAI and Google DeepMind, the article points out.] While much of the AI revolution has been focused on large language models, billions of dollars have begun to flow to companies that are seeking to apply spatially focused AI systems toward industries including robotics and manufacturing... Amazon, one of [America's] largest employers, has closed in on the milestone of having as many robots as humans.

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OpenAI announced it's acquiring developer tooling startup Astral to strengthen its Codex AI coding assistant, which has over 2 million weekly users and has seen a three-fold increase in user growth since the start of the year. CNBC reports: "Through it all, though, our goal remains the same: to make programming more productive. To build tools that radically change what it feels like to build software," Astral's founder and CEO Charlie Marsh wrote in a blog post. The company's acquisition of Astral is still subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Microsoft is considering legal action against its partner OpenAI and Amazon over a $50 billion deal that could violate its exclusive cloud agreement with the ChatGPT maker, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Last month, Amazon and OpenAI signed several agreements, including one that makes Amazon Web Services the exclusive third-party cloud provider for Frontier, OpenAI's enterprise platform for building and running AI agents. The dispute centers on whether OpenAI can offer Frontier via AWS without violating the Microsoft partnership, which requires the startup's models to be accessed through the Windows maker's Azure cloud platform, the FT report said, citing sources. OpenAI and Microsoft recently stated together that "Azure remains the exclusive cloud provider of stateless OpenAI APIs," a Microsoft spokesperson said in an emailed statement, referring to software interfaces used to access OpenAI's models. "We are confident that OpenAI understands and respects the importance of living up to this legal obligation," the spokesperson added. FT said Microsoft executives believed the approach was not feasible and would violate the spirit, if not the letter, of their agreement, and added that the companies were in talks to resolve the dispute without litigation ahead of Frontier's launch. "We know our contract," a person familiar with Microsoft's position told the newspaper. "We will sue them if they breach it. If Amazon and OpenAI want to take a bet on the creativity of their contractual lawyers, I would back us, not them."

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Trevor Milton, the pardoned founder of Nikola, is seeking $1 billion for AI-powered autonomous planes through a new venture called SyberJet. The Tech Buzz reports: "Autonomous planes will be 10 times harder than Nikola ever was," Milton told the Wall Street Journal in a rare interview. It's a remarkable admission from someone whose last venture collapsed under the weight of securities fraud charges after he overstated the capabilities of Nikola's electric and hydrogen-powered trucks. Milton was convicted in 2022 on three counts of fraud for misleading investors about Nikola's technology, including staging a video that made it appear a truck prototype was driving under its own power when it was actually rolling downhill. The conviction sent him to prison and turned Nikola into a cautionary tale about startup hype culture. His pardon, which came earlier this year, sparked immediate controversy in venture capital and legal circles. Now he's betting that AI and autonomous aviation represent a clean slate. SyberJet appears focused on developing artificial intelligence systems capable of piloting aircraft without human intervention - a technical challenge that's stumped even well-funded players like Boeing and Airbus. [...] Milton hasn't detailed SyberJet's technical approach or revealed who's backing the venture. The company's website remains sparse, and aviation industry sources say they haven't seen concrete demonstrations of the technology. That opacity echoes the early days of Nikola, when Milton made sweeping claims about revolutionary trucks that existed mostly in renderings and promotional videos. If you need a quick refresher on the Nikola saga, here's a timeline of key events: June, 2016: Nikola Motor Receives Over 7,000 Preorders Worth Over $2.3 Billion For Its Electric Truck December, 2016: Nikola Motor Company Reveals Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck With Range of 1,200 Miles February, 2020: Nikola Motors Unveils Hybrid Fuel-Cell Concept Truck With 600-Mile Range June, 2020: Nikola Founder Exaggerated the Capability of His Debut Truck September, 2020: Nikola Motors Accused of Massive Fraud, Ocean of Lies September, 2020: Nikola Admits Prototype Was Rolling Downhill In Promo Video September, 2020: Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Steps Down as Chairman in Battle With Short Seller October, 2020: Nikola Stock Falls 14 Percent After CEO Downplays Badger Truck Plans November, 2020: Nikola Stock Plunges As Company Cancels Badger Pickup Truck July, 2021: Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Indicted on Three Counts of Fraud December, 2021: EV Startup Nikola Agrees To $125 Million Settlement September, 2022: Nikola Founder Lied To Investors About Tech, Prosecutor Says in Fraud Trial

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En juillet 2025, on apprenait que Krafton avait licencié les trois dirigeants d’Unknown Worlds, alors que Subnautica 2 était en préparation, et prévu pour sortir en accès anticipé avant la fin de l’année. Les intéressés, pas du tout d’accord avec la situation, laissaient entendre qu’ils avaient été évincés pour éviter que l’éditeur coréen ne paie un bonus de 250 millions de dollars à l’équipe si le jeu parvenait à dépasser un seuil de revenus avant 2026. Effectivement, Subnautica 2 avait immédiatement été repoussé, parce qu’il était soi-disant dans un état très éloigné des attentes. Au contraire, certains avançaient que Krafton avait tout fait pour saboter le jeu. Enfin, en novembre, on avait vu passer quelques documents croustillants sur les méthodes de l’éditeur, et qui n’allaient pas vraiment en sa faveur.

Après plusieurs mois de procès, la décision est tombée : l’éditeur devra réintégrer Ted Gill à son poste de CEO du studio Unknown Worlds, et lui redonner la maîtrise sur le lancement de l’accès anticipé de Subnautica 2. Le jugement énonce des faits d’une stupidité crasse, comme l’emploi de ChatGPT par le CEO de Krafton, visiblement en roue libre, pour trouver une solution afin d’éviter de payer les 250 millions de dollars d’indexation sur les bénéfices. On y lit que même le chatbot d’OpenAI estimait que ce serait difficile à réaliser, mais ça n’a pas arrêté notre bonhomme, qui a persisté dans sa tentative d’élaborer un plan foireux. On peut aussi voir des extraits d’échanges sur Slack, révélant le complot aussi subtil qu’un auto-aim à la manette sur Call of Duty. Bref, il faut avoir un sacré pet au casque pour imaginer passer entre les mailles du filet.

Totalement fortuitement, IGN nous a révélé hier que le chef du studio par intérim avait annoncé en interne la fenêtre de sortie en accès anticipé de Subnautica 2 : ce sera pour mai prochain. On sent que c’est une méthode pour couper l’herbe sous le pied à Ted Gill, tout en assurant que les neuf derniers mois de travail étaient absolument nécessaires pour apporter la qualité requise.

On termine avec un peu de gameplay du jeu, partagé lors d’un devlog la semaine dernière. Les développeurs s’attardent cette fois-ci sur la construction des bases, tout en rappelant qu’on pourra jouer y en coopération. On rappelle qu’il n’y aura aucun mécanisme spécifique nécessitant d’être à plusieurs, ce qui nous fait douter de l’intérêt du multijoueur, pour un titre dont le principal attrait est de se sentir seul au fond de l’océan.

Néanmoins, on n’est pas à l’abri d’une bonne surprise, maintenant que l’ancien CEO revient à son poste. En attendant le mois de mai et une date plus précise pour le lancement de l’accès anticipé de Subnautica 2, vous pouvez l’ajouter à votre liste de souhaits Steam s’il vous intéresse.

Mise à jour du 18/03/2026  :Minosforum indique que l’ensemble des prix de son catalogue sera à nouveau impacté à la hausse dès la fin du mois. La marque indique que seuls les produits sans mémoire ni stockage – type barebones – seront épargnés par cette hausse. Les prix actuels seront respectés jusqu’à début avril.

Billet du 30/10/2025 : Des prix à la hausse à cause de la flambée des prix de la mémoire. Après Raspberry Pi et GMKtec, le scénario se répète chez Minisforum qui prévient que tout son catalogue va être bousculé dès ce 4 novembre.

C’est la DDR5 qui est touchée ici et la marque de préciser que la hausse ne concernera que les engins équipés de ce type de composants. Les modèles en DDR4 qui persistent ainsi que les machines au format barebone – c’est-à-dire celles vendues sans mémoire vive – ne seront pas affectées.

Ce sont trois arbres qui cachent la forêt désormais. Les prix des MiniPC, portables, PC et autres composants vont logiquement continuer à augmenter encore et encore ces prochains mois. Certains analystes tirent même la sonnette d’alarme en prédisant une hausse sur des années puisque la demande des serveurs des grandes fermes d’IA ne fait qu’augmenter. Les projections d’investissements dans ces projets sont tellement colossales que de nombreux fabricants de mémoire y voient une assurance de bénéfices à long terme. Ils orientent donc leur production dans le sens des priorités de ces bons clients. Délaissant la production plus commune.

Les produits très « entrée de gamme » devraient paradoxalement être moins affectés. Ils utilisent souvent des composants mémoire de grade inférieur (Grade C avec une latence supérieure) qui sont des « rebuts » des productions destinées au marché haut de gamme qu’est celui des serveurs. Marché qui préfère évidemment les « grades A » à latence plus faible. Si la production de mémoire s’oriente vers les serveurs et que le taux de produits n’atteignant pas les prérequis pour intégrer ce marché reste le même, alors on devrait être inondé de ces mémoires de « seconde zone ».

Il est rare qu’un composant de mémoire passe de Grade A à Grade B, le choix le plus souvent employé sur le marché grand public. Il est plus généralement dégradé directement vers du Grade C. Aussi, ne vous étonnez pas si certaines marques qui emploient des composants de qualité augmentent leurs prix (Minisforum, Beelink, Geekom…) et que d’autres, moins haut de gamme, ne le font pas. L’explication est justement dans la qualité des produits employés.

Il est également fort possible que tout le monde augmente ses tarifs, par simple effet d’aubaine. Si les marques plus connues augmentent leur prix, les marques moins conçues peuvent très bien suivre le mouvement. Leur positionnement étant savamment calculé par rapport aux autres, toute hausse pourrait être compensée… et la différence empochée.

Le communiqué de presse de la marque :

Notice of Upcoming Price Adjustment

Dear Valued Customers,

Due to rising global raw material costs—especially for memory and storage—which have led to a significant increase in our overall costs, MINISFORUM will implement a modest price adjustment across its product lineup effective November 4, 2025 (PST). Please note that barebone (bare system) models and products without DDR5 memory and/or SSD will not be affected by this adjustment currently.

This adjustment will help us maintain the same high standards of quality, innovation, and service that you have come to expect from MINISFORUM.

If you are planning to purchase or upgrade your device, we recommend completing your order before the price adjustment takes effect.

We sincerely appreciate your understanding and continued support. Our commitment remains steadfast—to deliver high-performance AI Mini workstation, AI Mini PC, Mini Gaming PC, and AI NAS that offer exceptional value for our customers worldwide.

Thank you for being a part of the MINISFORUM community.

Warm regards,
MINISFORUM

 

Nouvelle hausse des prix chez Minisforum prévue pour avril © MiniMachines.net. 2026

Le PDG d'OpenAI a publié un message de « gratitude » envers les développeurs qui ont écrit du code « caractère par caractère ». Un tweet qui a déclenché une vague de colère, dans un secteur de la tech en pleine tourmente sociale.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Wall Street Journal: A battle of insults and threats has broken out between the tech world and Wall Street. What's got everyone so worked up? The same thing that starts most fights: business software. A series of social-media posts went viral in recent days with claims that AI has created a worthy -- and way cheaper -- alternative to the Bloomberg terminal, a computer system that is like oxygen to professional investors. Now "Bloomberg is cooked," some posters argued as they heralded the arrival of a newly released AI tool from startup Perplexity. [...] The finance bros who worship at the altar of Bloomberg have declared war on the tech evangelists who have put all their faith in AI. To suggest that the terminal is replaceable is "laughable," said Jason Lemire, who jumped into the conversation on LinkedIn. (Ironically or not, his post also included an AI-generated image of churchgoers praying to the Bloomberg terminal). "It seems quite obvious to me that those propagating that post are either just looking for easy engagement and/or have never worked in a serious financial institution," he wrote. [...] Morgan Linton, the co-founder and CTO of AI startup Bold Metrics and an avid Perplexity Computer user, said it's rare for a single AI prompt to generate anything close to what Bloomberg does. That said, he added that tools like this can lay "a really good foundation for a financial application. And that really has not been possible before." Others aren't so sure. Michael Terry, an institutional investment manager who used the terminal for more than 30 years, said he used a prompt circulating online to try to vibe code a Bloomberg replica on Anthropic's Claude. "It was laughable at best, horrific at worst," he said. Shevelenko acknowledged there are some aspects of the terminal that can't be replicated with vibe coding, including some of Bloomberg's proprietary data inputs. The live chat network, which includes 350,000 financial professionals in 184 countries, would also be hard to re-create, as well as the terminal's data security, reliability and robust support system. "I love Bloomberg. And I know most people that use Bloomberg are very, very loyal and extremely happy," said Lemire. His message to the techies? "There's nothing that you can vibe code in a weekend or even like over the course of a year that's going to come anywhere close."

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang threw out a lot of numbers -- mostly of the technical variety -- during his keynote Monday to kick off the company's annual GTC Conference in San Jose, California. But there was one financial figure that investors surely took notice of: his projection that there will be $1 trillion worth of orders for Nvidia's Blackwell and Vera Rubin chips, a monetary reflection of a booming AI business. About an hour into his keynote, Huang noted that last year Nvidia saw about $500 billion in demand for its Blackwell and upcoming Rubin chips through 2026. "Now, I don't know if you guys feel the same way, but $500 billion is an enormous amount of revenue," he said. "Well, I'm here to tell you that right now where I stand -- a few short months after GTC DC, one year after last GTC -- right here where I stand, I see through 2027, at least $1 trillion."

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The U.S. SEC is reportedly preparing a proposal to make quarterly earnings reports optional, potentially allowing companies to report results just twice a year. "The proposal could be published as soon as next month," reports Reuters, citing a paywalled report from the Wall Street Journal, adding that "regulators are in talks with major exchanges to discuss how their rules may need to be adjusted." Reuters reports: The SEC will vote on the proposal once it is published, after a public comment period which typically lasts at least 30 days, the report said. The WSJ report added that the rule is expected to make quarterly reporting optional and not eliminate it altogether. The proposed change in the reporting standard would allow listed companies to publish results every six months instead of the current mandate to report figures every 90 days. Trump, who first floated the idea in his first term as president, has argued the change in requirements would discourage shortsightedness from public companies while cutting costs. Skeptics, however, caution delaying disclosures could reduce transparency and heighten market volatility.

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AI infrastructure company Nebius signed a deal to provide up to $27 billion in AI computing capacity to Meta over the next five years, including a guaranteed $12 billion purchase by 2027. Reuters reports: Under the agreement, Meta will also buy an additional $15 billion worth of capacity planned by Nebius over the coming five years if it is not sold to other customers, giving the contract a total value of up to $27 billion, Nebius said. The deal is the latest example of U.S. tech giants' efforts to supplement their own AI data-centre build-outs by locking in scarce GPU and power capacity from "neocloud" providers like Nebius. Nebius CEO Arkady Volozh said the latest Meta deal would help "accelerate the build-out and growth of our core AI cloud business." Further reading: Data Centers Overtake Offices In US Construction-Spending Shift

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Malgré des ventes en hausse, le constructeur vietnamien continue de perdre de l’argent. La recharge gratuite offerte depuis 2024 par VinFast à ses clients est certainement une stratégie efficace pour vendre… mais beaucoup moins pour préserver les comptes dans le vert.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Spending on data center projects in the U.S. has exploded, surpassing offices for the first time at the end of last year. It's a trend Matt Kunz saw early on when Meta built a computing hub outside Columbus, Ohio. Other tech companies soon swarmed into the area, drawn by its stable economy, university talent pipeline and ample power, water and land, said Kunz, vice president and general manager at Turner Construction Co., the firm that led Meta's build-out. Since Meta broke ground in 2017, it's expanded its data center campus, and Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Microsoft Corp. made plans to join it nearby. "When one shows up, almost all the other ones tend to follow," Kunz said. For Turner, a construction giant responsible for supertall office skyscrapers, sports stadiums and cultural venues around the globe, data centers are commanding more of its bandwidth. The company completed $9.4 billion of the projects last year, more than five times its 2020 total. Last month, Turner announced it was chosen as one of the contractors on a $10 billion data center for Meta in Indiana. Tech companies' needs for AI processing facilities have made data centers the latest darling of the real estate industry. The properties are figuring heavily into portfolios of major investors such as Blackstone, Brookfield Asset Management and KKR, on a bet that long-term demand for computing power will continue to grow. At the same time, office development has slowed as cities across the U.S. contend with vacancies that have piled up since the Covid lockdowns. Construction spending for data centers has climbed steadily in recent years, while outlays for general office projects headed downward, U.S. Census data show. The two crossed paths in December, with roughly $3.57 billion spent on data centers that month, compared with $3.49 billion for offices, according to preliminary estimates. The shift is likely to continue and "may perpetuate itself even further as AI is utilized for automating day-to-day jobs," said Andy Cvengros, co-lead of U.S. data center markets for the brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. "It's going to directly impact the amount of office space people need." According to Christopher McFadden, senior vice president at Turner, more than a third of the company's backlog is now tied to data centers. "We're going to be building these at this scale for years to come," McFadden said. "There's a lot of wind in the sail."

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Illégaux en France, les marchés de prédiction comme Polymarket et Kalshi enregistrent pourtant une forte hausse de leur audience à l’approche des municipales. De Paris à Nice, des millions d’euros sont misés sur l’issue du scrutin, malgré des doutes persistants sur la fiabilité de ces plateformes et les risques de manipulation.

Hier soir, lors du Future Game Show, Tripwire a lancé sa troisième saison pour Killing Floor 3, intitulée Operation: Deep Freeze. Elle s’accompagne d’une nouvelle carte, située sur une base en Antarctique, et sans doute de nouvelles armes et autres joyeusetés. On ne va pas vous mentir, la vidéo a tout de même un peu de gueule. On en oublierait presque que le jeu n’est pas si formidable que ça. D’ailleurs, les évaluations récentes sur Steam sont encore pires qu’au lancement, dénonçant des performances dramatiques, et toujours beaucoup de bugs.

Cette nouvelle mise à jour a permis de multiplier le nombre de joueurs par trois ou quatre, générant un pic autour de 1 200, ce qui reste sans doute un peu léger. Cela nous amène à l’autre information importante, qui elle, est arrivée au début du mois : Tripwire Interactive s’est séparé de 23 employés pour tenter de limiter les coûts. D’après l’une des personnes virées, les équipes QA, artistique, ingénierie et support client ont été touchées. Le studio annonce néanmoins qu’il « reste déterminé à créer des expériences de jeu de haute qualité et à soutenir les joueurs ». On se demande un peu lesquels, quand on regarde les courbes, et on ne trouve pas franchement étonnant qu’il y ait des problèmes financiers, compte tenu du peu d’engouement qu’a suscité le dernier épisode de la série, jugé peu intéressant par rapport à Killing Floor 2, notamment.

Killing Floor 3 est disponible sur Steam pour 40 €, mais si vous voulez rejoindre le combat avant que la poussière ne retombe, il ne va pas falloir trop traîner.

Selon Bloomberg, Stellantis aurait engagé des discussions pour conclure des projets de coopération avec plusieurs constructeurs chinois, comme Xpeng ou Xiaomi. Cela concerne plus spécifiquement son activité en Europe. Qu’est-ce qui serait en jeu ?

Shantanu Narayen announced he will step down as CEO of Adobe once a successor is appointed, ending an 18-year tenure during which he transformed the company from boxed software to the Creative Cloud subscription model. Narayen said he will remain board chair as Adobe continues pushing into generative AI products. CNBC reports: Narayen joined Adobe in 1988 as a vice president and general manager, and he became CEO in 2007. Under Narayen, Adobe pushed from software licenses to subscriptions to its Creative Cloud application bundle, and the company is now working to expand through generative artificial intelligence. He sought to acquire fast-growing design software company Figma, but regulators pushed back, and the companies called off the deal, resulting in Adobe paying Figma a $1 billion breakup fee. [...] Narayen, 62, is lead independent director of Pfizer in addition to his responsibilities at Adobe, where he received $51 million in total compensation for the 2025 fiscal year, according to a filing. He owns $118 million in Adobe shares, according to FactSet. [...] On Narayen's watch, Adobe's stock jumped more than sixfold, while the S&P 500 is up about 350% over that stretch. "What attracted me to Adobe 28 years ago was our leadership in creating new market categories, world-class products, a relentless desire to innovate in every functional area of the company and the people I met during the interview process," Narayen wrote. "We have continued to create new markets, deliver world-class products, drive innovation in everything we do and attract and retain the best and brightest employees."

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Atlassian plans to cut 1,600 jobs or a 10th of its global workforce, joining rivals in slashing staffing to cope with the advent of AI and a broader post-Covid industry slowdown. Australian billionaire founder Mike Cannon-Brookes explained the reductions in a staff memo, while also announcing his chief technology officer was leaving the Sydney-based company. "It would be disingenuous to pretend AI doesn't change the mix of skills we need or the number of roles required in certain areas," Cannon-Brookes said. "It does."

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Muse Bio mise sur les cellules souches issues des règles pour séduire le marché florissant de la cosmétique régénérative et développer des produits thérapeutiques.

GFiber (a.k.a. Google Fiber) and Astound Broadband announced that they plan to merge into a deal backed by infrastructure investor Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners. The resulting company will be majority owned by Stonepeak, with Alphabet becoming a "significant minority shareholder." Light Reading reports: Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners teamed with Patriot Media to acquire Astound in November 2020 for $8.1 billion. Stonepeak is Astound's largest investor. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. The combined business will be led by the existing GFiber executive team. GFiber is currently led by CEO Dinni Jain. Jain, a former Time Warner Cable and Insight Communications exec, took the helm of what was then called Google Fiber in 2018. "This agreement advances GFiber's mission of redefining internet connectivity and represents a major step toward its goal of operational and financial independence," the companies said. "GFiber will have the external capital and strategic focus needed to accelerate its next phase of growth, expanding its customer-first approach and pioneering fiber technology across the country." GFiber's combination with Astound represents "a strategic opportunity to scale our customer-focused approach to connect more households to a truly different type of internet service," Jain said in a statement.

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