Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.

In today's Techpresso:

🫠 Google scraps promise not to develop AI weapons

🖼️ ByteDance's new AI creates lifelike videos

🇨🇳 Apple's App Store is under investigation in China

🔄 OpenAI rebrands itself

💸 Google to invest $75 billion this year on the AI race

📈 LinkedIn sees growth with TikTok-style videos

🎁 + 12 other news you might like

🔮 + 3 handpicked research papers and tools

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• Google has removed its commitment not to use AI for weapons or surveillance, a promise it had maintained since 2018, as part of an update to its AI Principles.
• The company's recent blog post emphasized the importance of democratic leadership in AI development, yet did not explicitly address the removal of its ban on AI applications related to military or monitoring technologies.
• Google's revision of its AI Principles comes amid a competitive landscape, aligning with changes made by other companies like OpenAI, and now focuses on innovation, responsible development, and collaboration without detailing restrictions on weaponized AI.

• ByteDance has unveiled OmniHuman-1, an AI model capable of converting a single image and audio clip into highly realistic human videos, making it challenging to differentiate from real footage.
• OmniHuman-1 excels in generating fluid and natural motion across various formats, using a multimodal training strategy to enhance accuracy, even with minimal input, and can work with different aspect ratios and body proportions.
• The AI model, trained on 19,000 hours of video data, processes motion cues to animate subjects with lifelike expressions and speech synchronization, although it is not yet available for public use.

• China is considering an antitrust investigation into Apple's App Store practices, following the introduction of new US trade tariffs impacting Chinese-American trade relations.
• The possible probe by China's State Administration for Market Regulation will focus on Apple's 30% commission on in-app purchases and restrictions on third-party payment services.
• While the investigation is not yet confirmed, the news has already affected Apple's stock value, causing a 3% drop in its shares.

• OpenAI has rebranded itself with a new logo, typeface, and color scheme, intending to create a more human and organic identity, as detailed in an interview with Wallpaper.
• While the original logo was crafted by OpenAI's CEO and co-founder, the redesign was led by an internal team aiming for a subtle yet impactful change in the logo's appearance.
• The company introduced a new typeface, OpenAI sans, designed to blend geometric precision with a human touch, and confirmed using AI tools like ChatGPT to calculate type weights.

• Alphabet plans to invest around $75 billion in capital expenditures in 2025, as announced by CEO Sundar Pichai in the company's Q4 2024 earnings release.
• Spending on infrastructure to support AI ambitions is a major focus for tech giants, and Google is likely to allocate a significant portion of its capital for AI development.
• Google's overall revenues increased by 12% to $96.5 billion, with Google Cloud revenues rising 10%, driven by growth in AI infrastructure and generative AI solutions.

• LinkedIn is experiencing rapid growth in short-form video content, with viewership increasing by 36% in the first quarter of 2025, and video uploads jumping 34% year-over-year in Q4 2024.
• The platform has introduced new features to enhance video discovery and interaction, including a full-screen vertical video experience on desktop, a swipeable carousel for relevant videos, and an improved follow button in the video player.
• To support this video push, LinkedIn has launched nano-learning courses on video creation techniques, and continues to attract creators with a TikTok-style feed featuring career advice and industry updates.

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