Thomas Ricker

ITV is selling its media and entertainment business, including the ITVX streaming platform and free-to-air channels, to Comcast-owned Sky for up to £1.6 billion ($2.13 billion). The acquisition excludes ITV’s studio operations and will create the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, better positioning it to compete with YouTube and streaming rivals like Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix. [Link: Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a commercial streaming leader for the UK

Meta says four US states are seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties, according to Reuters, in a filing published ahead of an upcoming August trial that accuses the company of purposefully designing Facebook and Instagram to addict young users. Meta’s market cap is $1.5 trillion and it’s already lost back-to-back trials on the matter and settled another.

The Trump administration has given OpenAI’s GPT 5.6 model suite announced on June 26th the green light for public launch, according to Axios. Sol is the flagship, Terra a medium-tier model for “high-volume work,” and Luna is the “fast and affordable” everyday model. [Media: https://twitter/OpenAI/status/2074704958419792299?s=20]

Apple added a bit more insight into that Broadcom deal announced a few days ago. It’s expected to “exceed $30 billion” and “lead to the production of more than 15 billion US-made chips” and “hundreds of American jobs.” The announcement comes with a line of obligatory flattery from CEO Tim Cook: > “We’re grateful to the president and his administration for supporting important projects like this one.” [Link: Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips

Tracking your dog anywhere in the US, even in cellular dead zones. Fi Ultra is the first Starlink-enabled pet tracker you can buy.

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OpenAI is hosting another livestream on Thursday at 1pm ET, where it’s teasing the following: > Join us to see how ChatGPT is evolving to help teams take on their most ambitious work—from bringing together context across your business to planning and completing multi-step work, creating polished deliverables, and keeping work moving across desktop, web, and mobile.

It's currently 100 satellites ahead of 2025's deployment record.

Block has reached a $45 million settlement with 46 US states over allegations of inadequate fraud protection for its mobile payment service. The platform was accused of misleading users about its safety, and for expanding marketing when fraud claims recently spiked instead of strengthening protections. It must now provide 24-hour customer support and cease deceptive marketing. [Link: Cash App parent settles states' probe over fraud protections for $45 million

The Hottap Go is an all-in-one hot water system that justifies its high price. Hot showers, like electricity, are a luxury that's easy to take for granted.