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  • Cloudflare's new marketplace | Threads DMs | OpenAI's Genspark | Figma going public

Cloudflare's new marketplace | Threads DMs | OpenAI's Genspark | Figma going public

Learn more, scroll less. Curated AI/Tech/Business news and articles.

2nd July 2025

🌟 Welcome to the latest edition of Top249 🤩 

We're here to keep you updated on AI, tech, and business news and articles, so you can save time and focus on learning and growth.

Let's get started! 😎 

AI & Tech Frontier

Cloudflare launches a marketplace that lets websites charge AI bots for scraping

  • Cloudflare has introduced a new platform that allows websites to monetize access by charging AI bots for scraping content.

  • The tool gives publishers granular control, offering rate limiting, paywalls, or outright blocking of AI crawlers.

  • This move could reshape web economics by shifting scraping from a free-for-all to a regulated, monetized exchange.

Threads now has DMs

  • Meta's Threads app has finally added a direct messaging feature, aiming to compete more seriously with X and Instagram.

  • The DMs integrate with Instagram’s infrastructure and allow one-on-one messaging as well as sending posts privately.

  • This marks a major step toward making Threads a full-fledged social platform beyond public conversations.

Genspark ships no-code personal agents with GPT-4.1 and OpenAI Realtime API

  • GenSpark is a new educational platform by OpenAI that offers personalized AI learning experiences through real-time interaction.

  • The tool aims to help learners “learn by doing,” combining short-form lessons with dynamic feedback from AI tutors.

  • It’s a move toward redefining online education with conversational, adaptive content powered by GPT models.

Business Briefs

Figma is going public

  • Figma has officially filed to go public, revealing strong growth metrics and a solid user base despite Adobe’s failed acquisition.

  • The design platform emphasizes its freemium model, wide adoption among developers and designers, and product-led growth.

  • The IPO signals confidence in standalone productivity platforms as Adobe faces increasing scrutiny in M&A deals.

xAI raises $10B in debt and equity

  • Elon Musk’s xAI has secured $10 billion in a massive funding round comprising both debt and equity financing.

  • The funds will likely go toward scaling AI infrastructure, including chips and compute power to rival OpenAI and Anthropic.

  • xAI is positioning itself as a challenger with a focus on openness, integration with X (formerly Twitter), and custom models.

Flood of interest in Europe’s AI Gigafactories plan

  • Europe is attracting heavy investment in “AI gigafactories” that will produce specialized chips and build out AI infrastructure.

  • Governments and private players are competing to fund facilities aimed at reducing dependency on U.S. and Asian suppliers.

  • The trend reflects a broader push for AI sovereignty and manufacturing leadership within the EU.

Hidden Gems / Learn & Grow

Linux's remarkable journey from one dev's hobby to 40 million lines of code - and counting

  • Linux has evolved from Linus Torvalds’ personal project into a 40-million-line powerhouse running most of the digital world.

  • Its success stems from a decentralized, open-source development model that has outlasted proprietary OS competition.

  • Linux now underpins everything from servers and Android devices to space missions, marking a pivotal role in tech history.

Till next time.