Paramount–Skydance deal | GPT-5 launch | Samsung–Apple chip deal | Instagram's maps

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Paramount is now a Skydance Corporation
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• Paramount Global officially merged with Skydance Media in a deal worth about $8 billion, forming a new company named Paramount, a Skydance Corporation. David Ellison now serves as chairman and CEO.

• The restructuring creates three main business units—studios, direct-to-consumer (including Paramount+ and Pluto TV), and TV media—and aims to enhance efficiency and drive a more tech-forward strategy with AI-assisted workflows.

• The deal granted approximately $1.75 billion to National Amusements shareholders and removed Shari Redstone from the board. To secure regulatory approval, the company committed to scaling back DEI programs and established a CBS ombudsman; it also settled a lawsuit from Donald Trump for $16 million related to a “60 Minutes” segment.

Duolingo stock skyrockets 14% on boosted guidance as AI powers user growth
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• Duolingo delivered an impressive Q2: revenue rose ~41% YoY to $252.3 million, and net profit jumped ~84% to about $44.8 million (~$0.91 EPS).

• The company raised its full-year revenue guidance to $1.01–1.02 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, and projected Q3 revenue between $257 million and $261 million.

• Its stock surged ~30% post-earnings, driven by strong AI-powered engagement and monetization in its Super and Max subscription tiers, and improved margins thanks to lower-than-expected AI costs.

Introducing GPT-5
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• OpenAI officially launched GPT-5, calling it a major leap toward AGI. The model delivers enhanced capabilities in reasoning, coding (“vibe coding”), and science/math tasks.

• GPT-5 includes improved safety features like “safe completions”, reduced hallucinations, and better self-awareness in admitting limits, though it still isn’t full AGI.

• New features include: automatic default to GPT-5 in ChatGPT, customizable “personalities” (like Cynic, Robot, Nerd), Canvas previews, voice enhancements, and integrations like Gmail and Google Calendar.

Tesla shuts down Dojo, the AI training supercomputer that Musk said would be key to full self-driving
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• Tesla has shut down its Dojo supercomputer, which Elon Musk had touted as central to achieving full self-driving.

• Dojo was originally designed to train Tesla’s FSD neural networks using vast amounts of video data captured from its fleet—but the project has now been disbanded.

• Tesla appears to be shifting focus to another supercomputing project, Cortex, which is being built at its Austin facility and supported by NVIDIA GPUs for real-world AI training.

Samsung to produce Apple's next-generation chips at U.S. foundry
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• Samsung Electronics will manufacture advanced chips for Apple at its Austin, Texas foundry—using cutting-edge technology that Apple says has never been used before.

• Industry analysts believe these chips are three-layer stacked image sensors for the upcoming iPhone 18 series, helping Apple shift away from reliance on Sony and diversify its supply chain.

• The move aligns with Apple’s broader U.S. manufacturing push—part of a massive $100 billion investment—aimed at mitigating tariff risks, reducing losses in Samsung’s foundry unit, and boosting domestic resilience.

New Instagram Features to Help You Connect
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• Instagram now allows users to repost public Reels and feed posts. These reposts appear in a dedicated tab on the user’s profile, credit the original creator, and show up in followers’ feeds, expanding content reach.

• A new opt-in map lets users share their last active location with selected friends—such as Close Friends or mutual followers. The map also surfaces location-tagged content like Stories and Reels for easier discovery.

• The newly launched “Friends” tab in Reels shows content that users’ friends have liked, reposted, or engaged with. This enhances social discovery and allows users to more easily interact with their social circle’s activity.