Stripe-backed Tempo hits $5B, WhatsApp curbs spam, Meta AI scans camera roll, Apple TV secures F1 rights

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Interview with Andrej Karpathy — AGI is still a decade away
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• Andrej explains why reinforcement learning is terrible (but everything else is much worse)

• Why model collapse prevents LLMs from learning the way humans do

• Why AGI will just blend into the previous ~2.5 centuries of 2% GDP growth

• Why self driving took so long to crack, and what he sees as the future of education.

Stripe-backed blockchain startup Tempo raises $500 million round led by Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital and Greenoaks
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• Tempo, backed by Stripe and Paradigm, raised US$500 million in a Series A round, valuing the company at US$5 billion.

• The funding round was led by Greenoaks and Thrive Capital, founded by Joshua Kushner.

• Tempo positions itself as a payments-focused layer-1 blockchain project tailored for stablecoins and global payments infrastructure.

WhatsApp will curb the number of messages people and businesses can send without a response
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• WhatsApp is introducing a limit on how many messages people and businesses can send to others without receiving a response before they are subject to restrictions.

• The specific limit hasn’t been publicly disclosed yet; WhatsApp is currently testing different limits in multiple countries.

• A pop-up will warn users and businesses when they are nearing the limit, with the aim of reducing spam and blast-messaging behaviour.

Facebook’s new button lets its AI look at photos you haven’t uploaded yet
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• Meta is rolling out an opt-in feature on Facebook that allows its AI to analyze unposted photos and videos from your phone’s camera roll, with the goal of surfacing “hidden gems” for editing and sharing.

• If you opt in, your camera-roll media will be uploaded to Meta’s cloud and may be processed by AI; the company says the data won’t be used to train AI unless you choose to edit or share the suggested creations.

• Meta emphasizes the feature is meant for users who want improved suggestions and editing tools, though concerns remain about privacy, data use and how those uploads may be retained.

Apple TV will be the only place to watch F1 in the US, starting next year
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• Apple TV app will be the exclusive streaming home for Formula 1 in the U.S. starting in 2026, replacing the current deal with ESPN.

• Apple is reportedly paying around US$140 million per year for the rights to lock down F1 streaming in the U.S. market.

• The deal will include full coverage of practice, qualifying, sprint sessions and races — and some sessions will even be available for free in the Apple TV app; the existing dedicated F1 TV Premium standalone service will be folded into Apple TV.