Elon Musk’s Starlink Under US Probe, Salesforce Eyes $60 Billion Acquisition: Consumer Tech News Oct 13-17

A congressional committee in the U.S. is investigating Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite project for allegations of providing internet access to scam centers in Myanmar.

In earnings news, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co exceeded analyst expectations in the third quarter, driven by increased demand for its advanced processor technologies. ASML also reported strong earnings, thanks to robust demand for its Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems.

Salesforce has set a revenue target of over $60 billion by 2030, excluding Informatica, signaling significant growth over the next few years.

Apple unveiled the new M5 chip, which boasts advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) and a faster Neural Engine. They also announced a partnership with Formula 1 starting in 2026 and the launch of iPhone Air preorders in China.

Amazon is reportedly planning layoffs in its HR team as it ramps up AI investments. Alibaba’s fintech affiliate, Ant Group, has introduced a new inference framework for diffusion language models to enhance AI efficiency.

In tech news, Arm Holdings and Meta Platforms are collaborating to improve the efficiency of artificial intelligence across various computing layers. Meta has introduced new parental controls for AI chats on its platforms, and Accenture has acquired Decho, a tech and AI consultancy, to accelerate the implementation of AI-driven solutions.

Oracle’s Cloud Infrastructure is deploying 50,000 AMD graphics processors and setting aggressive growth targets in the cloud and AI infrastructure space. Nvidia is launching its personal “AI supercomputer,” and Anthropic, an AI startup backed by Google and Amazon, is projected to double its revenue next year.

Elon Musk commented on Bitcoin, and Nscale has expanded its partnership with Microsoft to deploy NVIDIA GPUs across Europe and the U.S.

In automotive news, Tesla saw a significant number of new insured registrations in China, while Chinese EV giant BYD recalled vehicles due to design defects. DoorDash is collaborating with Waymo for autonomous delivery, and United Airlines will offer Starlink’s WiFi on its flights.

OpenAI announced a change in its content policy to allow adult-themed content on ChatGPT for adult users.