Jeff D'Onofrio, the former CEO of Tumblr, has been appointed as the acting CEO and publisher of The Washington Post, following the departure of Will Lewis after recent mass layoffs. Simultaneously, India adjusted its startup rules to support deep tech companies, while New York lawmakers proposed a moratorium on new data centers, and Benchmark Capital invested heavily in AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems. In other news, an AI startup founder is organizing a "March for Billionaires" in San Francisco to protest California's proposed wealth tax.
D'Onofrio, who served as Tumblr's CEO from 2017 to 2022, steps into the role after Lewis's contentious tenure, according to The Verge. D'Onofrio had been the CFO at The Washington Post since June of the previous year. The change comes after mass layoffs at the publication earlier in the week.
In India, the government updated its startup framework to support deep tech companies. The changes include doubling the period for which these companies are treated as startups to 20 years and raising the revenue threshold for startup-specific tax, grant, and regulatory benefits to 3 billion rupees (approximately $33.12 million), up from 1 billion rupees (around $11.04 million), as reported by TechCrunch. The move aims to align policy timelines with the long development cycles typical of science- and engineering-led businesses.
Meanwhile, New York lawmakers introduced a bill that would impose a moratorium of at least three years on permits for the construction and operation of new data centers, according to TechCrunch. The bill's prospects remain uncertain, but New York is at least the sixth state considering a pause on new data center construction. Concerns about the impact of data centers on surrounding communities have been raised by both Democrats and Republicans, with studies linking them to increased home electricity bills.
In the tech investment world, Benchmark Capital invested at least $225 million in Cerebras Systems' latest funding round, according to a person familiar with the deal, as reported by TechCrunch. The AI chipmaker announced it raised $1 billion in fresh capital at a $23 billion valuation, nearly tripling its valuation in just six months. Benchmark had previously led Cerebras' $27 million Series A in 2016.
Adding to the week's unusual events, an AI startup founder is organizing a "March for Billionaires" in San Francisco to protest California's proposed wealth tax, as detailed by TechCrunch. The event, advertised on a website, has sparked incredulity, with the organizer confirming it is not a joke and is scheduled to take place this coming Saturday. The tagline for the event is "Vilifying billionaires is popular. Losing them is expensive."
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