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Hard Numbers: Cash for footage, Blackstone bets on AI data, Military tech is thriving, Adobe’s AI powers

January 14, 2025
Scott Nover
A low-angle view of a video camera.
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

4: Social media creators are selling their unused video footage to AI companies hungry for content to train their generative AI models. OpenAI, Google, and others are reportedly paying up to $4 a minute to license this footage.

300 million: The private equity giant Blackstone invested $300 million in an AI data company called DDN, valuing the firm at $5 billion. DDN provides specialized data analytics for businesses developing and running AI models, helping them process and store large amounts of data.

32 million: The defense tech startup Overland AI raised $32 million in venture capital as the Pentagon ramps up demand for artificial intelligence. The company’s OverWatch software specializes in “ground autonomy” to help unmanned vehicles navigate off-road terrains.

10,000: Adobe’s new AI suite, called Firefly, can perform edits on 10,000 images at once. For example, it can resize tons of pictures or replace their backgrounds in one fell swoop.

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Can France’s Marine Le Pen run again?

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Le Pen barred from running from office after embezzlement conviction

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, member of parliament of the Rassemblement National party, leaves the courthouse on the day of the verdict of her trial alongside 24 other defendants over accusations of misappropriation of European Union funds, in Paris, France, on March 31, 2025.

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Oh là là! A French court on Monday found National Rally leader Marine Le Pen guilty of misappropriating European funds to her far-right party, and barred the three-time presidential candidate barred from running for office for the next five years. Le Pen has denied wrongdoing and said last November, “It’s my political death that’s being demanded.”

The rise of Elon Musk's DOGE under Trump

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In a few short weeks, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has rapidly reshaped the federal government, firing thousands of workers, slashing spending, and shutting entire agencies. DOGE’s actions have faced some pushback from the courts, but Musk says he’s just getting started. On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer sits down with WIRED Global Editorial Director Katie Drummond for a look at President Trump’s increasingly symbiotic relationship with the tech billionaire, Musk’s impact on politics and policy, and what happens when Silicon Valley’s ‘disrupt-or-die’ ethos collides with the machinery of the US government.

Mass protests target Erdogan’s grip on power in Turkey

People attend a rally to protest against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as part of a corruption investigation in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 29, 2025.
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Democratic-backed Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford and Republican-backed Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel square off in their only debate until their April 1 election.
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