Media
Surprise owner emerges in Nine Radio sale
Nine Radio has officially changed, with a consortium backed by Sydney pub tycoon Arthur Laundy buying the network.
2GB Breakfast hot Ben Fordham made the announcement on-air this morning.
The deal was first reported by The Australian Financial Review yesterday afternoon.
AI
Meta’s AI war chest swells as spending bets get louder
The BBC’s Kali Hays reports that Mark Zuckerberg is doubling down on AI, even as some in tech whisper about a bubble. Speaking to analysts this week, the Meta boss signalled the Facebook owner is still firmly in spend mode.
Meta plans to invest up to $135bn in AI this year, mostly in the heavy infrastructure that keeps those systems humming. That is nearly double what it spent last year.
Roughly $140bn has already gone into Meta’s AI push over the past three years, making it one of the biggest bets in modern tech.
Technology
Apple pulls iPhone updates as Telstra calls hit a wall
As The Australian Financial Review’s Jenny Wiggins reports, Apple has had to hit pause after some older iPhones suddenly struggled to make basic and emergency calls on Telstra’s network, adding another chapter to the Triple Zero headache.
The glitch affected the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X after fresh software updates quietly broke their ability to connect, including for emergency calls.
To stop it from spreading, Apple released a batch of updates, including iOS 18.7.4 and several older versions, even though they had already been tested by Telstra.
Entertainment
The White Lotus adds new faces for season four
Variety’s Joe Otterson reports that The White Lotus has quietly slipped three new names onto the guest list, with Helena Bonham Carter, Chris Messina and Marissa Long now officially in the mix for season four. It was rumoured for a while, but now it is locked.
True to form, nobody is saying who they are playing or what kind of chaos is coming.
Then again, that’s half the fun, really.
Meanwhile…
Just because it’s Friday, apparently, we’re ‘booing’ at the Opera now.
Oh, and according to a new book by Feminist historian Emilia Bassan, Shakespeare was a (checks notes) ‘Black Jewish woman’.
Do with that what you will.