The week in tech.

Starting January 2028, all new PlayStation titles will launch exclusively as digital downloads or codes. Sony cites an 80% shift to digital sales by fiscal year 2025 and faster internet speeds driving this change. Existing disc libraries remain unaffected while retailers sell only redemption keys.

German drone startup Quantum Systems raised $1.2 billion in a Series D round, reaching an approximate post-money valuation of $8 billion. Co-led by Blackstone and Airbus with participation from Noteus, Advent, Bond, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Balderton, HV Capital, and Elephant Lake Ventures, the funding expands manufacturing capacity for unmanned aerial systems deployed globally including Ukraine.

Sam Altman proposes a public wealth-sharing arrangement where the government holds a minority stake in OpenAI and other major firms. This strategy aims to share AI economic upside with Americans while easing political pressure from the Trump administration regarding model oversight, national security concerns, and release restrictions.

Nvidia introduced a new optional financing vehicle allowing partners to trade tokens today in exchange for future cloud revenue cuts. This business model lets the company earn twice on silicon: once from hardware sales and again as an ongoing percentage of generated earnings. The approach aims to open compute access to startups unable to finance infrastructure themselves while Nvidia retains roughly 75 percent gross margins.

Meta Platforms Inc. is developing a new cloud infrastructure business that will allow developers and companies to rent access to its artificial intelligence computing power and models. This strategy aims to monetize spare capacity from the company's heavy investment in data centers, potentially competing with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, CoreWeave, Nebius Group, and Anthropic.

The European Court of Justice upheld the record €4.1 billion penalty against Google for abusing Android dominance in 2018. The ruling confirms that requiring phone makers to pre-install Google Search, Chrome, and Play Store unfairly blocked rival search engines, browsers, and platforms from gaining traction on mobile devices across Europe.

Amazon quietly upgraded the Fire HD 10 tablet with an extra gigabyte of RAM. The base 32GB model now ships with 4GB memory instead of the previous 3GB configuration while keeping all other hardware specs identical including storage capacities and processors.

Michael Butler was charged with manslaughter after his Tesla Model 3, using Full Self-Driving mode, crashed into a Texas home and killed Martha Avila. Butler allegedly overrode the self-driving system by pressing the accelerator fully, reaching 73 mph. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating.

A new Google commercial imagines the Founding Fathers drafting the Declaration of Independence using Google Workspace. The ad shows Thomas Jefferson receiving a text from Ben Franklin, with edits in Google Docs, a meeting scheduled in Google Calendar, and a remote session via Google Meet. The tagline is "Group project, but make it 1776.

Amazon and Google reported rising carbon emissions driven by artificial intelligence data centers. Amazon used 2.5 billion gallons of water last year while expanding global capacity to meet demand. Both companies increased total carbon output as heavy reliance on fossil fuels offsets renewable energy gains for their growing infrastructure.

Henrico County manager John Vithoulkas ordered public sector employees to reduce electricity use after state-wide price hikes linked to 400-plus Virginia data centers. Schools must turn off lights and computers daily while closing blinds to lower air conditioning needs as the grid faces heavy demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure projects.

Kuaishou is restructuring its in-house video generation model, Kling AI. Tencent joined a funding round that values the platform at $18 billion after initial discussions sought $20 billion. The company plans an IPO as early as 2027.