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  • Trevor Lawrence Carted After Brutal Hit, Sparking Violent Brawl in Jacksonville

    Trevor Lawrence Carted After Brutal Hit, Sparking Violent Brawl in Jacksonville

    Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was ejected from the game

    Game Turned Into a Wild Ride: Trevor Lawrence Gets Carted After a Rough Hit

    What went down:

    1. The Problematic Encounter

    In the heat of the afternoon, Jaguars’ star quarterback Trevor Lawrence tried to dodge a hard tackle from Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al‑Shaair. The defender’s elbow didn’t just clang—it headed straight into Lawrence’s head and neck, resulting in a short, painful pause.

    2. Team Response—A Short‑Lived Justice

    For a split second, several Jaguars players rushed in, delivering a snappy, if uncontrolled, reaction to the strike. The scene felt like a reality‑TV showdown that took a few smacks too far.

    3. The Brawl Escalates

    • Azeez Al‑Shaair’s collision with Jaguars offensive lineman Brandon Scherff stirred up additional chaos, prompting officials to step in and calm the situation.
    • Lawrence himself was. Carted off the field on an ambulance cart, after briefly staggering through the field in an attempt to keep his composure.

    4. Consequences and Penalties

    The leniency of the league nearly vanished: both Al‑Shaair and Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones were ejected from the match for unsportsmanlike conduct. An unnecessary‑roughness foul went down on tight end Evan Engram, piling more reprimand onto the Jaguars’ line.

    5. Final Stats for Trevor

    Despite the shock, Lawrence finished the game with a 4‑for‑10 performance, throwing for 41 yards and a single interception. He was able to sit upright and walk off—just not without the cart ride that turned his brief burst into a one‑time show.

    Takeaway

    This incident reminds us that the gridiron is a live‑action stage; a single hit can turn a find into a fiasco. Fans and players alike lean on the spirit of fair play—no matter how hard the pressure gets.

  • BlackRock-backed Minute Media acquires Indian AI startup that extracts sports highlights

    BlackRock-backed Minute Media acquires Indian AI startup that extracts sports highlights

    BlackRock- and Goldman Sachs-backed media startup Minute Media, which owns properties like Sports Illustrated, The Players’ Tribune, and 90 Minutes, announced Monday that it is acquiring VideoVerse, an Indian AI startup that lets broadcasters extract highlights and create content from sports footage. VideoVerse’s clients include the Indian Premier League and Women’s Premier League (cricket) tournaments, FIFA+, and broadcasters Nippon TV and Clubber TV.

    Mumbai-based VideoVerse was founded in 2016 by Vinayak Shrivastav, Saket Dandotia, and Alok Patil. The company is backed by Bluestone Equity Partners, A91 Partners (a fund by former Sequoia India execs), Alpha Wave, Evolvence India, and Moneta Ventures, and have raised $105 million in funding to date.

    While Minute Media or VideoVerse didn’t provide a valuation for the deal, sources told TechCrunch that VideoVerse was valued between $200 million and $250 million during its last round in 2023, and Minute Media’s deal was in a similar range.

    Minute Media CEO Asaf Peled said that VideoVerse’s acquisition is the biggest for the company in terms of both value and company size.

    Minute Media has largely grown through strategic mergers and acquisitions, including The Players’ Tribune, FanSided, Mental Floss, and STN Video.

    Shrivastav said that in its initial days, VideoVerse built multiple AI tools, including one to detect smoking and drinking, which was helpful for the Indian sensor board to flag certain scenes for movie certification. It also worked on object identification and deployed that tech for e-commerce sites for identifying items in a video. However, the startup transitioned to building video editing and detection tools for sports broadcasters.

    “In 2016, Hotstar (which is now owned by Jio) was growing, and they were looking for a solution that could identify certain action points in sports and primarily in cricket,” Shrivastav said about starting its sports journey.

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    A few years later, VideoVerse dropped its other products and concentrated on video-editing features for sports content.

    The company said that it operates like a SaaS tool for which it charges based on the number of hours of footage a broadcaster or streaming service wants to process. The company said it has grown to $65 million in revenue and a healthy EBIDTA margin of 35% to 40%.Image Credits:VideoVerse

    The company’s chief strategy officer, Prateek Sharma, said that VideoVerse has launched new AI-powered tools in the last few months that let its clients define rules to automatically generate content. For instance, for a basketball game, a broadcaster can create a package for all three-pointers scored by a particular player and automatically publish it on social media. The platform has also added AI-powered translation features to let sports properties reach fans across the globe.

    Sharma noted that while the platform uses third-party models in its AI workflows, the company uses its own core model to identify key moments in a game.

    Minute Media’s main reason behind the acquisition is to use VideoVerse’s tech and its own publisher network to better distribute content across various sports properties and generate ad revenue out of distributed content.

    The sports media company, which has raised $260 million according to Crunchbase data, said that the company reaches over 200 million monthly users through its properties. It also offers a B2B platform for content distribution, used by nearly 500 publishers. Minute Media’s Peled said that this presents a good opportunity to create more content through VideoVerse’s platform and monetize it.

    “With the VideoVerse acquisition, we can go to customers and pitch the AI suite, which is helpful for content creation. Then we can add our distribution and monetization capabilities on top of it to get more value out of the content,” Peled said.

    Minute Media wants to target more U.S.-based leagues with this new acquisition to get them to adopt the highlight-generating platform.

    Multiple reports suggest that fans are looking for a different kind of content outside traditional coverage, especially on their mobile phones. Minute Media is banking on AI to create that content. Peled said that while the company is not in an active funding round, it might look for more funds in the coming quarters for acquisitions.

  • Attorneys general warn OpenAI ‘harm to children will not be tolerated’

    Attorneys general warn OpenAI ‘harm to children will not be tolerated’

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings met with and sent an open letter to OpenAI to express their concerns over the safety of ChatGPT, particularly for children and teens. 

    The warning comes a week after Bonta and 44 other attorneys general sent a letter to 12 of the top AI companies, following reports of sexually inappropriate interactions between AI chatbots and children. 

    “Since the issuance of that letter, we learned of the heartbreaking death by suicide of one young Californian after he had prolonged interactions with an OpenAI chatbot, as well as a similarly disturbing murder-suicide in Connecticut,” Bonta and Jennings write. “Whatever safeguards were in place did not work.”

    The two state officials are currently investigating OpenAI’s proposed restructuring into a for-profit entity to ensure that the mission of the nonprofit remains intact. That mission “includes ensuring that artificial intelligence is deployed safely” and building artificial general intelligence (AGI) to benefit all humanity, “including children,” per the letter. 

    “Before we get to benefiting, we need to ensure that adequate safety measures are in place to not harm,” the letter continues. “It is our shared view that OpenAI and the industry at large are not where they need to be in ensuring safety in AI products’ development and deployment. As Attorneys General, public safety is one of our core missions. As we continue our dialogue related to OpenAI’s recapitalization plan, we must work to accelerate and amplify safety as a governing force in the future of this powerful technology.”

    Bonta and Jennings have asked for more information about OpenAI’s current safety precautions and governance, and said they expect the company to take immediate remedial measures where appropriate.

    Bret Taylor, chair of the OpenAI board, said in a statement that the company is committed to addressing the attorneys general’s concerns.

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    “We are heartbroken by these tragedies and our deepest sympathies are with the families,” Taylor said. “Safety is our highest priority and we’re working closely with policymakers around the world.”

    OpenAI has said it’s working to expand protections for teens with parental controls and the ability for parents to be notified when their child is in a moment of acute distress.

    This article has been updated with a comment from OpenAI.

  • Stellantis Faces 1.5 Billion Euro Blow From US Tariffs This Year

    Stellantis : The €1.5 Billion Tariff Trouble

    What’s Going On?

    Stellantis, the big car‑maker with brands ranging from Jeep to Peugeot, is bracing for a colossal hit on its balance sheet this year. The loss? A whopping €1.5 billion inflicted by U.S. tariffs—yes, folks, not just on cars but on the parts inside them too.

    Why the Double Whammy?

    • Cars Under Hold: The U.S. slapped tariffs on fully assembled vehicles, turning buyer budgets into a tighter knot.
    • Parts in the Crossfire: Key components—think engines, brakes, and that fancy infotainment system—also got hit, making production costs soar.

    What Does This Mean for the Wheel‑Turners?

    In plain talk, more expensive cars and pricier manufacturing translate to higher prices for consumers and slimmer margins for the company. It’s a double-edged sword that could ripple through replacement parts, resale values, and even future tech funding.

    Stellantis’ Game Plan

    The company is sharpening two main weapons: cost cutting to keep the purse strings tight and price negotiations to smooth out the impact on loyal customers. They’re also looking to boost their US production footprint, hoping local plants will dodge some of the tariffs.

    Final Takeaway

    So, the next time you’re eyeing a brand‑new ride, remember: behind the sleek exterior might be layers of tariffs and bigger numbers a‑growing. For Stellantis, it’s not just about steering into new markets—it’s also about steering through an economic storm of sharp tariffs. Stay tuned, keep your wallets ready, and let’s hope for smoother roads ahead!

    Stellantis Stumbles Over U.S. Tariffs: $1.5 B in Losses

    Picture this: Europe’s second‑biggest carmaker, Stellantis, is getting hammered by U.S. import duties. The result? A projected hit of around €1.5 billion this year for the company.

    The Cost of the Tariffs

    • In the first half of the year, U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs took a toll of €300 million.
    • That’s just the tip of the iceberg; the newer EU regulations on auto levies aren’t offering any relief.

    Profit That Took a Hit

    Stellantis’ net earnings skidded from €5.6 billion in the same period last year to a draconian —a sharp drop caused by a €3.3 billion cash burn.

    Why that was? They had to cancel a pricey hydrogen fuel‑cell project and die‑huge write‑downs on their platform investments. Add a change in the fine regime for U.S. carbon emission regulations, and the economics threatened to sink ships.

    Big Names in the Roll‑Call

    From luxury Maserati to everyday Lancia, Peugeot and Fiat, Stellantis’ entire portfolio felt the pinch.

    Even with the swagger that underlines their branding, the tariffs feel a real bruise. The company’s challenges remind us — crafting a future‑proof car line‑up is not a walk in the Parisian garden; there’s always wind in the market.

    Stellantis makes a wide range of cars, from high-end Maseratis with steep price tags to much-beloved affordable Fiat models.

    Stellantis: From Maserati Luxury to Fiat Affordability in a Tight Spot

    Reality Check on the Road

    Stellantis—yes, the same company that splits the market between booming Maserati luxury and everyday Fiat commuters—has hit a rough patch. Sales fell a solid 13% in the first half, trimming revenue to roughly €74.3 bn. That means the company is feeling the heat from both the market and the workforce.

    What’s the Domino Effect?

    • Plant shutdowns could be on the horizon.
    • Model rollouts are on hold.
    • Union talks might shoot up to the roof.
    • Cash reserves take a hit, leaving bad decisions hanging.

    Auto manufacturers are the backbone of European industry, pumping around 7% of EU GDP, fueling 14 million jobs, and contributing big export surpluses. A wobble in their performance can ripple through steel, chemicals, logistics, and even the continent’s tech pushing.

    Stellantis’ Plan Switch

    The company tells us it’s braced to raise net revenues in the coming six months, after the first half’s steep decline. It also expects a boost in cash flow, which is a breath‑of‑fresh‑air for a cash-strapped giant.

    New CEO Antonio Filosa’s Vision

    Filosa, who took the helm last month, is riding straight into the fire:

    “I’m convinced we can fix the bridge that’s fallen apart,” said Filosa. “The new team will do the hard choices needed to get back to profitable growth and really improve results.”

    With a clear, decisive voice and a commitment to “hard decisions,” Stellantis is aiming for a swift turnaround—because in an industry that feeds 70 bn € into innovation each year, there’s no room for hesitation.