Samantha Cole / 404 Media:
Half of US states now require users to upload IDs or biometric data to access pornographic content, as Missouri became the 25th state to enact such a law  —  As of this week, half of the states in the U.S. are under restrictive age verification laws that require adults to hand over their biometric …

Camilla Hodgson / Financial Times:
Copper demand is being boosted by AI data centers, which require 27 to 33 tons per MW, over 2x that of conventional data centers, per miner Grupo México  —  Data centres and green grids are heavy users of the red metal, but mine supply is stagnating and new discoveries are rare

John Reynolds / Tech.eu:
London-based Sokin, which develops tech for B2B cross-border payments, raised a $50M Series B led by Prysm Capital at a $300M valuation  —  The funds will be used to speed up overseas expansion and on product development.  —  Cross-border payment fintech Sokin has received $50m in a funding round, valuing the UK fintech at $300m.

Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
Binance names co-founder Yi He as co-CEO alongside Richard Teng, making her one of the few women leading a crypto company; she also has children with ex-CEO CZ  —  The world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange announced a significant leadership move on Wednesday, naming longtime executive …

Jonathan Slotkin / New York Times:
An analysis of Waymo's data covering ~100M driverless miles across four US cities: Waymo cars have far lower crash rates per million miles than human drivers  —  I recently got called to see a teenager ejected in a rollover car crash.  The trauma team rushed him into surgery to stop major abdominal bleeding, but we all knew.