Welcome to Tech Beat, your daily look at the stories shaping our digital world.
Google is handing publishers a new lifeline. The company is rolling out a follow button that lets readers designate preferred sources across Search, Discover, and Google News. It's a direct response to the growing concern that AI-generated answers are quietly strangling the web traffic that keeps independent journalism alive.
From that battle over attention, we turn to one over ambition. Castelion has reached a valuation of thirteen billion dollars after closing a one billion dollar Series C round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, Carlyle, and JP Morgan Chase. The defense startup is racing to mass-produce hypersonic missiles, and the sheer size of this bet signals just how seriously Silicon Valley is leaning into the weapons business.
And in the ongoing drama between HR software rivals, Rippling and Runlayer have dropped their lawsuits against each other, with no money changing hands. But the story doesn't end quietly. Rippling marked the occasion by launching a competing product, which tells you everything about how these companies intend to keep fighting, just through different means.
Keep surfing. Tech Beat out.
