Techmeme
March 19, 2025, 11:10 AM

Top News

Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Google unveils the $499+ Pixel 9a, with no camera bump, a 48MP rear camera, a 6.3" display, a Tensor G4 chip, and IP68 water resistance, shipping in April 2025  —  Google is confirming what we learned from a slew of leaks. … Google just announced the Pixel 9A, surprising nobody because it's been leaked to all heck.
Sam Rutherford / Engadget:
Google Pixel 9a hands-on: an iPhone 16e rival with a 120Hz display and water drop-inspired camera bump, priced for $300 less than the Pixel 9 with few tradeoffs  —  It has dual cameras, a Tensor G4 chip and access to all of Google's AI features for $499.  —  Senior Writer, Reviews
Barbara Moens / Financial Times:
The EU Commission orders Apple to open iOS to third-party connected devices, and in preliminary findings charges Google with breaking the DMA in search and apps  —  EU continues Big Tech crackdown under landmark Digital Markets Act  —  Brussels is pressing ahead with regulatory action …
Dylan Patel / SemiAnalysis:
A look at Nvidia's GTC 2025 announcements, including a focus on addressing pre-training and post-training scaling and inference time scaling working in tandem  —  The Reasoning Token Explosion  —  AI model progress has accelerated tremendously, and in the last six months, models have improved more than in the previous six months.
Tobias Mann / The Register:
Nvidia updates the DGX Station, begins taking reservations for the DGX Spark box, formerly Project Digits, and unveils the RTX PRO workstation and server GPUs  —  GTC After a Hopper hiatus, Nvidia's DGX Station returns, now armed with an all-new desktop-tuned Grace-Blackwell Ultra Superchip capable …
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Larry Dignan / Constellation Research:
New York Times:
President Trump fires the FTC's two Democratic members, threatening the regulatory body's independence in a decision that is likely to face a legal challenge  —  The decision to fire the two members of the traditionally independent regulatory body is likely to face a legal challenge.
Makena Kelly / Wired:
Current and former FTC staff say the FTC removed 300+ Biden-era business guidance blog posts, including info on AI consumer protection and its Big Tech lawsuits  —  Business-guidance content published during the Biden administration has been removed from the Federal Trade Commission website.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Google updates Google Wallet to let kids with Android phones tap to pay in stores in the US, the UK, Australia, Spain, and Poland, with parental supervision  —  Google announced on Wednesday that kids with Android phones can now tap to pay at stores using Google Wallet in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, and Poland.
The Citizen Lab:
A look at Israeli spyware company Paragon, which makes Graphite: suspected deployments in Australia, Canada, Israel, and more, a WhatsApp zero-click, and more  —  Key Findings  — Introducing Paragon Solutions.  Paragon Solutions was founded in Israel in 2019 and sells spyware called Graphite.
CoinDesk:
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says the US SEC is set to drop its appeal in its case against Ripple, nearing the end of a legal battle over XRP ongoing since 2020  —  XRP jumped 10% on Wednesday during U.S. morning hours as Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission …
Kamila Wojciechowska / Android Authority:
A source details how Google built the Pixel 10's Tensor G5 chip without Samsung's help, using in-house and off-the-shelf IP, and partnering with Arm and others  —  The Tensor G5 won't be all that different from the previous generations.  —  •  —  •  —  •  —  TL;DR
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
How Reddit became a lifeline for US federal workers in recent months, as Trump cuts the workforce; r/fednews gained millions of visitors since January 2025  —  David Carson is a moderator of the Veterans Affairs group on Reddit.William DeShazer for The New York Times
Counterpoint Research:
Global VR headset shipments fell 12% YoY in 2024, with Meta's market share hitting 77%; Vision Pro shipments fell 43% QoQ in Q4, but its enterprise sales grew  —  - Global VR headset shipments fell 12% YoY in 2024, marking their third consecutive year of declines due to the continued weak consumer demand.
Akash Sriram / Reuters:
BlackRock, Microsoft, and Abu Dhabi's MGX say Nvidia and xAI joined a consortium to build AI infrastructure in the US; investors committed $100B for deployment  —  Nvidia and Elon Musk's xAI have joined a consortium backed by Microsoft, investment fund MGX and BlackRock to expand AI infrastructure …
Financial Times:
Sources: investors valued X at $44B in a secondary deal earlier in March; X posted ~$1.2B in adjusted EBITDA in 2024 and is raising ~$2B in a primary round  —  Social media site was valued at less than $10bn in September  —  Social media site X's valuation has soared back to $44bn …
Reuters:
Sources: the real closer for Wiz and Google executives was President Trump's election win, which brought with it the prospect of a friendlier antitrust review  —  Less than a year after Google's plans to acquire Israeli cybersecurity firm Wiz fell apart, executives were able to ink a deal …
Amar Diwakar / Rest of World:
How Dubai and the rest of Middle East embraced drone shows, with the average show using 400+ drones and costing $112K+; SPH: the market was worth $339M in 2023  —  The Middle East hosts some of the world's largest and most expensive drone shows, but the work is seasonal and doesn't guarantee regular pay.

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More News

Harry McCracken / Fast Company:
More: Business Today, Benzinga, Mercury News, and Inc
Bluesky: @davidzipperMastodon: @harrymccracken@mastodon …Forums: r/waymo

Earlier Picks

Bloomberg: