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Techmeme
April 16, 2025, 8:40 PM

Top News

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
OpenAI launches o3, its most advanced reasoning model, and o4-mini, a lower cost alternative that still delivers “impressive results”, for ChatGPT paid users  —  ChatGPT Plus users can begin using both new models starting today.  —  A mere two days after announcing GPT-4.1, OpenAI is releasing not one but two new models.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
OpenAI debuts Codex CLI, an open-source coding agent tool for terminals that links AI models with local code and computing tasks, like moving files  —  In a bid to inject AI into more of the programming process, OpenAI is launching Codex CLI, a coding “agent” designed to run locally from terminal software.
Dan Shipper / Every:
Bloomberg:
Source: OpenAI is in talks to acquire Windsurf, an AI coding tool formerly known as Codeium, for ~$3B; Windsurf was valued at $1.25B in a 2024 funding deal  —  OpenAI is in talks to acquire Windsurf, an artificial intelligence-assisted coding tool formerly known as Codeium, for about $3 billion …
Samantha Subin / CNBC:
Tech stocks plunge amid uncertainty over US tariff plans and China export controls: AMD, Nvidia, and ASML dropped 7%, Applied Materials and Lam Research fell 5%  —  Technology stocks dropped Wednesday, led by a 7% plunge in Nvidia, as the chipmaking sector signaled that President Donald …
Reuters:
Wall Street Journal:
Former CISA Director Chris Krebs says he is resigning from SentinelOne to more freely challenge the White House, after Trump directed the DOJ to investigate him  —  Chris Krebs, the top cybersecurity official in Trump's first term, resigned from his private-sector job
Fatima Hussein / Associated Press:
Sources: the Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS' free Direct File tax program, after IRS staff were told in mid-March to stop working on it  —  The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS' Direct File program, an electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free …
Julia Shapero / The Hill:
FTC v. Meta: Mark Zuckerberg says he considers TikTok the “highest competitive threat” for Facebook and Instagram in the past few years  —  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized Wednesday that his social media company faces stiff competition from TikTok, as Meta seeks to fend off accusations …
Eileen Guo / MIT Technology Review:
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirms the elimination of R/FIMI, an office aimed at tracking and countering foreign disinformation campaigns  —  The only office within the US State Department that monitors foreign disinformation is to be eliminated, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio …
Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
Indian EV ride-hailing startup BluSmart appears to have suspended service a day after regulators launched a probe into Gensol, which shares its co-founders  —  BluSmart, India's all-electric cab-hailing startup that was once seen as an emerging rival to Uber, appears to have suspended service …
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
Documents: ICE awarded Palantir nearly $30M in April 2025 to enhance its Investigative Case Management system, after a $90M, five-year deal in September 2022  —  Last week Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) paid contracting giant Palantir tens of millions of dollars to make modifications …
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google is making Gemini Live camera and screen sharing features free for all Android users in the coming weeks after launching them for Advanced users last week  —  Last week, Google started widely rolling out Gemini Live camera and screen sharing to Advanced subscribers …
New York Times:
The US House opens a probe on whether Nvidia knowingly provided AI tech to DeepSeek in violation of US rules and asks Nvidia for details on its Asian customers  —  China's success in artificial intelligence has the Trump administration and lawmakers weighing rules and investigations to slow Beijing's progress in the industry.
Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
Lyft acquires Hamburg-based taxi app FreeNow from BMW and Mercedes-Benz for €175M and says the combined operations will serve 50M+ riders annually  —  US group makes first major acquisition across the Atlantic as it continues competition against industry giant Uber
Financial Times:
Sensor Tower: Temu and Shein cut their ad spending on platforms including Meta and X an average of 31% and 19%, respectively, so far in April, compared to March  —  Chinese retailers' retreat threatens Big Tech advertising revenues  —  Chinese ecommerce giants Temu and Shein have slashed …
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
TikTok begins testing Footnotes, a Community Notes-like feature to add “more context” to videos, in the US; Footnotes won't affect algorithmic ranking  —  But the company isn't walking away from fact checking.  —  As TikTok continues to wait for a deal that will secure its future …
Hartley Charlton / MacRumors:
Apple says it has reduced its global greenhouse gas emissions by over 60% vs. 2015 levels as part of its commitment to reach full carbon neutrality by 2030  —  Apple today announced that it has now reduced its global greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60 percent compared to 2015 levels …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft adds a Copilot Studio “computer use” tool that lets AI agents interact with websites and desktop apps and automatically adapts to changes in the apps  —  Microsoft has its own ‘computer use’ feature for AI agents to automatically use websites and apps.

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More News

Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
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Earlier Picks

Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
Dylan Patel / SemiAnalysis:
Ryan Browne / CNBC: