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January 15, 2026, 8:55 AM
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WeSmirchTop News
| Kylie Robison / @kyliebytes: |
Thinking Machines Lab parts ways with CTO Barret Zoph, with Soumith Chintala taking over the role; sources say the termination is due to “unethical conduct” — BREAKING: Thinking Machines has terminated its CTO, Barret Zoph, due to unethical conduct according to two sources familiar with the matter. CEO Mira Murati announced the news at an all-hands with employees today. Soumith Chintala will be taking over as CTO.
More: TechCrunch, The Decoder, The Economic Times, Spyglass, Implicator.ai, and The Information
X: @miramurati, @fleetingbits, @gm8xx8, @nikshepsvn, @chris_j_paxton, @contrariancurse, @daveshapi, @bilalfarooqui, @scobleizer, @yuchenj_uw, @suchenzang, @kyliebytes, @_arohan_, @tszzl, @harrystebbings, @miles_brundage, @benjamindekr, @alexeheath, @daniel_mac8, and @paularambles. Bluesky: @carnage4life. Forums: r/technology
| Maxwell Zeff / Wired: |
A source close to Thinking Machines alleged that ex-CTO Barret Zoph, who is returning to OpenAI, had shared confidential company information with competitors — The departures are a blow for Thinking Machines Lab. Two narratives are already emerging about why they happened.
More: The Decoder, WebProNews, Analytics India Magazine, Digit, and Benzinga
| Fidji Simo / @fidjissimo: |
Fidji Simo says Barret Zoph, Luke Metz, and Sam Schoenholz are returning to OpenAI from Thinking Machines and the move “has been in the works for several weeks” — Excited to welcome Barret Zoph, Luke Metz, and Sam Schoenholz back to OpenAI! This has been in the works for several weeks, and we're thrilled to have them join the team. Barret will report to me; Luke and Sam will report into Barret. More to come on what they'll focus on soon!
More: Bloomberg. X: @shaneguml, @petergostev, @joannejang, @luke_metro, @yuchenj_uw, @ns123abc, @gavinpurcell, @elenarunsnyc, @barret_zoph, @polynoamial, @signulll, and @miyahedge
| Wall Street Journal: |
OpenAI strikes a multibillion-dollar agreement to buy 750 MW of computing capacity from Cerebras over three years; sources say the deal is worth more than $10B — The ChatGPT-maker is racing to secure more computing power, especially for responding to user queries
More: OpenAI, CNBC, Network World, eWeek, TechCrunch, AIN, Reuters, Silicon Republic, Türkiye Today, Cerebras, Silicon UK, WebProNews, PYMNTS.com, SiliconANGLE, The Information, InsideHPC, New York Times, Financial Times, and Bloomberg
X: @cerebras, @draecomino, @scaling01, @ericvishria, @mweinbach, @theo, @benbajarin, @yuchenj_uw, @kakashiii111, @matthewberman, and @ericvishria
LinkedIn: Alexander Mikoyan and Dhiraj Mallick
Forums: r/hardware, r/CerebrasSystems, and Slashdot
| Reuters: |
TSMC reports Q4 net profit up 35% YoY to a record ~$16B, above $15.17B est., as it benefited from surging demand for AI chips and hit $100B in 2025 revenue — TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, posted a 35% jump in fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday, beating market forecasts …
More: Financial Times, Associated Press, Culpium, Benzinga, Tech in Asia, Proactive, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Daily Sabah, and Sherwood News
X: @dnystedt, @pelstrom, and @zephyr_z9
| Adamya Sharma / Android Authority: |
OpenAI quietly rolls out ChatGPT Translate, a standalone website that currently supports plain text translations across 50+ languages — OpenAI's new standalone translation tool supports over 50 languages and features AI-powered prompt customization. — • — TL;DR| Karissa Bell / Engadget: |
X updates Grok to prevent the “editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis” and geoblocks it for all users “where it's illegal” — The company is also blocking image generation entirely from non-subscribers.
More: X, The Verge, The Register, Washington Post, AppleInsider, Moneycontrol, 9to5Mac, New York Times, Metro.co.uk, Politico, BusinessCloud, The Mac Observer, Tech Times, Euractiv, Phandroid, Variety, WebProNews, Reuters, MediaNama, Sky News, Hindustan Times, Le Monde, Decrypt, Digit, Telecompaper, The Hollywood Reporter, Business Insider, Deadline, and SFist
X: @safety, @theobertram, @loudmouthjulia, @yacinemtb, @adrianweckler, @jdpoc, @helios_movement, @lyeuhm, @digiphile, and @mweinbach
Bluesky: @tatumhunter, @campuscodi.risky.biz, @davidho, and @parismarx.com. Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social
| Politico: |
California AG Rob Bonta opens an investigation into xAI over the proliferation of nonconsensual, sexualized images generated by Grok, and urges xAI to act — California Attorney General Rob Bonta is investigating Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI over the proliferation of nonconsensual …
More: State of California, NBC News, The Atlantic, New York Times, Reuters, The Guardian, Popular Information, Newser, CNBC, Mashable, Reuters, Associated Press, Türkiye Today, The Independent, Wall Street Journal, Android Headlines, TechCrunch, CalMatters, Social Media Today, Engadget, Implicator.ai, Business Insider, CNBC, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, and The Hill
| Financial Times: |
UK PM Keir Starmer says X indicated to government officials it was acting to comply with UK laws by restricting the generation of nonconsensual sexual images — UK prime minister says xAI will restrict the image generator as billionaire pledges to follow laws in all markets
More: BBC, BBC, The Economic Times, The Verge, Silicon Republic, RTÉ, Metro.co.uk, Forbes, Al Jazeera, The Irish Times, France 24, The Indian Express, Telegraph, ABC, The Independent, and The Guardian
Forums: r/europe and r/ukpolitics
| Josh Wingrove / Bloomberg: |
President Trump signs an order to impose a 25% tariff on chips “transshipped through the US to other foreign countries”, as part of the Nvidia H200 export deal — The US imposed a 25% tariff on imports of certain semiconductors, a key step in an agreement blessed …
More: South China Morning Post, Washington Post, CNN, Barron's Online, Zacks Investment Research, Blockonomi, Reuters, Forbes Middle East, Reuters, The Korea Herald, Computerworld, Business Insider, Korea Joongang Daily, Anadolu Ajansı …, The Korea Times, Benzinga, Macau Business, Dow Jones Newswires, Sharecafe, Financial Times, Watcher Guru, New York Times, Nextgov/FCW, Axios, The National, Agence France-Presse, CNBC, and BBC
| Emma Roth / The Verge: |
The Wikimedia Foundation says Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Perplexity, and Mistral joined Wikimedia Enterprise to get “tuned” API access; Google is already a member — The companies have joined Google as the latest members of the Wikimedia Enterprise program.| Emma Roth / The Verge: |
| Financial Times: |
Source: Apple's Gemini deal is a cloud contract where it pays Google several billion dollars; a source says OpenAI declined to be Apple's custom model provider — Multibillion-dollar deal to secure Gemini models reflects cautious approach to infrastructure spending
More: The Verge, 9to5Mac, WebProNews, Livemint, and Marketing Week
| Molly Schuetz / Bloomberg: |
Spotify plans to raise its Premium subscription by $1 to $12.99/month for subscribers in the US, Estonia, and Latvia, in its first US hike since July 2024 — Spotify Technology SA is raising the price of its premium subscription service by 8% in an effort to achieve sustained profitability.
More: The Verge, Spotify, 9to5Mac, The Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Music Business Worldwide, and Hypebot. Forums: r/technology
| Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk: |
Coinbase pulls support from the US Senate's crypto market structure bill ahead of a key vote; CEO Brian Armstrong says there are “too many issues” with the bill — CEO Brian Armstrong said there were “too many issues” with the bill. — Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the exchange …
More: CoinDesk, Blockonomi, Barron's Online, The Block, Crypto in America, Yahoo Finance, Reuters, Cointelegraph, Crypto Briefing, Benzinga, BeInCrypto, DL News, Forbes, Watcher Guru, The Defiant, The Daily Hodl, Decrypt, Yahoo Finance, Bitcoin Magazine, The Block, CryptoPotato, Coinpedia Fintech News, and Bloomberg
| Jacob Krol / TechRadar: |
Verizon resolves “an issue impacting wireless voice and data services” that caused 100,000+ customers to lose reception for 10+ hours on Wednesday — The carrier says the outage is now resolved — While Verizon had a good few months, with the last major outage occurring in October 2024 …
More: AppleInsider, NBC News, Reuters, Fast Company, Time, Tom's Guide, WebProNews, Forbes, Engadget, Straight Arrow News, Gothamist, WPXI-TV, WJXX-TV, VINnews, New York Times, New York Post, MacRumors, Mashable, NBC Bay Area, PCMag, Engadget, FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth, MacRumors, CNET, ZDNET, FOX 13 Tampa Bay, 9to5Google, USA Today, Associated Press, Technical.ly, XDA Developers, UPI, Business Insider, PCMag, The Verge, PhoneArena, BleepingComputer, TechRadar, Bloomberg, and 9to5Mac
X: @verizonnews, @verizonnews, @verizonnews, @att, @alexrkonrad, @joannastern, @0xgaut, @morningbrew, and @pcmag. LinkedIn: Aimee Allen
Forums: r/verizon, r/conspiracy, r/PrepperIntel, r/hudsonvalley, r/technology, and r/news
| Ryan Dezember / Wall Street Journal: |
AWS signs a two-year supply deal with Rio Tinto to access its Arizona copper mine, the US' first new source in 10+ years, as AI data centers create huge demand — The copper, which is being produced in Arizona by Rio Tinto with bacteria and acid, will be used for data-center construction
More: Rio Tinto, Bloomberg, Tom's Hardware, Axios, and Crypto Briefing
| Sabrina Ortiz / ZDNET: |
Google launches Personal Intelligence, a Gemini feature that links to Gmail, Google Photos, Search, and YouTube history to tailor answers, for paid subscribers — ZDNET's key takeaways — Personal Intelligence scans your apps to improve Gemini answers. — The feature is off by default and won't train on sensitive data.
More: The Keyword, The Verge, Times of India, Forbes, AppleInsider, The Indian Express, Search Engine Roundtable, Trusted Reviews, CNET, Engadget, TechCrunch, Ghacks, The Economic Times, Silicon UK, Digit, Livemint, Analytics India Magazine, GSMArena.com, BleepingComputer, Implicator.ai, eWeek, SiliconANGLE, MobileSyrup, Pocket-lint, Financial Times, YouTube, 9to5Google on YouTube, Neowin, Android Central, Moneycontrol, Lifehacker, Search Engine Land, Yahoo Tech, Tom's Guide, TechRadar, Fortune, Digital Trends, Bloomberg, 9to5Google, Business Insider, and Android Police
X: @dudewhoinvests, @google, @cryptopunk7213, @akshaymarch7, @matthewberman, @ai_for_success, @demishassabis, @dudewhoinvests, @royalhansen, @omooretweets, @thisiskp_, @dflieb, @rihardjarc, @teksedge, @varunkinsights, @glenngabe, @sundarpichai, @ai_for_success, @google, @geminiapp, and @joshwoodward
LinkedIn: Chris Struhar, Srinivasan Venkatachary, Oliver Bethell, Alex Joseph, and Aybuke. Bluesky: @scottstein
Forums: r/accelerate, r/singularity, and r/Bard
| New York Times: |
Sources: the US cyberattack that plunged Caracas into darkness during the Maduro mission shows its offensive capabilities; Senators plan to question officials — Senators are expected to ask Lt. Gen. Joshua M. Rudd, President Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Cyber Command, about the mission in Caracas.| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Digg, rebooted under original founder Kevin Rose and Alexis Ohanian, launches its open beta; the site had been open to 67,000 users on an invite-only basis — The reboot of the early-internet online community Digg, a one-time rival to Reddit, is moving forward.
More: The Overspill, Mashable, The Verge, 9to5Mac, and Digg on YouTube
X: @alexisohanian, @kevinrose, @digg, and @kevinrose. Bluesky: @carnage4life. Mastodon: @parkerortolani@mastodon …
Forums: r/redditstock, r/digg, r/technology, and Slashdot
| Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg: |
South Korea dropped Naver's and NCSoft's teams from its competition to develop its first sovereign AI model, as LG's, SK Telecom's, and Upstage's teams advanced — South Korea dropped teams led by units of Naver Corp. and NCSoft Corp. from its closely watched competition to develop the nation's …
More: THE INVESTOR, Tech in Asia, and The Korea Herald
| Nitin Dahad / EE Times: |
GlobalFoundries agrees to acquire Synopsys' ARC processor IP business, which includes ARC-V (RISC-V) and ARC CPU IP, and integrate it into its MIPS business — Today sees a bold move to bring two key processor architectures, MIPS and ARC, under one umbrella, as GlobalFoundries announced …
| Reuters: |
India's Supreme Court rules Tiger Global's $1.6B Flipkart stake sale to Walmart in 2018 is subject to taxes, a ruling that may shape future cross-border deals — India's top court has ruled that Tiger Global's $1.6 billion stake sale in Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart to Walmart (WMT.O) …
More: The Economic Times, Reuters, Inc42 Media, Bloomberg, and Hindustan Times
| Wired: |
Researchers discover WhisperPair, a set of vulnerabilities in Google's Fast Pair protocol affecting 17 audio device models from 10 brands; Google has patched — Flaws in how 17 models of headphones and speakers use Google's one-tap Fast Pair Bluetooth protocol have left devices open to eavesdroppers and stalkers.| Silla Brush / Bloomberg: |
BlackRock raises $12.5B as part of its Microsoft partnership to bankroll data centers and energy infrastructure, bringing it closer to its $30B goal from 2024 — BlackRock Inc. has raised $12.5 billion as part of a partnership with Microsoft Corp. to bankroll data centers and energy infrastructure … | Francisco Rodrigues / CoinDesk: |
Bitmine, the largest corporate holder of ether, invests $200M in MrBeast's Beast Industries, set to close on January 19; Bitmine holds ~4M ETH valued at ~$13.6B — The investment gives Bitmine a stake in a brand with strong Gen Z and millennial appeal, reaching over 450 million subscribers across its YouTube channels.| Sara Ashley O'Brien / Wall Street Journal: |
Self-help gurus like Tony Robbins, Gabby Bernstein, and Matthew Hussey are charging up to $99 per month to access AI chatbots that promise personalized advice — Self-help gurus like Matthew Hussey and Gabby Bernstein have expanded their empires with AI chatbots promising personalized advice
LinkedIn: Emma Eeckhout
| Ionut Arghire / SecurityWeek: |
WitnessAI, which intercepts employees' custom GenAI models usage and applies safeguards, raised $58M led by Sound Ventures, taking its total funding to $85M — The company will use the fresh investment to accelerate its global go-to-market and product expansion.Sponsor Posts
Command Line:
What will the next generation of developers do when AI writes the code? — Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon are betting that the junior devs we train today will be the senior engineers of tomorrow.
What will the next generation of developers do when AI writes the code? — Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon are betting that the junior devs we train today will be the senior engineers of tomorrow.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting. Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach. — Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting. Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach. — Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
UK tax compliance with Zoho Books — The evolving tax landscape in the UK has added an additional responsibility to business owners, accountants, and bookkeepers to ensure their choice of accounting software supports compliance …
UK tax compliance with Zoho Books — The evolving tax landscape in the UK has added an additional responsibility to business owners, accountants, and bookkeepers to ensure their choice of accounting software supports compliance …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.Featured Podcasts
The Upstarts Podcast:
The $7B Startup Mapping Your Health In Just One Hour | Neko's Hjalmar Nilsonne
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Cheeky Pint:
The company building underwater drones for $50,000
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
BG2 Pod:
Jensen Huang | Does AI Revenue Justify Capex, '27 AI Bottlenecks, Singularity, Open vs Closed & more
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
Big Technology Podcast:
The Bumpy Road To AGI — With Kevin Roose
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
How to Run a Political Campaign in the TikTok Era (And How Not To)
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
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Sources:
Robinhood's CEO on letting AI trade your money
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
Subscribe to Sources.
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