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January 15, 2026, 12:35 PM
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| Maxwell Zeff / Wired: |
A source close to Thinking Machines Lab alleges 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, The Economic Times, Digit, and Benzinga
| 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, Implicator.ai, Spyglass, Implicator.ai, and The Information
X: @miramurati, @yuchenj_uw, @suchenzang, @kyliebytes, @_arohan_, @nikshepsvn, @tszzl, @chris_j_paxton, @contrariancurse, @gm8xx8, @harrystebbings, @daveshapi, @miles_brundage, @benjamindekr, @bilalfarooqui, @alexeheath, @scobleizer, @daniel_mac8, @fleetingbits, and @paularambles. Bluesky: @carnage4life. Forums: r/technology
| Fidji Simo / @fidjissimo: |
Fidji Simo says Barret Zoph, Luke Metz, and Sam Schoenholz have returned to OpenAI from Thinking Machines Lab and “this 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: The Information and Neowin
| 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: |
Wikimedia celebrates Wikipedia's 25th anniversary, marking its growth from 100 pages to 65M+ articles with nearly 15B monthly views, and releases a docuseries — The online encyclopedia is releasing a mini docuseries that puts faces to the editors behind an array of Wikipedia articles.
More: Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia Foundation, Diff, Wikipedia, Financial Times, The Independent, Wired, 9to5Mac, Observer, Freedom of the Press …, Wikipedia, Creative Bloq, and ABC
X: @25yearsagolive and @trevortimm
Bluesky: @depthsofwikipedia, @celebrityhottub, @wikimediafoundation.org, @wikimediafoundation.org, and @newsguy. Forums: 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 … | Tim Culpan / Culpium: |
More: Benzinga, The Motley Fool, Barron's Online, Yahoo Finance, DigiTimes, The Information, and Focus Taiwan
Forums: Hacker News and Slashdot
| Bloomberg: |
More: TSMC, DatacenterDynamics, Nikkei Asia, Watcher Guru, and Dow Jones Newswires
| 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: The Verge, X, Ars Technica, 9to5Mac, The Hill, The Register, The Record, Washington Post, New York Times, The Shortcut, campaignlive.com, Music Ally, New York Times, AppleInsider, The Mac Observer, Reuters, Tech Times, WebProNews, MediaNama, Euractiv, Mashable, Deadline, Phandroid, and Decrypt
X: @safety, @yacinemtb, @theobertram, @loudmouthjulia, @adrianweckler, @jdpoc, @helios_movement, @lyeuhm, @digiphile, and @mweinbach
Bluesky: @davidho, @campuscodi.risky.biz, @tatumhunter, and @parismarx.com. Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social. Forums: r/musked
| Financial Times: |
More: BBC, Washington Examiner, BBC, The Verge, The Economic Times, Nairametrics, Silicon Republic, Forbes, The Irish Times, The Indian Express, Al Jazeera, France 24, The Independent, Politico, and The Guardian
Forums: r/europe and r/ukpolitics
| Adamya Sharma / Android Authority: |
OpenAI quietly rolls out ChatGPT Translate, a standalone website that supports plain text translations across 50+ languages and features prompt customization — OpenAI's new standalone translation tool supports over 50 languages and features AI-powered prompt customization. — • — TL;DR
More: ChatGPT Translate, PCWorld, Thurrott, ZDNET, PCMag, Digital Trends, The Hans India, Engadget, Tom's Guide, WebProNews, Android Central, The Decoder, Neowin, Business Standard, Moneycontrol, Digit, and BleepingComputer. X: @zats
| Molly Schuetz / Bloomberg: |
Spotify plans to raise its Premium subscription by $1 to $12.99/month in the US, its first US price hike since July 2024, and increase it in Estonia and Latvia — Spotify Technology SA is raising the price of its premium subscription service by 8% in an effort to achieve sustained profitability.| Nikkei Asia: |
Sources: China is drafting Nvidia H200 purchase rules, limiting how many chips local companies can buy and requiring them to justify the need, instead of a ban — TAIPEI/HONG KONG/PALO ALTO — China is working to set rules on how many advanced AI chips companies can buy from foreign makers like Nvidia …
More: TechCrunch and Barchart.com
| Josh Wingrove / Bloomberg: |
More: Tom's Hardware, Ars Technica, WebProNews, South China Morning Post, Reuters, Taipei Times, Yahoo Finance, Washington Post, Barron's Online, Zacks Investment Research, Korea Joongang Daily, Anadolu Ajansı …, Blockonomi, The Korea Herald, The Korea Times, Forbes Middle East, Business Insider, and BBC
| 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, MacRumors, Marketing Dive, The Mac Observer, iClarified, Android Headlines, 9to5Mac, and Livemint
Forums: r/technology and r/artificial
| 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.
More: Android Police, BleepingComputer, 9to5Google, and Android Authority
| Cade Metz / New York Times: |
Scientists say that AI has become a powerful and rapidly improving research tool, and that whether it is generating ideas on its own is, for now, a moot point — For decades, elite mathematicians have struggled to solve a collection of thorny problems posed by a 20th-century academic named Paul Erdos.
More: TechCrunch and GitHub
LinkedIn: Daniel de Faro Adamson and Satnam Singh
Bluesky: @edzitron.com, @joelchan86, @zachweinersmith, @lmesseri, and @damon.kiesow.net
Forums: r/technology and Slashdot
| Financial Times: |
Anthropic researchers say rich countries' higher AI adoption risks deepening economic disparities and widening living standard gaps, assuming productivity gains — Research by AI start-up suggests productivity gains from the technology unevenly spread around world| André Beganski / Decrypt: |
X revises its developer API policies to “no longer allow apps that reward users for posting on X (aka “infofi")", amid a backlash about growing AI slop on X — X is making major changes to its API to prevent access by “InfoFi” crypto projects that seek to incentivize “reply spam,” an exec said.
More: The Block, Yahoo Finance, and Crypto Briefing
| Wall Street Journal: |
OpenAI strikes a multibillion-dollar, three-year deal to buy 750 MW of computing capacity from Cerebras, which Sam Altman has backed; sources: it's a $10B+ deal — The ChatGPT-maker is racing to secure more computing power, especially for responding to user queries
More: OpenAI, CNBC, Cerebras, Network World, Reuters, Unite.AI, Reuters, AIN, Silicon UK, Türkiye Today, Blockonomi, Silicon Republic, eWeek, PYMNTS.com, WebProNews, Financial Times, and Bloomberg
X: @ericvishria, @ericvishria, @kakashiii111, @theo, @draecomino, @matthewberman, @mweinbach, @yuchenj_uw, @benbajarin, @scaling01, and @cerebras
LinkedIn: Alexander Mikoyan and Dhiraj Mallick
Forums: r/hardware, r/CerebrasSystems, and Slashdot
| 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: Tom's Hardware, Rio Tinto, Bloomberg, iTnews, Barron's Online, Proactive, and Axios
| 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.| Ike Swetlitz / Bloomberg: |
Brain-computer interface startup Merge Labs, which Sam Altman co-founded, raised $252M from OpenAI, Bain Capital, and others — Merge Labs, a company co-founded by AI billionaire Sam Altman that is building devices to connect human brains to computers, raised $252 million.
More: Core Memory, TechCrunch, OpenAI, Sourcery, and The Decoder
| 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.| Bloomberg: |
OpenAI says it issued a request for proposals to US-based hardware manufacturers as it seeks to push into consumer devices, robotics, and cloud data centers — The AI startup is requesting proposals from hardware makers as part of a product expansion — OpenAI is looking to bolster …
Bluesky: @edzitron.com
| CNBC: |
Amazon files an objection to Saks Global's bankruptcy financing plan, and says its $475M investment in the department store is now effectively “worthless” — Amazon wants a federal judge to reject Saks Global's bankruptcy financing plan, writing in court papers the beleaguered department store …
More: PYMNTS.com, The US Sun, Bloomberg, WebProNews, BoardingArea, The Guardian, and Reuters
| Krystal Hu / Reuters: |
AI video startup Higgsfield raised an $80M Series A extension from Accel and others at a $1.3B+ valuation, and reports a $200M annualized revenue run rate — AI video generation startup Higgsfield raised $80 million in new funding, valuing the company at over $1.3 billion, it told Reuters … | 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: MacRumors, 9to5Google, AppleInsider, Benzinga, Macworld, PCMag, 9to5Mac, Engadget, Reuters, The Verge, NBC News, NBC News, WebProNews, Fortune, Pocket-lint, Associated Press, Reuters, Time, KPNX, The US Sun, Droid Life, Engadget, WJXX-TV, Fast Company, Tom's Guide, New York Times, Forbes, VINnews, Gothamist, Straight Arrow News, FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth, WPXI-TV, New York Post, NBC Bay Area, New York Daily News, New York Post, MacRumors, MacRumors, 9to5Google, USA Today, Business Insider, PCMag, The Verge, PhoneArena, BleepingComputer, TechRadar, Bloomberg, and 9to5Mac
X: @verizonnews, @verizonnews, @verizonnews, @verizonnews, @att, @alexrkonrad, @joannastern, @0xgaut, @morningbrew, and @pcmag. LinkedIn: Aimee Allen
Forums: r/conspiracy, r/PrepperIntel, r/hudsonvalley, r/technology, and r/news
| The Keyword: |
Google releases TranslateGemma, a suite of Gemma 3-based open translation models available in 4B, 12B, and 27B parameter sizes with support for 55 languages — Today, we're introducing TranslateGemma, a new collection of open translation models built on Gemma 3, helping people communicate across 55 languages … | 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, TechCrunch, Live Law India, Hindustan Times, Inc42 Media, Reuters, and Bloomberg
| 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
| 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: Tech in Asia, The Korea Herald, and THE INVESTOR
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