|
January 18, 2026, 6:00 AM
|
Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Manish Singh / India Dispatch: |
India's largest retailer Reliance Retail says its daily quick commerce orders peaked at 1.6M in Q4 2025; market leader Blinkit averaged 2.4M daily orders in Q3 — The rest of the industry is not feeling it. — India's largest retail chain is reporting impressive growth in quick commerce, but the industry is not buying it.
More: YourStory, Trak.in, and The Economic Times
| Jeremy Kahn / Fortune: |
OpenAI's former Head of Policy Research Miles Brundage announces AVERI, a nonprofit aimed at advocating the idea of external audits for frontier AI models — Former OpenAI policy chief Miles Brundage, who has just founded a new nonprofit institute called AVERI that is advocating …
More: AVERI, Miles's Substack, and AVERI
X: @typewriters, @benjaminmmurphy, @sjgadler, @s_oheigeartaigh, @w01fe, @mikemccormick_, @miles_brundage, and @averiorg
LinkedIn: AVERI and Jeremy Kahn
| Caroline Haskins / Wired: |
The AI boom is driving an unprecedented wave of data center construction, but there aren't enough skilled workers in the US, such as electricians, to keep up — The AI boom is driving an unprecedented wave of data center construction, but there aren't enough skilled tradespeople in the US to keep up.
More: IEEE Spectrum and Axios
| Ben Cohen / Wall Street Journal: |
A look at the making of The Thinking Game, a documentary about Google DeepMind and its CEO Demis Hassabis, garnering 285M+ views on YouTube since November 2025 — A documentary about Google DeepMind has become wildly popular. Before he turned his attention to AI, the film's director learned everything from the NFL.| Financial Times: |
OpenAI plans to test ads below ChatGPT replies for users of free and Go tiers in the US; source: OpenAI expects to make “low billions” from ads in 2026 — $500bn start-up seeks ways to fund expansion and fend off competition from rivals Google and Anthropic
More: OpenAI, Trak.in, Ars Technica, Spyglass, Axios, The Verge, The American Bazaar, CNBC, Digit, Android Police, Windows Central, The Register, Appleosophy, Tech in Asia, Business Standard, Moneycontrol, The Hans India, Neowin, Livemint, New York Times, Notebookcheck, Engadget, The Indian Express, PPC Land, The Hacker News, Search Engine Journal, Communicate Online, 9to5Google, TestingCatalog, The Deep View, The Guardian, Deadline, BleepingComputer, Fortune, Birchtree, Gizmodo, San Francisco Chronicle, The Information, SiliconANGLE, Forbes, Nairametrics, Simon Willison's Weblog, PC Gamer, AdTechRadar, Tom's Guide, Fast Company, Variety, The Independent, KGW-TV, Forbes Middle East, Vogue, WebProNews, Barron's Online, CBS News, PCMag, Reuters, Wired, Capital Brief, Bloomberg, The Decoder, MediaPost, Sherwood News, Adweek, The Economic Times, Mobile Dev Memo, Search Engine Land, BBC, Türkiye Today, NewsMax.com, and Axios
X: @openai, @sama, @frantzfries, @basedtorba, @antoniogm, @fidjissimo, @tomwarren, @atabarrok, @anothercohen, @neilcybart, @pmddomingos, @buccocapital, @pitdesi, @meghanbobrowsky, @benjamindekr, @teksedge, @dant3_btc, @alexeheath, @tbpn, @macrocephalopod, @netcapgirl, @sarafischer, @nickfloats, @bindureddy, @brianmcc, @scobleizer, @scaling01, @simonw, @brij, @openai, @rishabhmjain, @tahatesser, @openai, @teksedge, @inafried, and @eric_seufert
LinkedIn: Akshay Khandekar, Varun Nahar, Robert Derow, Lily Ray, and Fidji Simo
Bluesky: @abraham, @aleyda, @timfduffy.com, @mbogen, @edzitron.com, and @shiraovide. Threads: @benedictevans. Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to
Forums: r/technews, r/artificial, r/ChatGPT, r/singularity, r/ChatGPT, r/technology, and Slashdot
| Elissa Welle / The Verge: |
More: OpenAI, Enterprise AI Trends, WebProNews, Digital Trends, Android Central, WinBuzzer, BleepingComputer, Neowin, Cult of Mac, Benzinga, TechCity, TestingCatalog, ZDNET, CNET, The Mac Observer, Constellation Research, iClarified, Android Authority, The Information, NBC News, iPhone in Canada, Thurrott, Analytics India Magazine, MacRumors, Crypto Briefing, 9to5Mac, Reuters, and Daring Fireball
X: @simonw and @mweinbach
Forums: r/technology, r/singularity, and r/OpenAI
| Axios: |
David Sacks and top MAGA influencers are publicly opposing House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast's proposed AI OVERWATCH Act to regulate AI chip sales to China — But the accusations are flying fast. — “The AI Overwatch Act (H.R. 6875) may sound like a good idea, but when you examine it closely …
More: Model Republic. X: @lauraloomer, @miles_brundage, @repbrianmast, @senatorbanks, @michaelsobolik, @chrisrmcguire, @repbrianmast, @repbrianmast, @repbrianmast, @michaelsobolik, @chinaselect, @davidsacks, @parscale, @wallstreetmav, @gentrywgevers, @joeymannarino, @eyakoby, @fightwithmemes, @repbrianmast, @kaay_lo, @profstonge, @themidasproj, @defiantls, @alifarhat79, @eyakoby, and @ryanafournier
| Rob Copeland / New York Times: |
A look at Michael Saylor's Strategy, known for buying bitcoin via creative financing strategies, as its stock trades way below its peak amid the crypto downturn — Had you glanced too quickly at the crowd packed into Michael Saylor's Tuscan-style Miami compound, you might have assumed it was just another rich dude's party.
More: CoinGape. LinkedIn: Rob Copeland. Bluesky: @somershade and @jessefelder
Forums: r/Buttcoin and r/MSTR
| Marc Jones / Reuters: |
Atlantic Council: China-led cross-border digital currency platform mBridge, still a prototype, has processed 4,000+ cross-border transactions totaling $55.5B — Transactions on a new China-led digital currency platform have surged to over $55 billion, a new report shows … | John Reynolds / Tech.eu: |
Mannheim, Germany-based osapiens, a provider of ESG compliance software, raised a $100M Series C from Decarbonization Partners at a $1.1B valuation — The $100m Series C was funded solely by Decarbonization Partners, the joint venture between BlackRock and Temasek.
More: FinSMEs, EU-Startups, Ventureburn, Tech Funding News, Pulse 2.0, FinTech Global, and osapiens
| Iain Martin / Forbes: |
Listen Labs, whose AI tools help Microsoft and others run customer research and interviews, raised a $69M Series B led by Ribbit Capital at a $500M+ valuation — The San Francisco-based company, which has run more than 1 million customer interviews with its automated AI tools …
LinkedIn: Alfred Wahlforss, Listen Labs, Florian Juengermann, Romani Patel, Florian Juengermann, and Lenny Murphy. Bluesky: @iainmartin
| Valentine Baldassari / Bloomberg: |
Micron signs a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip for $1.8B to expand DRAM memory chip production, expected to close in Q2 2026 — Micron Technology Inc. has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp …
More: Benzinga, Pulse 2.0, MarketWatch, and DigiTimes
| Maria Sherman / Associated Press: |
Luminate 2025 report: the global music industry hit 5.1T streams, up 9.6% YoY and a single-year record; AI artist Xania Monet had 125M on-demand audio streams — The global music industry hit 5.1 trillion streams in 2025. It's a new single-year record, up 9.6% from 2024, which held the previous record.| Sage D. Young / Sherwood News: |
Beaconcha.in: a record ~36M ethereum tokens, or 30% of ethereum's total supply, worth ~$119B, are now staked, as institutional investors grow their share — The new record comes as institutional players grow their share in the staking scene. Ether.fi, a restaking protocol known …
More: Cryptonews, The Coin Republic, Cointelegraph, Blockonomi, and crypto.news
| Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal: |
TrendForce: data centers will use 70%+ of the high-end memory chips all manufacturers will produce in 2026, with little new manufacturing capacity until 2027 — AI companies' need for a type of once-affordable microchip threatens to drive up prices of all electronics—and limit data-center ambitions
More: Reuters, Trusted Reviews, NNY360, and Syracuse Post-Standard
Sponsor Posts
Command Line:
Copilot to autopilot: Why no single safeguard is enough — Microsoft designed a layered model that lets an AI agent resolve network incidents on its own within defined boundaries.
Copilot to autopilot: Why no single safeguard is enough — Microsoft designed a layered model that lets an AI agent resolve network incidents on its own within defined boundaries.
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:
Zoho Backstage 4.0: Introducing the most powerful event experience platform from Zoho, ever — Every year, we observe Event Organizers Day on October 23 to celebrate the hard work and creativity event planners bring to every event.
Zoho Backstage 4.0: Introducing the most powerful event experience platform from Zoho, ever — Every year, we observe Event Organizers Day on October 23 to celebrate the hard work and creativity event planners bring to every event.
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
Machine Gods:
Fired OpenAI Safety Researchers Speak Out + We Look Inside Pandora's Box
The official podcast of the singularity, from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose. Twice-weekly news, analysis, and interviews with the people who are building the future.
Subscribe to Machine Gods.
The Upstarts Podcast:
The Parking Startup That Swallowed A 100-Year-Old Giant | Metropolis CEO Alex Israel
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.
Great Chat:
AI's Spooky Season
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Sources:
Sundar Pichai on Gemini 4 and the AI compute crunch
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Netflix in Turmoil + Derek Thompson on AI & The Antisocial Century
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.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Big Technology Podcast:
Google CEO Sundar Pichai: AI's Infinite Possibilities, Compute Scarcity Dilemmas, Future AI Products
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
About This Page
This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:00 AM ET, January 18, 2026.
The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.
From Mediagazer
Associated Press:Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Lucy Campbell / The Guardian:
Upcoming Tech Events
More News
| Daniel Kuhn / The Block: |
More: Web3 is Going Just Great, Bitcoin News, Bitcoin Insider, BeInCrypto, Cointelegraph, CryptoPotato, CoinDesk, The Crypto Times, NullTX, Coinpedia Fintech News, crypto.news, The Defiant, Cryptonews, and Crypto Briefing
X: @zachxbt, @pepperpetey, @hackapreneur, @golarrr, @xenumonero, @tanuki42_, @beausecurity, @drtnky, and @tradepro16. LinkedIn: ZeroShadow
Earlier Picks
| Robert Burnson / Bloomberg: |