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March 16, 2026, 1:35 PM
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Top News

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Nebius says Meta plans to spend up to $27B over the next five years to access AI infrastructure, starting with $12B of capacity in early 2027; NBIS jumps 12%+  —  Meta Platforms Inc. will pay as much as $27 billion over the next five years for access to artificial intelligence infrastructure …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: OpenAI faced intense backlash from its advisory council over a planned ChatGPT “adult mode”, delayed earlier in March due to technical and other issues  —  Warnings surface that the company risks creating a ‘sexy suicide coach’ if it begins allowing sexually explicit chats
Apple:
Apple unveils the $549 AirPods Max 2, with an H2 chip, up to 1.5x more effective ANC, studio-quality audio recording, and camera remote, shipping in early April  —  Powered by H2, AirPods Max are better than ever with more effective ANC, enhanced sound quality, and new features like Adaptive Audio and Live Translation
Horace Dediu / Asymco:
As AI models commodify, Apple's plans to spend just $14B on 2026 capex, far below hyperscalers' combined $650B, or 90%+ of their cash flow, may be a genius move  —  The 3rd? most valuable company on Earth watched as its rivals lit $650 billion on fire and did nothing.
Hartley Charlton / MacRumors:
Apple acquires MotionVFX, a Polish company that develops plugins, visual effects, and motion graphics tools for Final Cut Pro  —  Apple today acquired MotionVFX, a major developer of plugins, visual effects, and motion graphics tools for Final Cut Pro.  —  MotionVFX is a Polish software company founded by Szymon Masiak in 2009.
Reuters:
Sources: OpenAI is in advanced talks with PE firms including TPG and Advent to form a JV that would distribute its enterprise tools to their portfolio companies  —  OpenAI is in advanced talks with private equity firms including TPG (TPG.O), Advent International, Bain Capital and Brookfield Asset Management …
Faiz Siddiqui / Washington Post:
A group of Tennessee teenagers sues xAI, alleging its AI tools were used to create nude images of them by editing photos in which they were clothed  —  Three plaintiffs, two of whom are minors, accuse xAI of distribution, possession and production with intent to distribute child pornography.
More: Prism.  Bluesky: @faizsays, @faizsays, and @faizsays
Fanny Potkin / Reuters:
Sources: Hua Hong is readying a 7nm process at its Shanghai fab with Huawei's help, which would make it China's second chipmaker with such tech, after SMIC  —  China's Hua Hong Group has developed advanced chip manufacturing technologies that can be used to produce artificial intelligence chips …
Timmy Shen / The Block:
Reliz, which operates crypto lender BlockFills, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, reporting $50M to $100M in estimated assets and $100M to $500M in liabilities  —  Quick Take  — Chicago-based BlockFills has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
Sherry Qin / Wall Street Journal:
Foxconn reports Q4 revenue up 22% YoY to ~$81B, net profit down 2% YoY to ~$1.4B, below ~$1.9B est., due to a higher tax expense, and a 5.9% gross profit margin  —  The company generates a significant share of its revenue making AI servers for the likes of Nvidia and Amazon
Anissa Gardizy / The Information:
Sources: OpenAI appoints new leaders to oversee Stargate after deciding to rent more AI servers from cloud providers, and splits its computing effort in three  —  OpenAI has appointed new leaders to oversee its Stargate computing initiative after deciding to rent more AI servers …
More: WinBuzzer
Theodore Schleifer / New York Times:
How tech billionaires are turning on the Giving Pledge, promoted by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett; Peter Thiel says he privately told ~12 signers to undo it  —  Just a few months after Warren Buffett convened a series of high-end dinners across America to collect signatures for something called …
Matt Burgess / Wired:
Criminal enterprises in Southeast Asian scam hubs are recruiting “AI face models” to facilitate crypto and romance scams; some demand 100+ video calls per day  —  Dozens of Telegram channels reviewed by WIRED include job listings for “AI face models.”
Zac Bowden / Windows Central:
Sources: Microsoft shelved plans to add some Copilot AI features to Windows 11 and shipped some tools without the Copilot branding, to reduce AI bloat in the OS  —  Originally announced in 2024, Microsoft's plan to integrate Copilot across various areas of the Windows 11 shell has been shelved …

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:35 PM ET, March 16, 2026.

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From Mediagazer

New York Times:
As the Democratic wave became clear during US midterm coverage, MS NOW anchors celebrated and Fox News hosts offered rare concessions about Trump's standing

Katie Robertson / New York Times:
NYT adds 420K net digital-only subscribers in Q3, boosting total paid subscribers to 13.8M, keeping it on pace to meet a goal of 15M subscribers by 2027's end

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
As Democrats take the House and the Senate, David Ellison and other media executives are likely to face inquiries and hearings over their deals and Trump ties

More News

Washington Post:
GovAI and Brookings: many of the people most at risk if AI transforms work are also the best placed to find new jobs, as researchers disagree over AI's impact
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify announces Taste Profile editing in beta, the first time it lets users fine-tune its recommendations, starting with Premium subscribers in New Zealand

Earlier Picks

Kenrick Cai / Reuters:
President Trump accuses Iran of using AI as a “disinformation weapon” to make fake images of wartime successes against the US, saying “AI can be very dangerous”
Reuters:
JD.com launches its online marketplace Joybuy in the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, as it expands globally to challenge Amazon
Clinton Nwachukwu / Ventureburn:
Standard Kernel, which is making AI-powered GPU optimization software, raised a $20M seed led by Jump Capital, with General Catalyst and others participating
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