Techmeme
August 12, 2026, 2:30 AM

Top News

Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
SpaceXAI rolls out Grok Bot AI agent app in beta on Mac, iOS, Windows, and Linux, initially for SuperGrok Heavy, Cursor Ultra, and Cursor Teams Premium users  —  SpaceXAI and Cursor are in the process of becoming a single company, but first, the two firms are releasing an all-new iPhone and Mac app called Grok Bot.
Will Knight / Wired:
Researchers find that feeding a frontier model's encrypted reasoning traces to a weaker model from the same provider can make it output the traces in plaintext  —  Researchers devised a way to extract “reasoning traces” from Claude, GPT, and Gemini.  What they found, they say …
Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk:
The CFTC uses its “emergency authority” to order Kalshi to continue operating in New York after the state filed a lawsuit in July seeking to shutter Kalshi  —  The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced it had ordered prediction market operator Kalshi to continue operating …
Frederic Lardinois / The New Stack:
OpenAI launches a ChatGPT desktop app for Linux in preview, supporting ChatGPT Work, Codex, and more; Computer Use outside the in-app browser is not available  —  On Tuesday, OpenAI launched its ChatGPT desktop for Linux.  —  Now in preview, the app, which combines ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work …
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
CoreWeave reports Q2 revenue up 112% YoY to $2.58B, vs. $2.56B est., and a $104B revenue backlog, with 1.5 GW of contracted power; CRWV jumps 9%+ after hours  —  CoreWeave shares jumped 14% in extended trading on Tuesday after the AI infrastructure provider reported results than topped Wall Street expectations.
Stephanie Palazzolo / The Information:
Brad Lightcap, who most recently led OpenAI's special projects division and formerly was its COO, says he is leaving the startup “to start something new”  —  Brad Lightcap, who most recently led OpenAI's special projects division and formerly was its chief operating officer …
Kyt Dotson / SiliconANGLE:
Nvidia releases Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, an open 30B-parameter MoE model, and NeMo Switchyard, an open-source model routing library for AI agents  —  Artificial intelligence silicon and software giant Nvidia Corp. today announced two new services: a highly customizable Nemotron model and an agentic AI model router named NeMo Switchyard.
The Information:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Similarweb: Bluesky's mobile MAUs fell 27% YoY to 10.4M in June and DAUs fell 26% to 3M in July; X's mobile MAUs fell 3% to 302M and DAUs fell 7% to 123.7M  —  Decentralized social network Bluesky was one of the bigger beneficiaries of the exodus from Elon Musk's X in November 2024, following the U.S. elections.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Singapore-based data center operator DayOne confidentially files for a US IPO, aims to list as soon as next quarter, and is considering raising ~$5B  —  DayOne Data Centers has confidentially filed for a US initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.
Nduka Orjinmo / Bloomberg:
Briter: Africa-focused startups raised $3.3B in H1 2026, up 73% YoY, driven by Zipline's $950M raise; US- and UAE-incorporated entities raised half the capital  —  African-focused startups are on track for a record fundraising year after investments surged in the first six months …
Chase DiFeliciantonio / Politico:
OpenAI VP of Global Policy Ann O'Leary says AI policy in the US is anchored in the states and informed by California's AI transparency law passed last year  —  SACRAMENTO, California — A senior OpenAI global affairs chief said AI policy is still anchored in the states …
Tom Wilson / Financial Times:
Researchers say suspected Chinese hackers used open-source AI agents to build an autonomous hacking tool that compromised Taiwanese government websites in July  —  AI agents ran simultaneous reconnaissance and break-ins in display of new phase of cyberwarfare.
Alanna Okun / Bloomberg:
A look at Candy Crush's continued popularity 15 years after its launch, with an estimated 81.5M MAUs and in-app revenue of $876.5M in fiscal year 2025  —  Fifteen years in, those shiny sweets are still on top.  —  Johanna Chouraqui doesn't time travel anymore.
More: BGR
Wall Street Journal:
Some health and fitness obsessives are using AI for hyperpersonalized training, building custom dashboards and tools to analyze their sleep, workouts, and diet  —  From marathon training to tracking office angst, health obsessives are linking their data to chatbots to build hyperpersonalized coaches
Sundar Pichai / @sundarpichai:
Sundar Pichai says Gemini has hit 1B+ MAUs, the company's fastest-growing product ever and its 14th product to hit the 1B-user mark  —  1B+ people are now using @Geminiapp every month to spark new ideas and get things done. It's our fastest growing product ever, and our 14th to hit the 1B-user mark. Kudos to @JoshWoodward & the entire Gemini team, and thank you to everyone who has been on this journey with us - [image]
Jing Yang / The Information:
Manus says it will “soon return to operating as an independent company”, implying it is close to reversing its acquisition by Meta, after China's order in April  —  AI startup Manus said on Tuesday that it will “soon return to operating as an independent company,” …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Phia co-founders Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni pushed for and were aware for seven months of using “cookie stuffing” to claim affiliate commissions  —  Phia co-founders Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni pushed for features in the e-commerce startup's software that took credit …

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