Techmeme
August 21, 2026, 7:01 AM

Top News

Newcomer:
Sources: Poolside struck a non-exclusive $6B licensing deal with Nvidia, plus a $1B investment at a $12B pre-money valuation; 109 staffers get Nvidia job offers  —  EXCLUSIVE TO NEWCOMER: Poolside AI, the artificial intelligence model-building startup, has struck a non-exclusive licensing deal …
CNBC:
How the memory boom is reshaping Micron's hometown of Boise, Idaho, with new millionaires, job growth, rising housing costs, and uneven wealth distribution  —  Dave Petso has been a wealth manager in Boise, Idaho since the 1980s.  His business has survived multiple recessions …
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
OpenAI rolls out an Apple Messages plugin for ChatGPT on macOS, letting ChatGPT read, search, and analyze chats, prepare and send messages, and more  —  Well, this seems interesting.  ChatGPT's latest update adds a new Mac integration: the ability to work with conversations from Apple's Messages app.
Kristin Robinson / Billboard:
Email: Apple Music tells industry partners that songs tagged as “materially generated using AI” by content providers will be visibly labeled on the service  —  The news builds on Apple's recent announcement of AI Transparency Tags for songs.  Now, the service will soon make those disclosures visible to users.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Anthropic expects to match or beat the size of SpaceX's record-setting IPO, as it prepares to file publicly for its IPO as soon as the end of August  —  Anthropic PBC expects to match or beat the size of SpaceX's record-setting initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter …
Vlad Fedorov / The GitHub Blog:
GitHub says its 7+ hour August 17 outage was caused by a capacity failure when peak traffic overwhelmed an infrastructure component in a Central US data center  —  An update on the August 17 outage and the steps we're taking to improve reliability.  —  On August 17, GitHub experienced an outage that lasted 7 hours and 47 minutes.
Matt G. Southern / Search Engine Journal:
Google rolls out an embeddable “Preferred Sources” button, natural language Discover controls, and custom audio briefings in the Google News app on Android  —  Google is rolling out a new embeddable Preferred Sources button, natural language Discover controls, and customizable audio briefings in the Google News app.
Jenny Lee / CNBC:
Samsung unveils a $65.1B-$79.5B shareholder return package for 2026, combining dividends and share buybacks, calling it “the largest ever by a Korean company”  —  Samsung Electronics has announced a shareholder return package, marking a blockbuster week for shareholder returns …
Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Nevada approves permits letting Tesla deploy up to 5,000 robotaxis in the Las Vegas area over the next year, while Waymo and Uber are each allowed up to 1,000  —  Nevada, get ready for the robotaxis.  —  The Nevada Transportation Authority unanimously approved three permits Thursday that will allow Tesla …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Meta rolls out Pocket, an experimental vibe-coding app that lets users create and share small games, in the US, after launching it in Brazil last month  —  Meta's experimental vibe-coding gaming app, Pocket, is now rolling out to everyone in the U.S. The app, which arrived quietly last month …
Dawn Kopecki / Reuters:
How crypto, AI, and online betting companies emerged as the biggest industries shaping the 2026 US midterm races, as corporate spending reaches a record $517M  —  A handful of billionaires and companies are driving corporate spending in U.S. midterm elections this year …

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Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:
OpenAI's Two-Week Pause + Jill Lepore on the Threat of the "Artificial State" + Train of Thought
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
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Big Technology Podcast:
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Training Data:
Rich Sutton and Khurram Javed: Why AI Models Stop Learning, and How to Start It Again
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Ben Thompson on Big Tech, China, and the AI Boom Running Out of Money
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Connecting the Unconnected: Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
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More News

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Google:
More: Unite.AIX: @google, @osanseviero, @_philschmid, @o_lacombe, @ollama, @cockerillbill, and @ai_for_successLinkedIn: Harshad P.Bluesky: @gusthemaForums: r/Bard
Alexander Gladstone / Wall Street Journal:
Edward Ludlow / Bloomberg: