|
January 20, 2026, 1:05 PM
|
Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Brian Stelter / CNN: |
Netflix and WBD say Netflix revised its WBD offer to an all-cash deal for $27.75/share, with the same $82.7B value; its original bid had $59B in debt financing — In an ongoing struggle over the future of Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix says it is now prepared to pay all cash for Warner Bros. and HBO …
More: Thurrott, The Verge, About Netflix, Miami Herald, TechCrunch, CNBC, New York Daily News, Sports Business Journal, Investing.com, Proactive, StreamTV Insider, The Daily Caller, UPI, The Irish Times, Ukrainian National News, Washington Examiner, The Independent, Front Office Sports, Reuters, primetimer.com, WebProNews, New York Times, CBS News, Yahoo Finance, The Standard, Dow Jones Newswires, Associated Press, New York Post, Livemint, Barrett Media, Screen, The Wrap, Variety, Blockonomi, Sharecast, The Hollywood Reporter, Far Out Magazine, Cord Cutters News, iPhone in Canada, Wall Street Journal, Advanced Television, Axios, Deadline, Outlook Business, The Daily Upside, Forbes, Broadband TV News, Screen Rant, Fox Business, and Mediaite
| Christina Kyriasoglou / Bloomberg: |
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says selling AI chips to China is a blunder with “incredible national security implications”, calling it a “big mistake” and “crazy” — Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei said selling advanced artificial intelligence chips …
More: Axios, The Economic Times, New York Post, Livemint, Quartz, and Silicon UK
| Cade Metz / New York Times: |
Humans&, founded by ex-Anthropic, xAI, and Google staff to build collaborative AI, raised a $480M seed from Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, and others at a $4.48B valuation — As a research scientist at Anthropic, one of the world's leading A.I. companies, Andi Peng was part of a team that tried …
More: TechCrunch, Reuters, Techstrong.ai, Bloomberg, and humans&
| Max Hunder / Reuters: |
Ukraine says it plans to share nearly four years of combat data, including millions of hours of drone footage, with allies to help train AI models — Ukraine will establish a system allowing its allies to train their artificial intelligence models on Kyiv's valuable combat data collected throughout … | Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: |
Sony and TCL sign a non-binding agreement to spin off Sony's TV and home audio hardware business into a new joint venture, aiming to finalize the deal by March — The two companies are planning to form a new joint venture that will carry the ‘Sony’ and ‘Bravia’ branding.
More: Sony Corporation, Spyglass, 9to5Google, PCMag, CNET, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Hindustan Times, Mashable, SamMobile, Pocket-lint, Too Much TV Newsletter, Business Today, Tom's Guide, Digit, Phandroid, Engadget, The Shortcut, FlatpanelsHD, Telecompaper, and Nikkei Asia
Bluesky: @wario64 and @thomasfuchs.at
Forums: r/hometheater, r/tcltvs, and r/4kbluray
| Tim Hardwick / MacRumors: |
Setapp Mobile, one of the first alt iOS app stores launched in 2024 after the EU's DMA, plans to shut down, blaming “still-evolving and complex business terms” — Ukraine-based developer MacPaw is set to close Setapp Mobile, its alternative app store for iOS devices in the European Union, next month.
More: TechCrunch, Daring Fireball, The Verge, and Trusted Reviews
| Anthropic: |
Anthropic details the “Assistant Axis”, a pattern of neural activity in language models that governs their default identity and helpful behavior — Read the full paper — When you talk to a large language model, you can think of yourself as talking to a character.
More: Rohan's Bytes, WinBuzzer, Implicator.ai, eWeek, arXiv.org, and Matt Mullenweg
X: @tessera_antra, @peterwildeford, @enscion25, @gallabytes, @thebasepoint, @jack_w_lindsey, @anthropicai, @anthropicai, @anthropicai, @anthropicai, @anthropicai, @anthropicai, and @anthropicai
Bluesky: @emollick and @tachikoma.elsewhereunbound …
Forums: Hacker News, r/claudexplorers, and r/singularity
| Michael Thomsen / New York Times: |
How Zynga uses a secretive VIP program with personal account managers and exclusive sweepstake entries to keep top players spending on games like FarmVille — CSR 2 Realistic Drag Racing is a simple game, even by smartphone standards. Players compete in short street races … | Newley Purnell / Bloomberg: |
Meta VP of Public Policy Simon Milner, the company's most senior Asia-Pacific policy executive, plans to leave after 14 years to retire from full-time work — Meta Platforms Inc. is losing its most senior public policy executive in the Asia-Pacific at a time when the company faces several … | Naga Avan-Nomayo / The Block: |
Portugal orders Polymarket to stop operations and blocks it in the country after heavy activity tied to its recent presidential election, with €110M+ in volume — Partner offers — Quick Take — Portugal's gambling regulator has ordered prediction market platform Polymarket … | Jaspreet Singh / Reuters: |
Substack challenger Beehiiv expects to nearly double its annual revenue to $50M in 2026; it now has over 40,000 MAUs, including nearly 15,000 paying subscribers — Beehiiv expects to nearly double annual revenue to $50 million this year as the newsletter startup challenges larger rival Substack … | Yazhou Sun / Bloomberg: |
French accounting software startup Pennylane raised $204M led by TCV, a source says at a ~$4.25B valuation, with participation from Blackstone, DST, and others — Pennylane, a French startup that sells accounting software, has raised €175 million ($204 million) in a funding round led by growth equity investor TCV.
More: Tech.eu, Tech in Asia, Pulse 2.0, EU-Startups, and Sifted
| Alex Wickham / Bloomberg: |
Sources: UK and Chinese security officials set up a forum to discuss cyberattacks after hacking accusations, the first of its kind, to help prevent escalation — British and Chinese security officials established a forum to discuss cyberattacks following a spate of hacking accusations that soured relations between the two countries.| Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg: |
xAI faces a growing outcry from global regulators over Grok's generation of nonconsensual explicit photos, but has faced little regulatory action in the US — Despite global uproar over the generation of non-consensual explicit photos, Elon Musk has continued to downplay the issue.
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups — Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better. We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts. Join the waitlist for early access!
AI-powered law for startups — Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better. We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts. Join the waitlist for early access!Sponsor Post
| Zach Vallese / CNBC: |
Sensor Tower: Reels accounted for 50%+ of all Instagram ads in 2025, up from 35% in 2024; Reels accounted for 46% of time spent on Instagram in the US in 2025 — More than half of all ads on Meta's Instagram ran in the service's short-form video Reels product in 2025, up from 35% in 2024 … | John Liu / Bloomberg: |
Sources: China broadens its probe into Temu owner PDD, dispatching 100+ investigators to its Shanghai HQ, after staff exchanged physical blows with regulators — China has broadened a probe into PDD Holdings Inc. after its employees exchanged blows with regulators, dispatching over 100 investigators …
More: Tech in Asia
| Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:NEW |
Netflix adds a real-time voting feature for its Star Search reboot, available on mobile, smart TVs, and streaming devices, but not on a browser — Netflix today is launching a new feature that will allow users to interact with live content through voting. The streaming company said the option …
More: The Verge, Netflix Tudum, TechRadar, Lifehacker, About Netflix, Media Play News, and Cord Cutters News
Sponsor Posts
Okara:
Meet Okara, the AI platform that doesn't train on your data — Chat with 30+ open-source models (Llama, Kimi, Qwen, DeepSeek) through encrypted infrastructure. Used by teams handling proprietary code and strategy.
Meet Okara, the AI platform that doesn't train on your data — Chat with 30+ open-source models (Llama, Kimi, Qwen, DeepSeek) through encrypted infrastructure. Used by teams handling proprietary code and strategy.
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups — Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better. We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts. Join the waitlist for early access!
AI-powered law for startups — Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better. We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts. Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Non-negotiable ATS capabilities for successful healthcare staffing — Healthcare staffing operates where speed, accuracy, and compliance are not optional. Every placement, whether it's a travel nurse, physician …
Non-negotiable ATS capabilities for successful healthcare staffing — Healthcare staffing operates where speed, accuracy, and compliance are not optional. Every placement, whether it's a travel nurse, physician …
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
Big Technology Podcast:
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon: Future Of AI Devices, AI Fashion, Blending Reality and Computing
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.
The Social Radars:
Christina Cacioppo, Founder & CEO, Vanta
Come be a fly on the wall as Y Combinator's Jessica Livingston and Carolynn Levy talk to some of the most successful founders in Silicon Valley about how they did it.
Subscribe to The Social Radars.
Invest Like the Best:
Patrick O'Shaughnessy - Creating on Principle
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Lenny's Podcast:
The non-technical PM's guide to building with Cursor | Zevi Arnovitz (Meta)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Hard Fork:
Jonathan Haidt Strikes Again + What You Vibecoded + An Update on the Forkiverse
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.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
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.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
Newest
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Netflix adds a real-time voting feature for its Star Search reboot, available on mobile, smart TVs, and streaming devices, but not on a browserFind
4 minutes ago
Bloomberg:
Demis Hassabis says Chinese AI companies are about six months behind leading western labs and the response to DeepSeek's R1 was a “massive overreaction”Find
15 minutes ago
Peter S. Goodman / New York Times:
The World Economic Forum in Davos is now dominated by tech giants, whose interests shunt aside topics like climate change, as Trump and AI take center stageFind
40 minutes ago
Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
Setapp Mobile, one of the first alt iOS app stores launched in 2024 after the EU's DMA, plans to shut down, blaming “still-evolving and complex business terms”Find
80 minutes ago
Duncan Riley / SiliconANGLE:
Ethernovia, which builds automotive ethernet chips and software, raised a $90M+ Series B led by Maverick SiliconFind
2 hours ago
Jaspreet Singh / Reuters:
Substack challenger Beehiiv expects to nearly double its annual revenue to $50M in 2026; it now has over 40,000 MAUs, including nearly 15,000 paying subscribersFind
2 hours ago
Max Hunder / Reuters:
Ukraine says it plans to share nearly four years of combat data, including millions of hours of drone footage, with allies to help train AI modelsFind
2½ hours ago
From Mediagazer
Todd Spangler / Variety:Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Kerry Flynn / Axios:
Upcoming Tech Events
More News
| Melos Ambaye / Bloomberg: |
| Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter: |
More: TV Tech, Deadline, Awful Announcing, Sports Business Journal, The Wrap, TheDesk.net, and Barrett Media
X: @lucas_shaw and @lucas_shaw
| Ben Bergman / Business Insider: |
More: eWeek, FinSMEs, TechCrunch, Pulse 2.0, Reuters, VCCircle, Inc42, The Economic Times, and Tech Funding News. Forums: r/technology
Earlier Picks
| Kalyeena Makortoff / The Guardian: |
| Simon Willison / Simon Willison's Weblog: |
More: Cursor, The Decoder, and Digit
| Kiran Stacey / The Guardian: |
More: Associated Press, The Record, BBC, GOV.UK, Financial Times, CMU, Engadget, The Guardian, GB News, CoinGeek, Lawyer Monthly, Silicon Republic, BusinessCloud, Reuters, SiliconANGLE, Al Jazeera, Global Banking …, The Times, Sky News, Telegraph, and Reclaim The Net
X: @togetherdec, @bambosmp, @anglofuturist, @lukeaaronmoore, @lukeaaronmoore, @prestonjbyrne, @defossardf, @samanthataghoy, @astor_charlie, @jackguyanderton, @mavenpolitic, @russellquirk, @ellymelly, @tomhfh, @fredthomasuk, @mollyroseorg, @kemibadenoch, @sophielouisecc, @alanvibe, @charleshymas, @richardwellings, @landeur, @douglascarswell, @lauratrottmp, @davidghfrost, @kemibadenoch, @rupertlowe10, and @richardwellings. LinkedIn: Andy Burrows
Bluesky: @acerbialberto.com, @parismarx.com, @k2mey, @goodlawproject.org, @katebevan.com, @goodlawproject.org, @dorianlynskey, and @sophiasgaler
Forums: r/LabourUK and r/technology
| Nilay Patel / The Verge: |
More: GamesIndustry.biz, Kotaku, Push Square, Video Games Chronicle, and WebProNews
Bluesky: @reckless and @tomwarren.co.uk
| Olivia Solon / Bloomberg: |
More: Breitbart, Gambling Commission, The Register, The American Bazaar, The Indian Express, Blockonomi, PC Gamer, Reuters, and Engadget. Bluesky: @glinden