Techmeme
May 6, 2025, 11:25 PM

Top News

Matt Simons / Courthouse News Service:
A US jury awards Meta nearly $168M in damages from NSO Group in connection with the 2019 spyware attack on more than 1,400 WhatsApp users' phones  —  Although NSO Group will likely appeal, the jury's award represents a significant win for privacy advocates and critics of the notorious spyware vendor.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft debuts the $899+ Surface Laptop 13, with a smaller 13" screen, an 8-core Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB/512GB options, shipping from May 20  —  The new Surface Laptop 13-inch ditches the Surface Connect port and Windows Hello camera for a smaller footprint.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Andrew Liszewski / The Verge:
Amazon updates its iOS Kindle app to add a prominent orange “Get book” button, enabling purchases via the mobile browser, after the recent Epic v. Apple ruling  —  Amazon has updated its Kindle iOS app to take advantage of recent changes to Apple's App Store rules.
Logan Kilpatrick / Google Developers Blog:
Google unveils Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview I/O Edition with “significantly” improved capabilities for coding and building interactive web apps, before I/O on May 20  —  We've seen developers doing amazing things with Gemini 2.5 Pro, so we decided to release an updated version a couple …
Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
Elon Musk's attorney says OpenAI's nonprofit reversal is “a transparent dodge that fails to address the core issues” and “the founding mission remains betrayed”  —  Elon Musk's attorney said OpenAI's decision to partly walk back its plan to restructure as a for-profit business …
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon's Zoox says it temporarily paused all driverless vehicle operations after a crash in Las Vegas on April 8 and issued a software recall for 270 robotaxis  —  Amazon's Zoox issued a software recall for 270 of its robotaxis after a crash in Las Vegas last month, the company said Tuesday.
Micah Lee / micahflee:
Analysis: TM SGNL, TeleMessage's modified version of Signal used by senior Trump officials, could send plaintext chat logs to TeleMessage's archive server  —  Despite their misleading marketing, TeleMessage, the company that makes a modified version of Signal used by senior Trump officials …
Bloomberg:
DoorDash plans to acquire NYC-based hospitality tech company SevenRooms for $1.2B in cash, set to close in H2 2025; SevenRooms works with 13K+ restaurant groups  —  In a matter of five hours, the US delivery firm DoorDash Inc. announced two multibillion-dollar acquisitions that stand to turn …
Financial Times:
Mark Hachman / PCWorld:
Microsoft officially removes VR and MR support for Minecraft, after announcing its plans to sunset it in October of last year  —  If you ever thought about virtually wandering through Minecraft's Overworld in a VR headset, think again.  Those days are over, at least from Microsoft's perspective.
More: The Verge, Minecraft.net, and Engadget
Bluesky: @marypcbukForums: r/Minecraft
MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:
Chainalysis: ~2M wallets have bought the $TRUMP memecoin, of which ~764,000 wallets have lost money and 58 have made over $10M each, totaling ~$1.1B in profits  —  WATCH NOW  —  About 764,000 wallets that purchased President Donald Trump's $TRUMP meme coin have lost money on the investment …
Financial Times:
Ian King / Bloomberg:
AMD reports Q1 revenue up 36% YoY to $7.4B, vs. $7.12B est., Data Center revenue up 57% to $3.7B, vs. $3.66B est., and forecasts Q2 sales above estimates  —  The guidance stems from an export restriction imposed in April that targeted AMD's MI308 chips, the company said during an earnings call on Tuesday.
Peter Kafka / Business Insider:
Samantha Subin / CNBC:
EA reports Q4 net bookings up 8% YoY to $1.8B, vs. $1.56B est., and forecasts FY 2026 bookings above estimates; EA jumps 5%+ after hours  —  Electronic Arts shares rose more than 5% after the company topped fiscal fourth-quarter bookings estimates and issued upbeat guidance.
Larry Dignan / Constellation Research:
ServiceNow launches ServiceNow CRM to take on Salesforce and automate many common workflow steps and “human middleware” with AI  —  ServiceNow unveiled ServiceNow CRM in a move that aims to expand its total addressable market, leverage its ability to automate workflows with AI and couple selling …
Ariel Wittenberg / Politico:
Environmental groups: xAI's Memphis plant now has ~35 gas turbines, and xAI has no Clean Air Act permits; Elon Musk said turbines were necessary to train Grok 3  —  The company's turbines — enough to power 280,000 homes — run without emission controls in an area that leads Tennessee in asthma hospitalizations.
Natasha Mascarenhas / The Information:
Sources: Periodic Labs, which is building a “ChatGPT for material science”, is seeking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars at a valuation of at least $1B  —  Periodic Labs, a startup founded by Liam Fedus, a former vice president of post-training research at OpenAI …
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Samsung updates Samsung Wallet to add a “Tap to Transfer” feature that lets US users quickly exchange money between themselves, rolling out “later this month”  —  Samsung Wallet is adding a clever new “Tap to Transfer” feature that lets you quickly exchange money between friends …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Transform ML Experimentation with Tangle  —  Save months of compute time with Tangle, built by Shopify.  Try this open-source platform to simplify ML workflows, ensure reproducibility, and seamlessly share with collaborators.
Zoho:
Contract Signed.  Project Ready.  Tasks Created.  —  Every project begins with a promise; a contract that outlines the deliverables, the timelines, and the terms.  But for most businesses …
Bitrix24:
Bitrix24 powers the next generation of high-performing businesses  —  Chat, projects, CRM, and automation — all in one place.  Replace dozens of tools so your team moves faster, collaborates smarter, and grows effortlessly.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box 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:
AI Device Wars Heat Up, RIP Metaverse?, Netflix Acquires Warner Brothers
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Hollywood is Truly Freaked Out." Inside the Netflix/WBD Deal with Lucas Shaw
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.
Hard Fork:
OpenAI Calls a 'Code Red' + Which Model Should I Use? + The Hard Fork Review of Slop
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.
Access:
Is Roblox making the internet better or worse? We asked the CEO
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why LinkedIn is turning PMs into AI-powered "full stack builders" | Tomer Cohen (LinkedIn CPO)
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 11:25 PM ET, May 6, 2025.

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.

More News

Earlier Picks

Wall Street Journal:
Ramsey Al-Rikabi / Bloomberg:
Leo Sands / Washington Post: