Techmeme
May 7, 2025, 7:30 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:
US v. Google: Eddy Cue says Apple is actively looking at reshaping Safari to focus on AI search and, in a first, Safari searches dropped in April; GOOG drops 8%  —  Apple Inc. is “actively looking at” reshaping the Safari web browser on its devices to focus on AI-powered search engines …
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Netflix unveils its ChatGPT-powered search that lets users express preferences using natural phrases, to be rolled out this week to iOS users as an opt-in beta  —  After hinting at a new AI-powered search experience during its recent earnings call, Netflix officially unveiled the feature at its tech and product event on Wednesday.
John Koblin / New York Times:
Netflix unveils a new homepage design for TVs, its first major update since 2013, featuring fewer titles but more video and animation, rolling out next week  —  The implications for the industry could be significant, given that most other streaming services have copied Netflix's design.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Washington Post:
Internal messages show how the US State Department, in conjunction with trade talks, pushed nations facing tariffs to clear regulatory hurdles for Starlink  —  Some countries have turned to the satellite internet firm in conjunction with trade talks, State Department staffers wrote.
Bloomberg:
The Commerce Department says it will rescind the Biden-era “AI diffusion rule”, which limits exports of AI chips and is set to take effect on May 15  —  The Trump administration plans to rescind Biden-era AI chip curbs as part of a broader effort to revise semiconductor trade restrictions …
The Information:
Sources: Meta is once again considering facial recognition for its smart glasses and other devices, after abandoning the idea over ethical concerns in 2021  —  Back in 2021, Mark Zuckerberg and other top Facebook executives were dreaming big about how to design the company's first generation of smart glasses.
Shirin Ghaffary / Bloomberg:
OpenAI unveils OpenAI for Countries, an initiative to help build out AI infrastructure and customize OpenAI's products for specific languages and local needs  —  OpenAI plans to invest in efforts outside of the US to develop the infrastructure necessary to run artificial intelligence systems …
James D. Walsh / New York Magazine:
How ChatGPT and other AI tools enable systemic cheating in college, unravelling the entire academic project; one student says “the ceiling has been blown off”  —  ChatGPT has unraveled the entire academic project.  —  Chungin “Roy” Lee stepped onto Columbia University's campus …
Dean Seal / Wall Street Journal:
Memo: CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz says the company will cut ~500 jobs, or 5% of its global workforce, and expects to incur $36M to $56M in severance charges  —  Cybersecurity company will continuing to hire customer-facing and product-engineering roles  —  CrowdStrike said it will cut about 500 jobs …
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Mistral releases Medium 3, which it says focuses on efficiency without compromising performance, for $0.40 per 1M input tokens, and launches Le Chat Enterprise  —  French AI startup Mistral is releasing a new AI model, Mistral Medium 3, that's focused on efficiency without compromising performance.
Washington Post:
Sources: DOGE plans to build a centralized database with troves of personal information about millions of US residents, sometimes bypassing security protocols  —  The goal — a centralized system with unprecedented access to data about Social Security, taxes, medical diagnoses …
Sarah Butler / The Guardian:
Amazon unveils Vulcan, a sorting robot with a sense of touch that will be able to grab ~75% of its warehouse items, rolling out globally in the next few years  —  Vulcan device ‘capable of grabbing three-quarters of items in warehouses’ fuels fears of mass job losses
VideoCardz.com:
FCC listings show two new Asus ROG Ally 2 handhelds with an Xbox button, AMD chips, 64GB of RAM, larger grips, and two USB-C ports, likely set for Computex 2025  —  ROG Ally 2 leaks: new design, larger screen and Xbox version  —  ASUS is about to announce a new generation of gaming handhelds …
Muyao Shen / Bloomberg:
Sources: Robinhood plans a blockchain-based platform to let retail investors in Europe trade US securities, and considered partnerships with Arbitrum and Solana  —  The venture will be likely launched through a partnership with a digital-asset firm, according to the people.
Natalie Lung / Bloomberg:
Uber reports Q1 revenue up 14% YoY to $11.5B, Gross Bookings up 14% YoY to $42.8B, below $43.1B est., trips up 18% YoY to 3B, and $1.8B in net income  —  Uber Technologies Inc. reported weaker-than-expected quarterly gross bookings, citing lower US inbound travel that's led to slower gains in its rideshare business.
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Mike Scarcella / Reuters:
A US court rejects a legal challenge by the FTC to Microsoft's $69B Activision Blizzard acquisition, upholding a lower court ruling that denied an injunction  —  A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a legal challenge by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to Microsoft's (MSFT.O) …
Counterpoint Research:
In 2024, Apple Watch sales fell 19%, the second consecutive year of decline, mainly driven by a drop in North America; no new Watch SE models weighed on sales  —  - The lack of a new SE model weighed most on shipment growth.  — Fewer upgrades to the latest Watch Series 10, more competition …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Figma releases AI-powered tools to take on Canva and Adobe: Figma Sites for creating sites, Figma Make for app prototypes, and Figma Buzz for marketing assets  —  Design company Figma today announced multiple features, including AI-powered site and web app creation, a way for marketers to create assets in bulk, and a new drawing tool.
More: CNBC and ZDNET
MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:
Sen. Blumenthal says the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations opened an inquiry into Trump's crypto empire, calling his memecoin dinner “pay-for-play”  —  Democrats turned up the pressure on President Donald Trump's cryptocurrency ventures this week and the fortune …
Bloomberg:
Daniel Kuhn / The Block:
New Hampshire becomes the first US state to pass a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill, permitting public fund investment in bitcoin, either directly or via an ETF  —  - New Hampshire has become the first state to pass a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” bill, according to Satoshi Action Fund founder Dennis Porter.

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 …
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

Lenny's Podcast:
The 100-person AI lab that became Anthropic and Google's secret weapon | Edwin Chen (Surge AI)
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.
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 7:30 PM ET, May 7, 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

Ian King / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:
Sarah O'Connor / Financial Times:
Hannah Ritchie / Sustainability: