Open Links In New Tab
Mobile Archives Advertise Site News
Techmeme
May 13, 2025, 10:45 PM
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Events Newsletter

Top News

Mindy Brooks / The Keyword:
Google announces its Material 3 Expressive design, which it will roll out to Android and Wear OS, nearly four years after introducing Material You  —  Material 3 Expressive is making using your phone and watch more fluid, personal and glanceable.  —  Personalization is core to Android …
Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Google rebrands Find My Device to Find Hub, which recently added a People tab to track contacts, and adds UWB support to the app for more precise tracking  —  Trackers like the Moto Tag will soon support precise location tracking. … A year after launching its Find My Device location tracking network …
Guemmy Kim / The Keyword:
Google will add Gemini to Wear OS 6, Android Auto, Google TV, and Android XR later this year
Il-Sung Lee / Google Online Security Blog:
Google says Android 16 adds device-level security features for its Advanced Protection Program, including intrusion logging for threat analysis
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google says that over one billion RCS messages are sent each day in the US
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Google announces Android 16 security features like expanded fraud detection in Messages, prevention of some actions while on calls, like side loading apps, more
Bloomberg:
Nvidia and Humain partner to build data centers in Saudi Arabia over the next five years, with the first phase involving 18,000 GB300 Grace Blackwell chips  —  Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang announced the partnership on stage at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, the Gulf nation's capital.
Ian King / Bloomberg:
AMD and Humain partner to invest up to $10B on AI infrastructure over the next five years, including in data centers stretching from Saudi Arabia to the US
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Amazon says it will work with Humain to invest $5B+ in a strategic partnership to help build an “AI Zone” in Saudi Arabia
Kelsey Warner / Semafor:
Sources: Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund-backed AI company Humain picked US-based chipmaker Groq for inference; Groq plans to expand its Dammam data center
Bloomberg:
Microsoft says it will lay off 6,000 staff in a bid to cut management layers, including at LinkedIn; Microsoft had 228K staff in June 2024 and cut 10K in 2023  —  The planned terminations will amount to less than 3% of total headcount and occur across geographies, employee levels and include LinkedIn, a spokesperson said.
Rebecca Szkutak / TechCrunch:
The US Commerce Department formally rescinds the Biden-era AI Diffusion Rule, which would have limited US AI chip exports and taken effect on May 13  —  After a week or so of rumors, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) formally rescinded the Biden Administration's Artificial Intelligence Diffusion Rule days …
Clare Duffy / CNN:
Airbnb revamps its app with a Services section featuring personal chefs, trainers, hair stylists, and more; bookings can be made without vacation reservations  —  New York CNN —  —  Nearly a decade ago, Airbnb envisioned being more than just an app to book a home for a vacation.
Steven Levy / Wired:
A look at Brian Chesky's efforts to turn Airbnb into a storefront for real-world services, after struggling with previous experiments to expand beyond vacations  —  CEO Brian Chesky is spending hundreds of millions to relaunch his travel company as an everything app.  Fitness!  Food!  Microdermabrasion?
CNBC:
Chime files for a Nasdaq IPO under the symbol CHYM, reporting 8.6M active members at the end of March, up 23% YoY, and average revenue per active member of $251  —  Financial technology company Chime on Tuesday filed paperwork to go public on the Nasdaq.  The company intends to file under the ticker symbol “CHYM.”
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Google says it is testing an “AI Mode” button on the Search homepage with Labs users, replacing the “I'm Feeling Lucky” button  —  Google's stalwart search button has a new neighbor: AI Mode.  —  The artificial intelligence feature is being tested directly beneath …
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple unveils iOS and macOS accessibility features: App Store Accessibility Nutrition Labels, Magnifier for Mac, Accessibility Reader, Braille Access, and more  —  Ahead of WWDC kicking off in June, Apple today has officially unveiled this year's new accessibility features for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro.
Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal:
Apple has worked with brain-computer interface startup Synchron to explore letting iPhone users control the device using brain signals via a stent-like implant
Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
House Republicans introduced language to the Budget Reconciliation bill that would ban US states from enforcing any AI regulation for 10 years  —  Republicans try to use the Budget Reconciliation bill to stop states from regulating AI entirely for 10 years.
Tina Nguyen / The Verge:
Trump's acting replacements for the Copyright Office are known to be unfriendly to the tech industry and not the kind of people that AI proponents would support  —  What initially appeared to be a power play by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) …
Josh Scott / BetaKit:
Robinhood acquires Toronto-based WonderFi, which owns Bitbuy, Coinsquare, and other crypto exchanges, for CA$250M, or CA$0.36 per share, set to close in H2 2025  —  After spending years gobbling up other Canadian cryptocurrency companies, Toronto-based WonderFi has agreed to be acquired by American trading platform Robinhood Markets.
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:
WhatsApp v. NSO Group: NSO kept targeting WhatsApp users even after Meta sued, it spent $59M on R&D in 2024, and its customers pay ~$3M-$30M to use Pegasus  —  On Tuesday, WhatsApp scored a major victory against NSO Group when a jury ordered the infamous spyware maker to pay …
More: 9to5Mac and Techdirt
Bluesky: @zackwhittaker.com and @lorenzofb.  X: @lorenzofb
Bloomberg:
Former employees, analysts, VCs, and executives detail how DeepSeek works and how it fits into China's broader AI ambitions  —  The company's sudden emergence illustrates how China's industry is thriving despite Washington's efforts to slow it down.  —  With his wispy frame and reserved style …
Alex Perry / The Information:
Amazon's Zoox offers free robotaxi rides to employees and other invited users in Las Vegas, after receiving approval to accept paying customers in Clark County  —  Zoox, the Amazon-backed robotaxi company, has been offering free robotaxi rides in Las Vegas to some users over an app that staff refer to as Concierge.
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Spotify updates its AI DJ to let Premium subscribers use English voice commands to personalize what music it plays, like taking artist, genre, and mood requests  —  Voice commands allow users to change the vibe or play specific artists and genres.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26  —  Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.
Zoho:
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control  —  Picture this: It's Monday morning.  You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
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.
Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
 Why humans are AI's biggest bottleneck (and what's coming in 2026) | Alexander Embiricos (OpenAI Codex Product Lead)
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:
 OpenAI's 2026 Priority, Disney's AI Play, Datacenter Buildout Trouble
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.
Hard Fork:
 Australia Kicks Kids Off Social Media + Is the A.I. Water Issue Fake? + Hard Fork Wrapped
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:
 Why the next AI frontier is phone calls, with Beside CEO Maxime Germain
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Great Chat:
 So what happens after AGI?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
 Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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.
Add your podcast here
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:45 PM ET, May 13, 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.

From Mediagazer

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Major brands were replaced by direct-response advertisers during commercial breaks of CBS News' December 13 town hall with Erika Kirk, moderated by Bari Weiss

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Arkansas PBS severs ties with the PBS network, the first state public TV system to do so since Congress cut CPB funds, citing the annual $2M+ membership cost

Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney's Zootopia 2 surpasses $1B at the global box office, the fastest PG-rated film to do so after just 17 days in release

More News

Matthew Gault / 404 Media:
Unlike most mainstream social networks, Instagram hasn't scrubbed Kanye's pro-Nazi song “Heil Hitler”, with several posts featuring the song garnering 1M+ views
Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
FTC v. Meta: the US case may come down to whether Judge James Boasberg believes blockchain social platform MeWe is a closer competitor to Instagram than TikTok

Earlier Picks

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Elliptic: Colorado-registered Xinbi Guarantee runs a Telegram black market for Chinese crypto scammers that has facilitated $8.4B in transactions since 2022
More: Elliptic.  Bluesky: @joetidy, @timmarchman, @agreenberg, @couts, @agreenberg, and @wired.com.  Mastodon: @mathewi@journa.host.  X: @tomrobin.  Forums: r/Buttcoin
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Chinese drone company DJI unveils the €2,099 Mavic 4 Pro with a 360° rotating gimbal, and says it won't be available in the US at launch, a first for its drones
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Events Newsletter