Techmeme
May 16, 2025, 3:01 PM

Top News

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
OpenAI rolls out Codex, an AI coding agent powered by codex-1, a version of o3 optimized for software engineering, for ChatGPT Pro, Enterprise, and Team users  —  OpenAI announced on Friday it's launching a research preview of Codex, the company's most capable AI coding agent yet.
Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple denies removing Fortnite from alternative marketplaces in the EU and says it asked Epic Sweden to resubmit the app update excluding the US App Store  —  Apple Inc. and Epic Games Inc. sparred over whether the iPhone maker was obstructing access to the hit game Fortnite …
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
After Grok's “white genocide in South Africa” X replies, xAI says “an unauthorized modification was made to Grok response bot's prompt” at 3:15 AM PST on May 14  —  xAI blamed an “unauthorized modification” for a bug in its AI-powered Grok chatbot that caused Grok …
Wall Street Journal:
Facebook and Instagram face “an epidemic of scams” driven by crime networks; internal docs from 2022 say 70% of newly active Meta advertisers promote scams  —  Fake puppies and phony offers of mouthwatering bargains are often seeded by overseas crime networks …
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Microsoft says internal and external reviews found no evidence the Israeli military used its tech to harm civilians in Gaza, after months of employee protests  —  [Updated below with comments from the employee group No Azure for Apartheid.]  —  Microsoft said Thursday that it found no evidence …
Reuters:
Charter says it will acquire Cox Communications for $21.9B, valuing Cox at $34.5B including debt and uniting two of the biggest US cable and broadband operators  —  Charter Communications (CHTR.O) said on Friday it would merge with Cox Communications in a deal that would value its privately held rival …
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
Sony's Haven Studios founder Jade Raymond leaves the company; sources: some developers were worried about its first game's external test reception and progress  —  Her company, Haven Studios, is developing an online shooter title called Fairgames … PlayStation leadership didn't give Haven staff …
Hayden Field / CNBC:
Anthropic received a $2.5B, five-year revolving credit line, and says annualized revenue reached $2B in Q1 2025, up from $1B in Q1 2024  —  Earlier this week, Anthropic received a $2.5 billion, five-year revolving credit line to amp up its liquidity in an ever-expanding — and expensive …
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
SEC filing: Los Angeles-based Moonvalley, which is developing AI tools for video creation, raised $53M, bringing its total funding to about $124M, per PitchBook  —  Roughly a month after Moonvalley, a Los Angeles-based startup developing AI tools for video creation, said it secured $43 million …
Kelcee Griffis / Bloomberg:
The FCC approves Verizon's $9.6B acquisition of Frontier Communications after Verizon agreed to pare back what Brendan Carr called “invidious” DEI practices  —  The deal “will unleash billions of dollars in new infrastructure builds in communities across the country …
Lauren Goode / Wired:
US immigration attorneys: since January 2025, USCIS has significantly increased requests for more evidence on tech-related visa petitions, like H-1Bs and O-1s  —  Silicon Valley's coveted work visas are under heavy scrutiny from the Trump administration, and immigration lawyers say requests for documentation are increasing.
More: Newsweek, Trak.in, and Forbes
Bluesky: @laurengoodeX: @scobleizerLinkedIn: Christof JaritzForums: r/TrueReddit and r/politics
Camille Bromley / Columbia Journalism Review:
Q&A with Wired's Steven Levy on the evolving relationship between the tech industry and the press, media outlets' licensing deals with AI companies, and more  —  “What you find when you get into a place is always more interesting than any preconception you have.”

Sponsor Posts

Subquadratic:
Subquadratic: the LLM built for 12M-token reasoning  —  SubQ can reason across entire codebases and document sets in one pass with no RAG workarounds.  Read how SubQ 1.1 Small holds near-perfect retrieval out to 12M tokens.
Cape:
Most carriers track everything.  Cape doesn't.  —  Unlimited talk, text & data, 24-hr metadata deletion, network ID rotation, SIM-attack defense, and more.  Switch today and get 29% off for life.
Zoho:
Do you need a Zoho Partner?  Here's why working with one can benefit you.  —  Zoho offers over 60 applications, each one built for a unique use case.  From sales and marketing to finance, HR, and customer support …
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.

Featured Podcasts

The Talk Show With John Gruber:
'What's in Louie's Wallet', With Louie Mantia
The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
Subscribe to The Talk Show With John Gruber.
Big Technology Podcast:
Leopold Blows Up, OpenAI Drastically Cuts Prices, Microsoft's Best Day
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:
Open Model Wars + Claire Stapleton's Dishy Google Memoir + Substack's Slop Fight
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.
Great Chat:
Tech's short-term era
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.
Access:
Meet the most AI-pilled CEO on Earth
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
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.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:01 PM ET, May 16, 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

Bloomberg:
Matthew Guariglia / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Tom Warren / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Niket Nishant / Reuters:
Bloomberg: