Techmeme
May 20, 2025, 7:10 AM

Top News

Emma Roth / The Verge:
GitHub announces an AI coding agent for GitHub Copilot that can fix bugs, add features, improve docs, and more, and open-sources GitHub Copilot in VS Code  —  The AI coding agent will start working once a developer assigns it a task. … GitHub is launching an AI coding agent that can do things …
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Microsoft open-sources the Windows Subsystem for Linux, launched in 2016, and makes it available on GitHub, except for a few Windows-specific components  —  Microsoft has open-sourced the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), making its source code available on GitHub, except for a few components that are part of Windows.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
Trump signs the Take It Down Act, criminalizing the distribution of nonconsensual intimate content and requiring platforms to promptly remove it when notified  —  The bill sailed through Congress with a focus on deepfakes and other nonconsensual intimate images.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Nintendo picked Samsung to make Switch 2 chips, aiming to ramp output and sell 20M+ units by March 2026, a key win for Samsung as it competes with TSMC  —  Securing a contract for one of the summer's hottest new gadgets will likely help lift utilization or boost business for the Korean conglomerate's chip foundries.
Washington Post:
Investigation: New Orleans police secretly scanned city streets with 200+ facial recognition cameras for two years, seemingly defying a 2022 city ordinance  —  Following records requests from The Post, officials paused the first known, widespread live facial recognition program used by police in the United States.
Clare Duffy / CNN:
The US House Budget Committee advances a budget bill that would ban US states from enforcing any law regulating AI for 10 years; the bill now goes to the House  —  New York CNN —  —  More than 100 organizations are raising alarms about a provision in the House's sweeping tax …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
SAG-AFTRA files an NLRB unfair labor practice charge against Epic's Llama Productions for using AI to recreate James Earl Jones' Darth Vader voice in Fortnite  —  The actors union said Epic-owned Llama Productions “chose to replace the work of human performers with AI technology” …
Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:
The US Senate advances the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin bill, after a group of Democrats dropped their opposition, marking a major win for the crypto industry  —  Stablecoin legislation overcame a procedural blockade in the US Senate, marking a major victory for the crypto industry after a group …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft adds xAI's Grok 3 and Grok 3 mini to its Azure AI Foundry service; sources say Satya Nadella had been pushing for Microsoft to host Grok  —  Grok 3 and Grok 3 mini are both coming to Microsoft's Azure AI Foundry service. … I reported in my Notepad newsletter earlier this month …
Wall Street Journal:
Analysis: only four of the top 50 tech companies are European, and none of the top 10 quantum companies are in Europe, as the continent lags the US and China  —  A risk-averse business culture and complex regulations have stifled innovation on the continent, weighing on its future
Bloomberg:
Chinese government data: smartphone exports including iPhones fell 72% MoM to $688.5M in April, the lowest since 2011, outpacing a 21% drop in overall shipments  —  Smartphone exports slid 72% to just under $700 million last month, sharply outpacing an overall 21% drop in Chinese shipments to the US …
More: MacRumors
New York Times:
President Trump's recent Middle East trip helped Elon Musk's SpaceX and Neuralink to cut deals, deepening Musk's ties with the region's autocratic monarchies  —  The world's richest man inked new deals as he tagged along on Trump's tour of the Gulf.  —  President Trump's recent trip …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Sam Altman had sought to delegate more responsibility for months before hiring Fidji Simo, an adept and detail-oriented manager, in contrast to Altman  —  Fidji Simo is leaving Instacart for a newly created role at Sam Altman's startup as it prepares for a potential public offering

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More News

Bloomberg:
Luisa Beltran / Fortune:

Earlier Picks

CNBC:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Twinnie Siu / Bloomberg:
Ryan Gallagher / Bloomberg:
Dean Seal / Wall Street Journal: