Open Links In New Tab
Mobile Archives Advertise Site News
Techmeme
May 20, 2025, 3:35 PM
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Events Newsletter

Top News

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
Google's AI Mode, its chatbot for Search, rolls out to everyone in the US and will include features like Deep Search, agentic capabilities, and chart generation  —  Google has begun rolling out AI Mode to every Search user in the US.  The company announced the expansion during its I/O 2025 conference.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google launches Google AI Ultra, a subscription plan with the highest usage limits and access to its most capable models, rolling out in the US for $250/month  —  To date, AI Premium is how you access the latest features from Google.  At I/O 2025, that subscription tier is being renamed to …
Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
Google says Project Astra will power new capabilities in Search, including a new Search Live feature, as well as in the Gemini AI app and third-party products  —  Google announced on Tuesday during Google I/O 2025 that Project Astra — the company's low latency, multimodal AI experience …
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Google will soon let users shop in AI Mode, unveils agentic checkout, and updates its virtual try-on feature in Search Labs for clothes shoppers in the US  —  There's also a new way to find products you're looking for in AI Mode. … Google is taking its virtual try-on feature to a new level.
CNBC:
Google announces new video and image generation models Veo 3 and Imagen 4, alongside a new AI filmmaking tool Flow and expanded access to Lyria 2  —  Google on Tuesday announced Veo 3, an AI video generator that can also create and incorporate audio.  —  The artificial intelligence tool competes …
Taryn Plumb / VentureBeat:
Google debuts Deep Think, an enhanced reasoning mode in Gemini 2.5 Pro that it says excels at math and coding, available to “trusted testers” via the Gemini API
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple plans to unveil at WWDC an SDK and related frameworks to let third-party devs build AI features based on LLMs it uses for Apple Intelligence  —  Apple Inc. is preparing to allow third-party developers to write software using its artificial intelligence models …
Google on YouTube:
A recording of the Google I/O 2025 keynote  —  It's time to I/O!  Tune in to learn the latest news, announcements, and AI updates from Google.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Google unveils Gemini in Chrome, which initially works across just two tabs but will eventually support many and be agentic, for Google AI Pro and Ultra users  —  Google's AI assistant will be able to help you while you browse. … Google is adding its Gemini AI assistant to Chrome, the company announced at Google I/O on Tuesday.
Victoria Song / The Verge:
Google says it is partnering with Samsung, Gentle Monster, Xreal, and Warby Parker to create Android XR smart glasses, offering AI assistance via Gemini  —  With smart glasses, Google seems to be taking a page out of Meta and Ray-Ban's book. … Google's second era of smart glasses is off to a chic start.
Amanda Kooser / CNET:
Google previews Beam, an evolution of its Starline 3D video calling tech it developed with HP, that uses a six-camera array for more immersive video chats
Billy Steele / Engadget:
Google brings live translation to Google Meet, matching the user's tone and cadence, first in beta for Spanish and English on Google AI Pro and Ultra plans  —  If you find Google's live translation tools useful, you'll soon be able to use them more naturally during video calls and meetings.
Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Civitai blames a “configuration issue” for allowing users to generate non-consensual porn; it appears that users can still create such videos of non-celebrities  —  404 Media found that people were using Civitai to create nonconsensual AI porn videos of anyone for a small price.
More: ZDNET and The Verge
Bluesky: @emanuelmaiberg and @josephcox.  Mastodon: @jbhall56@infosec.exchange
Forums: r/law and r/politics
Financial Times:
UK tech unicorn Builder.ai, backed by Microsoft, Qatar, and others, says it is entering insolvency proceedings due to financial and past leadership “problems”  —  Once high-flying group founded by Sachin Dev Duggal says its was unable to recover from ‘past decisions’
Ryan S. Gladwin / Decrypt:
Michael Arrington says Coinbase's recent data breach “will lead to people dying”, calls for KYC rules reassessment and prison for execs failing to protect users  —  The founder of online news publication TechCrunch has claimed that Coinbase's recent data breach “will lead to people dying …
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
The ad-supported web is dying, and the next development to accelerate this may be the agentic web, which Microsoft is pushing via NLWeb and MCP support  —  Ethan Zuckerman wrote in The Atlantic in 2014: … Marc Andreessen, who was there when the web was born, explained in a 2019 podcast …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Nintendo picked Samsung to produce the Switch 2's main chips, aiming to 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.
Wall Street Journal:
Analysis: four of the world's 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
Politico:
France says it banned Telegram founder Pavel Durov on May 12 from going to the US for “negotiations with investment funds”, after arresting him in August 2024  —  The Russian-born entrepreneur is not allowed to leave France without permission following his August arrest.
New York Times:
President Trump's recent Middle East trip helped Elon Musk's SpaceX and Neuralink cut lucrative deals, deepening Musk's ties to the Gulf's autocratic monarchies  —  The world's richest man inked new deals as he tagged along on President Trump's tour of the Gulf.

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.
Sponsor Techmeme

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.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
 Anthropic's quest to study the negative effects of AI is under pressure
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Add your podcast here
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:35 PM ET, May 20, 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

Dominic-Madori Davis / TechCrunch:
A look at Hamlet, a startup that uses AI to process local government meeting videos and which plans to provide the tool to local journalists for free

Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:
A look at Paramount's culture shift under David Ellison, where the focus is on male-driven action movies, and not on prestige films seen as critics' darlings

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
WBD CEO David Zaslav, criticized for cutting costs, scrapping movies, and laying off thousands, may end up having the last laugh thanks to the Netflix-WBD deal

More News

Bloomberg:
Malaysia downplays its deal to use 3,000 Huawei chips to build a first-of-its-kind AI system by 2026, underscoring its delicate position in the US-China AI race

Earlier Picks

Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:
The US Senate advances the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin bill, after a group of Democrats dropped their opposition on May 19, a major victory for the crypto industry
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
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
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Events Newsletter