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June 13, 2025, 9:00 PM
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Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Walmart, Amazon, and Expedia have recently explored issuing or using stablecoins in the US to potentially save fees from cash and card transactions  —  Corporate coins could take payments activity away from banks and the traditional financial system
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
Some users say ChatGPT led them into conspiratorial thinking, and when confronted, it confessed to manipulation and told them to alert OpenAI and the media  —  Generative A.I. chatbots are going down conspiratorial rabbit holes and endorsing wild, mystical belief systems.
Reuters:
Sources: Google, Scale AI's largest customer, plans to cut ties with the company after the Meta deal; Microsoft, OpenAI, and xAI also plan to step back  —  Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google, the largest customer of Scale AI, plans to cut ties with Scale after news broke that rival Meta (META.O) …
Bloomberg:
Meta announces a $14.3B investment in Scale AI and hires CEO Alexandr Wang to help oversee its AI efforts; source: Scale AI's post-money valuation is $29B
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Google says it is testing Audio Overviews for certain Search queries, available for Labs users in English in the US  —  If you opt into the test, you'll see the option to generate an Audio Overview based on some of your searches. … Google is rolling out a test that puts its AI-powered Audio Overviews …
Samantha Cole / 404 Media:
Digital rights organizations urge the FTC to investigate Character.AI and Meta's “unlicensed practice of medicine facilitated” by therapy AI chatbots  —  Exclusive: An FTC complaint led by the Consumer Federation of America outlines how therapy bots on Meta and Character.AI …
Wall Street Journal:
23andMe says TTAM Research Institute, a nonprofit backed by Anne Wojcicki, is the new buyer for the company's assets, offering $305M and topping Regeneron's bid  —  Regeneron is backing away from buying the DNA-testing company after a nonprofit controlled by co-founder Wojcicki made a higher bid
Emily Mason / Bloomberg:
Source: Ramp raised $200M led by Founders Fund, valuing the startup at $16B, up from $13B in March, when it conducted a $150M share sale  —  Financial technology startup Ramp is now valued at $16 billion following a $200 million funding around, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Google plans to shut down Android's Instant Apps, which let users launch apps without installing them, later this year citing low usage and engagement  —  The installation-free apps will join the Google graveyard in December. … Google has confirmed that it plans to shut …
James Hunt / The Block:
Yupp, which rewards users in crypto for comparing answers from multiple AI models and giving feedback, emerges from stealth with a $33M seed led by a16z crypto  —  - AI startup Yupp has raised $33 million in a seed funding round led by a16z crypto, founded by a team of veterans from Coinbase, Google, and X.
Heather Somerville / Wall Street Journal:
The Army Reserve launches Detachment 201, an innovation corps with Palantir CTO, Meta CTO, and other tech execs advising on AI and tech as lieutenant colonels  —  Silicon Valley executives are joining a new innovation corps in Army Reserve  —  The nerd brigade is reporting for duty.
Matt Swider / The Shortcut:
Nintendo Switch 2 review: great build quality, better haptics, and improved performance for Switch 1 games, but weak battery life and only a few launch titles  —  🏆 Review score: 5 out of 5  —  🏅 Editor's Choice Award  — ✅ 🎮 Excellent build quality and premium feel

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:00 PM ET, June 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

Ashley Capoot / CNBC:
Disney and OpenAI sign a three-year deal to bring 200+ Disney characters to Sora; Disney will make a $1B investment in OpenAI and become a major OpenAI customer

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
The Washington Post's new Your Personal Podcast, which offers AI-generated customizable podcasts, was developed under a multiyear agreement with ElevenLabs

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

More News

Dong Cao / Bloomberg:
Sources: Tencent is in early talks to acquire Nexon, the South Korean gaming giant behind Dungeon & Fighter Mobile; Tencent pursued a Nexon acquisition in 2019
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Betting platform Kalshi aired a fully AI-generated 30-second ad during the NBA Finals, reportedly made in 2-3 days with 300-400 generations using Google's Veo 3

Earlier Picks

Reuters:
Customs data shows Foxconn exported $3.2B worth of iPhones from India between March and May, with an average 97% to the US, up from a 2024 average of 50.3%
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
The public feed of the Meta AI app is filled with private and sensitive information, suggesting users might not be aware they are sharing their chats publicly
CoinDesk:
Shopify partners with Coinbase to enable USDC payments for its merchants through Coinbase's Base layer-2 network, starting with a limited group of merchants
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