Techmeme
June 19, 2025, 8:45 AM

Top News

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Nobitex, Iran's largest crypto exchange, says it was hacked, and pro-Israel group Predatory Sparrow takes credit; Elliptic: the hackers stole and “burned” $90M+  —  Iran's largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, said Wednesday that it was hacked and funds have been drained from its hot wallet.
Matt Kapko / CyberScoop:
Andrew R. Chow / Time:
An MIT study of 54 people: writing SAT essays using ChatGPT had the lowest brain engagement and poorer neural performance than using Google Search or no tools  —  Does ChatGPT harm critical thinking abilities?  A new study from researchers at MIT's Media Lab has returned some concerning results.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Microsoft plans to announce thousands of job cuts, particularly in sales, in early July following its fiscal year end, after cutting 6,000 jobs in May  —  The cuts are expected to be announced early next month, following the end of Microsoft's fiscal year, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Information:
Source: Meta is in advanced talks to hire Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross to help lead its AI efforts and maybe partly buy out their VC fund, NFDG, worth billions  —  Meta Platforms is in advanced talks to hire the prominent artificial intelligence investors Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross …
Financial Times:
Sources: Microsoft is prepared to walk away from high-stakes OpenAI negotiations if they cannot agree on critical issues, such as the size of Microsoft's stake  —  ChatGPT maker's plans to convert into a for-profit leads software giant to make contingency plans
Bloomberg:
Texas Instruments plans to spend $60B+ on US chip plants, including two new factories in Sherman, Texas, and says its long-term spending plan remains unchanged  —  The company said its long-term capital spending plan remains unchanged.  The total includes amounts allotted to plants …
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Korean media: Google switching from Samsung's foundry to TSMC for its upcoming Pixel 10 series' Tensor G5 chip was a “shock” and is a wake-up call for Samsung  —  According to a new report, Google's switch from Samsung's foundry to TSMC for the Tensor G5 chip in the upcoming Pixel 10 series was a …
Carl Franzen / VentureBeat:
Midjourney launches V1, its first AI video generation model, letting subscribers animate images via its website; video tasks will cost ~8x more than image tasks  —  Popular AI image generation service Midjourney has launched its first AI video generation model V1, marking a pivotal shift …
Washington Post:
The US State Department restarts student visa interviews and requires all applicants to make their social media accounts public for vetting by US embassies  —  The new requirements could affect hundreds of thousands of visa applications each year, raising concerns about staffing requirements.
MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:
The US DOJ seizes $225.3M in crypto linked to “pig butchering” scams of 400+ victims, marking “the largest cryptocurrency seizure in US Secret Service history”  —  The Justice Department announced Wednesday the largest-ever U.S. seizure of cryptocurrency linked to so-called …
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Meta says it is adding support for passkeys to Facebook for iOS and Android “soon”, and will begin rolling out passkeys to Messenger “in the coming months”  —  Using your device security instead of a password makes it harder to get tricked into giving up your Facebook account.
Sophie Shulman / CTech:
Wix acquires Base44, which lets users build apps from text prompts, for $80M; Base44 was founded by a solo entrepreneur six months ago and employs six people  —  31-year-old Maor Shlomo built the viral AI app-maker as a side project that began last year during a post-reserve trip.
Federico Viticci / MacStories:
An interview with Apple SVP Craig Federighi on the journey to iPadOS' windowing system and menu bar, the iPad's essence as a “magical piece of glass”, and more  —  It's a cool, sunny morning at Apple Park as I'm walking my way along the iconic glass ring to meet with Apple's SVP …
Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:

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Featured Podcasts

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Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
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More News

Ellen Barry / New York Times:

Earlier Picks

Lisa Stiffler / GeekWire:
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Kayla Cobb / The Wrap: