Techmeme
June 21, 2025, 9:35 PM

Top News

George Hammond / Financial Times:
An interview with computational linguist Emily Bender, who coined the term “stochastic parrot”, on her AI skepticism, co-writing the book The AI Con, and more  —  The computational linguist on her motivations for taking on Big Tech, the dangers of chatbots — and why AI is just a ‘glorified Magic 8 Ball’
John Liu / CNN:
Experts say China's new national internet ID, currently voluntary, to sign in across social media apps and sites could further erode already limited freedoms  —  Hong Kong CNN —  China has mastered the craft of policing the internet, operating one of the world's most extensive online censorship and surveillance regimes.
More: The Minnesota DailyForums: r/privacy
Meaghan Tobin / New York Times:
A look at Temu, Shein, Meituan, and other Chinese companies' expansion plans in Brazil, as they face slowing domestic demand and hurdles in the US and Europe  —  Confronted with tariffs and scrutiny in the United States and Europe, Chinese consumer brands are betting that they can become household names …
Alexander Nazaryan / New York Times:
A look at DARPA's “Exponentiating Mathematics” program, which aims to speed up progress in pure mathematics by developing an AI “co-author” to conduct research  —  Breakthroughs in pure mathematics can take decades.  A new Defense Department initiative aims to speed things up using artificial intelligence.
More: DARPA
Megha Rajagopalan / New York Times:
Experts say China-linked groups have repeatedly hacked Russian companies and government agencies in search of military secrets since the war in Ukraine began  —  Since the war in Ukraine began, analysts have monitored a series of intrusions aimed at stealing information about weaponry and warfighting.
More: TechdirtBluesky: @samspade1941 and @metacurity.comMastodon: @davidho@mastodon.worldLinkedIn: Isaac Stone Fish
New York Times:
Microsoft suspending an ICC judge's email account raised alarms across EU about how dependent its governments, businesses, and citizens are on US tech companies  —  To comply with a Trump executive order, Microsoft recently suspended the email account of an International Criminal Court prosecutor …
Ellen Huet / Bloomberg:
A profile of Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang, whose ties to influential people in the AI industry and the GOP could give Meta leverage over its competitors  —  Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang is such an enthusiastic networker that his former roommate — OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman …

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Featured Podcasts

Access:
A top iPhone app developer reacts to Apple's new Siri
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Hard Fork:
'Hard Fork' Live, Part 1: Satya Nadella and Cindy Cohn
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.
The Upstarts Podcast:
TBC's Alex Ksendzovsky: The Neurosurgeon Using Brain Cells To Build Better AI
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
BG2 Pod:
The SpaceX IPO, Fable 5, AI Capex Update & Market Check w/ Gavin Baker, Andrew Fox & Clark Tang
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
All about Interest Rates
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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.
 

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Earlier Picks

Jonathan Greig / The Record:
Ina Fried / Axios:
Alex Heath / The Verge: