Techmeme
July 8, 2025, 9:50 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple says COO Jeff Williams will retire later this year, and Sabih Khan, Apple's SVP of Operations, will take over much of his role later this month  —  Apple Inc. Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams is retiring as the company's longtime No. 2, marking a major changing of the guard at an already tumultuous time for the iPhone maker.
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple says its design team will report to Tim Cook after Jeff Williams retires; Williams was overseeing the team following Evans Hankey's departure in 2023  —  Apple today announced that COO Jeff Williams will retire later this year, with Sabih Khan set to assume the COO role later this month.
NBC News:
Washington Post:
Sources: an impostor used AI to mimic Marco Rubio's voice and writing style and contacted foreign ministers, a US governor, and a member of Congress  —  The unknown individual contacted at least five government officials, including three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor and a member of Congress, according to a State Department cable.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Meta has bought under 3% of Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, a stake worth ~€3B, and is considering further investment that could build the stake to ~5%  —  Facebook parent Meta acquired just under 3% of Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica, a stake worth around €3 billion …
Jody Godoy / Reuters:
A US appeals court blocks the FTC's “click-to-cancel” rule that would have taken effect on July 14, saying it didn't conduct a preliminary cost-benefit analysis  —  A U.S. appeals court blocked a rule that would have required businesses to make it as easy to cancel subscriptions …
Natasha Singer / New York Times:
The American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest US teachers' union, says it will open an AI training hub with $23M from Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic  —  The American Federation of Teachers said it would use the $23 million, including $500,000 from the A.I. start-up Anthropic, to create a national training center.
Anton Shilov / Tom's Hardware:
GlobalFoundries agrees to acquire MIPS, a developer of RISC-V-based solutions and IP, with the deal expected to close in H2 2025  —  For an unknown sum.  —  GlobalFoundries announced on Tuesday that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MIPS, a developer of RISC-V-based solutions and IP.
Wired:
Internal Slack message: OpenAI has hired four high-profile engineers from Tesla, xAI, and Meta, including David Lau, former VP of software engineering at Tesla  —  The new hires are joining OpenAI's scaling team, according to an internal Slack message sent by cofounder Greg Brockman.
Financial Times:
Italy arrests Chinese citizen Xu Zewei; a source says Xu is linked to hacking group Hafnium that breached Microsoft in 2021 to steal COVID-19 vaccine secrets  —  Xu Zewei suspected of links to Beijing-backed group accused by Washington of stealing Covid-19 vaccine secrets
Jack Ryan / Bloomberg:
El Salvador-based Tether says it holds nearly 80 tons of gold, worth ~$8B, in a vault in Switzerland; precious metals made up nearly 5% of its reserves in March  —  Tether Holdings SA, the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin, has its own vault in Switzerland to hold an $8 billion stockpile of gold …
Niket Nishant / Reuters:
ReserveOne, a cryptocurrency holding company with bitcoin, ethereum, and Solana, plans to list on the Nasdaq through a SPAC deal expected to raise $1B+  —  ReserveOne, a new cryptocurrency holding company with ties to industry veterans and a former U.S. commerce secretary …
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:
Source: Activision pulled Call of Duty: WWII after hackers exploited a flaw in a PC version, which led to some players getting their computers hacked  —  Games giant Activision took down Call of Duty: WWII due to hackers exploiting a flaw in a specific PC version of the game …
More: Stevivor and Eurogamer.net
Bluesky: @quinnypig.com and @lorenzofb
Forums: r/technology and Slashdot
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Waymo introduces teen accounts in Phoenix, allowing teenagers aged 14-17 to use its Waymo One ridehailing service alone with parental approval  —  The robotaxi company is betting parents will trust its technology enough to allow their kids to ride unaccompanied.

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control  —  Picture this: It's Monday morning.  You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.
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.

Featured Podcasts

Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Saam Motamedi from Greylock Partners
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Invest Like the Best:
Henry Ellenbogen - Man Versus Machine
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Grit:
How Evan Spiegel Is Building the Future of Computing
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Acquired:
10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)
Learn the playbooks that built the world's greatest companies - and how you can apply them as a founder, operator, or investor.
Subscribe to Acquired.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why humans are AI's biggest bottleneck (and what's coming in 2026) | Alexander Embiricos (OpenAI Codex Product Lead)
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.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:50 PM ET, July 8, 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.

More News

Wall Street Journal:
Swati Gupta / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Stephen Nellis / Reuters:
Laura Onita / Financial Times:
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
Financial Times: