Techmeme
July 18, 2025, 9:00 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:
President Trump signs the GENIUS Act, and says the first federal bill to regulate stablecoins will “secure the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency”  —  President Donald Trump signed the first federal bill to regulate stablecoins, hailing it as a “giant step …
Bloomberg:
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins says the GENIUS Act is a “historic step” and the SEC is weighing an “innovation exemption” from regulations to incentivize tokenization  —  The Securities and Exchange Commission is weighing an innovation exemption from regulations to incentivize tokenization …
Washington Post:
Gian Volpicelli / Bloomberg:
Joel Kaplan says Meta won't sign EU's AI code of practice, calling its guidelines overreach that will throttle development and deployment of AI models in Europe  —  Meta Platforms Inc. said it won't sign the code of practice for Europe's new set of laws governing artificial intelligence …
Eleanor Hawkins / Axios:
Source: the CEO and the chief people officer of Astronomer were put on leave after a video of them cuddling on a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert went viral  —  Astronomer — the software company that made headlines after a video of its CEO Andy Byron and chief people officer Kristin Cabot canoodling …
Eugene Kim / Business Insider:
Zac Bowden / Windows Central:
Microsoft shuts down the Movies & TV storefront on the Microsoft Store on Windows and Xbox; users will continue to be able to access their past purchases  —  After 12 years, Microsoft is shutting down its storefront that let Windows and Xbox users buy or rent Movies & TV shows natively on the platform.
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Apple sues YouTuber Jon Prosser and an Apple staffer's friend over iOS 26 leaks, for allegedly accessing the staffer's iPhone; Prosser denies the claim  —  Earlier this year, YouTuber Jon Prosser shared multiple videos showing off what he claimed to be re-created renderings of what was then presumed …
Sabrina Ortiz / ZDNET:
Adobe updates its Firefly video model and adds a beta Generate Sound Effects tool that can create custom sounds from text prompts and the user's voice  —  Just a year and a half ago, the latest and greatest of Adobe's Firefly generative AI offerings involved producing high-quality images …
Jessica Lyons / The Register:
Google files a lawsuit in the US against 25 unnamed individuals in China, accusing them of operating the BadBox 2.0 botnet, compromising 10M+ devices worldwide  —  Ads giant complains of damage to its reputation and finances ... and crime, too  —  Google has filed a lawsuit …
Ari Levy / CNBC:
S&P Global says Block will join the S&P 500 on July 23, after announcing Monday that ad tech firm The Trade Desk will also be added; XYZ jumps 9%+ after hours  —  Block shares jumped more than 10% in extended trading on Friday, as the fintech company get set to join the S&P 500, replacing Hess.
Osmond Chia / BBC:
Ted Sarandos says The Eternaut featured the first GenAI final footage in a Netflix original and that the VFX costs would have been too high otherwise  —  Netflix says it has used visual effects created by generative artificial intelligence (AI) in one of its original TV shows for the first time.
Reuters:
Source: Blackstone has withdrawn from the consortium led by Susquehanna and General Atlantic seeking to invest in TikTok US, after considering a minority stake  —  Private equity giant Blackstone has withdrawn from a consortium seeking to invest in TikTok's U.S. operations, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
More: Bloomberg

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More News

Sidhartha Shukla / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Lora Kolodny / CNBC:
Hayden Field / The Verge:
Tom Hals / Reuters:
Jay Peters / The Verge: