Techmeme
August 17, 2025, 12:20 AM

Top News

Anthropic:
Anthropic enables Claude Opus 4 and 4.1 to end conversations in “cases of persistently harmful or abusive user interactions”; users can still start new chats  —  We recently gave Claude Opus 4 and 4.1 the ability to end conversations in our consumer chat interfaces.
Amanda Hess / New York Times:
A look at AI-powered stuffed animals like Grem, Grok, and Gabbo, which are being promoted as an alternative to screen time for children as young as 3  —  Curio is a company that describes itself as “a magical workshop where toys come to life.”  When I recently visited its cheery headquarters …
Bobby Allyn / NPR:
A proposed class action lawsuit accuses Otter.ai of “deceptively and surreptitiously” recording private conversations to train its AI without user consent  —  A federal lawsuit seeking class-action status accuses Otter.ai of “deceptively and surreptitiously” …
More: PCMag and Mashable
Bluesky: @nealiosaurus and @ashleybraunMastodon: @pernillet@mastodon.onlineForums: r/technology
David Heaney / UploadVR:
X: @azadux, @ibrews, @heaney555, and @uploadvrForums: r/oculus
Martina Di Licosa / Forbes:
A profile of UCB CS professor Ion Stoica, a billionaire who has helped launch four startups out of his privately-funded research lab, including Databricks  —  This computer science professor became a billionaire launching four startups out of his privately-funded research lab, including unicorns Databricks and Anyscale.
Forbes:
Sources say Meta's chaotic culture and lack of vision have led to AI brain drain; Meta strongly denies it has had issues with talent and retention  —  At Meta, a chaotic culture and lack of vision have led to brain drain, with rivals saying its AI talent is lackluster.

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Zoho:
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IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Training Data:
Anthropic's Katelyn Lesse & Angela Jiang: Building an Ecosystem, not a Walled Garden
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Invest Like the Best:
John Kim - How to Raise a Few Billion Dollars
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
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Grit:
The Sales Framework Every Founder Needs | Mark Roberge
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
How tech workers actually feel about AI in 2026 | Annual AI sentiment survey (Noam Segal)
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI Finally Ships Its Superapp, Meta's AI Price War, ChatGPT Cheating At Brown
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Connecting the Unconnected: Doreen Bogdan-Martin
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.
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More News

Reuters:
Kelly Cloonan / Wall Street Journal:

Earlier Picks

Matt Kaufman / Roblox Corporate: