Techmeme
August 20, 2025, 12:50 PM

Top News

Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Google unveils the $1,799+ Pixel 10 Pro Fold, with a Tensor G5 chip, a new hinge with a gear-less design, 6.4" outer and 8" inner screens, available October 9  —  They actually did it. … Finally, a foldable to take to the beach.  The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold is official …
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Sony says it is raising PlayStation 5 prices by $50 for all models in the US due to a “challenging economic environment”, starting on August 21  —  The prices will go up by $50 for all three models. … Sony is raising the price of all PS5 models by $50 in the US due to a …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft and Asus plan to launch the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X handhelds on October 16; leaks suggest the Ally and Ally X will cost €599 and €899, respectively  —  Microsoft also has a handheld compatibility program to showcase which games run well on the new Xbox Ally devices.
Iain Martin / Forbes:
Grok's “share” button generates a unique URL that makes users' chats searchable on Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo; Google has indexed 370K+ Grok conversations  —  xAI made people's conversations with its chatbot public and searchable on Google without warning …
ProPublica:
Document: Microsoft's 2025 System Security Plan submitted to the DOD, dated February 28, failed to disclose China-based engineers maintaining DoD cloud systems  —  The tech giant is required to regularly provide U.S. officials with its plan for keeping government data safe from hacking.
Financial Times:
The Nasdaq fell 1.4% on August 19, as Nvidia dropped 3.5% and Arm 5%, with AI enthusiasm cooling after a critical report from MIT and a warning from Sam Altman  —  Warning from OpenAI's Sam Altman and MIT paper puncture Wall Street's enthusiasm  —  US tech stocks sold off as warnings …
Brian Schwartz / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Elon Musk is quietly pumping the brakes on his plans to start a US political party, telling allies he wants to focus his attention on his companies  —  The billionaire has sought to maintain ties with JD Vance, a potential heir to Trump's MAGA political movement
Tom McArthur / BBC:
Kick says it is “urgently reviewing” the circumstances around the death of a French livestreamer subjected to violence and sleep deprivation during streams  —  An investigation has been launched into the death of a French streamer known for extreme challenges.
CNBC:
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says that Intel must give the government an equity stake in the company in return for CHIPS Act funds; INTC closed up 6.97%  —  Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday that Intel must give the U.S. government an equity stake in the company in return for CHIPS Act funds.
Reuters:
Sean Endicott / Windows Central:
Microsoft adds a COPILOT function to Excel for Beta Channel users, letting them use text prompts to categorize data, summarize feedback, and brainstorm ideas  —  AI in Excel finally feels natural thanks to the new COPILOT function. … Or rather, more Copilot is being packed into the popular spreadsheet program.
Reuters:
Sources: China is considering allowing yuan-backed stablecoins to boost yuan adoption globally and its State Council may approve a roadmap later in August  —  China is considering allowing the usage of yuan-backed stablecoins for the first time to boost wider adoption of its currency globally …

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