Techmeme
September 4, 2025, 9:00 AM

Top News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple plans an AI search tool, World Knowledge Answers, for a spring 2026 Siri revamp; Apple and Google have agreed to test a Google AI model for Siri  —  Apple Inc. is planning to launch its own artificial intelligence-powered web search tool next year, stepping up competition with OpenAI and Perplexity AI Inc.
Financial Times:
Despite a setback in the US DOJ's Google case, the Trump administration continues to pursue Big Tech antitrust cases while defending US tech companies overseas  —  Tough enforcement continues even as tech bosses court the president  —  Donald Trump has slapped down European tech rules and promised to slash regulation at home.
Steve Lohr / New York Times:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Roblox will expand age checks to all users of its communication tools by the end of 2025 using facial age estimation tech, ID verification, and parental consent  —  Amid lawsuits alleging child safety concerns, online gaming service Roblox announced on Wednesday that it's expanding …
Margaret Attridge / Courthouse News Service:
A US jury orders Google to pay $425M+ to plaintiffs in a 2020 class action lawsuit for collecting data even after they turned off Web & App Activity tracking  —  A class of nearly 100 million Google users claimed the tech giant secretly collected data even after they disabled data collection …
France 24:
France's CNIL fines Google €325M for placing tracking cookies and ads in Gmail without users' consent; Google says it is reviewing the decision  —  France's data protection authority on Wednesday issued record fines against search giant Google and fast-fashion platform Shein for failing to respect the law on internet cookies.
Benj Edwards / Ars Technica:
Tencent releases HunyuanWorld-Voyager, an open-weights AI model that generates 3D-consistent video sequences from a single image, trained on 100K+ video clips  —  On Tuesday, Tencent released HunyuanWorld-Voyager, a new open-weights AI model that generates 3D-consistent video sequences from a single image …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: xAI CFO Mike Liberatore left the startup around the end of July, after joining in April; xAI has seen several high-profile departures in recent weeks  —  Mike Liberatore departs after only a few months on the job  —  The chief financial officer of xAI has left the company …
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Atlassian agrees to acquire The Browser Company for $610M in cash, set to close by December; the startup, founded in 2019, develops the Dia browser, now in beta  —  Atlassian said it has agreed to acquire The Browser Company, a startup that offers a web browser with artificial intelligence features, for $610 million in cash.
Lydia Beyoud / Bloomberg:
Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan says Polymarket “has been given the green light to go live” in the US after the CFTC issued a no-action letter over event contracts  —  Polymarket, the crypto-based prediction market, has the regulatory approvals needed to launch in the US …
The Hill:
CEOs of Apple, Google, Meta, OpenAI, and others are expected to attend an AI event hosted by Melania Trump and dinner at the White House Rose Garden on Thursday  —  President Trump on Thursday will host two dozen high-profile tech and business leaders for the first event …
Ashley Capoot / CNBC:
C3 AI reports Q1 revenue down 19% YoY to $70.3M, and names long-time tech executive Stephen Ehikian as CEO, replacing Thomas Siebel; C3 AI falls 10%+  —  Shares of the enterprise artificial intelligence company C3 AI fell 14% in extended trading on Wednesday after it announced fiscal …
Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Samsung unveils the $650+ Galaxy S25 FE and $800+ Tab S11 series in 11" and 14.6", offering thinner, lighter designs alongside modest upgrades, shipping now  —  If you've been eagerly awaiting Samsung's long-teased trifold phone or Project Moohan XR headset, the company's IFA launches may feel …
Reuters:
American Bitcoin closed up 16.5% in its Nasdaq debut on September 3, valuing Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.'s stake in the bitcoin mining company at $1.5B  —  A bitcoin company tied to President Donald Trump's two oldest sons more than doubled in value in its stock market debut on Wednesday …
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Figma reports Q2 revenue up 41% YoY to $249.6M, vs. $248.8M est., $28.2M net income, and forecasts Q3 and FY 2025 revenue above est.; FIG drops 14%+  —  Figma shares plunged 13% in extended trading on Wednesday after the design software company reported results for the first time since its IPO in July.
CNBC:
More: The Information and Benzinga
X: @drbarnard and @bgurleyLinkedIn: MacKenzie SigalosBluesky: @edzitron.comForums: r/OpenAI
Mia Sato / The Verge:
Meta launches Instagram for iPadOS, 15 years after its iOS debut; the app is slightly different than the mobile version, most notably opening directly to Reels  —  The long-requested app will feature Reels prominently on the homepage. … After years of requests from users, Instagram will finally have a dedicated app for iPad.
Reuters:
Research and 25 experts, victims, and execs: North Korean hackers are saturating the crypto industry with credible-seeming job offers in a bid to steal crypto  —  North Korean hackers are saturating the cryptocurrency industry with credible-sounding job offers as part of their campaign to steal digital cash …
More: SentinelOne
Michael Hirsh / Politico:
As the Pentagon rushes to deploy AI into its weapons systems, some experts fear humans can't keep pace with AI's aggressive tendency to escalate in a crisis  —  Jacquelyn Schneider saw a disturbing pattern, and she didn't know what to make of it.  —  Last year Schneider …

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More News

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Brody Ford / Bloomberg:
Hayden Field / The Verge: