Techmeme
September 20, 2025, 11:35 AM

Top News

Emmett Lindner / New York Times:
Trump appears to suggest Xi Jinping approved a deal to divest TikTok's US operations during a call, but neither side elaborated on what the approval entailed  —  The president wrote on Truth Social, “appreciate the TikTok approval,” after a call with China's top leader, Xi Jinping.
Reuters:
Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in and boarding systems, confirms a “cyber-related disruption” as Heathrow and other European airports report issues  —  - London's Heathrow, airports in Berlin, Brussels affected by disruption  — RTX experiencing ‘cyber-related disruption’ in airport software
xAI:
xAI launches Grok 4 Fast, a multimodal model with a 2M context window and a unified architecture that combines reasoning and non-reasoning modes  —  Pushing the Frontier of Cost-Efficient Intelligence  —  We're thrilled to present Grok 4 Fast, our latest advancement in cost-efficient reasoning models.
Reuters:
The Trump administration says it would require companies to pay an annual $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, a move that could significantly impact the tech industry  —  - Visas are used principally by tech sector  — Over 70% of beneficiaries of H-1B visas enter US from India
More: The White House, Associated Press, Business Insider, The White House, Bloomberg Law, Business Today, CNN, Forbes Middle East, Breitbart, Times of India, The Economic Times, Bloomberg, Times of India, Financial Express, CBS News, Inc42 Media, Al Jazeera, Moneycontrol, The Indian Express, San Francisco Chronicle, Press Trust of India, Hindustan Times, Washington Post, NDTV Profit, Engadget, Livemint, Reuters, Türkiye Today, Fortune India, Modern Diplomacy, Tech Xplore, TechCrunch, The Guardian, Benzinga, Wall Street Journal, The Register, The American Bazaar, Le Monde, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Implicator.ai, The Information, Baller Alert, Business Insider, @amuse, Sky News, NBC News, Daily Sabah, Newsweek, Financial Times, The Daily Caller, Axios, The Independent, MacDailyNews, Watcher Guru, and Politico
Robert Booth / The Guardian:
Meta faces a backlash after using Instagram photos of teenage schoolgirls, posted by their parents with visible faces and names, to promote Threads to a man  —  Exclusive: Instagram pictures of girls as young as 13 were posted to promote Threads site ‘as bait’, campaigner says
Isabelle Bousquette / Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft says it will bring a $3.3B data center in Wisconsin online in early 2026 and calls it “the world's most powerful AI datacenter”  —  The $3.3 billion project in Wisconsin is expected to come online in early 2026, said Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith.
Bailey Lipschultz / Bloomberg:
BitGo's S-1 shows it had net income of $12.6M on revenue of $4.19B in H1 2025, compared with net income of $30.9M on revenue of $1.12B a year earlier  —  BitGo Holdings Inc. has filed for an initial public offering in the US, adding to an active market for digital assets.
Washington Post:
Tests show OpenAI's Sora can closely mimic Netflix shows, movies, TikTok videos, and Twitch streams, suggesting it was trained on versions of such content  —  Tests by The Post suggest the training data for OpenAI's video generators Sora included versions of movies, TikTok clips and Netflix shows.

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Featured Podcasts

Access:
OpenClaw for normies is here
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
When AI Kills
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI vs. Anthropic's Direct Faceoff + Future of Agents — With Aaron Levie
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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Great Chat:
OpenAI's new media M&A and old media exposé
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
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Invest Like the Best:
Alan Waxman - Private Credit and the Modern Financial System
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work
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.
 

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Earlier Picks

Jez Corden / Windows Central:
The Information:
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: