Techmeme
September 19, 2025, 10:10 PM

Top News

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI is recruiting from Apple's hardware, design, manufacturing, and supply chain teams, as it targets late 2026 or early 2027 for its first devices  —  As OpenAI's plans to make devices infused with its artificial intelligence get closer to reality, the company is increasingly plucking talent …
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:
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
Jez Corden / Windows Central:
Microsoft plans to raise Xbox Series X price by $50 to $649.99 and Series S by $20 to $399.99 starting Oct. 3, citing “changes in the macroeconomic environment”  —  The cost of gaming in America just went up — here's why.  —  The tariff situation in the United States …
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Meta CTO says the technical issues during live demos of its new smart glasses were due to a self-inflicted DDoS and a bug that put Zuckerberg's glasses to sleep  —  Meta ran into some spectacularly embarrassing technical issues during the live demos of its new smart glasses this week, and now we know why.
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Sources: xAI has raised $10B at a post-money valuation of $200B, weeks after reportedly raising $10B in debt and equity at a ~$150B valuation  —  Elon Musk's xAI is raising $10 billion from investors in a round that values the artificial intelligence startup at $200 billion, sources told CNBC's David Faber.
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.
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.
Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
Sources: Nvidia is in advanced discussions to invest $500M in UK self-driving car startup Wayve, as part of a £2B pledge for UK startups; Wayve is evaluating  —  AI chipmaker's chief tells London audience that UK's first trillion-dollar company will be an AI business
The Information:
Sources: Apple told at least two suppliers to boost their daily output of entry-level iPhone 17 by at least 30%, after strong pre-orders last weekend  —  Apple is rushing to boost production of its newly released entry-level model iPhone 17 after strong pre-orders last weekend.
Financial Times:
China introduces new rules to curb monks' and clergy's use of livestreaming and AI for unlicensed online preaching and commercial activities, following scandals  —  Rules to curb online activities of money-minded monks and clergy follows scandal at world-renowned Shaolin Temple

Sponsor Posts

ElevenLabs:
ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs  —  You know us for voice.  Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency.  Hear it for yourself.
Niantic Spatial:
World models need real-world data  —  Scaniverse is the gateway to spatial services — self-serve and built for AI and robotics.  Large-area 3D reconstruction from 360° cameras and precise localization, anywhere machines operate.
Zoho:
Digital signatures with Nafath: Secure and compliant for Saudi Arabian businesses  —  Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 focuses on growing digital-first businesses.  Zoho Sign supports this goal with a simple way to send …
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

Invest Like the Best:
Alex Karnal - The Trillion-Dollar Health Revolution
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Big Technology Podcast:
Tim Cook Steps Down — With Joanna Stern
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Grit:
From Airbnb to Linear: How Karri Saarinen Redefined Product Design
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why half of product managers are in trouble | Nikhyl Singhal (Meta, Google)
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.
Hard Fork:
A.I. Backlash Turns Violent + Kara Swisher on Healthmaxxing + The Zuck Bot Is Coming
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:10 PM ET, September 19, 2025.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Sri Muppidi / The Information:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Kieran Smith / Financial Times:
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy / Sherwood News:
Reece Rogers / Wired: