Techmeme
September 26, 2025, 5:30 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: EA is nearing a deal to go private in a leveraged buyout valuing EA at ~$50B; investors include Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia's PIF; EA closes up 14.87%  —  Investors including Silver Lake eyeing deal that would likely be the largest leveraged buyout ever
Dylan Butts / CNBC:
China and its media are quiet about the TikTok deal, a notable silence as China can still decide the app's fate; Chinese social media chatter has been limited  —  Following U.S. President Donald Trump's approval of a deal that could keep TikTok alive in the U.S. on Thursday …
Bloomberg:
The Trump administration's $14B valuation of TikTok's US business falls well below previous estimates of around $40B, considered a bargain by investors  —  The $14 billion valuation that the Trump administration has estimated for TikTok's US business falls well below projections …
Bloomberg:
Sources: ByteDance may get ~50% of TikTok US' overall profit, including a licensing fee of 20% of revenue, despite selling majority ownership to US investors  —  TikTok's Chinese parent company will likely get about half of the profit from the platform's US operation even after it sells majority ownership …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple has developed an internal ChatGPT-like iPhone app, code-named Veritas, to help test and prepare for a major Siri overhaul next year  —  Apple Inc. has developed a ChatGPT-like iPhone app to help test and prepare for a long-anticipated overhaul of Siri coming next year, according to people familiar with the matter.
MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:
Anthropic plans to triple its global workforce and expand its applied AI team 5x in 2025, after growing its business clients from ~1K to 300K+ in two years  —  Anthropic is stepping up its global enterprise ambitions.  —  The $183 billion artificial intelligence startup has grown …
Amrith Ramkumar / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Trump administration is considering requiring chipmakers to produce as many chips in the US as they import, with tariffs on those who fail to comply  —  Administration wants domestic manufacturing to match imports and would impose tariffs on those companies that don't step up production
Bloomberg:
Meta plans to launch paid, ad-free versions of Instagram and Facebook in the UK, each costing £2.99 per month on the web, and £3.99 on iOS and Android  —  Meta Platforms Inc. will soon offer paid versions of Facebook and Instagram in the UK that will remove advertising from both platforms.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
YouTube is testing AI hosts, who will share stories and trivia about the music users are listening to, in the YouTube Music app through its new Labs program  —  The hosts will share stories and trivia about the music you're listening to. … YouTube is adding AI hosts to radio and mixes …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Kraken is in advanced talks to raise $200M to $300M from a strategic investor at a valuation of ~$20B, after recently raising $500M at a $15B valuation  —  Kraken is in advanced talks to raise new funding that could value the crypto exchange at about $20 billion …
Kate Whannel / BBC:
The UK unveils plans for a digital ID, which will be required to work in the country, to combat illegal immigration; the ID will be stored on people's phones  —  Digital ID will be mandatory in order to work in the UK, as part of plans to tackle illegal migration.
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Microsoft and Asus open preorders for the first Xbox handhelds, the ROG Xbox Ally for $599 and the ROG Xbox Ally X for $999 in the US, shipping October 16  —  Xbox Ally X and Xbox Ally go on sale with PC-like prices, with preorders starting today. … Today, Microsoft and Asus …
Joice Alves / Reuters:
A look at the use of tools like ChatGPT by retail investors to pick stocks, fueling a robo-advisory market boom, as experts warn of solely relying on AI  —  - Robo-advisory market projected to grow 600% by 2029  — Half of retail investors open to using AI tools, survey finds

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
Beyond violation rates: Are your AI evaluations measuring the right things?  —  Structured eval design can improve both the breadth of behaviors tested and the interpretability of resulting failures.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
Ask an Expert: How to effectively recover stuck TDS refunds with reduced TDS reconciliation time  —  The 26AS/Form 168 gets updated quarterly and often gets checked only during the time of ITR filing.
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:
Google's AI Infrastructure Chief, Amin Vahdat, on the Physics & Economics of Frontier AI
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:
Andrew Huberman - The Frontier of Neurotechnology
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:
Who Wins The AI Assistant Wars? + Why Didn't Google Build Muse?
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.
Sources:
Reflection's founders on building a DeepSeek of the West
Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
Subscribe to Sources.
Grit:
How Vercel Is Rethinking Go-to-Market With AI | COO Jeanne Grosser
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
OpenAI's Head of ChatGPT: We're entering a new era of AI (again) | Tibo Sottiaux
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:30 PM ET, September 26, 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

Michael Nuñez / Venturebeat:
Jacob Judah / MIT Technology Review:
Elissa Welle / The Verge:
Frederic Lardinois / The New Stack:

Earlier Picks

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Juby Babu / Reuters:
Hayden Field / The Verge: