Techmeme
September 30, 2025, 12:20 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Amazon unveils the $220 Echo Studio, its high-end speaker for audiophiles, 8" and 11" Echo Show for $180 and $220, and the $100 Echo Dot Max, all with Alexa+  —  New speakers include revamped look, upgraded silicon and integration with Alexa+ subscription service.
Andrew Liszewski / The Verge:
Amazon updates the Kindle Scribe, including a $630 Kindle Scribe Colorsoft with a larger 11-inch E Ink display, lower weight at 400g, and a 5.4mm thin body  —  The Kindle Scribe is getting a big redesign this year. … Amazon announced new versions of the Kindle Scribe today including …
Ryan Epps / Tom's Guide:
Spotify:
Spotify says Daniel Ek will step down as CEO and become executive chairman in January 2026, and names CPTO Gustav Söderström and CBO Alex Norström as co-CEOs  —  Today, Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) announced that Founder and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek will transition to the role …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Amazon's Ring unveils the $200 Outdoor Cam Pro, $250 Spotlight Cam Pro, $280 Floodlight Cam Pro with Retinal Vision, a Search Party tool to find pets, and more  —  Company also rolls out new TV sets and upgraded home security products from Ring and Blink.  —  Amazon.com Inc. is revamping …
Wall Street Journal:
Filing: YouTube will pay $24.5M to settle a 2021 Trump lawsuit over suspending his account after January 6, the last Big Tech company to settle his lawsuits  —  Google subsidiary is the last of three Big Tech companies to resolve personal litigation Trump filed against social-media platforms
Chase DiFeliciantonio / Politico:
California Governor Gavin Newsom signs SB 53 into law; the first-in-the-nation AI safety law requires AI companies to disclose their safety testing regimes  —  “California has proven that we can establish regulations to protect our communities while also ensuring that the growing AI industry continues to thrive.
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
A Russian YouTuber posts an unboxing of the alleged M5 iPad Pro, which looks identical to the M4 model; the same YouTuber leaked the M4 MacBook Pro in 2024  —  Remember last year when an unboxing video of the M4 MacBook Pro leaked before it was even announced?  Well, it's happened again.
Financial Times:
How Jared Kushner and Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban brokered the EA takeover using Kushner's deep Saudi Arabia ties; sources: Kushner's firm will own ~5% of EA  —  Trump's son-in-law used deep ties in Saudi Arabia to help pull off the largest buyout  —  Antoine Gara, James Fontanella-Khan …
Bloomberg:
Ryan Whitwam / Ars Technica:
Open-source Android app store F-Droid says Google's new requirement for all Android developers to verify their identity threatens to kill alternative app stores  —  Google plans to begin testing its recently announced verification scheme for Android developers in the coming weeks …
Bloomberg:
Analysis: US wholesale electricity now costs as much as 267% more for a single month than it did in 2020 in areas located near significant data center activity  —  Wholesale electricity costs as much as 267% more than it did five years ago in areas near data centers.  That's being passed on to customers.
Chris Welch / Bloomberg:
Adobe launches its Premiere video editing software on iPhone for the first time; general editing is free, but Adobe charges for credits to generate AI content  —  Adobe Inc. said Tuesday that it's bringing its Premiere video-editing software to the iPhone for the first time …
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Google updates AI Mode to make searching through images using vague descriptions easier and says the tool will “provide a relevant set of shoppable options”  —  Users in the US can now shop for products using natural language descriptions and reference images.
Cade Metz / New York Times:
Periodic Labs, co-founded by ChatGPT co-creator Liam Fedus, poaches 20+ researchers from Meta, OpenAI, DeepMind, and others to use AI for scientific discoveries  —  Founded by a co-creator of ChatGPT, Periodic Labs aims to build artificial intelligence that can accelerate discoveries in physics, chemistry and other fields.
Wired:
Sources: OpenAI plans a stand-alone social app powered by Sora 2, featuring a TikTok-like vertical feed with entirely AI-generated videos  —  The platform appears to closely resemble TikTok and is powered by Sora 2, OpenAI's latest video generation model.  —  OpenAI is preparing to launch …
Wall Street Journal:
Chris Welch / Bloomberg:
Apple-owned Beats announces the $200 Powerbeats Fit, with a redesigned wingtip, IPX4 rating for the case, ANC, and Apple's H1 chip, available October 2  —  Beats, the Apple Inc.-owned audio brand, unveiled new Powerbeats Fit earbuds on Tuesday, giving consumers another in-house alternative to the popular AirPods line.
Bloomberg:
CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator says the company signed a deal to supply Meta with up to $14.2B worth of computing power, including access to Nvidia GB300 chips  —  CoreWeave Inc. has signed a deal to supply Meta Platforms Inc. with as much as $14.2 billion worth of computing power …
Bloomberg:
Source: Meta is acquiring AI chip startup Rivos, as it seeks to reduce reliance on Nvidia; Rivos was reportedly seeking new funding at a $2B valuation in August  —  Meta Platforms Inc. is acquiring chips startup Rivos Inc., according to a person familiar with the deal, part of an effort …
Lily Hay Newman / Wired:
Google launches a new AI ransomware detection feature for Drive on desktop, trained on millions of real victim files encrypted by various ransomware strains  —  Google has launched a new AI-based protection in Drive for desktop that can shut down an attack before it spreads—but its benefits have their limits.
Bloomberg:
Education software maker Anthology files for bankruptcy, listing $1B to $10B in both assets and liabilities after its Blackboard merger debt became unmanageable  —  Anthology Inc., the Veritas Capital-backed education-software provider, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US …
Paayal Zaveri / Bloomberg:
Vercel, which offers cloud tools to make web and AI apps, raised $300M led by Accel and Singapore's GIC at a $9.3B valuation and considers a ~$300M tender offer  —  Artificial intelligence startup Vercel raised $300 million in a new funding round led by Accel and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte …

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More News

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Mahfouz Zubaide / BBC:

Earlier Picks

Ana Ionova / New York Times:
More: Business Today and The Week
X: @brij and @bgurley
Bluesky: @ddayen and @piyushmittal
Forums: r/Brazil and r/neoliberal
CNBC:
Crypto in America:
Ashley Capoot / CNBC: