Techmeme
November 17, 2025, 2:00 PM

Top News

Cade Metz / New York Times:
Sources: AI startup Project Prometheus raised $6.2B, including from Jeff Bezos, who is its co-CEO, his first operational role since leaving Amazon in July 2021  —  Called Project Prometheus, the company is focusing on artificial intelligence for the engineering and manufacturing of computers, automobiles and spacecraft.
Joe Wertz / Bloomberg:
Google DeepMind releases WeatherNext 2, a weather model that it says offers faster, more accurate two-week forecasts and includes more tools for energy traders  —  Google DeepMind has released a new artificial intelligence weather model that it says is faster and more accurate than anything it's built …
New York Times:
Investigation: $28B+ in crypto tied to illicit activity flowed into crypto exchanges like Binance over the past two years, as President Trump embraced crypto  —  President Trump has started his own cryptocurrency business and vowed to make the United States the world's “crypto capital.”
Emily Mason / Bloomberg:
Ramp says it is now valued at $32B following a $300M raise led by Lightspeed and an employee tender offer, up from a $22.5B valuation in July  —  Corporate spending management platform Ramp reached a $32 billion valuation after a $300 million primary financing round and an employee tender offer.
Bloomberg:
US filing: Peter Thiel's Thiel Macro sold 537,742 Nvidia shares, worth ~$100M as of September 30, during Q3, amid rising concerns about an AI investment bubble  —  Peter Thiel's hedge fund Thiel Macro LLC sold off its holdings in Nvidia Corp. during the third quarter, marking another retreat …
Ben Bergman / Business Insider:
In an informal survey of 300+ Cerebral Valley AI Conference attendees asking which $1B+ valuation startup to short, most voted Perplexity, followed by OpenAI  —  - An audience at a top AI conference in San Francisco was asked what startup they would short.  — Perplexity, an AI search …
M.G. Siegler / Spyglass:
The FT's Tim Cook retirement story could be a “trial balloon” from people close to him, if Cook decides to leave after Apple's “blockbuster” Q1 earnings report  —  Might Tim Cook retire as CEO of Apple in early 2026?  There are signs...  Two weeks ago, Tim Cook turned 65.
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Ford and Amazon partner to let people purchase certified pre-owned Ford vehicles via Amazon Autos, initially available in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Dallas  —  Ford is the second brand, after Hyundai, to list its vehicles on Amazon's new car buying site.
Cloudflare:
Cloudflare acquires Replicate, which hosts over 50,000 AI models and simplifies AI model deployment via a single API call; Replicate will keep its brand  —  We have some big news to share today: Replicate, the leading platform for running AI models, is joining Cloudflare.

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Featured Podcasts

Access:
Where we'll go when the bots take over, with Sublime's Sari Azout
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
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Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
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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.
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Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
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.
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More News

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Earlier Picks

Brandon Vigliarolo / The Register:
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