Techmeme
November 20, 2025, 11:15 PM

Top News

The Keyword:
Google updates Quick Share to work with Apple's AirDrop to make file transfers between iPhones and Android devices easier, starting with the Pixel 10 family  —  When it comes to sharing moments between family and friends, what device you have shouldn't matter — sharing should just work.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google launches Gemini 3 Pro Image, aka Nano Banana Pro, with more control, improved text rendering, and enhanced world knowledge, for free in the Gemini app  —  Google is following Tuesday's launch of Gemini 3 Pro with Nano Banana Pro.  The image generation and editing model …
Simon Willison / Simon Willison's Weblog:
Nano Banana Pro is great at following instructions, generates interim “thought images”, and makes full infographics with well-rendered text from a short prompt  —  Hot on the heels of Tuesday's Gemini 3 Pro release, today it's Nano Banana Pro, also known as Gemini 3 Pro Image.
Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Google says the Gemini app is now able to detect images created or edited by Google AI, and that it plans to roll out verification of video and audio “soon”  —  The Gemini app will soon be able to detect images made by Google AI. … Google is making it easier …
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Grok's chatbot on X says Elon Musk is superior at almost anything, including drinking urine; Musk says Grok was “manipulated by adversarial prompting”  —  Elon Musk is as smart as da Vinci, fitter than LeBron James, and really good at drinking piss.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
OpenAI expands group chats in ChatGPT globally to all logged-in users on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans, after piloting the feature in select regions  —  ChatGPT is launching group chats globally to all users on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans, OpenAI announced on Thursday.
Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Nvidia and Google launch the GeForce Now Fast Pass to let Chromebook owners stream over 2,000 games directly from an existing PC game library without ads  —  It's an ad-free queue-jump for GeForce Now's free tier. … Nvidia has partnered with Google to launch a new cloud gaming plan exclusive to Chromebooks.
Pew Research Center:
A survey of US adults on social media: 84% use YouTube, 71% use Facebook, 50% use Instagram, 37% use TikTok, 32% use WhatsApp, 26% use Reddit, and 21% use X  —  Growing shares of U.S. adults say they are using Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp and Reddit, but YouTube still rises to the top
Radhika Rajkumar / ZDNET:
OpenAI says GPT-5 has demonstrated the ability to accelerate scientific research workflows but can't run projects or solve scientific problems autonomously  —  ZDNET's key takeaways  — GPT-5 supports researchers across disciplines, a study found.  — The model doesn't rival human researchers, however.
Patience Haggin / Wall Street Journal:
Internal memo: Verizon CEO Dan Schulman says the company will begin notifying the 13,000+ employees impacted by its largest-ever round of layoffs  —  New CEO launches company's largest-ever round of cuts and says Verizon must reorient around ‘delighting’ customers
Hugh Langley / Business Insider:
Sources: Google is offering voluntary buyouts to employees in its UK offices, following similar offers in several US divisions this year  —  - Google is offering UK-based staff a voluntary exit package.  — The company confirmed it was offering the package to “support our important work ahead.”
Forums: r/technology
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft and Qualcomm release Windows updates to improve gaming on ARM, including a refreshed Xbox app; Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Control Panel optimizes games  —  Microsoft and Qualcomm have made important improvements to compatibility and performance for games on Snapdragon CPUs.
Jason Parham / Wired:
Pornhub parent company Aylo sent letters to Apple, Google, and Microsoft urging that they adopt device-based age verification across their app stores and OSes  —  The company sent letters to Apple, Google, and Microsoft pushing for an alternative way to keep minors from viewing porn …
More: GizmodoBluesky: @marypcbuk, @mikestabile, @tprstly.com, and @wired.com
Forums: r/technews and r/uknews
Joe Miller / Financial Times:
Josh Hawley, Ron DeSantis, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and other Republicans publicly oppose President Trump's proposal to restrict US states from regulating AI  —  US president endorses move to restrict regulation by states after lobbying from Silicon Valley  —  A plan backed by Donald Trump …
Will Knight / Wired:
Sunday Robotics unveils Memo, a fully autonomous home robot capable of tasks like making espresso and loading a dishwasher, and plans to launch in beta in 2026  —  Sunday Robotics has a new way to train robots to do common household tasks.  The startup plans to put its fully autonomous robots in homes next year.
New York Times:
Investigation: as US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick pushes AI data centers, including by pressuring US allies, his companies and sons are profiting from them  —  Howard Lutnick is helping push data center projects.  His family companies are profiting from them.
Anna Tong / Forbes:
AI workplace agents startup Genspark raised a $275M Series B at a $1.25B valuation and says it hit $50M in annualized revenue after pivoting from AI search  —  The startup, which wants to challenge Microsoft 365 Copilot and Google's Gemini, got to $50 million in annualized revenue just five months …
Kelcee Griffis / Bloomberg:
The FCC votes along party lines to repeal a Biden-era cybersecurity rule aimed at preventing intrusions like Salt Typhoon, calling it an ineffective measure  —  The Federal Communications Commission voted to roll back Biden-era cybersecurity regulations designed to address …
David Ingram / NBC News:
Cornell University researchers: Grokipedia cites sources deemed “generally unreliable” or “blacklisted” by Wikipedia, like neo-Nazi sites Stormfront and VDare  —  An analysis by researchers at Cornell University is the first comprehensive look at Grokipedia since Musk launched his project last month.

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Louis Ashworth / Financial Times:
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