Techmeme
December 10, 2025, 3:30 PM

Top News

The Information:
Sources: DeepSeek is developing its new AI model using several thousand Nvidia Blackwell chips, which were smuggled into China via third-party countries  —  DeepSeek, the Chinese AI startup, has been developing its next major model using several thousand Nvidia's state-of-the-art Blackwell chips …
Reuters:
Eli Tan / New York Times:
Sources: this fall, Alexandr Wang told people that he disagreed with top Meta execs like Chris Cox and Andrew Bosworth, including on using Instagram data for AI  —  When Mark Zuckerberg revamped Meta's artificial intelligence operations this year, he recruited a new leader — Alexandr Wang …
More: Business Insider and New York Post
Bluesky: @shiraovideThreads: @andymstone and @andymstoneForums: Slashdot
Bloomberg:
Sources: Meta's new AI model, codenamed Avocado, may launch in spring 2026 as a “closed” model, and was trained using Google's Gemma, OpenAI's gpt-oss, and Qwen  —  Meta Platforms Inc.'s Mark Zuckerberg, months into building one of the priciest teams in technology history …
Josh Taylor / The Guardian:
Australia's ban on under-16 social media users takes effect, as Meta, YouTube, and others remove users; platforms that don't comply risk up to AU$49.5M in fines  —  Accounts held by users under 16 must be removed on apps that include TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick, Twitch and Threads under ban
Christine Chung / New York Times:
The US CBP proposes vetting five years of social media history for travelers from the UK, France, Germany, and more; the current system only requires basic info  —  Even visitors from countries like Britain and France, whose citizens don't need visas, would have to share five years' worth of social media.
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Adobe launches free ChatGPT-integrated Photoshop, Acrobat, and Express apps on desktop, the web, and iOS, after OpenAI added ChatGPT app integrations in October  —  Just describe your edits to ChatGPT, and the Photoshop, Acrobat, and Express apps will do it for you or surface the tool you need.
Joe Wilkins / Futurism:
McDonald's Netherlands pulls an AI-generated Christmas ad, made by ad agency TBWA\NEBOKO with film production company The Sweetshop, after social media backlash  —  There's just one issue: pretty much everybody hates it.  —  This year, McDonald's decided to get in on the corporate slopfest …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube TV plans to launch over 10 genre-specific, cheaper YouTube TV Plans in early 2026, including a Sports Plan featuring ESPN Unlimited and Fox Sports 1  —  YouTube TV's base package currently costs $82.99 per month.  But early next year, the streaming service will roll out a range …
Dylan Butts / CNBC:
Amazon plans to invest $35B+ in India's cloud and AI sector by 2030, adding to the nearly $40B it has invested in India, and expects to create 1M more jobs  —  Amazon on Wednesday committed to investing over $35 billion in India's cloud and artificial intelligence space by 2030, as hyperscalers race to get a foothold in the market.
Pew Research Center:
A survey of 1,458 US teens: 64% use AI chatbots, and 28% use them daily; 59% say they use ChatGPT, 23% use Gemini, 20% Meta AI, 14% Copilot, and 9% Character.ai  —  Roughly 1 in 5 U.S. teens say they are on TikTok and YouTube almost constantly.  At the same time, 64% of teens say they use chatbots …
Stevie Bonifield / The Verge:
Google unveils Emergency Live Video, similar to iOS' Emergency SOS Live Video, letting US users on Android 8 or later to share live video with 911 responders  —  Emergency Live Video is rolling out today on phones running Android 8 or later. … A new feature coming to Android …
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
The European Commission says Apple and Google's Android-iPhone data transfer tool, which will be available globally, is an example of the benefits of the DMA  —  Yesterday, Apple and Google announced that they have teamed up to make it easier to switch between Android and iPhone devices.
Reuters:
Sources: Nvidia has privately demonstrated its unreleased location verification tech in recent months, which could show the country its chips are operating in  —  Nvidia (NVDA.O) has built location verification technology that could indicate which country its chips are operating in …
Reece Rogers / Wired:
Instagram launches Your Algorithm, which shows users an AI analysis of their activity to let them customize the topics shaping their Reels recommendations  —  In the battle for your attention, Instagram is betting that more control over the algorithm could keep you scrolling on Reels.
Peter Andringa / Financial Times:
Documents and former US government officials detail the DHS' digital surveillance capabilities, amid a drive to deport 1M people in President Trump's first year  —  The US is pulling in vast amounts of personal information in its drive to deport 1mn people this year
More: Washington PostX: @ftBluesky: @samjoiner, @peter.andringa.me, and @tonytassellMastodon: @jackhutton@mstdn.socialForums: r/politics
Pia Singh / CNBC:
Starcloud, which launched a satellite with a Nvidia H100 chip in November, says the satellite is running and querying responses from Google's Gemma  —  Nvidia-backed startup Starcloud trained an artificial intelligence model from space for the first time, signaling a new era for orbital data centers …
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: Google is set to be hit with a potentially large EU fine in Q1 2026 if it does not do more to ensure Google Play complies with EU competition rules  —  Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google is set to be hit with a potentially large EU fine early next year if it does not do more to ensure …
Ina Fried / Axios:
OpenAI says the cyber capabilities of its frontier AI models are accelerating and warns that upcoming models are likely to pose a “high” risk  —  OpenAI says the cyber capabilities of its frontier AI models are accelerating and warns Wednesday that upcoming models are likely to pose a …
More: OpenAI
New York Times:
Sources: Lip-Bu Tan's dual roles as Intel CEO and tech investor cause consternation in the industry and at Intel; four ex-Intel execs say it caused them to exit  —  Lip-Bu Tan, who was appointed chief executive of Intel in March, is also a longtime venture capitalist.  His dual roles have caused some consternation.
More: Reuters
Benoît Morenne / Wall Street Journal:
Geothermal energy company Fervo, which aims to power data centers and more, raised $462M from Google and others, taking its total funding to $1.5B since 2017  —  The company, also backed by Bill Gates's Breakthrough Energy Ventures, has emerged as a leader in advanced geothermal energy
Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:
Google releases fully managed, remote MCP servers to help developers connect AI agents to services such as Maps, BigQuery, Compute Engine, and Kubernetes Engine  —  AI agents are being sold as the solution for planning trips, answering business questions, and solving problems of all kinds …
Anhata Rooprai / Reuters:
Dropbox says its CFO Timothy Regan will step down after five years in the role and will be succeeded by Avalara president Ross Tennenbaum; DBX drops 5%+  —  File hosting service provider Dropbox (DBX.O) said on Wednesday its chief financial officer Timothy Regan will step down after five years …

Sponsor Posts

Airtable:
Deep analysis for deep questions  —  Introducing Superagent.  A new research product from Airtable: Subagents deeply interrogate your topic and turn it into boardroom-ready reports, slides, docs, or websites.
Clay:
Turn any GTM idea into reality  —  Clay helps GTM teams combine AI agents, enrichment, and intent data to move faster and turn insights into action.
Zoho:
5 tips to simplify email verification in Zoho CRM  —  This is a guest post by Clearout.Nearly 60% of email senders clean their lists regularly, yet average bounce rates still sit at 10.68%.
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

Cheeky Pint:
Stripe's 2025 annual letter
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
Invest Like the Best:
Dan Sundheim - The Art of Public and Private Market Investing
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Grit:
How Malwarebytes Is Protecting Millions In The Era Of AI Scams | Marcin Kleczynski
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI Closes in on $100 Billion, OpenClaw Acquired, AI's Productivity Question — With Aaron Levie
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.
Hard Fork:
The Pentagon vs. Anthropic + An A.I. Agent Slandered Me + Hot Mess Express
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:
His Excellency Khaldoon Al Mubarak: Investing in an AI-Driven World
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 3:30 PM ET, December 10, 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

Earlier Picks

Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg:
Ben Casselman / New York Times: