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December 16, 2025, 8:45 AM
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| New York Times: |
Sources: the US has paused its Tech Prosperity Deal with the UK, signed in September, over frustrations about UK online safety rules and digital services taxes — The U.S. government has paused a tech-focused trade pledge with Britain over broader disagreements about Britain's digital regulations and food safety rules.
More: Financial Times, BBC, The Guardian, Reuters, Telegraph, CNBC, Capacity, Benzinga, Politico, and Daily Sabah
X: @teroterotero, @josephpolitano, and @josephpolitano
Bluesky: @justinhendrix, @mgerrydoyle, @judah-grunstein, @premnsikka, @davidheniguk, @andybrown1951, and @globaljusticenow. Mastodon: @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us
Forums: r/neoliberal, r/uknews, r/ukpolitics, r/unitedkingdom, r/europe, and r/ukpolitics
| Robbie Whelan / Wall Street Journal: |
CoreWeave lost $33B in market value in six weeks amid construction delays at its Denton, Texas AI data center, criticism from short seller Jim Chanos, and more — The data-center provider's terrible six-week slide picked up speed when a famous short seller piled concerns on top of delays| William Sandlund / Financial Times: |
Shares in Chinese companies critical to AI infrastructure surged in 2025, with CATL up 45% and Sungrow up 130%, as exports boost margins despite Trump's tariffs — Companies such as battery maker CATL earn big margins on export sales despite US tariffs — Shares in Chinese makers of batteries …
More: Financial Times
| Lora Kolodny / CNBC: |
Tesla's shares closed at a 2025 high on December 15, after the company confirmed it is testing its driverless vehicles in Austin without a human safety operator — Nearly six months after launching a limited Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas with safety drivers in the car …
More: Interesting Engineering, Benzinga, Electrek, Tech in Asia, Blockonomi, EV, Business Insider, Carscoops, TechCrunch, Watcher Guru, InsideEVs, Proactive, The Information, Gizmodo, Reuters, Motley Fool, Mashable, Sherwood News, CleanTechnica, and StrictlyVC
X: @elonmusk, @aelluswamy, @mandablorian, @tesla, @tesla, @garyblack00, @robotaxi, @olivercameron, @sawyermerritt, @cb_doge, @yunta_tsai, @scobleizer, @sawyermerritt, @divestech, @scobleizer, @tesla, and @divestech. Bluesky: @carnage4life. Forums: r/RealTesla
| Counterpoint Research: |
Global smartphone shipments in 2026 are set to shrink 2.1% due to rising memory costs, led by Chinese OEMs; DRAM price surges are set to raise costs by 10%-15% — - Global smartphone shipments in 2026 are expected to shrink 2.1% due to rising memory costs.
More: 9to5Mac, MacRumors, Moneycontrol, Silicon Republic, Reuters, Bloomberg, Tech in Asia, CNBC, TechPowerUp, and Android Authority
| Natalie Alms / Nextgov/FCW: |
The Trump administration launches the US Tech Force to recruit ~1,000 staffers from Apple, Meta, xAI, and others for two-year stints to modernize the government — After pushing hundreds of thousands of government employees to leave their posts and dismantling many government technology units …
More: US Tech Force, CNN, Decrypt, Statecraft, Reuters, The Economic Times, DigiTimes, SiliconANGLE, Tech in Asia, CNBC Television on YouTube, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, Federal News Network, The Register, Benzinga, Fox News, Implicator.ai, CNBC, New York Times, The Verge, AppleInsider, Techstrong.ai, FedScoop, Axios, Times of India, Business Insider, Daily Caller News Foundation, and MacTech.com
X: @aeswins, @pmarca, @whostp47, @skupor, @ustechforce, @undersece, @andrewcurran_, @docmjp, @dowcto, @bhorowitz, @annbordetsky, @box, @uswremichael, @andrewcurran_, @ustechforce, @kendallcollins, @rakeshsfnyc, @pmarca, @altcap, @snowflake, @bhorowitz, @jgebbia, @dowcto, @benioff, @bala_selvam25, @ramaswmysridhar, @almsnatalie, @ndstudio, @matthewswspence, @luke_metro, @sbadeputy_bill, @clarkminor, @russelljkaplan, @gregbarbaccia, @sriramk, @michaeldell, @robinhoodcomms, @usopm, @ssankar, and @ramaswmysridhar. LinkedIn: Kevin Richards
Bluesky: @eugenevinitsky, @noupside, and @seldo.com
Forums: r/technology, r/fednews, and Slashdot
| Emily Mason / Bloomberg: |
Visa says it will allow US banks to settle transactions using Circle's USDC stablecoin over Solana, the US' first full deployment of a stablecoin settlement — Visa Inc. is opening its US network to stablecoin settlement, expanding crypto-linked products and services enabled …
More: Finextra, CoinDesk, Cryptonews, Crypto Briefing, Financial Post, NullTX, and Benzinga
| Reuters: |
China approves two cars from state-owned automakers with Level 3 autonomous capabilities, the first such approvals; the cars can drive in Chongqing and Beijing — China's industry regulator on Monday approved two Chinese cars with level-3 autonomous driving capabilities …
| Rest of World: |
Analysis: of the 8,808 global data centers in October 2025, ~7,000 are in areas outside the optimal 18C to 27C temperature range; 600 are in areas above 27C — In 21 countries, all data centers are located in climates that are too hot. — On paper, Singapore is a terrible location for a data center.
More: Chicago Sun Times and The Overspill
| Katherine Hamilton / Wall Street Journal: |
PayPal says it has filed applications to establish PayPal Bank to provide loans more efficiently to US small businesses and reduce its reliance on third parties — The payments company says it filed applications with the Utah Department of Financial Institutions and the FDIC to establish PayPal Bank| David Pierce / The Verge: |
Mozilla appoints Anthony Enzor-DeMeo as its CEO amid a challenging period for Mozilla's for-profit arm with layoffs, restructuring, and its Google dependence — Anthony Enzor-DeMeo says he thinks there's room for another browser, even an AI browser — as long as you can trust it.
More: The Register, Bloomberg, PR Newswire, Fast Company, and The Mozilla Blog
| Belle Lin / Wall Street Journal: |
Databricks is raising a $4B Series L at a $134B valuation, up from $100B in August and $62B in December 2024, and had a $4.8B annual revenue run rate in October — The data-analytics and AI software company is raising over $4 billion and crossed $4.8 billion in annual revenue rate| Financial Times: |
Sources: Monzo CEO TS Anil, who announced his exit and handover to ex-Googler Diana Layfield in October, was pushed out by the board over an IPO timing clash — Timing for fintech's planned listing was a key aspect of ructions ahead of TS Anil's surprise departure| TechCrunch: |
Ford plans to repurpose its US battery manufacturing capacity to launch a battery energy storage business for data centers, amid a shift away from large EVs — Amid Ford's shift away from making large electric vehicles, the automaker is adding a new product line to find a home for its batteries.| Gregory Schmidt / New York Times: |
VW plans to end vehicle production at its Dresden plant, which opened in 2001, and convert it into a research hub focused on AI, robotics, and chip design — The auto giant stopped making cars at the plant in Dresden, which opened in 2001, as it faces weaker demand and steep U.S. tariffs.
Forums: r/neoliberal
| Benoit Berthelot / Bloomberg: |
Sources and a memo: Amazon plans to cut 370 jobs, or ~8.5% of its 4,370 employees, at its European HQ in Luxembourg, the country's biggest layoffs in 20 years — Amazon.com Inc.'s decision earlier this year to ax 14,000 employees around the globe is reverberating at the company's European headquarters in Luxembourg.
More: GeekWire
| Mark Bergen / Bloomberg: |
As Europe rearms, Anduril is trying to break through in the UK by co-funding major programs, cutting manufacturing deals, and billing itself as “Anglo-American” — As Europe rearms, the US weapons maker is trying to break through in the UK by co-funding major programs …
More: CBS News
| New York Times: |
Elizabeth Warren and two Democratic senators write to Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and more to investigate AI data centers' role in rising electricity costs — Three Democrats are seeking information from tech firms about the growing energy use of data centers and the utility bills of individuals and other businesses.
More: Bloomberg
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