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Techmeme
December 15, 2025, 5:55 AM
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Top News

Bloomberg:
iRobot files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after reaching a restructuring agreement to hand control to secured lender and key Chinese supplier Shenzhen Picea  —  iRobot Corp., the company that revolutionized robot vacuum cleaners in the early 2000s with its Roomba model, filed for bankruptcy …
Connie Loizos / TechCrunch:
A look at iRobot, founded in 1990, and its slow collapse after US regulatory pressure killed Amazon's $1.7B deal in 2024 amid increased Chinese competition  —  There's something painfully American about the arc of iRobot, the company that taught your vacuum to navigate around the furniture.
Brian Merchant / Blood in the Machine:
Interviews with copywriters on generative AI's impact: job losses to AI, work used for training, falling wages and rates, freelancers losing clients, and more  —  Copywriters were one of the first to have their jobs targeted by AI firms.  These are their stories, three years into the AI era.
Financial Times:
DTCC: credit default swaps tied to a handful of US tech groups have climbed 90% since early September, as investors seek ways to protect against an AI debt bust  —  Trading in insurance-like products that protect against tech company defaults is booming  —  Trading in products that pay …
Martin Peers / The Information:
Filing: Oracle signed ~$150B of data center leases in the three months ending November 30, raising its total data center and cloud capacity commitments to $248B  —  Oracle struck about $150 billion worth of lease commitments on data centers in the three months ending November …
More: eWeek, CNBC, and The Irish Times
X: @luxalgo.  Bluesky: @edzitron.com and @edzitron.com
Mike Baker / New York Times:
US volunteer fire departments are scrambling to find software amid shrinking options and higher costs, as companies backed by private equity dominate the market  —  Rural departments have long relied on cheap software solutions to keep their operations running.
New York Times:
Investigation: after Trump's return to office, the SEC eased up on or dismissed 60%+ of ongoing crypto cases, including ones involving Trump-linked companies  —  A cryptocurrency firm run by the billionaire Winklevoss twins was facing a punishing federal lawsuit.
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
A look at Trump's AI Executive Order and how its interstate commerce argument could backfire by invalidating laws in GOP states targeting “Big Tech censorship”
Allison Johnson / The Verge:
AI image generators like Nano Banana have increased realism by mimicking phone camera traits in contrast, exposure, and sharpening to avoid the uncanny valley  —  Remember the early days of AI image generation?  Oh how we laughed when our prompts resulted in people with too many fingers …

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 5:55 AM ET, December 15, 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.

From Mediagazer

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Major brands were replaced by direct-response advertisers during commercial breaks of CBS News' December 13 town hall with Erika Kirk, moderated by Bari Weiss

Chris Morris / Variety:
Acclaimed actor and director Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele Singer were found dead in their home; LAPD is investigating the deaths as a homicide

Max Tani / Semafor:
Internal tests show WaPo launched its AI podcast feature despite 68%+ of generated scripts failed its standards, saying it would “iterate through” the issues

More News

Zack Abrams / The Block:
Italy's Exor rejects Tether's cash offer for its 65.4% controlling stake in Juventus, which valued the Italian soccer club at €1.1B, as Tether aims to diversify

Earlier Picks

New York Times:
Crypto casinos have become online gambling havens for teens and problem gamblers, propped up by operators who turn social media influencers into recruiters
Will McCurdy / PCMag:
Amazon rolls out Ask This Book to the Kindle iOS app, letting readers ask questions about plot or characters; authors can't opt out
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: OpenAI told staff it was ending the six-month “vesting cliff” that required new employees to work for at least six months before their equity vests
Bloomberg:
Sources: ServiceNow is in advanced talks to buy Armis, which helps businesses secure and manage IoT devices, in a deal that may value Armis at as much as $7B
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