Techmeme
December 16, 2025, 3:45 PM

Top News

Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
OpenAI updates ChatGPT Images to generate images up to 4x faster and edit more precisely, and adds a new section in ChatGPT's app and website for images  —  OpenAI is rolling out an update to ChatGPT that's intended to generate images better and faster, the latest move by the artificial intelligence developer …
OpenAI:
David Pierce / The Verge:
Mozilla appoints Anthony Enzor-DeMeo as its CEO, after years of its for-profit arm juggling layoffs, restructuring, its Google dependence, and the AI landscape  —  Anthony Enzor-DeMeo says he thinks there's room for another browser, even an AI browser — as long as you can trust it.
The Information:
A look at Apple's iPhone roadmap; sources say the iPhone 18 Pro lineup will get under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will move to the top-left corner  —  The iPhone family is growing again.  Over the next two years, Apple is planning a major expansion of its smartphone product line …
Counterpoint Research:
Global smartphone shipments are set to shrink 2.1% in 2026, led by Chinese OEMs, due to rising memory costs; DRAM prices could further raise costs by 10%-15%  —  - Global smartphone shipments in 2026 are expected to shrink 2.1% due to rising memory costs.  — We have revised …
New York Times:
The US threatens economic penalties against European companies like Spotify if the EU does not roll back regulations and lawsuits targeting US tech giants  —  The Trump administration singled out European tech firms by name and promised economic consequences Tuesday unless the E.U. rolls back tech regulation and lawsuits.
New York Times:
Robert Hart / The Verge:
Google launches CC, an experimental AI assistant that delivers a personalized daily “Your Day Ahead” briefing email based on users' emails and calendar  —  Google's new AI agent delivers a morning briefing personalized using your emails and calendar. … Google wants you to start your day with AI.
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Instagram unveils its first TV app, initially available on Amazon's Fire TV as a test with plans to expand to other TV platforms  —  Meta Platforms Inc.'s Instagram unveiled its first dedicated TV app, which lets users watch the short-form video feature Reels on a larger screen.
Robbie Whelan / Wall Street Journal:
CoreWeave lost $33B in market value in six weeks amid construction delays at its data center in Denton, Texas, 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
Financial Times:
OpenAI hires former UK chancellor George Osborne to lead OpenAI for Countries, the global expansion arm of its $500B Stargate data center initiative  —  Former UK chancellor to lead start-up's effort to spread ‘democratic’ AI across the world  —  OpenAI has hired former UK chancellor George Osborne …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Adobe adds a prompt-based video editor to its Firefly app that uses Runway's Aleph model, and adds image and video models from Black Forest Labs and others  —  Adobe is updating its AI video-generation app, Firefly, with a new video editor that supports precise prompt-based edits …
Belle Lin / Wall Street Journal:
Databricks is raising a $4B Series L at a $134B valuation, up from $100B in September and $62B in December 2024, and had a $4.8B annual revenue rate in October  —  The data-analytics and AI software company is raising over $4 billion and crossed $4.8 billion in annual revenue rate
Natalie Lung / Bloomberg:
DoorDash launches Zesty, a standalone AI-powered social app for users to find nearby restaurants, in public testing in San Francisco and New York  —  DoorDash Inc. is experimenting with a standalone artificial intelligence-powered app for users to find new restaurants, expanding its reach beyond its flagship food-delivery service.
More: TechCrunch
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 stablecoin bank settlements  —  Visa Inc. is opening its US network to stablecoin settlement, expanding crypto-linked products and services enabled …
Jessica Testa / New York Times:
Netflix announces a partnership with iHeartMedia to exclusively publish at least 15 video podcasts beginning in early 2026, including The Breakfast Club  —  The streaming service now has about 30 video podcasts lined up for 2026, including the influential radio show “The Breakfast Club.”

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