Techmeme
December 17, 2025, 10:03 AM

Top News

The Information:
Sources: Amazon is in talks to invest $10B+ in OpenAI at a $500B+ valuation, with OpenAI using AWS Trainium; Microsoft keeps the rights to sell OpenAI's models  —  Amazon is in talks to invest $10 billion or more in OpenAI, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
OpenAI updates ChatGPT Images to generate images up to 4x faster and edit uploads 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 …
Financial Times:
Wall Street Journal:
WBD recommends shareholders reject Paramount's unsolicited $108.4B cash bid, calling the offer “illusory” and saying it believes Netflix's proposal is superior  —  Warner raised concerns about the credibility of Paramount's ‘illusory’ offer and its backing from the Ellison family
Dia Rekhi / The Economic Times:
Sources: Apple is in preliminary talks with India-based CG Semi, which offers chip assembly and testing services, to assemble and package chips for the iPhone  —  Exploratory conversations have taken place between Murugappa Group-owned CG Semi, which is building an outsourced semiconductor assembly and test …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Waymo is in discussions to raise $15B+ led by Alphabet at a ~$100B valuation, up from 45B+ in October 2024, and has a $350M+ annual revenue run rate  —  Waymo, Alphabet Inc.'s autonomous driving unit, is in discussions to raise more than $15 billion at a valuation near $100 billion …
Bloomberg:
Sources: at least six Chinese AI companies, like chip firms Montage and GigaDevice, are set to IPO in Hong Kong in the coming weeks, aiming to raise up to $1B  —  At least six Chinese companies related to artificial intelligence are set to go public in Hong Kong in the coming weeks …
Akash Sriram / Reuters:
Hut 8 partners with Fluidstack to build an AI data center in Louisiana for Anthropic, backed by a 15-year, $7B lease, starting with 245MW of computing capacity  —  Hut 8 (HUT.O) has signed a deal valued at about $7 billion to lease a data center in Louisiana, it said on Wednesday …
Lora Kolodny / CNBC:
California's DMV says a California administrative law judge recently ruled that Tesla engaged in deceptive marketing around its Autopilot and FSD systems  —  A California administrative law judge recently ruled recently that Tesla's marketing around its “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” …
Reuters:
Crypto exchange HashKey closed flat in its Hong Kong debut, after rising as much as 6.6% before falling 8.4% intraday, amid a weakness in digital assets  —  Cryptocurrency exchange HashKey Holdings Ltd (3887.HK) made a flat debut in Hong Kong on Wednesday amid recent weakness in digital assets …
Vlad Savov / Bloomberg:
Circana: US game console spending fell 27% in November to $695M, the lowest in the pivotal month for holiday shopping since 2005, after a tough year for makers  —  US spending on video game consoles fell 27% last month, marking the worst November in two decades as tariffs and rising component costs pushed prices to record highs.
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Sources: Disney has been hesitant to license its IP to Roblox because it doesn't consider it a safe platform, bucking the trend followed by Netflix and others  —  Here's a stat that might shock anyone who isn't the parent of a Gen Alpha kid: As of October 2025, online gaming platform Roblox boasted …
More: Dexerto and Glossy
Vismaya V / Decrypt:
Bhutan unveils a pledge of up to 10,000 bitcoin to develop Gelephu Mindfulness City; Arkham says Bhutan holds 5,984 bitcoin, ranking 7th among sovereign holders  —  The 10,000 BTC will generate yields for GMC's growth while being held long-term, with Bhutan ruling out selling the reserves.
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  —  U.S. officials excoriated the European Union for discriminating against American technology companies and threatened …

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Equals:
Stop vibe coding analytics  —  Equals AI turns questions about your business into auditable spreadsheet models and dashboards.  Build once, iterate for years.
Zoho:
Zoho Mail MCP: Make your inbox work for you  —  Maya is the head of operations at a 500-person B2B software company.  She's sharp, she's busy, and she starts every morning the same way-with her coffee, laptop, inbox.Not to work.
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

The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
A Nick, Dick, and Paul Buffet!
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Big Technology Podcast:
Anthropic's Labs Lead On Fable's Capabilities + Building AI-Native Products — With Mike Krieger
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.
Great Chat:
How much data do we actually want about our bodies?
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Training Data:
Memory and Continual Learning: Engram's Dan Biderman and Jessy Lin
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Access:
This AI tells you what your friends won't
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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 10:03 AM ET, December 17, 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

Xiaomi Mimo:
Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
Jessica Testa / New York Times:
Robert Hart / The Verge:
Financial Times:
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg: