Techmeme
December 17, 2025, 11:50 AM

Top News

Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google unveils Gemini 3 Flash, which it says has Pro-grade reasoning with lower latency, outperforming 2.5 Pro “while being 3x faster at a fraction of the cost”  —  Following last month's launch of Gemini 3 Pro, Google today announced Gemini 3 Flash for consumers and developers.
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.
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
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google brings its vibe coding tool Opal to Gemini on the web, letting users create their own custom AI-powered mini apps, called Gems, which can be reused later  —  Google's vibe-coding tool, Opal, is making its way to Gemini.  The company on Wednesday said it is integrating the tool …
Kevin Collier / NBC News:
Google sues the Chinese-speaking cybercriminal group known as Darcula, behind an alleged US text message phishing ring, in the US, seeking a restraining order  —  Google says the group's tools enabled scammers with little technical skill to impersonate agencies like the IRS and the USPS at a massive scale.
More: WWL-TVForums: Slashdot
Vismaya V / Decrypt:
Bhutan pledges up to 10K bitcoin, valued at ~$1B, to develop Gelephu Mindfulness City; Arkham: Bhutan holds 5,984 BTC, ranking seventh 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.  —  In brief
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 …
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: 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 ruled that Tesla engaged in deceptive marketing around its Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” systems  —  A California administrative law judge recently ruled recently that Tesla's marketing around its “Autopilot” and …
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
OnePlus 15R review: the new $700+ device is fast with a big battery and a vibrant 165Hz OLED, but one less camera than 2024's 13R and only four years of support  —  The tradeoff is an even worse camera than the OnePlus 15.  —  I know what you're thinking, didn't OnePlus release a new phone just last month?
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
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.
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 …

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