|
December 18, 2025, 9:45 AM
|
Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Fanny Potkin / Reuters: |
Sources: China built a working prototype of an EUV machine in early 2025 with a team of former ASML engineers who reverse-engineered the company's EUV machines — In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent …
More: Tom's Hardware, Implicator.ai, Implicator.ai, WinBuzzer, The Information, Modern Diplomacy, TechEBlog, DigiTimes, TechPowerUp, Wccftech, and Sherwood News
X: @kyleichan, @bubbleboi, @ruima, @alexandernl, @niubi, @newlefteviews, @dancollins2011, @curtis_yarvin, @shaunrein, @andrewcurran_, @rnaudbertrand, @richten_nach, @zephyr_z9, @jcmittelstaedt, @plzbepatient, @jukan05, @zephyr_z9, @okaythenfuture, @mmjukic, @hsu_steve, @astrogrant, @zephyr_z9, @aureliano451, @glennluk, @thedailymao, @byron_wan, @rickjoe_pla, @whyvert, @bgmasters, @lukolejnik, @arctotherium42, @pythiar, @kimmonismus, @emiyazono, @noahpinion, @gustaftweets, @hsu_steve, @asymmetricinfo, @tisktusk, @jukan05, and @industrlpolicy
Bluesky: @petertl and @raphae.li
| Juli Clover / MacRumors: |
Apple makes iOS changes in Japan to comply with local laws, including alternative app stores and payment options, a new fee structure, and new default controls — Apple today introduced several changes to the App Store in Japan to meet the requirements of the Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA) that goes into effect on December 18.
More: Apple, AppleInsider, Benzinga, MacTech.com, Mobile World Live, Business Today, iClarified, Silicon UK, Japan Today, Financial Times, Finimize, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, Reuters, and Bloomberg
X: @mattcassinelli and @mrjefago
Forums: r/apple and MacRumors Forums
| Jay Peters / The Verge: |
Filing: Sony and Tencent reach a “confidential settlement” over Tencent's Light of Motiram, a game that Sony alleged was a “slavish clone” of its Horizon series — Sony and Tencent have reached a ‘confidential settlement,’ and Light of Motiram is no longer listed on Steam or the Epic Games Store.
More: Game World Observer, GamesIndustry.biz, The Game Post, Engadget, Eurogamer.net, TheGamer, Kotaku, GamingBolt, Dexerto, Video Games Chronicle, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, GameSpot, Push Square, Tech4Gamers, games fray, and PlayStation LifeStyle
Bluesky: @jaypeters.net. Forums: r/LIGHTOFMOTlRAM, r/Games, r/PS5, r/gaming, r/HorizonForbiddenWest, r/horizon, and r/pcgaming
| Financial Times: |
Trump Media agrees to merge with Google-backed fusion energy company TAE in a $6B deal and build the “world's first utility-scale fusion power plant” in 2026 — Trump Media & Technology Group's shares rise 37% after deal with TAE Technologies — The Trump family media group … | MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC: |
Coinbase rolls out stock trading, more advanced trading tools, prediction markets via Kalshi, and other features, amid a push to be a one-stop financial app — Coinbase is making its biggest push yet to reposition itself as a mainstream trading and financial platform, moving beyond crypto …
More: Coinbase, Bitcoinist.com, Inside Bitcoins, Bitcoin Insider, Coinpedia Fintech News, The Crypto Basic, CryptoNinjas, DL News, Blockonomi, The Crypto Times, crypto.news, Crypto Briefing, Cryptonews, Tech in Asia, Wall Street Journal, CoinCentral, The Block, Fortune, and CoinDesk
X: @coinbase, @solana, @brian_armstrong, @jerallaire, @cryptocurb, @0xaneri, @brian_armstrong, @0xcryptosam, @coinbase, @jessepollak, @j0hnwang, @kalshi, @garrytan, @luanalopeslara, @therollupco, @brian_armstrong, @altcoinpsycho, @1crypticpoet, @jupiterexchange, @elliotrades, @jinglejamop, @matt_hougan, and @brian_armstrong. Forums: r/StockMarket
| The Information: |
Sources: OpenAI has held preliminary discussions with investors about raising tens of billions of dollars, and as much as $100B, at a valuation of around $750B — OpenAI has held preliminary discussions with some investors about raising new funding at a valuation of around $750 billion …
More: Bloomberg, Windows Central, Reuters, Tech in Asia, WinBuzzer, StrictlyVC, Tech Funding News, and Benzinga
X: @ralph_grabowski, @firstadopter, @jimcramer, @stwboerse, @logicalthesis, @hypertechinvest, @jimcramer, and @kimmonismus. Bluesky: @edzitron.com
| OpenAI: |
OpenAI opens app submissions for review and publication in ChatGPT, where users can discover or search for apps in a new app directory — We're opening app submissions for review and publication in ChatGPT, and users can discover apps in the app directory. — Earlier this year at DevDay, we introduced apps in ChatGPT.
More: The Verge, The Information, Engadget, Livemint, TestingCatalog, Android Headlines, 9to5Mac, Fast Company, TechRadar, Digit, The Decoder, PYMNTS.com, Digital Trends, WinBuzzer, iClarified, Bloomberg Law, and TipRanks Financial
X: @ibuildthecloud, @gdb, @liadyosef, @romainhuet, @0xidanlevin, @testingcatalog, @kentcdodds, @therealadamg, @nickadobos, @openaidevs, and @firt. Mastodon: @shish@techhub.social. Forums: Hacker News
| Rebekah Valentine / IGN: |
Circana: Xbox Series console sales fell 70% YoY to an all-time low in November, compared to the PS5's 40% YoY drop and Switch 1 and 2's combined 10% YoY fall — Down again. — This morning, we learned that November was a surprisingly bad month for video game spending across the board.
More: The Verge, Video Games Chronicle, Windows Report, GamesIndustry.biz, TheGamer, Push Square, GamesBeat, CNET, Game File, and Bloomberg
| Axios: |
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr tells a Senate committee the FCC “is not an independent agency”; the agency removed “independent agency” from its site as he testified — FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in his Wednesday Senate testimony that the agency he governs “is not an independent agency, formally speaking.”
More: New York Times, Washington Post, Poynter, and CNBC
Bluesky: @karlbode.com, @karlbode.com, and @stevekovach
Forums: Hacker News, r/law, r/politics, and Slashdot
| Chance Miller / 9to5Mac: |
Apple says it will roll out more App Store ads in 2026 “to increase opportunity in search results”; Apple's website says 800M+ users visit the App Store weekly — Apple is expanding the number of ads that appear in App Store search results. In an update on its Apple Ads website today …
More: Apple Ads, MacRumors, AppleInsider, iPhone in Canada, Tech Times, and MacTech.com
| Financial Times: |
Sources: Yann LeCun is in early talks to raise €500M for his startup at a ~€3B valuation, and plans to name Alexandre LeBrun as CEO, ahead of a January launch — Turing award winner is in early talks to raise €500mn ahead of January launch — Meta's chief artificial …
More: PYMNTS.com, Benzinga, Sifted, and Reuters
| Niko Gallogly / New York Times: |
Stockholm-based vibe coding startup Lovable raised $330M led by CapitalG and Menlo Ventures at a $6.6B valuation, up from $1.8B after raising $200M in July — The Swedish company is now valued at $6.6 billion, more than triple its $1.8 billion valuation set by investors in July.
More: CNBC, TechCrunch, Tech.eu, Lovable, and Analytics India Magazine
| Jody Godoy / Reuters: |
Sources: the US FTC is investigating Instacart's AI pricing tool, after a study showed different prices for the same items at the same stores; CART drops 8%+ — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is probing Instacart (CART.O), two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters …
More: PYMNTS.com, Engadget, Benzinga, The Food Institute, ZeroHedge News, Digital Trends, Silicon UK, TechCrunch, Tech in Asia, San Francisco Business Times, and CNBC
X: @dseetharaman, @leehepner, @ronomaz, @alexsjacquez, @owenslindsay1, and @fuckyouiquit. Bluesky: @groundwork
| Ian Allison / CoinDesk: |
Wall Street clearinghouse DTCC selects the Canton Network blockchain as a real-world asset tokenization partner after receiving a No-Action Letter from the SEC — Canton creator Digital Asset will help tokenize DTC-custodied U.S. Treasury securities. — What to know:| Gavin Bonshor / More Than Moore: |
An in-depth look at a recent research paper that offered a roadmap to the viability of 3D HBM-on-GPU integration for improved AI performance and utilization — Five Things You Should Know Before Reading: — “3D HBM” Now Feasible: Offers improved AI performance and utilization.| Chainalysis: |
North Korean hackers stole a record $2.02B in crypto in 2025, a 51% YoY rise that takes its cumulative stolen total to $6.75B; individual wallet hacks hit 158K — TL;DR — North Korean hackers stole $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, a 51% year-over-year increase …
More: Decrypt, NBC News, CoinDesk, Fortune, Nikkei Asia, Infosecurity, Bloomberg, Cryptonews, CryptoPotato, BeInCrypto, and The Crypto Times
| Shakeel Hashim / Transformer: |
UK AI Security Institute report: AI models are rapidly improving at potentially dangerous biological and chemical tasks, and show fast jumps in self-replication — UK AISI's first Frontier AI Trends Report finds that AI models are getting better at self-replication, too| Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: |
Meta is testing limiting Facebook professional accounts and Pages to posting just two links per month, unless they subscribe to $14.99+/month Meta Verified — In a new experiment, Meta is limiting the number of links users can post on Facebook, unless they have a paid Meta Verified subscription.
More: Telegraph, BBC, Social Media Today, Press Gazette, Engadget, KnowTechie, and International Business Times
X: @indianidle, @chafkin, @klemensarro, and @simonowens
Bluesky: @socialmedialab.ca, @flyingtrilobite.com, and @utopia-defer.red
| Dakin Campbell / Business Insider: |
Fermi CEO Toby Neugebauer says Amazon canceled a $150M advance for a Texas AI data center campus; FRMI fell 34% on December 12 after saying a tenant canceled — - Amazon has been in talks to become the “first tenant” at Fermi America's Texas data centers, Fermi CEO Toby Neugebauer told BI.| Jake Bleiberg / Bloomberg: |
Amazon CSO Stephen Schmidt says subtle keystroke data lag, measuring 110ms instead of the expected tens of milliseconds, helped catch a North Korean IT worker — Security personnel tracked connections from a contractor. — An infinitesimal delay in the typed commands of a new IT worker provided …
More: Tom's Hardware
| Ben Glickman / Wall Street Journal: |
Boat rental services Boatsetter and GetMyBoat plan to merge; Boatsetter CEO Michael Farb says the combined company is set to have $100M+ in bookings in 2025 — Boatsetter and GetMyBoat are on track for more than $100 million of combined bookings this year — Two peer-to-peer boat-rental platforms are merging.
Bluesky: @mgsiegler.com
| Todd Bishop / GeekWire: |
Amazon's AGI team lead, Rohit Prasad, is leaving at the end of 2025; AWS SVP Peter DeSantis will lead a group combining AI, silicon, and quantum computing teams — Rohit Prasad, the executive who has led Amazon's artificial intelligence initiatives and overseen the creation of its homegrown Nova AI models … | Paayal Zaveri / Bloomberg: |
Imprint, which helps retailers like Brooks Brothers offer co-branded credit cards and manage loyalty programs, raised $150M led by Khosla at a $1.2B valuation — Fintech startup Imprint Payments Inc., which helps retailers like Brooks Brothers offer co-branded credit cards …
More: PYMNTS.com, Tech in Asia, Silicon Republic, FinSMEs, and Tech Funding News
| Kif Leswing / CNBC: |
Micron reports Q1 revenue up 57% YoY to $13.64B, above $12.84B est., net income up 180% YoY to $5.24B, and Q2 revenue forecast above est.; MU jumps 5%+ — Micron Technology reported fiscal first-quarter results on Wednesday that beat Wall Street expectations for sales and earnings per share …
More: CoinDesk, Tom's Hardware, Bloomberg, Motley Fool, The Register, MarketWatch, DigiTimes, Dow Jones Newswires, Wall Street Journal, and Yahoo Finance. Forums: r/StockMarket
| Justine Calma / The Verge: |
Study: AI's 2025 power demand could hit 23GW, above 2024 Bitcoin mining levels, and AI carbon emissions could hit 32.6M to 79.7M tons, compared to NYC's 50M — A new study estimates the environmental impact of AI in 2025 and calls for more transparency from companies on their pollution and water consumption.
More: The Guardian, WinBuzzer, and Digiconomist
| Bloomberg: |
Honda plans to halt production in Japan and China from December 29 to January 6, showing the ongoing fallout of the global chip shortage and Nexperia takeover — Honda Motor Co. will halt production at plants in Japan and China in coming weeks, highlighting the lingering fallout of the global chip shortage.
More: Tom's Hardware, DigiTimes, and CarNewsChina.com
| Lim Hui Jie / CNBC: |
SoftBank Group was among the Japanese tech stocks that fell on December 18, as Wall Street's AI infrastructure spending worries crossed into the Asian markets — Japanese tech stocks took a tumble on Thursday as AI infrastructure spending worries on Wall Street crossed the ocean into the Asian markets … Sponsor Posts
Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Shopify's new AI commerce stack — Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Why eIDAS 2.0 might be the EU's boldest digital move yet — eIDAS: The first building block of digital trust More than a decade ago, the EU introduced the eIDAS regulation (Regulation [EU] No 910/2014) …
Why eIDAS 2.0 might be the EU's boldest digital move yet — eIDAS: The first building block of digital trust More than a decade ago, the EU introduced the eIDAS regulation (Regulation [EU] No 910/2014) …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.Featured Podcasts
Access:
Betting on reality with Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
The new AI growth playbook for 2026: How Lovable hit $200M ARR in one year | Elena Verna (Head of Growth)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
CNBC's Jim Cramer: Big Tech Hot Takes, NVIDIA $10 Trillion?, Building Wealth In Any Market
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
"Neither Side Is Used to Losing." Lucas Shaw on What's Next for Netflix and Paramount in the Battle for Warner Bros.
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Saam Motamedi from Greylock Partners
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
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 9:45 AM ET, December 18, 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
Shane O'Neill / Washington Post:Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
John Rogers / Associated Press:
Upcoming Tech Events
More News
| Issie Lapowsky / Rest of World: |
X: @restofworld, @restofworld, @restofworld, @restofworld, @restofworld, and @rinachandran. LinkedIn: Anup Kaphle
Bluesky: @mvzelenko and @issielapowsky
Earlier Picks
| David Ingram / NBC News: |
More: The Standard, Holyrood Website, Daily Mail, Silicon UK, Social Media Victims …, BBC, The Guardian, Superior Court of Delaware, ITV News, and Social Media Victims Law Center
Bluesky: @davidingram, @davidingram, @davidingram, @davidingram, and @davidingram. Forums: r/GunsAreCool
| Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer: |
More: Pornhub Help, The Guardian, Livemint, TechCrunch, Moneycontrol, The Record, Hackread, Daily Mail, LBC, GB News, PCMag, Reuters, Newsweek, Security Affairs, Forbes, The Register, and TechSpot
X: @troyhunt, @uk_daniel_card, @bleepincomputer, @thegrugq, @bleepincomputer, @rekdt, @troyhunt, @lawrenceabrams, and @mattjay
Bluesky: @ajvicens, @lorenzofb, and @raphae.li
Mastodon: @zackwhittaker@mastodon.social and @dannyjpalmer@infosec.exchange
Forums: Hacker News, r/privacy, r/antipornography, r/NewsOfTheStupid, r/technology, and r/Destiny
| Scott Feinberg / The Hollywood Reporter: |
More: Variety, T3, Awful Announcing, Android Headlines, YouTube Official Blog, israelhayom.com, Tech Times, BMI, TheGrio, Associated Press, and Irish Independent
X: @lucas_shaw, @moorehn, @piersmorgan, @michaelcollado, @812filmreviews, @disparutoo, @seanhannity, @sydneybattle, @offbeatorbit, @jasminelwatkins, @ronnui_, @jayelharris, @clubchalamet, @awards_watch, @katiemiller, @mrbrianrowe, @richlightshed, @gavinpurcell, @brianstelter, @walthickey, @neilcybart, @loudmouthjulia, @nealmohan, @tvgrimreaper, @richlightshed, @nandovmovies, @mattbelloni, @jbflint, @tvgrimreaper, @jason_kint, @pkafka, @unikunka, @brianstelter, @mgsiegler, @updatesfromyt, and @theacademy
LinkedIn: David Freeman and Demetrius Bagley
Bluesky: @joshsternberg.com, @riderbabe52, and @anildash.com
| Abner Li / 9to5Google: |
More: Ars Technica, Computerworld, The Keyword, Tom's Guide, Search Engine Roundtable, TechCrunch, WinBuzzer, TechRadar, The Keyword, The Economic Times, Business Standard, Trusted Reviews, Digit, Business Today, Moneycontrol, The Rundown AI, The Indian Express, The Hindu, eWeek, Analytics India Magazine, GSMArena.com, Tech in Asia, Google Developers Blog, The Keyword, Android Authority, Thurrott, Search Engine Land, CNET, Engadget, and SiliconANGLE
X: @rmstein, @arena, @skirano, @fchollet, @deliprao, @benbajarin, @signulll, @joshwoodward, @sainemani1, @scaling01, @gregkamradt, @arcprize, @levie, @jeffdean, @iruletheworldmo, @noamshazeer, @scaling01, @scaling01, @patelnamra573, @joncallahan, @kimmonismus, @scaling01, @ai_for_success, @swalliec69635, @jackwoth98, @ntaylormullen, @aibattle_, @arkitus, @dynamicwebpaige, @addyosmani, @sundarpichai, @demishassabis, @mweinbach, @osanseviero, @techikansh, @omarsar0, @ammaar, @sam_witteveen, @rseroter, @kat_kampf, @engineerrprompt, @melvinjohnsonp, @saboo_shubham_, @jeffdean, @fhinkel, @jeffdean, @scaling01, @thefox, @joshwoodward, @koraykv, @officiallogank, @googledeepmind, @officiallogank, @sundarpichai, @jeffdean, and @googleai
Forums: Hacker News, r/Bard, Slashdot, and Ars OpenForum