Techmeme
December 19, 2025, 3:00 PM

Top News

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Internal memo: TikTok has signed a deal to sell its US unit; Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX will collectively own 45% of the US entity, and ByteDance will retain ~20%  —  TikTok has signed a deal to divest its U.S. entity to a joint venture controlled by American investors, per an internal memo seen by Axios.
More: CNBC, Reuters, Ars Technica, Semafor, Bloomberg, Bloomberg Law, Silicon Republic, CNN, Inc, 9to5Google, Thurrott, Benzinga, Observer, Gizmodo, The Week, Nerdist, PC Gamer, HotAir, Tom's Guide, Cautious Optimism, The Shortcut, DatacenterDynamics, Spyglass, NPR, The Hill, Entrepreneur, TechCrunch, Social Media Today, Capacity, Music Ally, TVREV, Quartz, Wall Street Journal, PR Daily, PetaPixel, Proactive, Telegraph, Investor's Business Daily, Digital Trends, IWCP Online, Investing.com, BGR, Blockonomi, AR Insider, Finance Magnates, Sharecast, New York Times, Mediaite, BBC, Pixel Envy, iClarified, Yahoo Finance, KnowTechie, NBC News, Straight Arrow News, The Information, Associated Press, Nairametrics, Forbes Middle East, The Verge, CGTN, Times of India, Ukrainian National News, ABC News, TRT World, UPI, TechRadar, MacRumors, Blockchain.News, International Business Times, Dexerto, Tech in Asia, Telecompaper, The National, 9to5Mac, Mashable, Cord Cutters News, Livemint, Sinocism, Variety, The Independent, Washington Examiner, and The Straits Times
Financial Times:
Memo: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew says ByteDance's US entities will retain direct control over core US revenue drivers, including ecommerce, ads, and marketing  —  Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX to invest in new data security joint venture as part of Trump-brokered deal
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Financial Times:
Sources: UK officials believe China was behind the October cyber attack on the UK's Foreign Office, which aimed to access tens of thousands of sensitive files  —  The UK's Foreign Office was the victim of a major cyber attack in October, which officials believe was carried out by Chinese hackers.
Adamya Sharma / Android Authority:
Samsung unveils the Exynos 2600, the world's first smartphone SoC built on a 2nm Gate-All-Around process, expected to power some Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus models  —  Galaxy S26 could get Samsung's boldest chip yet: Meet the 2nm Exynos 2600.  —  •  —  TL;DR
Olga Kharif / Bloomberg:
Coinbase sues Connecticut, Illinois, and Michigan over attempts to regulate prediction markets, arguing that the markets fall under CFTC's jurisdiction  —  Coinbase Global Inc. said it is suing the US states of Michigan, Illinois and Connecticut over their attempts to regulate prediction markets.
Chris McGuire / Council on Foreign Relations:
Erin Woo / The Information:
Sources: Google has formed a new executive council to allocate computing capacity given a critical shortage; members include Thomas Kurian and Demis Hassabis  —  Earlier this year, Google convened a group of its top executives to address what some staffers see as an existential problem …
Emily Mullin / Wired:
Source: Sam Altman's Merge Labs, which seeks to read brain activity using ultrasound, is being spun out of LA-based nonprofit Forest Neurotech  —  Merge Labs, a brain-computer interface startup that seeks to read brain activity using ultrasound, is being spun out of Forest Neurotech, a Los Angeles nonprofit.
Lydia Beyoud / Bloomberg:

Sponsor Posts

Subquadratic:
Subquadratic: the LLM built for 12M-token reasoning  —  SubQ can reason across entire codebases and document sets in one pass with no RAG workarounds.  Read how SubQ 1.1 Small holds near-perfect retrieval out to 12M tokens.
Cape:
Most carriers track everything.  Cape doesn't.  —  Unlimited talk, text & data, 24-hr metadata deletion, network ID rotation, SIM-attack defense, and more.  Switch today and get 29% off for life.
Zoho:
Introduction: Zoho Notebook now imports and transcribes your call recordings automatically from Zoho apps  —  Does your team run on Zoho's call and meeting apps?  That's where decisions get made, plans come together, and work actually moves forward.
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

Big Technology Podcast:
How The AI Bet Pays Off + AI Lab Strategy Game — With David Cahn
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:
Oliver Darcy on Status, Bari Weiss, and Why Media Reporters Are Too Soft
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.
Training Data:
Chai Discovery's Bitter Lesson: Drug Design Is Another Scaling Problem
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.
Invest Like the Best:
Gavin Baker - AI Market Jitters
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Lenny's Podcast:
This CPO regrets that product management exists | Tom Verrilli (CPO of Whatnot)
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.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Connecting the Unconnected: Doreen Bogdan-Martin
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 3:00 PM ET, December 19, 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

Miranda Bryant / The Guardian:
Alex Heath / Sources:
Vicky Ge Huang / Wall Street Journal:

Earlier Picks

Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Suzanne Smalley / The Record:
Mistral AI:
Wall Street Journal:
Financial Times:
Jake Bleiberg / Bloomberg: