Techmeme: Sources reveal inconsistencies in Megaspeed's chip inventory, as the US probes the Singapore AI startup over alleged Chinese ownership and Nvidia chip smuggling (Bloomberg)

Top News

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

The European Commission says Apple will bring AirPods-like pairing and iPhone notification access to third-party devices under the DMA in iOS 26.3 in 2026 — The European Commission today praised the interoperability changes that Apple is introducing in iOS 26.3, once again crediting the Digital Markets Act …

More: Wall Street Journal, Engadget, Thurrott, Michael Tsai, TechRadar, The Mac Observer, iPhone in Canada, Cult of Mac, SammyGuru, BGR, Mashable, 9to5Mac, and SamMobile

Bluesky: @gateklons. Forums: Hacker News, r/technology, r/europe, and MacRumors Forums

Bloomberg:

ServiceNow agrees to acquire cybersecurity startup Armis for $7.75B, set to close in H2 2026, pending approvals; Insight acquired Armis in a $1.1B deal in 2020 — ServiceNow Inc. has reached a deal to buy the cybersecurity startup Armis in a deal valued at $7.75 billion, representing its largest acquisition to date.

More: ServiceNow, CNBC, Cybersecurity Dive, Security Boulevard, CyberScoop, Globes, CRN, Pulse 2.0, The Information, Benzinga, Axios, Constellation Research, Investor's Business Daily, VINnews, Wall Street Journal, diginomica, Reuters, MarketWatch, and Bloomberg Law

LinkedIn: Katie Roof and Syra Arif

Lauren Feiner / The Verge:

A federal judge grants a temporary injunction blocking a Texas law requiring mobile app stores to verify users' ages from taking effect on January 1 — The law was set to take effect next month. … A federal judge blocked a Texas law requiring mobile app stores to verify users' ages from taking effect on January 1st.

More: Reuters, MacRumors, AppleInsider, iPhone in Canada, CourtListener, and CCIA

X: @wendyndavis. Bluesky: @laurenfeiner. Forums: r/technology

Devindra Hardawar / Engadget:

Xbox had a terrible 2025: Microsoft canceled games and raised console and Game Pass prices, Costco stopped selling Xbox, and Valve's Steam Machine upstaged it — But can it be resurrected in PC form? — Want to see a dead body? I present to you the Xbox.

More: Kotaku and Tech Times

Bluesky: @thedimpsler, @scalehelix.net, @quinnypig.com, and @econreporter. Forums: r/DreamStationcc

Reece Rogers / Wired:

Google's Nano Banana Pro and OpenAI's ChatGPT Images can make nonconsensual bikini deepfakes from photos of fully clothed women; Reddit bans r/ChatGPTJailbreak — Users of AI image generators are offering each other instructions on how to use the tech to alter pictures of women into realistic, revealing deepfakes.

More: Associated Press. Bluesky: @thiccreese and @hypervisible.blacksky.app. Forums: r/artificial

Yueqi Yang / The Information:

Brett Harrison, the former president of FTX US, raised $35M for his new global exchange AX, which offers perpetual futures, a source says at a $187M valuation — Brett Harrison, the former president of FTX US, has raised $35 million for his startup Architect Financial Technologies, which offers a global perpetual futures exchange.

More: FinSMEs, The Block, Architect Financial …, Chicago Business, Crypto Briefing, and Pulse 2.0

X: @brettharrison88 and @brettharrison88

MiniMax:

China's MiniMax releases M2.1, an upgrade to its open-source M2 model that it says has “significantly enhanced” coding capabilities in Rust, Java, and others — MiniMax has been continuously transforming itself in a more AI-native way. The core driving forces of this process are models …

More: SiliconANGLE. X: @arafatkatze, @yashasgunderia, @tokenbender, @tphuang, @rudrank, @minimax__ai, @goosewin, and @minimax__ai. Forums: r/singularity

Heather Somerville / Wall Street Journal:

The US FCC bans imports, marketing, and sales of new foreign-made drones and components, including from China's DJI and Autel, citing national security concerns — American customers hoarding products in anticipation of restrictions against popular Chinese manufacturer DJI and a smaller competitor, Autel Robotics

More: ZDNET, Politico, CNET, Ars Technica, The Verge, PCMag, US FCC, Gizmodo, iTnews, Tom's Hardware, DroneXL.co, SlashGear, iClarified, The National Pulse, Washington Examiner, PetaPixel, Mashable, The Independent, Digital Trends, Reuters, Tom's Guide, The Daily Caller, Android Authority, Modern Diplomacy, DroneDJ, CNN, Sherwood News, TechNode, Associated Press, GSMArena.com, The Hill, and Bloomberg

X: @brendancarrfcc and @fcc. Mastodon: @SuffolkLITLab@esq.social

Forums: r/radiocontrol, r/technology, r/politics, and r/fpv

Kate Duguid / Financial Times:

US companies sold $1.7T of investment-grade bonds in 2025, nearing the $1.8T 2020 record, driven by AI infrastructure borrowing; Goldman says AI makes up ~30% — Investment-grade borrowers have issued $1.7tn of bonds this year, closing in on 2020s Covid debt rush

More: Bloomberg, Tech in Asia, Silicon UK, Reuters, and Semafor

Keith Bradsher / New York Times:

Chinese automakers delay plans to mass-produce self-driving vehicles as Beijing becomes more cautious, after a fatal Xiaomi crash in March caused public concern — After years of planning for cars that would let drivers take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road, China's regulators have become more cautious.

More: UKTN, Semafor, and BBC

Bloomberg:

Samsung's Harman agrees to acquire ZF's radar and automotive computing driver-assistance business for €1.5B, as the European auto-supplier sector struggles — Samsung Electronics Co.-owned Harman International is buying the advanced driver assistance systems business of Germany's ZF Group …

More: The Korea Times, Samsung Newsroom, Reuters, Korea Joongang Daily, Wall Street Journal, electrive.com, SammyGuru, Analytics India Magazine, SamMobile, Automotive World, and KED Global

Angus Whitley / Bloomberg:

The Canada Pension Plan Board and Australia's Goodman agree to invest $2.6B+ in data centers in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Paris, starting to build in June 2026 — The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Australia's Goodman Group agreed to set up a multibillion dollar European data center business …

More: Data Center Knowledge, DatacenterDynamics, iPhone in Canada, Verdict, Telecompaper, Capital Brief, and Dow Jones Newswires

Marina Temkin / TechCrunch:

Marissa Mayer's new startup Dazzle, which is building next-gen AI personal assistants, raised an $8M seed at a $35M valuation and plans to exit stealth in 2026 — The former Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, refuses to sit on the sidelines of the generative AI revolution.

More: Financial Post. Bluesky: @daniloc.xyz

Jordan Fabian / Bloomberg:

The US says China is engaging in unfair chip trade practices after a yearlong review, but holds off on additional chip import tariffs at least until mid-2027 — The US accused China of engaging in unfair trade practices in the semiconductor sector, but is declining to impose additional tariffs on chip imports until at least mid-2027.

More: Reuters, New York Times, Yahoo Finance, NDTV Profit, CNBC, Financial Times, NewsMax.com, ZeroHedge News, and Vox. Forums: Slashdot

Sponsor Posts

Airtable:

Deep analysis for deep questions — Introducing Superagent. A new research product from Airtable: Subagents deeply interrogate your topic and turn it into boardroom-ready reports, slides, docs, or websites.

Clay:

Turn any GTM idea into reality — Clay helps GTM teams combine AI agents, enrichment, and intent data to move faster and turn insights into action.

Zoho:

App Spotlight: Plug&Play AI Email Assistant for Zoho CRM — Our App Spotlight brings you hand-picked apps to enhance the power of your Zoho apps and tools. Visit Zoho Marketplace to explore all of our apps …

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.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:

Is Something Big Happening?, AI Safety Apocalypse, Anthropic Raises $30 Billion

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.

Hard Fork:

'Something Big Is Happening' + A.I. Rocks the Romance Novel Industry + One Good Thing

The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.

Subscribe to Hard Fork.

Lenny's Podcast:

"Engineers are becoming sorcerers" | The future of software development with OpenAI's Sherwin Wu

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.

Cheeky Pint:

Ben Thompson from Stratechery on AI ads, the end of SaaS, and the future of media

Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.

Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

His Excellency Khaldoon Al Mubarak: Investing in an AI-Driven World

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.

The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:

The Billionaire Button w/ Tim Wu

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.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:45 PM ET, December 23, 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.