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January 1, 2026, 6:55 PM
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| Stephanie Palazzolo / The Information: |
Sources: OpenAI is taking steps to improve its audio AI models, in preparation for its AI-powered personal device, which is expected to be largely audio-based — OpenAI is taking steps to improve its audio AI models, in preparation for its eventual release of an AI-powered personal device, said a person with knowledge of the effort.| Angel Au-Yeung / Wall Street Journal: |
Startups have started to offer free nicotine pouches as a perk, as some employees claim the products help them focus during the workday, despite health hazards — A nicotine replacement for smokers has started popping up in offices in the tech industry, despite health hazards
More: New York Post and Newser
| Simon Willison / Simon Willison's Weblog: |
Some LLM takeaways for 2025: reasoning as a signature feature, coding agents were useful, subscriptions hit $200/month, and Chinese open-weight models impressed — This is the third in my annual series reviewing everything that happened in the LLM space over the past 12 months.
More: Ben Werdmuller, Ars Technica, and Don't Worry About the Vase
Bluesky: @mikehadlow.com, @carnage4life, @daniloc.xyz, @jeremymorrell.dev, and @simonwillison.net
Forums: Hacker News and Lobsters
| Reuters: |
Elon Musk says that Neuralink plans to start “high-volume production” of its BCI devices and move to an “almost entirely automated surgical procedure in 2026” — Elon Musk's brain implant company Neuralink will start “high-volume production” of brain-computer interface devices …
More: The Hans India, Mashable, News9live, New York Sun, The American Bazaar, Business Insider, Livemint, Moneycontrol, Digit, and Eschaton
X: @kskgroup2017, @cathiedwood, @mmjukic, @astrodanish, @elonmusk, @teortaxestex, @checkcanopy, @andrewzywiecmd, @serobinsonjr, @quinnypig, @0xunihax0r, @moneyacademyke, @sovmichael, and @teslaradiox
Bluesky: @t0nyyates, @webrant, @shwshnkdufresne, @hellocullen, @malwarejake, @yermazaguddin, @segfaultvicta.aludel.xyz, @dburbach, @sharonk, @anamusingaddress, @whynotscott, @ktfalvey, @harrymckillen.com, @hushuo, @parismarx.com, @keithfitzgerald, @juniorhoncho, @bumblesnuff, @rowyourbot, @samwhyte, @rowyourbot, @fiddledidi, @lorak, @brienneofsnark, @niedermeyer.online, and @fagankara
Forums: r/RealTesla, r/behindthebastards, r/musked, and r/EnoughMuskSpam
| Financial Times: |
A look at the rise of AI companionship apps; a researcher found 206 such apps on the App Store and 253 on Google Play, with 220M+ total downloads as of July '25 — The technology is changing the way many people meet and form relationships but some experts believe it may do more harm than good| C.J. Chivers / New York Times: |
Ukraine has become a live-fire test range for AI drones like the Bumblebee, provided by a secretive Eric Schmidt-led venture, raising alarms in Kremlin circles — As the war grinds on, sophisticated Russian defenses have pushed Ukraine to develop a frightening new weapon: semiautonomous killing machines.
More: Fox News, Business Insider, and UPI
| Michael Acton / Financial Times: |
IDC expected Apple to ship just 45,000 units of the Vision Pro in Q4 2025; Sensor Tower said Apple cut digital ad spend for the headset by 95% in 2025 — High prices, limited apps and comfort issues expose difficulty of turning futuristic hardware into a mass-market product
More: iDrop News, iClarified, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, The Guardian, AppleInsider, Tom's Guide, Newsmax, HotHardware, COINOTAG, and iPhone in Canada
Bluesky: @parismarx.com and @jjaron
| Philosopher Count: |
How AI automation can fulfill Thomas Piketty's predictions on rising economic inequality, and why highly progressive taxes on capital can help slow the spiral — Piketty was wrong about the past. He's probably right about the future. — 1. Introduction
X: @elocinationn, @erikbryn, @saikatc, @pawtrammell, @tszzl, @garrytan, @besttrousers, @harryh, @dwarkesh_sp, @pawtrammell, @jankulveit, @yonashav, @stevehou, @jackwiseman_, @dwarkesh_sp, @deepdishenjoyer, @t_holden, @alltheyud, @garrytan, @daniel_271828, @krishnanrohit, @briancalbrecht, @briancalbrecht, @garrytan, @digeconlab, @jsevillamol, @daveg, @mylesudland, @drydenwtbrown, @ks_kulk, @dwarkesh_sp, @robinhanson, @mortenstostad, @alltheyud, and @dwarkesh_sp. LinkedIn: Viktor Shvets. Bluesky: @tachikoma.elsewhereunbound …. Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to
| George Hammond / Financial Times: |
Sources: SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic could IPO in 2026; those three deals alone would exceed the total proceeds from roughly 200 US IPOs in 2025 — Three biggest US private tech groups plan listings as early as this year, raising hopes of windfall for banks, lawyers and investors| Miles Kruppa / The Information: |
Brookfield is launching a cloud company called Radiant and a new $10B AI fund, and plans to acquire up to $100B in land, data centers, and power assets for AI — Private-equity firm Brookfield is starting its own cloud business, going up against tech giants like Amazon by arguing it can bring down the costs of developing AI.
More: SiliconANGLE, Reuters, and Yahoo Finance
| Karissa Bell / Engadget: |
Adam Mosseri details trends shaping Instagram and says it'll be more practical to authenticate real media than label AI, as AI gets better at imitating reality — Adam Mosseri says creators should prioritize “unflattering” images to prove they are real. — It's no secret that AI-generated …
More: The Verge, On my Om, Social Media Today, Ben Werdmuller, Implicator.ai, Business Insider, Moneycontrol, KnowTechie, Livemint, HotHardware, The Decoder, Mashable, NDTV Profit, Digit, and The Verge
X: @milkkarten. LinkedIn: Stuart McDonald. Bluesky: @thatoldbear, @ykomska, @mattschrader, @joeuchill, @karissabe, @iansociologo, @brocktoon, @blackamazon, @bwjones, @benmffowler, @sarkastiklover, @chronotope.aramzs.xyz, @mathewolson.com, @danhon.com, @voidfemme, @highway62, @violetsalazar, @thetrudz.photo, @hypervisible.blacksky.app, and @jrosenbaum.com.au
| Song Jung-a / Financial Times: |
Analysts and manufacturers expect smartphone, PC, and consumer electronics prices to rise by as much as 20% in 2026, as AI demand drives up memory chip costs — Manufacturers and analysts warn AI data centre build-out is crowding out market for semiconductors
More: The Irish Times, iPhone in Canada, and Fortune
| Vincent Chow / South China Morning Post: |
DeepSeek researchers detail a new mHC architecture they used to train 3B, 9B, and 27B models, finding it scaled without adding significant computational burden — DeepSeek has published a technical paper co-authored by founder Liang Wenfeng proposing a rethink of its core deep learning architecture
More: SiliconANGLE and Blockonomi
| Rishabh Jaiswal / Reuters: |
Starlink plans to lower its satellites orbiting at ~550km to ~480km in 2026 to improve space safety and reduce the likelihood of debris collisions — Starlink will begin a reconfiguration of its satellite constellation by lowering all of its satellites orbiting at around 550 km (342 miles) … 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.
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.
Equals:
Stop vibe coding analytics — Equals AI turns questions about your business into auditable spreadsheet models and dashboards. Build once, iterate for years.
Stop vibe coding analytics — Equals AI turns questions about your business into auditable spreadsheet models and dashboards. Build once, iterate for years.
Zoho:
From MCP to billing: Updates that accelerate hiring — TL;DRConnect your favorite AI tools to Zoho Recruit with Zoho Recruit MCP.Catch up on conversations faster with Zia email summaries.Review candidate context instantly …
From MCP to billing: Updates that accelerate hiring — TL;DRConnect your favorite AI tools to Zoho Recruit with Zoho Recruit MCP.Catch up on conversations faster with Zia email summaries.Review candidate context instantly …
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.
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
Channels with Peter Kafka:
"We're in a Race Against Time," Joe Kahn on Running the New York Times in the Age of AI Slop
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:
Inside Zipline's Autonomous System: 140M Miles, Zero Incidents
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:
Jeremy Giffon - The Billion Dollar PDF
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Big Technology Podcast:
Who Wins The AI Superapp Battle?, Apple's Consumer AI Victory, World Cup Automation Mistake
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:
Fable Ban Reversed + Dr. Dana Suskind on Parenting With A.I. + Prediction Market Drama
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.
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.
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