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January 2, 2026, 1:50 AM
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memeorandum
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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.
More: TechCrunch, Digit, Implicator.ai, SiliconANGLE, The Decoder, and Phandroid
X: @zhihuipikachu, @beffjezos, @gregkamradt, @keytryer, @mark_k, @andrewcurran_, @jukan05, @kylebrussell, @btibor91, @steph_palazzolo, @jukan05, and @kimmonismus
Bluesky: @druce.ai and @carnage4life
Forums: r/singularity and r/OpenAI
| Vincent Chow / South China Morning Post: |
DeepSeek researchers detail mHC, a new 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: arXiv.org, Implicator.ai, Livemint, Pandaily, Blockonomi, and SiliconANGLE
| 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
| Rishabh Jaiswal / Reuters: |
SpaceX plans to lower its Starlink satellites from 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 …
More: Engadget. X: @michaelnicollsx, @wagamemnonglenn, @marcushouse, @philipjohnston, @bassonbrain, @iniallanderson, @justin_je_mabie, @teslatino, @yrouel86, @blaze_r935, and @seattle_rt. Bluesky: @fack. Mastodon: @hannorein@mastodon.social. Forums: Hacker News
| 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
| 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: @daniloc.xyz, @carnage4life, @mikehadlow.com, and @jeremymorrell.dev. Mastodon: @Khrys@mamot.fr
Forums: Hacker News and Lobsters
| Financial Times: |
A look at the rise of AI companionship apps; a researcher found 206 on Apple's App Store and 253 on Google Play, with a total of 220M+ downloads as of July 2025 — The technology is changing the way many people meet and form relationships but some experts believe it may do more harm than good| 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| Nikkei Asia: |
How Arizona is training talent for its growing chip industry as suppliers fear tighter US immigration policy; Arizona has drawn $200B+ in investments since 2020 — PHOENIX, Arizona — On a late afternoon in autumn at Mesa Community College, a diverse group had gathered for their “Quick Start” …
Bluesky: @whortana
| Bloomberg: |
Chinese AI chip startup Biren surged as much as 119% in its Hong Kong debut, after raising ~$717M in an IPO priced at ~$2.52 per share — Shares of Shanghai Biren Technology Co. surged nearly 119% in their trading debut, on track for the best first-day performance since 2021 among Hong Kong listings that raised at least $700 million.
More: The Information, Reuters, Reuters, Nikkei Asia, South China Morning Post, and SiliconANGLE. X: @hkexgroup
| Kieran Smith / Financial Times: |
How Nokia has reinvented itself for the AI revolution by expanding into cloud services, data centers, and optical networks, and by partnering with Nvidia — Finnish company that brought the world the 3310 has reinvented itself for the AI revolution — Few digital sounds have burrowed into the human brain like the Nokia ringtone.
More: COINOTAG
| Miles Kruppa / The Information: |
Brookfield is starting cloud company Radiant and a new $10B AI fund, after saying it 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, Yahoo Finance, and Reuters
| Song Jung-a / Financial Times: |
Analysts and manufacturers warn that smartphone, PC, and consumer electronics prices could rise by up to 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: iPhone in Canada, The Irish Times, and Fortune
| Sneha Kumar / Reuters: |
Baidu says its AI chip unit Kunlunxin has confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO, aiming for a spin-off; a December fundraising reportedly valued it at ~$3B — Chinese internet search giant Baidu (9888.HK) said on Friday its AI chip unit Kunlunxin has confidentially filed a listing application …
More: Business Insider, CNBC, Baidu Inc, Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg, BeInCrypto, Pandaily, and Reuters
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
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| Karissa Bell / Engadget: |
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