Techmeme
January 7, 2026, 4:25 AM

Top News

xAI:
xAI raised a $20B Series E, exceeding its $15B targeted round size, with participation from Valor, Nvidia, and others, and says Grok 5 is currently in training  —  xAI is rapidly accelerating its progress in building advanced AI.  —  xAI completed its upsized Series E funding round …
Hugh Langley / Business Insider:
Filing: Larry Page moved assets out of California ahead of the proposed CA wealth tax, meeting an end-of-2025 deadline; a source said he has left the state  —  - Google cofounder Larry Page is cutting ties with California.  — A source said Page had already left the state.
Bloomberg:
Evan Halper / Washington Post:
How the huge data center buildout is heating up local politics in US towns across red and blue states on issues like water, electricity, and noise  —  As the buildout of AI infrastructure alarms communities, it is fast emerging as a potent electoral issue across the political divide.
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Google will now publish new source code to the Android Open Source Project twice per year, down from releasing source code for every quarterly Android release  —  Google has announced that it will publish Android source code to AOSP in Q2 and Q4 of each year.  —  •
Allison Smith / Modern Retail:
Brands complain Amazon's “Buy for Me” AI-powered shopping tool features their products on Amazon without permission and shows descriptions with errors  —  Angie Chua has avoided selling on Amazon since she founded her Palm Springs, California-based stationery brand Bobo Design Studio in 2016.
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
In the first successful US prosecution of a spyware operator in 10+ years, pcTattletale's founder pleads guilty to promoting surveillance apps for unlawful uses  —  The founder of a U.S.-based spyware company, whose surveillance products allowed customers to spy on the phones and computers …
Bloomberg:
A look at Kalshi and Polymarket's lucrative shift toward sports, as high-profile real-world bets raise questions about access, integrity, and US CFTC regulation  —  Prediction platforms pitch themselves as tools for insight, but eye-catching bets on real-world events are raising questions about access, integrity and regulation.
Stu Woo / Wall Street Journal:
GWI: LinkedIn's 2025 revenue rose to $17B from $7B in 2020 as users doubled to 1.3B; 4.7% of US users checked more than once per day in 2025, from 3.9% in 2020  —  Data show people are scrolling longer on the site.  Its secret is a founding principle that curbs toxicity.  —  It isn't just you.
Stevie Bonifield / The Verge:
Meta unveils teleprompter and EMG handwriting features for Meta Ray-Ban Display and expands Pedestrian Navigation for the glasses to four new US cities  —  Ray-Ban Display users will soon be able to reply to texts with hand gestures. … The new EMG handwriting feature …
Steve Dent / Engadget:
Chris Welch / Bloomberg:
Motorola unveils the Razr Fold, its first book-style foldable phone, with a 6.6" front display and an 8.1" 2K LTPO inner screen, expected to launch this summer  —  Lenovo Group Ltd.'s Motorola unveiled its first folding phone that opens like a book or passport, a departure from the string …
Paige Smith / Bloomberg:
Dutch fintech Bunq applies to become a US bank; the OCC conditionally approved national trust bank charters for several crypto firms in 2025, including Circle  —  The Dutch fintech Bunq BV applied to become a US bank two years after rescinding a previous application under former President Joe Biden.
Bloomberg:
China unveils rules banning major platforms like Alibaba from forcing merchants into discounts or practices seen as disrupting market order, effective February  —  China unveiled broad regulations Wednesday that ban major platforms such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. from coercing online merchants …
Duncan Riley / SiliconANGLE:
PitchBook-NVCA: global VC investments hit $512B in 2025 with AI accounting for 50%+; VC fundraising fell to a 10-year low of $118.6B, ~$100B less than in 2024  —  The global venture capital market hit its second-highest annual total on record in 2025, with the year seeing $512 billion in deal value …

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Featured Podcasts

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The Upstarts Podcast:
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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.
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More News

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
Marissa Newman / Bloomberg:
Kyle Orland / Ars Technica:
Corey Quinn / The Register:
Sam Rutherford / Engadget:
Sara Fischer / Axios:

Earlier Picks

Dana Wollman / Bloomberg:
Zachary Skidmore / DatacenterDynamics:
Dan Rys / Billboard:
The Information:
Mark Bergen / Bloomberg: