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Techmeme
January 7, 2026, 2:30 PM
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Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Researcher: Grok generated ~6,700 sexually suggestive or “nudifying” images per hour on X between January 5 and January 6; 85% of all Grok images are sexualized  —  Elon Musk's X has become a top site for images of people that have been non-consensually undressed by AI …
Financial Times:
Polymarket is disputing that the US mission to capture Nicolás Maduro constituted an “invasion”, refusing to pay out bets on a contract with $10.5M+ in wagers  —  Prediction market disputes US raid amounted to an invasion in fight over more than $10.5mn in wagers
Katherine Blunt / Wall Street Journal:
How Google's more ambitious approach to training Gemini on text, code, audio, images, and video helped it stage a comeback, triggering a Code Red inside OpenAI  —  After ChatGPT dominated early chatbot market, Google staged comeback with powerful AI model; biggest search-engine overhaul in years
Qianer Liu / The Information:
Sources: China has told some local tech companies to temporarily halt purchase orders for Nvidia's H200 chips while officials deliberate whether to approve them  —  The Chinese government this week asked some tech companies to temporarily halt plans to buy Nvidia's H200 AI chips …
Katherine Doherty / Bloomberg:
Polymarket agrees to supply Dow Jones outlets like the WSJ and Barron's with prediction market trading data for online and in print, its first media partnership  —  Polymarket will supply Dow Jones with trading data under a new partnership, the latest in a string of deals between exchanges …
Bloomberg:
A look at Kalshi's and Polymarket's lucrative shift toward sports, as bets on real-world events raise questions about access, integrity, and US CFTC regulation
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
WBD's board unanimously rejects Paramount's amended $108.4B acquisition offer, saying the bid still has “significant” risks compared to Netflix's $83B offer  —  The board says the revised $108.4 billion bid continues to offer “significant costs, risks and uncertainties” compared to its $83 billion deal with Netflix
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 local water supplies and electricity prices
Hugh Langley / Business Insider:
Filings: Larry Page moved his assets out of California ahead of its proposed wealth tax, meeting an end-of-2025 deadline; a source says he had left the state  —  - Google cofounder Larry Page is cutting ties with California.  — A source said Page had already left the state.
Ben Weiss / Fortune:
Crypto infrastructure provider Fireblocks agrees to acquire accounting platform TRES Finance, sources say for $130M in cash and equity; TRES raised $11M in 2023  —  TRES Finance cofounders Tal Zackon (left) and Eilon Lotem.COURTESY OF TRES FINANCE  —  The blockchain infrastructure company Fireblocks …
Financial Times:
Sources: Chinese officials are reviewing Meta's $2B Manus acquisition for possible tech export control violations, including Manus' relocation to Singapore  —  Commerce ministry assessing whether deal for Chinese-founded group violates technology export controls
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Roblox expands using Persona's tech for age estimations for chat features to all regions, after rolling it out in Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands  —  After a user's age has been verified, they'll be able to chat with others in similar age groups.
Terrence O'Brien / The Verge:
Spotify launches Listening Activity on iOS and Android, letting users view friends' real-time listening via the sidebar alongside chats, as an opt-in feature  —  The company is also adding a Request to Jam option to mobile chats. … Since almost day one, Spotify has offered the ability …
Gabriele Steinhauser / Wall Street Journal:
Cambodia extradites Chen Zhi, the chairman of online scam conglomerate Prince Group, to China; in October, the US DOJ seized $12B in bitcoin belonging to Chen  —  Justice Department accused Chen Zhi of running a sprawling scam empire targeting Americans  —  Chen Zhi, the alleged ringleader …
Bloomberg:
Samsung says it expects memory chip supply shortages to raise prices across the electronics industry, including potentially among its own consumer products  —  Samsung Electronics Co. expects memory chip supply shortages to raise prices across the electronics industry, including potentially among its own consumer products.
Chris Welch / Bloomberg:
Motorola unveils the Razr Fold, its first book-style foldable phone, with a 6.6" outer 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 …
Politico:
Utah launches a pilot program with health tech startup Doctronic to let AI systems handle routine prescription renewals for patients with chronic conditions  —  That raises new questions about the safety of automating prescription refills, including how they should be regulated.
Matthew Kish / Oregonian:
Nike quietly sold its digital products subsidiary RTFKT on December 16 for an undisclosed sum, after Nike acquired it in 2021 and shuttered the NFT unit in 2024  —  Nike has sold one of its subsidiaries, but it's not the one on the minds of some analysts and industry watchers.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Discord files confidentially for a US IPO, working with Goldman and JPMorgan; Discord was valued at ~$15B in 2021, and rejected a $12B Microsoft offer  —  Discord Inc. filed confidentially for an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter …
Amrith Ramkumar / Wall Street Journal:
Docs: Character.AI and Google agree to settle lawsuits with families of teenagers who killed or harmed themselves after interacting with Character.AI's chatbot  —  The cases involving Character.AI's virtual companions highlighted concerns about artificial intelligence and mental health

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:30 PM ET, January 7, 2026.

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.

From Mediagazer

Washington Post:
Trump nominates Sarah B. Rogers, a State Department official, as chief executive of USAGM, after a judge ruled Kari Lake has been illegally running the agency

Elias Schisgall / Wall Street Journal:
BuzzFeed warns that it lacks the resources to fund its cash obligations over the next year and is exploring options, as it reports a Q4 loss of $26.8M

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Disney has sold out all its available commercial inventory for its Oscars telecast on Sunday; source: the event drew 18 returning sponsors and 24 new ones

More News

Earlier Picks

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
Lenovo introduces Qira, a system-level, cross-device AI assistant for both its computers and Motorola smartphones, set to arrive later in Q1 2026
Allison Smith / Modern Retail:
Brands complain Amazon's “Buy for Me” AI-powered shopping tool features their products on Amazon without permission, listing titles and descriptions with errors
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
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