Techmeme
January 9, 2026, 11:35 PM

Top News

Jennifer Hiller / Wall Street Journal:
Dan Primack / Axios:
a16z raises $15B+ across five new funds, including $6.75B for its fifth growth fund, the largest sum, and $3B for unspecified “other venture strategies”  —  Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, whose past investments included Airbnb and Coinbase, on Friday announced …
Robert Hart / The Verge:
Helena Horton / The Guardian:
Grok says image generation and editing are now limited to paid subscribers, after outcry over its use to create sexually explicit and violent imagery  —  X to limit editing function to paying subscribers after platform threatened with fines and regulatory action
The Guardian:
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Italy fines Cloudflare €14.2M for refusing to block pirate sites on its 1.1.1.1 DNS service; CEO Matthew Prince says he will discuss it with US officials  —  Italy fined Cloudflare 14.2 million euros for refusing to block access to pirate sites on its 1.1.1.1 DNS service …
Bloomberg:
OpenAI and SoftBank say they will each invest $500M in SB Energy to support the infrastructure company's growth as a data center developer and operator  —  OpenAI and SoftBank Group Corp. have jointly invested $1 billion in SB Energy, an infrastructure company that's working with the tech firms …
Carl Franzen / VentureBeat:
Anthropic adds safeguards to prevent third-party apps, like OpenCode, from spoofing Claude Code to access Claude models for more favorable pricing and limits  —  Anthropic has confirmed the implementation of strict new technical safeguards preventing third-party applications from spoofing …
Bloomberg:
Chinese short-video app Kuaishou's stock has surged 88% over the past year, driven by the success of its Kling AI video generator, which has amassed 60M users  —  Few major companies have tried to pull off a pivot to AI as swiftly as Kuaishou Technology.  —  Long known as a laggard …
Wired:
Documents: OpenAI is asking contractors to upload their work from current or previous jobs to evaluate its models, leaving it to them to scrub confidential info  —  To prepare AI agents for office work, the company is asking contractors to upload projects from past jobs …
X: @zeffmax, @zeffmax, @zeffmax, and @zeffmaxBluesky: @katie-drummondForums: r/BetterOffline
David Shepardson / Reuters:
The FCC approves SpaceX's request to deploy an additional 7,500 Gen2 Starlink satellites, bringing the total to 15,000 satellites worldwide  —  The Federal Communications Commission said on Friday it has approved SpaceX's request to deploy another 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites …

Sponsor Posts

Okara:
Meet Okara, the AI platform that doesn't train on your data  —  Chat with 30+ open-source models (Llama, Kimi, Qwen, DeepSeek) through encrypted infrastructure.  Used by teams handling proprietary code and strategy.
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Reduce SLA breaches with Zoho Desk and Zoho Contracts integration  —  Customer service teams strive to deliver fast, consistent, and reliable support to ensure satisfaction for each customer.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Access:
The AI glasses race is heating up.
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Big Technology Podcast:
Claude Code's Shining Moment, ChatGPT for Healthcare, End Of Busywork?
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.
Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Ben Horowitz from a16z
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
Subscribe to Uncapped with Jack Altman.
Hard Fork:
Grok's Undressing Scandal + Claude Code Capers + Casey Busts a Reddit Hoax
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:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
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 Social Radars:
David Kirtley, Founder & CEO of Helion Energy
Come be a fly on the wall as Y Combinator's Jessica Livingston and Carolynn Levy talk to some of the most successful founders in Silicon Valley about how they did it.
Subscribe to The Social Radars.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 11:35 PM ET, January 9, 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.

More News

Andrew Dunn / Endpoints News:
Jordan Moreau / Variety:
Sarah Wynn / The Block:
The Information:
Pragyan Kalita / Reuters:

Earlier Picks

Jennifer Swann / Wired:
Shirin Ghaffary / Bloomberg:
Jay Peters / The Verge: