Techmeme
January 12, 2026, 6:55 PM

Top News

Samantha Subin / CNBC:
Apple signs a multiyear Google deal to use Gemini and Google Cloud to power Siri's features in 2026, saying Google's tech “provides the most capable foundation”  —  Apple is joining forces with Google to power its artificial intelligence features for products such as Siri later this year.
More: The Verge, Windows Central, Appleosophy, Washington Post, 9to5Mac, Washington Examiner, TechRadar, 9to5Mac, Engadget, eWeek, 9to5Mac, SiliconANGLE, Daring Fireball, ZDNET, MacRumors, PCMag, The Detroit News, The Register, The Hill, 9to5Google, 9to5Mac, MobileSyrup, BetaNews, The Information, MacRumors, Decrypt, Morningstar, Times of India, Computerworld, Six Colors, Gizmodo, Spyglass, KARE-TV, Tom's Guide, Mercury News, The Times, AppleInsider, Michael Tsai, Investing.com, Forbes, GSMArena.com, Android Authority, Neowin, Ars Technica, Crypto Briefing, Macworld, The Mac Observer, The Guardian, Cult of Mac, Chrome Unboxed, Pocket-lint, Business Insider, Sherwood News, Android Police, TechCrunch, Android Central, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, The Economic Times, iClarified, Android Headlines, and Moneycontrol
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Google says Gemini will help power not only a more personalized version of Siri, but also future Apple Intelligence features  —  Google today announced that its AI platform Gemini will help power not only a more personalized version of Siri, but a range of future Apple Intelligence features.
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Elon Musk says Apple and Google's Gemini deal “seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google given that [they] also have Android and Chrome”  —  Elon Musk today expressed concern about Apple and Google partnering on a more personalized version of Siri powered by Google's generative AI platform Gemini.
Financial Times:
Ofcom opens an investigation under the OSA into Grok over the sexualized deepfakes of women and kids being generated on X and threatens X with a ban or a fine  —  Promise by technology secretary comes after media regulator threatens X AI chatbot with ban or multimillion-pound fine
BBC:
The UK plans to bring into force a law this week that will make it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images, as Ofcom investigates X  —  The UK will bring into force a law which will make it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images, following widespread concerns over Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Meta appoints Dina Powell McCormick, a prominent banking executive and former Republican official, as president and vice chair, reporting to Mark Zuckerberg  —  Dina Powell McCormick, a prominent banking executive and former Republican official, is joining Meta full-time as president and vice chairman …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Webb Wright / ZDNET:
Anthropic launches Cowork for Claude, built on Claude Code to automate complex tasks with minimal prompting, as a research preview for Claude Max subscribers  —  ZDNET's key takeaways  — Anthropic is launching Cowork for Claude as a research preview.  — It's built upon Claude Code and can automate complex tasks.
New York Times:
Sources: Meta plans to lay off ~10% of its 15,000-person Reality Labs division, disproportionately affecting those working on VR headsets and Horizon Worlds  —  The layoffs are set to be announced this week and would affect Meta's work on the metaverse, as the company spends heavily on building artificial intelligence.
Laura Mandaro / The Information:
OpenAI acquires Torch, a one-year-old AI healthcare app that aggregates and analyzes medical records; source: OpenAI is paying about $100M in equity  —  OpenAI has agreed to buy Torch, a one-year-old AI healthcare app, for about $100 million in equity, according to a person with direct knowledge of the acquisition.
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Eddy Cue says 2025 was a “record-breaking year” for Apple services: December was a monthly TV engagement record, the App Store has 850M+ weekly users, and more  —  The Apple services executive released a note saying that Apple TV set new monthly engagement records, while Apple Music has hit subscriber records.
Bloomberg:
Nvidia and Eli Lilly say they will invest $1B over five years in a new Silicon Valley-based AI drug lab, aiming to speed up the pharmaceutical industry's AI use  —  Nvidia Corp. plans to invest $1 billion over five years in a new laboratory with Eli Lilly & Co., aiming to speed up the use …
Nasteho Said / Bloomberg:
Meta says it shut down nearly 550K accounts in Australia to comply with its under-16 social media ban, including 330,639 Instagram and 173,497 Facebook accounts  —  Meta Platforms Inc. said it has shut down almost 550,000 accounts in Australia to comply with the country's landmark social media ban for children.
Counterpoint Research:
Global smartphone shipments rose 2% YoY in 2025; Apple led with 20% market share and 10% YoY growth, followed by Samsung's 19% market share and 5% YoY growth  —  - Global smartphone shipments grew 2% YoY in 2025, driven by increasing premium demand and improving momentum in key emerging markets.
Emily Mason / Bloomberg:
Personal finance app Betterment says an individual accessed certain systems to send fake crypto scam notification and believes the person accessed user info  —  Personal finance platform Betterment fell victim to an online attack that allowed an unauthorized individual to send some customers a …
New York Times:
Sources and filings: Peter Thiel donated $3M to a group to beat California's wealth tax proposal, the first of several expected tech leader donations in 2026  —  More large donations from wealthy Silicon Valley figures are expected as they try to marshal opposition to a proposed ballot measure …

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Bloomberg:
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