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January 15, 2026, 9:25 AM
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| Kylie Robison / @kyliebytes: |
Thinking Machines Lab parts ways with CTO Barret Zoph, with Soumith Chintala taking over the role; sources say the termination is due to “unethical conduct” — BREAKING: Thinking Machines has terminated its CTO, Barret Zoph, due to unethical conduct according to two sources familiar with the matter. CEO Mira Murati announced the news at an all-hands with employees today. Soumith Chintala will be taking over as CTO.
More: TechCrunch, The Decoder, Spyglass, Implicator.ai, and The Information
X: @miramurati, @fleetingbits, @yuchenj_uw, @gm8xx8, @suchenzang, @kyliebytes, @_arohan_, @nikshepsvn, @tszzl, @chris_j_paxton, @contrariancurse, @harrystebbings, @daveshapi, @miles_brundage, @benjamindekr, @bilalfarooqui, @alexeheath, @scobleizer, @daniel_mac8, and @paularambles. Bluesky: @carnage4life. Forums: r/technology
| Maxwell Zeff / Wired: |
A source close to Thinking Machines Lab alleges ex-CTO Barret Zoph, who is returning to OpenAI, had shared confidential company information with competitors — The departures are a blow for Thinking Machines Lab. Two narratives are already emerging about why they happened.| Fidji Simo / @fidjissimo: |
Fidji Simo says Barret Zoph, Luke Metz, and Sam Schoenholz have returned to OpenAI from Thinking Machines Lab and “this has been in the works for several weeks” — Excited to welcome Barret Zoph, Luke Metz, and Sam Schoenholz back to OpenAI! This has been in the works for several weeks, and we're thrilled to have them join the team. Barret will report to me; Luke and Sam will report into Barret. More to come on what they'll focus on soon!
More: Bloomberg. X: @shaneguml, @petergostev, @joannejang, @luke_metro, @yuchenj_uw, @ns123abc, @gavinpurcell, @elenarunsnyc, @barret_zoph, @polynoamial, @signulll, and @miyahedge
| Karissa Bell / Engadget: |
X updates Grok to prevent the “editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis” and geoblocks it for all users “where it's illegal” — The company is also blocking image generation entirely from non-subscribers.
More: The Verge, X, Washington Post, The Register, AppleInsider, Moneycontrol, 9to5Mac, Music Ally, New York Times, Metro.co.uk, Politico, Sherwood News, BusinessCloud, Euractiv, Variety, The Mac Observer, WebProNews, Phandroid, Reuters, MediaNama, Sky News, Hindustan Times, Tech Times, Le Monde, Digit, Decrypt, Telecompaper, Business Insider, Deadline, and The Hollywood Reporter
X: @safety, @theobertram, @loudmouthjulia, @yacinemtb, @adrianweckler, @jdpoc, @helios_movement, @lyeuhm, @digiphile, and @mweinbach
Bluesky: @tatumhunter, @campuscodi.risky.biz, @davidho, and @parismarx.com. Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social
| Politico: |
California AG Rob Bonta opens an investigation into xAI over the proliferation of nonconsensual, sexualized images generated by Grok, and urges xAI to act — California Attorney General Rob Bonta is investigating Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI over the proliferation of nonconsensual …
More: State of California, NBC News, The Atlantic, Reuters, New York Times, The Guardian, Popular Information, CNBC, Mashable, Associated Press, Türkiye Today, Newser, The Independent, Wall Street Journal, Android Headlines, TechCrunch, Engadget, Implicator.ai, Business Insider, CNBC, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, and The Hill
| Financial Times: |
More: BBC, BBC, The Economic Times, The Verge, Silicon Republic, RTÉ, Metro.co.uk, Forbes, Al Jazeera, The Irish Times, France 24, The Indian Express, Telegraph, ABC, The Independent, and The Guardian
Forums: r/europe and r/ukpolitics
| Wall Street Journal: |
OpenAI strikes a multibillion-dollar, three-year deal to buy 750 MW of computing capacity from Cerebras, which Sam Altman has backed; sources: it's a $10B+ deal — The ChatGPT-maker is racing to secure more computing power, especially for responding to user queries
More: OpenAI, CNBC, Network World, eWeek, TechCrunch, AIN, Benzinga, Reuters, Türkiye Today, Reuters, Blockonomi, Silicon Republic, Cerebras, Silicon UK, PYMNTS.com, WebProNews, SiliconANGLE, The Information, InsideHPC, New York Times, Financial Times, and Bloomberg
X: @cerebras, @draecomino, @scaling01, @ericvishria, @mweinbach, @theo, @benbajarin, @yuchenj_uw, @kakashiii111, @matthewberman, and @ericvishria
LinkedIn: Alexander Mikoyan and Dhiraj Mallick
Forums: r/hardware, r/CerebrasSystems, and Slashdot
| Reuters: |
TSMC reports Q4 net profit up 35% YoY to a record ~$16B, above $15.17B est., as it benefited from surging demand for AI chips and hit $100B in 2025 revenue — TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, posted a 35% jump in fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday, beating market forecasts …
More: Quartz, Financial Times, Associated Press, Culpium, Tech in Asia, Benzinga, Proactive, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Daily Sabah, and Sherwood News
X: @dnystedt, @pelstrom, and @zephyr_z9
| Adamya Sharma / Android Authority: |
OpenAI quietly rolls out ChatGPT Translate, a standalone website that currently supports plain text translations across 50+ languages — OpenAI's new standalone translation tool supports over 50 languages and features AI-powered prompt customization. — • — TL;DR| Nikkei Asia: |
Sources: China is drafting rules for Nvidia H200 purchases, limiting how many chips local companies can buy and requiring them to justify the need — TAIPEI/HONG KONG/PALO ALTO — China is working to set rules on how many advanced AI chips companies can buy from foreign makers like Nvidia … | Josh Wingrove / Bloomberg: |
President Trump signs an order to impose a 25% tariff on chips “transshipped through the US to other foreign countries”, as part of the Nvidia H200 export deal — The US imposed a 25% tariff on imports of certain semiconductors, a key step in an agreement blessed …
More: South China Morning Post, Washington Post, CNN, Barron's Online, Zacks Investment Research, Blockonomi, Reuters, Forbes Middle East, The Korea Herald, Business Insider, Korea Joongang Daily, Anadolu Ajansı …, The Korea Times, Computerworld, Benzinga, Reuters, Macau Business, Dow Jones Newswires, Sharecafe, Financial Times, Watcher Guru, New York Times, Nextgov/FCW, Axios, The National, and BBC
| Emma Roth / The Verge: |
The Wikimedia Foundation says Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Perplexity, and Mistral joined Wikimedia Enterprise to get “tuned” API access; Google is already a member — The companies have joined Google as the latest members of the Wikimedia Enterprise program.| Emma Roth / The Verge: |
| Financial Times: |
Source: Apple's Gemini deal is a cloud contract where it pays Google several billion dollars; a source says OpenAI declined to be Apple's custom model provider — Multibillion-dollar deal to secure Gemini models reflects cautious approach to infrastructure spending| Molly Schuetz / Bloomberg: |
Spotify plans to raise its Premium subscription by $1 to $12.99/month for subscribers in the US, Estonia, and Latvia, in its first US hike since July 2024 — Spotify Technology SA is raising the price of its premium subscription service by 8% in an effort to achieve sustained profitability.| Nikhilesh De / CoinDesk: |
Coinbase pulls support from the US Senate's crypto market structure bill ahead of a key vote; CEO Brian Armstrong says there are “too many issues” with the bill — CEO Brian Armstrong said there were “too many issues” with the bill. — Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the exchange … | Stevie Bonifield / The Verge: |
YouTube now lets parents set time limits on their kids' YouTube Shorts feed, ranging from 15 minutes to two hours, with an option for zero minutes coming soon — Parents will also be able to manually create and adjust child and teen accounts on YouTube.| Jacob Krol / TechRadar: |
Verizon resolves “an issue impacting wireless voice and data services” that caused 100,000+ customers to lose reception for 10+ hours on Wednesday — The carrier says the outage is now resolved — While Verizon had a good few months, with the last major outage occurring in October 2024 …
More: AppleInsider, Macworld, NBC News, Reuters, Time, Fast Company, Tom's Guide, WebProNews, Forbes, Engadget, Straight Arrow News, Gothamist, WJXX-TV, WPXI-TV, New York Times, VINnews, New York Post, MacRumors, Mashable, NBC Bay Area, Engadget, FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth, PCMag, MacRumors, CNET, ZDNET, FOX 13 Tampa Bay, 9to5Google, USA Today, Associated Press, Business Insider, PCMag, The Verge, PhoneArena, BleepingComputer, TechRadar, Bloomberg, and 9to5Mac
X: @verizonnews, @verizonnews, @verizonnews, @att, @alexrkonrad, @joannastern, @0xgaut, @morningbrew, and @pcmag. LinkedIn: Aimee Allen
Forums: r/conspiracy, r/PrepperIntel, r/hudsonvalley, r/technology, and r/news
| Ryan Dezember / Wall Street Journal: |
AWS signs a two-year supply deal with Rio Tinto to access its Arizona copper mine, the US' first new source in 10+ years, as AI data centers create huge demand — The copper, which is being produced in Arizona by Rio Tinto with bacteria and acid, will be used for data-center construction
More: Tom's Hardware, Rio Tinto, Bloomberg, Axios, Proactive, and Crypto Briefing
| Financial Times: |
Anthropic researchers say rich countries' higher AI use risks deepening economic disparities and widening living standard gaps, driven by productivity gains — Research by AI start-up suggests productivity gains from the technology unevenly spread around world| Cade Metz / New York Times: |
Scientists say that AI has become a powerful and rapidly improving research tool, and that whether it is generating ideas on its own is, for now, a moot point — For decades, elite mathematicians have struggled to solve a collection of thorny problems posed by a 20th-century academic named Paul Erdos.
More: GitHub and TechCrunch
| New York Times: |
Sources: the US cyberattack that plunged Caracas into darkness during the Maduro mission shows its offensive capabilities; Senators plan to question officials — Senators are expected to ask Lt. Gen. Joshua M. Rudd, President Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Cyber Command, about the mission in Caracas.| Sara Ashley O'Brien / Wall Street Journal: |
Self-help gurus like Tony Robbins, Gabby Bernstein, and Matthew Hussey are charging up to $99 per month to access AI chatbots that promise personalized advice — Self-help gurus like Matthew Hussey and Gabby Bernstein have expanded their empires with AI chatbots promising personalized advice
LinkedIn: Emma Eeckhout
| Krystal Hu / Reuters: |
AI video startup Higgsfield raised an $80M Series A extension from Accel and others at a $1.3B+ valuation, and reports a $200M annualized revenue run rate — AI video generation startup Higgsfield raised $80 million in new funding, valuing the company at over $1.3 billion, it told Reuters …
More: Adweek, Forbes, and Higgsfield
| Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg: |
South Korea dropped Naver's and NCSoft's teams from its competition to develop its first sovereign AI model, as LG's, SK Telecom's, and Upstage's teams advanced — South Korea dropped teams led by units of Naver Corp. and NCSoft Corp. from its closely watched competition to develop the nation's …
More: THE INVESTOR, Tech in Asia, and The Korea Herald
| Gil Press / Forbes: |
Boston-based Tulip, which offers an AI-powered frontline operations platform used by 60K workers, raised a $120M Series D led by Mitsubishi at a $1.3B valuation — Boston-based Tulip announced today it has raised $120 million in a Series D funding round led by Mitsubishi Electric, at a valuation of $1.3 billion.
More: Boston Business Journal, SiliconANGLE, and Business Wire
| Nitin Dahad / EE Times: |
GlobalFoundries agrees to acquire Synopsys' ARC processor IP business, which includes ARC-V (RISC-V) and ARC CPU IP, and integrate it into its MIPS business — Today sees a bold move to bring two key processor architectures, MIPS and ARC, under one umbrella, as GlobalFoundries announced …
| Reuters: |
India's Supreme Court rules Tiger Global's $1.6B Flipkart stake sale to Walmart in 2018 is subject to taxes, a ruling that may shape future cross-border deals — India's top court has ruled that Tiger Global's $1.6 billion stake sale in Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart to Walmart (WMT.O) …
More: TechCrunch, The Economic Times, Reuters, Inc42 Media, Bloomberg, and Hindustan Times
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Digg, rebooted under original founder Kevin Rose and Alexis Ohanian, launches its open beta; the site had been open to 67,000 users on an invite-only basis — The reboot of the early-internet online community Digg, a one-time rival to Reddit, is moving forward.
More: Android Headlines, The Overspill, Mashable, The Verge, and Digg on YouTube
X: @alexisohanian, @digg, @kevinrose, and @kevinrose. Bluesky: @carnage4life. Mastodon: @parkerortolani@mastodon …
Forums: r/redditstock, r/digg, r/technology, and Slashdot
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