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January 16, 2026, 8:30 PM
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WeSmirchTop News
| Financial Times: |
OpenAI plans to test ads below ChatGPT replies for users of free and Go tiers in the US; source: OpenAI expects to make “low billions” from ads in 2026 — $500bn start-up seeks ways to fund expansion and fend off competition from rivals Google and Anthropic
More: OpenAI, Ars Technica, The Verge, The Guardian, BleepingComputer, Engadget, Gizmodo, San Francisco Chronicle, SiliconANGLE, New York Times, Ad Age, CNET, The Information, TestingCatalog, CNBC, Deadline, Fortune, Birchtree, Forbes, Tom's Guide, Fast Company, Constellation Research, KGW-TV, Reuters, Forbes Middle East, PC Gamer, WebProNews, Barron's Online, CBS News, Nairametrics, PPC Land, Business Insider, MediaPost, Search Engine Journal, The Deep View, The Decoder, Implicator.ai, NBC News, The Economic Times, Crypto Briefing, Türkiye Today, Wall Street Journal, Adweek, 9to5Mac, Search Engine Land, Axios, Thurrott, and Barrett Media
X: @openai, @basedtorba, @antoniogm, @fidjissimo, @sama, @tomwarren, @atabarrok, @inafried, @bindureddy, @rishabhmjain, @eric_seufert, @scobleizer, @tbpn, @brianmcc, @simonw, @teksedge, @sarafischer, @benjamindekr, @teksedge, @dant3_btc, @alexeheath, @scaling01, @pitdesi, @brij, @macrocephalopod, @neilcybart, @tahatesser, @openai, and @meghanbobrowsky
LinkedIn: Robert Derow, Lily Ray, and Fidji Simo
Bluesky: @edzitron.com, @timfduffy.com, @shiraovide, and @mbogen. Threads: @benedictevans. Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to
Forums: r/artificial, r/singularity, r/technology, r/ChatGPT, r/ChatGPT, and Slashdot
| Elissa Welle / The Verge: |
OpenAI expands its ChatGPT Go tier to the US and the rest of the world, after launching it in India and some other countries; it will cost $8/month in the US — 'ChatGPT Go' is available worldwide for $8 per month. … OpenAI is expanding a low-cost subscription tier called ChatGPT Go to the US and the rest of the world.
More: OpenAI, The Register, BleepingComputer, ZDNET, TestingCatalog, The Information, Android Authority, iClarified, iPhone in Canada, Reuters, MacRumors, The Mac Observer, and Daring Fireball
X: @mweinbach and @simonw
Bluesky: @danielmconnolly and @undersized5
Forums: r/technology, r/singularity, and r/OpenAI
| Maxwell Zeff / Wired: |
OpenAI will match ads to conversation topics using some personalization data, but says it will not sell user data or expose user conversations to advertisers — OpenAI says ads will not influence ChatGPT's responses, and that it won't sell user data to advertisers.
More: TechCrunch, Fast Company, Business Insider, Variety, PCMag, Vogue, KTVZ-TV, WebProNews, Telegraph, AdTechRadar, Mobile Dev Memo, BBC, Sherwood News, Analytics India Magazine, NewsMax.com, and Capital Brief
X: @netcapgirl, @buccocapital, @anothercohen, @nickfloats, @pmddomingos, and @openai. Bluesky: @hypervisible.blacksky.app. Forums: r/OpenAI
| Maxwell Zeff / Wired: |
Sources: leaders at Thinking Machines Lab confronted Barret Zoph over an alleged relationship with another employee, who is no longer at the lab, in summer 2025 — Leaders at Mira Murati's startup believe Barret Zoph engaged in an incident of “serious misconduct.” The details are now coming to light.| Alex Heath / Sources: |
Unsealed docs from Elon Musk's OpenAI lawsuit, set for a jury trial on April 27: Sutskever's concerns about treating open-source AI as a “side show”, and more — This is an excerpt of Sources by Alex Heath, a newsletter about AI and the tech industry, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week.
More: Business Insider, OpenAI, TESLARATI, Bloomberg, and Courthouse News Service
X: @elonmusk, @gdb, @gdb, @gdb, @gdb, @wholemars, @jasonkwon, @wholemars, @_nathancalvin, @chrisjbakke, @sama, @sama, @sama, @worksleeve, @beylin, @suchenzang, @trenttullis, @chamath, @empathic_lead3r, @deedydas, @bookdepth, @mikekhristo, @signulll, @_ueaj, @wholemars, @wholemars, @shiringhaffary, and @sawyermerritt
Bluesky: @rani and @alexeheath.com
| Lauren Feiner / The Verge: |
Google says it's appealing the US v. Google ruling that found it has an illegal search monopoly and asks a court to pause some of the remedies during the appeal — In the meantime, it's asking a court to pause remedies meant to restore competition.
More: The Keyword, Bloomberg, Engadget, Reuters, PhoneArena, and CNBC
| Dara Kerr / The Guardian: |
The US EPA rules that xAI acted illegally by using dozens of methane gas turbines to power its Colossus 1 and Colossus 2 data centers in the Memphis area — Win for Memphis activists who say ‘Colossus’ facilities add extra pollution to already overburdened communities
More: TechCrunch, Sherwood News, WBNS-TV, Federal Register, and Capacity
| Julianna Bragg / Axios: |
California's AG sends a cease-and-desist letter to xAI, demanding the company halt the generation and distribution of non-consensual intimate images and CSAM — California's attorney general on Friday sent a cease and desist letter to xAI, demanding the company immediately halt the creation … | Business Insider: |
TikTok has launched a standalone micro drama app, PineDrama, in the US and Brazil, offering vertical serialized shows for free without ads or paywalls for now — - TikTok has rolled out a new micro drama app in the US and Brazil called PineDrama. — The app's feed looks a lot like TikTok's … | SemiAnalysis: |
Analysis: Colossus 2, one of the world's largest AI datacenters, uses roughly the same water resources required to supply 2.5 typical In-N-Out Burger locations — A different perspective on the datacenter water debate, forget tokens/watt or tokens/dollar, it's about tokens/burger … | Ian Carlos Campbell / Engadget: |
Anthropic makes Claude Cowork available to $20/month Pro subscribers, after launching it for Max users, and says Pro users may hit their usage limits sooner — Pro subscribers can have Claude can handle simple tasks on their computer. — Claude Cowork, Anthropic's AI assistant for taking care …
More: Tech Brew and The Decoder
X: @claudeai, @claudeai, @alexalbert__, @vibhu, @trq212, @sammcallister, @gavinsbaker, and @levie
| Dina Bass / Bloomberg: |
ClickHouse, a Snowflake challenger that offers an OLAP database management system, raised $400M led by Dragoneer at a $15B valuation, up from $6.35B in May 2025 — Dragoneer is leading a $400 million funding round for the startup. — Database technology startup ClickHouse Inc …
More: Business Wire, SiliconANGLE, TechCrunch, Reuters, Pulse 2.0, Towards Data Science, Canadian Press, and VC News Daily
X: @mvcinvesting and @endicottinvests
LinkedIn: Ethan Choi, Dina Bass, and Mukund Mohan
| Bloomberg: |
Some top California Democrats join Governor Gavin Newsom in opposing a ballot initiative led by a healthcare union seeking a one-time 5% tax on $1B+ in assets — A proposed tax on California's wealthiest residents is drawing opposition from a growing group of top state Democrats … | Bloomberg: |
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson says the agency is examining Big Tech's acqui-hires to make sure “they are not an attempt to get around” its merger review process — The US Federal Trade Commission is taking a closer look at moves by major tech companies to hire away the employees …
More: Associated Press, Business Insider, and Reuters
| Reuters: |
Italy's competition watchdog opens two investigations into Microsoft's Activision Blizzard over sales practices the regulator calls “misleading and aggressive” — Italy's competition watchdog on Friday announced investigations into Microsoft's (MSFT.O) Activision Blizzard unit over allegedly … | Darren Loucaides / Financial Times: |
A profile of Wikipedia as it faces myriad challenges, including attacks from Elon Musk and the far right, reduced traffic due to AI, and a legal battle in India — As the website turns 25, it faces myriad challenges from regulators, AI, the far right and Elon Musk| Emma Roth / The Verge: |
More: The Register, Anil Dash, Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia, 9to5Mac, Freedom of the Press …, Wired, and Wikipedia
X: @lsanger, @lsanger, @amritat, @25yearsagolive, and @trevortimm
LinkedIn: Jason W. Eckert, Tim Frank, and Anil Dash
| Emma Roth / The Verge: |
More: Ars Technica, Wikimedia Enterprise, AfroTech, WebProNews, MediaNama, Associated Press, CNBC, and Social Media Today
LinkedIn: Arul George Scaria and Lane Becker
Bluesky: @nickgarcia, @nickgarcia, @tjheffernan, @emilymbender, @adzebill, @craiggrannell, and @levikornelsen
Mastodon: @drahardja@sfba.social and @carnage4life@mas.to
Forums: r/BetterOffline, r/news, r/technology, and r/wikipedia
Sponsor Posts
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Zoho:
Stop re-entering Shopify order details in Zoho CRM — This is a guest blog from Xapplets (Zeeyes AI Inc).Here's a scene that plays out in many growing Shopify stores every day: a customer places an order …
Stop re-entering Shopify order details in Zoho CRM — This is a guest blog from Xapplets (Zeeyes AI Inc).Here's a scene that plays out in many growing Shopify stores every day: a customer places an order …
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IDrive Autonomy: low-cost L2+ driver assistance with AI — L2+ driver assistance with a scalable AI stack built for automotive companies and laying the foundation for the autonomous future.Featured Podcasts
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Candid conversations with the leaders shaping what's next in AI and the broader tech industry. Hosted by Alex Heath, who has covered Silicon Valley for more than a decade.
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