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January 16, 2026, 6:45 PM
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Top 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
Elissa Welle / The Verge:
OpenAI expands its $8/month ChatGPT Go subscription tier to the US and the rest of the world, after previously launching it in India and some other countries  —  '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.
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.
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.
Davis Giangiulio / CNBC:
Cloudflare acquires AI data marketplace Human Native for an undisclosed sum to help it develop a system where AI developers pay creators for training content  —  Cloudflare is acquiring artificial intelligence data marketplace Human Native, the company said Thursday, as it expands its push …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Financial Times:
Sources: ElevenLabs seeks to raise hundreds of millions at a valuation of $11B, four months after a secondary share sale that valued it at $6.6B  —  Fundraising would transform company into UK's most highly valued AI start-up  —  ElevenLabs is in talks for new funding that would almost double …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Google is in talks with broadband operator Radiate to set up a JV to hold their fiber assets; Stonepeak Partners will invest $1B to support the deal  —  Alphabet Inc.'s Google is in talks with Radiate, a broadband operator backed by Stonepeak Partners, to set up a joint venture …
Olga Kharif / Bloomberg:
Sources: Anchorage Digital, the first federally chartered US digital asset bank, is seeking to raise $200M to $400M, ahead of a possible IPO in 2027  —  Anchorage Digital, whose affiliate is the first federally chartered US digital-asset bank, is seeking to raise fresh capital as it explores …
More: The Block
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Wikimedia celebrates Wikipedia's 25th anniversary, marking its growth from 100 pages to 65M+ articles with nearly 15B monthly views, and releases a docuseries
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

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:45 PM ET, January 16, 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

Politico:
A district court judge rules Kari Lake was not lawfully appointed the CEO of USAGM, which oversees VOA, and her actions as CEO are void, including mass layoffs

Laura Kelly / The Hill:
Ahmad Batebi, a journalist with VOA's Persian service, says he was fired over a clash about VOA limiting coverage of Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi

Status:
NewsNation's latest promo, which attacks CNN's Kaitlan Collins, shows how Nexstar is cozying up to MAGA as it seeks approval for its Tegna merger

More News

Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
Q&A with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos about the $83B WBD bid, Trump's involvement in the deal, maintaining a 45-day theatrical window for WBD releases, and more
New York Times:
Australia's eSafety Commissioner reports social media platforms “removed access” to ~4.7M accounts under its ban for under-16s, which took effect in December

Earlier Picks

Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Meta says it will discontinue Workrooms, its VR space for workers, on February 16, and stop selling Quests and Horizon services to businesses from February 20
Bloomberg:
Trump and Northeastern state governors ask grid operator PJM to hold an auction for tech companies to fund new power plants, amid the AI boom
Alex Heath / Sources:
Sources: Thinking Machines lacks a clear product or business strategy and has been struggling over the past couple of months to raise a new round of financing
André Beganski / Decrypt:
X revises its developer API policies to “no longer allow apps that reward users for posting on X (aka 'infofi')”, amid a backlash about increasing AI slop on X
Financial Times:
Anthropic researchers say rich countries' higher AI adoption risks deepening economic disparities and widening living standard gaps, assuming productivity gains
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