Techmeme
January 18, 2026, 6:00 AM

Top News

Jeremy Kahn / Fortune:
OpenAI's former Head of Policy Research Miles Brundage announces AVERI, a nonprofit aimed at advocating the idea of external audits for frontier AI models  —  Former OpenAI policy chief Miles Brundage, who has just founded a new nonprofit institute called AVERI that is advocating …
Caroline Haskins / Wired:
The AI boom is driving an unprecedented wave of data center construction, but there aren't enough skilled workers in the US, such as electricians, to keep up  —  The AI boom is driving an unprecedented wave of data center construction, but there aren't enough skilled tradespeople in the US to keep up.
More: IEEE Spectrum and Axios
X: @mukund and @davidsacksLinkedIn: Moses AcostaBluesky: @brbarrett
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, Trak.in, Ars Technica, Spyglass, Axios, The Verge, The American Bazaar, CNBC, Digit, Android Police, Windows Central, The Register, Appleosophy, Tech in Asia, Business Standard, Moneycontrol, The Hans India, Neowin, Livemint, New York Times, Notebookcheck, Engadget, The Indian Express, PPC Land, The Hacker News, Search Engine Journal, Communicate Online, 9to5Google, TestingCatalog, The Deep View, The Guardian, Deadline, BleepingComputer, Fortune, Birchtree, Gizmodo, San Francisco Chronicle, The Information, SiliconANGLE, Forbes, Nairametrics, Simon Willison's Weblog, PC Gamer, AdTechRadar, Tom's Guide, Fast Company, Variety, The Independent, KGW-TV, Forbes Middle East, Vogue, WebProNews, Barron's Online, CBS News, PCMag, Reuters, Wired, Capital Brief, Bloomberg, The Decoder, MediaPost, Sherwood News, Adweek, The Economic Times, Mobile Dev Memo, Search Engine Land, BBC, Türkiye Today, NewsMax.com, and Axios
Elissa Welle / The Verge:
Axios:
David Sacks and top MAGA influencers are publicly opposing House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast's proposed AI OVERWATCH Act to regulate AI chip sales to China  —  But the accusations are flying fast.  — “The AI Overwatch Act (H.R. 6875) may sound like a good idea, but when you examine it closely …
Rob Copeland / New York Times:
A look at Michael Saylor's Strategy, known for buying bitcoin via creative financing strategies, as its stock trades way below its peak amid the crypto downturn  —  Had you glanced too quickly at the crowd packed into Michael Saylor's Tuscan-style Miami compound, you might have assumed it was just another rich dude's party.
More: CoinGapeLinkedIn: Rob CopelandBluesky: @somershade and @jessefelder
Forums: r/Buttcoin and r/MSTR
Iain Martin / Forbes:
Listen Labs, whose AI tools help Microsoft and others run customer research and interviews, raised a $69M Series B led by Ribbit Capital at a $500M+ valuation  —  The San Francisco-based company, which has run more than 1 million customer interviews with its automated AI tools …

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:
Fast, affordable 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!
F5:
Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit  —  Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23.  Register now to save your spot.
Zoho:
10 essential project management reports every team should use  —  Let's be honest about how projects usually go sideways.  A task gets blocked and nobody notices.  A dependency changes and nobody updates the plan.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Great Chat:
After you ring the bell
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Big Technology Podcast:
AI Fact or Fiction: The Fable Ban, Tokenmaxxing, Saaspocolypse — With Ara Kharazian
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.
Hard Fork:
'Hard Fork' Live Part 2: Dylan Field on Standing Out in the A.I. Era
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
A Hollywood Manager Explains the New Rules of Show Biz
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Training Data:
Simulating Humans at Scale: Simile's Joon Sung Park
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:00 AM ET, January 18, 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

Daniel Kuhn / The Block:

Earlier Picks

Robert Burnson / Bloomberg: