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January 19, 2026, 11:15 AM
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memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Sarah Friar / OpenAI: |
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar says compute grew from 0.2 GW in 2023 to 0.6 GW in 2024 to ~1.9 GW in 2025 and ARR grew from $2B in 2023 to $6B in 2024 to $20B+ in 2025 — We launched ChatGPT as a research preview to understand what would happen if we put frontier intelligence directly in people's hands.
More: The Information, eWeek, WebProNews, Neowin, Benzinga, Analytics India Magazine, CTech, and Sadagopan's weblog …
X: @ralph_grabowski, @rohanpaul_ai, @alternatejones, @signulll, @chatgpt21, @benbajarin, @signulll, @firstadopter, @jimcramer, @andrewcurran_, @sundeep, @kimmonismus, @bearlyai, @therealadamg, @dr_gingerballs, @the_ai_investor, @benitoz, @zephyr_z9, and @vraserx. LinkedIn: Sarah Friar
Forums: r/singularity and r/OpenAI
| The Information: |
Sources: after five Thinking Machines staff left, investors are rattled, potentially impacting fundraising; two researchers quit via Slack during an all-hands — The timing couldn't have been more awkward for Thinking Machines Lab. — On Wednesday, during an all-hands meeting at the AI startup …
More: The Decoder, WinBuzzer, The Information, and The Indian Express
| Financial Times: |
The IMF says the “surprisingly resilient” global economy is at risk of a sharp AI boom reversal, but “the levels of market frothiness” are below the dotcom bust — Fund's chief economist says there are reasons to be concerned about a potential AI correction
More: Reuters, Business Today, The National, Forbes Middle East, Dow Jones Newswires, Gulf News, Bloomberg, Times of India, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Blockonomi, and Daily Sabah. Forums: Slashdot
| Axios: |
OpenAI executive Chris Lehane says the company is “on track” to unveil its first device in the “latter part” of 2026; reports suggest it will be a wearable — OpenAI is “on track” to unveil its first device in the second half of 2026, the company's policy chief, Chris Lehane, said Monday at Axios House Davos.| Alex Isenstadt / Axios: |
Source: Elon Musk donates $10M to boost pro-Trump Senate candidate Nate Morris, who is seeking to replace Mitch McConnell, in Musk's largest-yet Senate donation — Elon Musk has cut a massive $10 million check to bolster Nate Morris, an outsider, pro-Trump candidate running to succeed retiring … | Katherine Doherty / Bloomberg: |
NYSE plans to use its tech that matches buyers and sellers, alongside blockchain networks, to facilitate real-time trading of tokenized securities in 2026 — The New York Stock Exchange is building a venue using blockchain technology to allow for trading tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds around the clock.| Erin Woo / The Information: |
Sources: internal Google data shows Gemini API calls surged from 35B in March 2025 to 85B in August 2025; Google says Gemini Enterprise hit 8M subscribers — Google's improvements to its Gemini AI models are boosting the company's top line. — Over the past year, Google's business selling access … | Jez Corden / Windows Central: |
Sources: Microsoft is preparing to launch a session-based ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming tier in 2026; users note Xbox Cloud Gaming now references “ad support” — Users have been noticing that Xbox Cloud Gaming has begun referencing “ad support” while launching games, confirming our earlier report.
More: HotHardware, GamingBolt, Digit, iPhone in Canada, XboxEra, Pure Xbox, Digital Trends, and Tech4Gamers. Bluesky: @jezcorden.com
| Palmer Luckey / @palmerluckey: |
Meta's VR layoffs may help the industry long term, as most of the ~1,500 roles worked on first-party content and games that competed with the broader ecosystem — I have an opinion on the Meta layoffs that is contrary with most of the VR industry and much of the media, but strongly held. This is not a disaster. They still employ the largest team working on VR by about an order of magnitude. Nobody else is even close. The “Meta is
| Jack Dunn / Variety: |
On Joe Rogan's JRE, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck discuss Hollywood and AI; Damon says Netflix wants movies to restate the plot because viewers are on their phones — Matt Damon and Ben Affleck recently appeared on the “Joe Rogan Experience” to promote their new Netflix film “The Rip,” …
More: Spyglass, Breitbart, International Business Times, WCSH, NME, Business Insider, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, PowerfulJRE on YouTube, Just Jared, The Independent, The A.V. Club, primetimer.com, Entertainment Weekly, Benzinga, and The Week
X: @clairlemon, @zymazza, @trungtphan, @pourfairelevide, @forrestpknight, @dead_baseball, @barondestructo, @thecinesthetic, @tom_lsoo, @freightalley, @bearlyai, @lynaldencontact, @andymasley, @lookatmymeat1, @danielrpk, @khuze_elikhulu, @owl_posting, @mattzeitlin, @ross__hendricks, @lthomasnews, @ctachio83984, @andthatsbb, @jackposobiec, @groditid, @jtfoz, @xqc, @robkhenderson, @blackmajikman90, @hdmoviesource, @grummz, @dead_baseball, @colin_gladman, and @dead_baseball. Threads: @carnage4life
Forums: r/nottheonion, r/NewsOfTheStupid, r/entertainment, r/movies, r/television, r/netflix, and r/DC_Cinematic
| Counterpoint Research: |
Chinese smartphone shipments fell 1.6% YoY in Q4 2025 and 0.6% YoY for 2025 due to weak demand, rising prices, and memory shortages; iPhone shipments rose 28% — Type: — Insight — Team Counterpoint — Counterpoint research is a young and fast growing research firm covering analysis of the tech industry.
More: MacTech.com, Tech in Asia, and DigiTimes
| Bloomberg: |
Shenzhen-based UBTech Robotics signed deals to sell its Walker S2 humanoid robots to Airbus and Texas Instruments, and says it aims to produce 10K units in 2026 — UBTech Robotics Corp. shares jumped after the China-based humanoid maker received an order from Airbus SE … | John Sakellariadis / Politico: |
Sources: political appointees at the US CISA blocked Acting Director Madhu Gottumukkala's attempt to oust the agency's Chief Information Officer Robert Costello — The personnel spat began late last Thursday afternoon after Costello was given a so-called management-directed reassignment …
Bluesky: @metacurity.com and @laurenmeidasa
| Jordyn Holman / New York Times: |
Q&A with FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam, only the second CEO in the company's history, on humanoid robots, automation, AI, drones, US-China trade tensions, and more — Raj Subramaniam took over three years ago from FedEx's founder, who ran the company for nearly 50 years.
More: Business Insider
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