Techmeme
January 27, 2026, 3:00 PM

Top News

Kimi:
Bloomberg:
Chinese startup Moonshot releases Kimi K2.5, saying the model can process text, images, and videos simultaneously and beats its open-source peers in some tests  —  Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.-backed Moonshot AI released an upgrade of its flagship model, heating up a domestic arms race ahead …
Washington Post:
US court filings detail Anthropic's Project Panama, an effort to “destructively scan” up to 2M books with a hydraulic “cutting machine” led by an ex-Google exec  —  In early 2024, executives at artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic ramped up an ambitious project they sought to keep quiet.
New York Times:
Internal Slack message: Sam Altman tells OpenAI staff that “What's happening with ICE is going too far” and he hopes President Trump “will rise to this moment”  —  Business leaders continue to feel pressure to speak out about the immigration crackdown and the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens.
Julie Bort / TechCrunch:
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Amazon plans to close all 57 Fresh and 15 Go locations in the US, as it pivots its physical retail strategy to focus exclusively on Whole Foods  —  Amazon's homegrown grocery stores are getting shelved.  —  The company said Tuesday morning that it's closing all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations …
Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
Tether launches USAT, a US-regulated stablecoin issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, marking the company's direct return to the US market that it left in 2018  —  Tether Holdings SA said it has launched a US-focused stablecoin, as the world's largest issuer of dollar-pegged tokens prepares to return to crypto's largest market.
Henry Chandonnet / Business Insider:
Robert Hart / The Verge:
Google adds Gemini 3 to AI Overviews as the default model globally and now lets users ask follow-up questions “seamlessly” via AI Mode  —  Gemini 3 is coming to AI Overviews and you can ask follow-ups for a ‘seamless Search experience.’  —  Google is making Search less about links and more about AI.
Raphael Satter / Reuters:
WhatsApp launches Strict Account Settings, a high-security mode to protect high-risk users like journalists and public figures from sophisticated cyberattacks  —  Meta's WhatsApp messaging service is offering users an advanced security mode, joining a growing number of U.S. tech firms …
Tyler Katzenberger / Politico:
California Governor Gavin Newsom says he will launch a review into whether TikTok is violating state laws by censoring content critical of President Trump  —  In a separate X post Monday, the governor's press account said Newsom was launching the review after his office “received reports …
Bobby Allyn / NPR:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google expands Android's anti-theft suite, including a dedicated toggle for its Failed Authentication Lock feature on devices running Android 16 or later  —  Google on Tuesday announced an expanded set of Android theft protection features, designed to make its mobile devices less of a target for criminals.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google expands its AI Plus subscription to 35 new countries and territories, including the US at $7.99/month, with “enhanced access” to Gemini 3 Pro and more  —  After introducing the plan internationally in September, Google is bringing its AI Plus subscription to 35 new countries, including the US.
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple releases iOS 12.5.8 for the iPhone 5s and iPhone 6, extending software support for these devices to 13 and 12 years after their respective launches  —  Alongside iOS 26.2.1, Apple today released an updated version of iOS 12 for devices that are still running that operating system update …
Pascale Davies / Euronews:
France plans to replace Microsoft Teams and Zoom with French-made and Outscale-hosted Visio by 2027, as part of a push to drop US software vendors in government  —  France announced that it will roll out the Visio platform across all government departments by 2027.
Cecilia Kang / New York Times:
TikTok settles a California lawsuit ahead of a landmark social media addiction trial; Snap recently settled the suit, while Meta and YouTube remain defendants  —  The settlement means TikTok will avoid a trial where plaintiffs had planned to argue that social media platforms are inherently defective …

Sponsor Posts

Command Line:
GitHub Universe 2026: Highlights from the developer's developer conference  —  Copilot Fusion was the belle of the ball, but the hero at the heart of the two-day event was the developer community.
Will Reed:
The best sales leaders aren't job hunting.  Here's how to reach them without months of cold outreach.  —  Our team came from Box, Square, and Brex, so we already know the GTM leaders worth meeting.
Zoho:
Introducing the new Zoho Analytics: Agentic analytics for every business  —  We're excited to announce the launch of the new Zoho Analytics!  This release marks a major shift for the product …
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

Machine Gods:
OpenAI's Latest Discoveries Spark a Backlash + Help! My Kid Hates AI
The official podcast of the singularity, from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose. Twice-weekly news, analysis, and interviews with the people who are building the future.
Subscribe to Machine Gods.
The Upstarts Podcast:
The Accidental YC Founder Solving AI's GPU Crisis | SF Compute's Evan Conrad
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Cheeky Pint:
Why Sam Altman is against a single superintelligence
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
Great Chat:
The case for AI optimism
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.
Sources:
Tobi Lütke on the AI agent revolution and future of Shopify
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.
Subscribe to Sources.
Big Technology Podcast:
This AI Expert Argues We're Underestimating AI's Productivity Impact — With Ethan Mollick
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 3:00 PM ET, January 27, 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

Laya Neelakandan / CNBC:
Samantha Cole / 404 Media:
Chris Welch / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Katie Tarasov / CNBC:
Wired:
Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch: