Techmeme
January 28, 2026, 7:25 AM

Top News

Beth Galetti / About Amazon:
Amazon plans to cut ~16,000 roles across the company as part of an ongoing effort to reduce organizational layers and bureaucracy, after cuts in October 2025  —  I want to let you know that we're making additional organizational changes across Amazon that will impact some of our teammates.
Business Insider:
Memo: Amazon appeared to mistakenly alert some AWS staff about planned layoffs in an email invite to a January 28 “Project Dawn” meeting on company efficiency  —  - Some Amazon employees got a worrying calendar invitation on Tuesday.  — The invitation discussed upcoming job cuts and …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Memo: Tim Cook told Apple staff that he is “heartbroken by the events in Minneapolis”, calls for a “deescalation”, and says he discussed it with President Trump  —  Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook became the latest executive to weigh in on the killing …
Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
ASML reports Q4 net sales of €9.7B, vs. €9.6B est., and €2.84B net profit, vs. €3.01B est., and says it expects China to account for 20% of its total 2026 sales  —  ASML reported on Wednesday orders that smashed past expectations while 2026 sales guidance was also ahead …
Sarah Jacob / Bloomberg:
Reuters:
Kate Clark / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $30B more in OpenAI; SoftBank is already one of its largest shareholders after investing $22.5B in December 2025  —  The Japanese conglomerate is exploring further investment as part of the startup's efforts to raise up to $100 billion
Abhijeet Mishra / SamMobile:
Samsung says it will introduce a display feature for the Galaxy S26 series that improves “privacy at a pixel level” to protect users from “shoulder surfing”  —  Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy S26 series will introduce a new display feature designed to improve privacy when using your phone in public.
Jack Ryan / Bloomberg:
Paolo Ardoino says Tether now holds ~140 tons of gold, worth ~$23B, has been buying one to two tons per week, and plans to keep doing so for the next few months  —  There are roughly 370,000 nuclear bunkers in Switzerland, a legacy of the Cold War that are now rarely used.  One of them, though, is a hive of activity.
Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
Financial Times:
Sources: Anthropic is set to raise about $20B led by Singapore's GIC and Coatue, double the amount it had targeted, at a $350B valuation  —  Company in talks to raise new funds from Coatue, GIC, Iconiq and Sequoia at $350bn valuation  —  Anthropic is set to raise about $20bn from venture capitalists …
Casey Newton / Platformer:
A critique of a large UK social media study that suggested measures like social media bans are unlikely to have an effect on teens' long term mental health  —  The “moral panic” framing misses how platforms actually harm kids.  PLUS: Newsom investigates TikTok over Trump, and the Clawdbot frenzy
Will Douglas Heaven / MIT Technology Review:
OpenAI launches Prism, a free cloud-based LaTeX editor that embeds GPT-5.2 to assist in scientific paper drafting and citation management  —  OpenAI just revealed what its new in-house team, OpenAI for Science, has been up to.  The firm has released a free LLM-powered tool for scientists called Prism …
David McCabe / New York Times:
TikTok says the new US entity has not updated its algorithm since the joint venture was announced, after users accused it of suppressing posts related to ICE  —  Some users had accused the app of blocking them from posting videos about Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  The app said it was a power outage issue.
John Sakellariadis / Politico:
Sources: CISA's interim director Madhu Gottumukkala triggered automated security warnings in summer 2025 by uploading sensitive documents to ChatGPT  —  Cybersecurity sensors at CISA flagged the uploads this past August, said the four officials.  One official specified there were multiple …
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 …
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
SEC filing: Pinterest plans to lay off less than 15% of its workforce by Q3 and cut back on office space, saying it is “reallocating resources” to AI teams  —  Pinterest said Tuesday it plans to lay off less than 15% of its workforce and cut back on office space as the company embraces artificial intelligence.
Financial Times:
Sources: Elon Musk proposes timing SpaceX's IPO with a rare planetary alignment and his June birthday; SpaceX seeks to raise up to $50B at a ~$1.5T valuation  —  Celestial calendar meets high finance, as billionaire's personal impulses shape plans to raise $50bn in record listing
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 …
David Gilbert / Wired:
Meta blocks users from sharing links to ICE List, which compiles names of DHS staffers; Meta cites a policy against “asking for personally identifiable” info  —  Users of Meta's social platforms can no longer share links to ICE List, a website listing what it claims are the names of thousands of DHS employees.
Kate Clark / Wall Street Journal:
A look at “neolabs” such as Safe Superintelligence and Humans&, which give priority to long-term AI R&D over immediate profits; dozens have become unicorns  —  Flapping Airplanes is one of a wave of new startup research labs drawing intense interest from investors, the latest chapter in the AI race
Jeff Horwitz / Reuters:
Court filings: Mark Zuckerberg approved allowing minors to access AI chatbot companions that safety staffers warned were capable of sexual interactions  —  Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg approved allowing minors to access AI chatbot companions that safety staffers warned were capable …
Natalie Lung / Bloomberg:
Toronto-based self-driving truck startup Waabi raised a $750M Series C led by Khosla and G2 and partners with Uber, which can invest $250M based on performance  —  Waabi Innovation Inc., a Canadian startup that develops self-driving technology for trucks, has secured $1 billion in funding …

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Earlier Picks

Carrie LaFrenz / Australian Financial Review:
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Ashley Capoot / CNBC:
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Pascale Davies / Euronews:
Robert Hart / The Verge: