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February 4, 2026, 10:10 AM
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memeorandum
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| Anthropic: |
Anthropic says “Claude will remain ad-free”, its users “won't see ‘sponsored’ links adjacent to” conversations, and responses won't be influenced by advertisers — There are many good places for advertising. A conversation with Claude is not one of them.
More: The Verge, CNBC, Livemint, and The Hans India
X: @packym, @kimmonismus, @dwr, @adamghaida, @madalinabalazs, @can, @bdsams, @sammcallister, @tekbog, @dejavucoder, @morqon, @jerrycap, @sashadem, @andrewcurran_, @claudeai, and @presidentlin
Forums: r/ClaudeAI and r/singularity
| Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal: |
Anthropic plans a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl that parodies the prospect of intrusive ads in AI conversations, and will also air a 60-second pregame ad — Chatbot wars are heating up, with Anthropic's Claude highlighting the potential frustration of bringing ads into ChatGPT| Ian King / Bloomberg: |
AMD reports Q4 revenue up 34% YoY to $10.3B, Data Center revenue up 39% YoY to $5.4B, and forecasts Q1 revenue at $9.8B, below $10B projections; AMD drops 10%+ — Advanced Micro Devices Inc. shares tumbled by the most in more than three years on Wednesday after the chipmaker's sales forecast …
More: The Motley Fool, Advanced Micro Devices, Fortune, WePC, Morningstar, The Register, SiliconANGLE, Constellation Research, Thurrott, Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, Sherwood News, and GamesBeat
X: @theaustinlyons, @stocksavvyshay, @ryanshrout, @thetranscript_, @iancutress, @stocksavvyshay, @economyapp, @iancutress, @mentoviax, @beth_kindig, @contrariancurse, @danielnewmanuv, @jukan05, @mar364503, @tbu12345678, @stocksavvyshay, @thetranscript_, @benbajarin, and @thexcapitalist. Forums: r/hardware
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
More: Video Games Chronicle, GamesBeat, Tom's Hardware, HotHardware, Business Standard, iPhone in Canada, Gamereactor UK, Neowin, PC Gamer, Digit, Tom's Guide, GamingBolt, Pure Xbox, Digital Trends, VideoCardz.com, Engadget, Gameranx, TheGamer, 80 Level, XDA Developers, GSMArena.com, Kotaku, XboxEra, and PCMag
Forums: r/gaming, r/hardware, r/xbox, and r/Games
| Lee Ying Shan / CNBC: |
| Wall Street Journal: |
Software and data stocks plunge over fears that new AI developments will supplant software; ADBE closed down 7.31%, CRM fell 6.85%, and Thomson Reuters 15.83% — From Legalzoom.com and Expedia to Ares and Apollo, shares of companies that sell or invest in software fell sharply on Tuesday
More: Chainstory, Bloomberg, Fortune, Financial Times, New York Times, Yahoo Finance, Implicator.ai, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Barron's Online, Constellation Research, Bloomberg, Bloomberg, CNBC, Tech in Asia, Reuters, Financial Times, Axios, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Paul Kedrosky, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Bloomberg, The Straits Times, Australian Financial Review, The Times, The Irish Times, Sydney Morning Herald, ZeroHedge News, and Financial Times
X: @berman66, @thestalwart, @lisaabramowicz1, @aakashgupta, @garrytan, @erikbryn, @thetranscript_, @cashflow_cowboy, @daniellefong, @lisaabramowicz1, @lizthomasstrat, @chris_ciaccia, @thegeorgepu, @firstadopter, @jerrycap, @andreassteno, @byrnehobart, @8teapi, @stevehou, @dorialexander, @buccocapital, @quantian1, @kwharrison13, @thestalwart, @ericosiu, @saxena_puru, @hedgevision, @kimmonismus, @hedgevision, @buccocapital, @arthur0x, and @thestalwart. Forums: Hacker News
| Liz Napolitano / CNBC: |
| Connor Hart / Wall Street Journal: |
Uber reports Q4 revenue up 20% YoY to $14.37B, Gross Bookings up 22% YoY to $54.1B, trips up 22% YoY to 3.8B, and a $296M net income, below est.; UBER falls 5%+ — Revenue jumped 20% to $14.37 billion — Uber Technologies logged a jump in fourth-quarter revenue, boosted by higher trip volumes … | Natalie Lung / Bloomberg: |
Uber says it plans to expand its robotaxi services to Hong Kong, Madrid, Houston, and Zurich in 2026; Hong Kong will be Uber's first autonomous market in Asia — Uber Technologies Inc. will expand its robotaxi services to include Hong Kong and Madrid as the ride-hailing giant pours hundreds …
More: The Economic Times, Blockonomi, Benzinga, and South China Morning Post
| Rebekah Valentine / IGN: |
Q&A with Stardew Valley developer Eric Barone, aka ConcernedApe, on the game turning 10, evolving as a developer, working solo, cozy game growth, and more — We spoke to the game's creator about the journey of the last 10 years, and why he keeps returning to the valley.
More: PC Gamer, Dexerto, Gamereactor UK, Kotaku, TheGamer, Nintendo Life, and Rock, Paper, Shotgun
| Max Knoblauch / Sherwood News: |
Take-Two reports Q3 net bookings up 28% YoY to $1.76B, vs. $1.58B est., net revenue up 25% YoY to $1.7B, and raises its annual bookings forecast; TTWO drops ~5% — “Grand Theft Auto” and “NBA 2K” maker Take-TwoTTWO $223.50 (-4.23%) reported results for its fiscal third quarter on Tuesday.| Chris Tapsell / Eurogamer.net: |
An interview with Epic Games Store VP Steven Allison, who says “we have a lot of things” to fix and “the launcher sucks”, on 2026 updates like social features — Steven Allison acknowledges some people will always say “F— Epic", as focus finally shifts to player experience.| Jason Schreier / Bloomberg: |
A profile of game studio Obsidian, which Microsoft acquired in 2018, as it seeks to shorten development times and cut costs after releasing three titles in 2025 — Microsoft's Obsidian Entertainment is searching for ways to make games more quickly and on smaller budgets.
More: The Guardian, Polygon.com, Screen Rant, Gameranx, Video Games Chronicle, PlayStation LifeStyle, Gamereactor UK, 80 Level, PC Gamer, Neowin, Engadget, and Windows Central
Bluesky: @jasonschreier, @jasonschreier, @knoebel, and @toadsanime.lostincult.co.uk
Forums: r/projecteternity, r/rpg_gamers, r/GroundedGame, r/avowed, r/theouterworlds, r/kindafunny, r/gaming, r/PS5, and r/xbox
| Sam Reynolds / CoinDesk: |
A US judge sentences Rui-Siang Lin, who pled guilty to operating the $105M+ dark web narcotics marketplace Incognito Market, to 30 years in US federal prison — U.S. prosecutors say the Taiwanese operator of the $105 Million Incognito Market used cryptocurrency and anonymity tools …
More: US Department of Justice, BleepingComputer, Coinspeaker, crypto.news, The Block, and Decrypt. X: @sdnynews
| Sebastian Herrera / Wall Street Journal: |
Recon Analytics: Copilot's US market share as paid users' first choice fell from 18.8% in July 2025 to 11.5% in January 2026; Gemini's rose from 12.8% to 15.7% — Microsoft's Pivotal AI Product Is Running Into Big Problems After leaning on its partnership with OpenAI, Microsoft is playing catch-up in the chatbot race.| Jay Peters / The Verge: |
Adobe reverses its plans to discontinue Animate after creators expressed frustration, saying it won't get new features but will remain available “indefinitely” — It won't get new features, but it will still be available. … Adobe is no longer planning to discontinue Adobe Animate on March 1st.
More: TechCrunch, PCMag, iPhone in Canada, Neowin, Digit, DevClass.com, 80 Level, and Aftermath
X: @culturecrave, @ivangbm, @lavenderflamess, @risefallnickbck, @mesh, @jumpnjetz, @thecomputerclan, @adobe, @mesh, @beatlejase, @freddieelsom, @thetomska, @tristandavisart, @jsheps, @mesh, and @rjdoesvr
Bluesky: @jeanedouardsix, @thetrin.blacksky.app, @blueneumann, @viridianth, and @radiodeadair.com
Forums: r/adobeanimate and Slashdot
| Financial Times: |
Sources: the US Commerce Department finished reviewing Nvidia's H200 China license, but the State Department wants tougher restrictions, delaying final approval — The state department has pushed for close scrutiny before approving export licences — Michael Acton in San Francisco …
More: The Information, Benzinga, Finbold, Tech in Asia, and AsiaOne
| Simon Sharwood / The Register: |
Tencent Cloud, DigitalOcean, and Alibaba Cloud add OpenClaw support, giving users access to the AI agent service; many OpenClaw users run it on a Mac mini — As analyst house Gartner declares AI tool ‘comes with unacceptable cybersecurity risk’ and urges admins to snuff it out
More: Rest of World
| Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge: |
Amazon rolls out Alexa+ to all Prime members in the US via any Alexa-enabled device, Alexa.com, and the Alexa app, and launches a free tier for non-Prime users — Amazon's revamped AI-powered assistant is now available to everyone in the US, with new tiers that include a free option for non-Prime users.
More: About Amazon, PCWorld, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch, CNBC, Bloomberg, Tom's Guide, and 9to5Toys
| BBC: |
Pinterest fires two employees who it says “wrote custom scripts” that accessed confidential info to track which workers lost their jobs during recent layoffs — Pinterest has sacked two engineers for tracking which workers lost their jobs in a recent round of layoffs.
More: Benzinga, The Guardian, and Tech in Asia
| Jill R Shah / Financial Times: |
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino says initial plans to raise $15B to $20B were a “misconception”; sources say Tether's advisers have floated raising as little as $5B — CEO Paolo Ardoino downplays the scale of $185bn stablecoin group's capital raise — Tether's chief executive …
More: Decrypt, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Reuters, Cointelegraph, The Crypto Times, Bitcoin Insider, CoinDesk, Coinspeaker, crypto.news, and Crypto Briefing. Bluesky: @staffordphilip
| Leo Schwartz / Fortune: |
TRM Labs, which helps law enforcement and companies track crypto and blockchains, raised a $70M Series C led by Blockchain Capital at a $1B valuation — When TRM Labs cofounders Esteban Castaño and Rahul Raina moved to San Francisco in 2018 to create a startup, their mentors told …
More: FinSMEs, The Block, CoinDesk, Cointelegraph, Crypto Briefing, Ventureburn, Cryptonews, Financial Post, Bitcoinist.com, and Coinpedia Fintech News. X: @can
| Michael J. de la Merced / New York Times: |
Bedrock, which aims to automate heavy construction equipment like excavators, raised $270M led by CapitalG and the Valor Atreides AI Fund at a $1.75B valuation — The year-old company, founded by veterans of the autonomous vehicle business Waymo, is seeking to automate excavators and other building equipment.
More: RoboticsTomorrow.com
| Bloomberg: |
US v. Google: the DOJ and a group of states will appeal the September 2025 ruling in the Search antitrust case in which Google dodged a forced sale of Chrome — A group of states led by Colorado will appeal a federal judge's ruling that imposed only modest limits on Alphabet Inc.'s Google contracts related …
More: Engadget, Thurrott, Reuters, The Mac Observer, BMI, Silicon UK, Verdict, PYMNTS.com, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, The Verge, and The Information
X: @justiceatr, @jason_kint, and @leehepner
| Sabrina Ortiz / The Deep View: |
Mistral debuts Voxtral Transcribe 2, a family of speech-to-text models with speaker diarization and ultra-low latency, under the Apache 2.0 open-weight license — AI assistants are going voice-first, and Mistral AI just launched its models to compete. — On Wednesday, the French AI startup … | Madlin Mekelburg / Bloomberg: |
Filing: OpenAI accuses xAI of systematically destroying evidence in its antitrust case by directing employees to use autodeleting “ephemeral messaging tools” — OpenAI accused Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company of “systematic and intentional destruction” …
More: Business Insider, The Mac Observer, The Decoder, Moneycontrol, AppleInsider, WinBuzzer, Courthouse News Service, and 9to5Mac
X: @tolstoybb, @adamscochran, @sama, and @hedgeyecomm
| The Information: |
Sources: Amazon and OpenAI are discussing a deal that could require OpenAI to dedicate researchers and engineers to developing customized models for Amazon — As Amazon weighs an equity investment of tens of billions of dollars in OpenAI, the companies are also discussing a commercial agreement …
More: Bloomberg
| Brody Ford / Bloomberg: |
Adobe ramped up its ads in 2025, spending $1.4B amid AI competition and Wall Street skepticism, representing a significantly higher share of sales than rivals — Adobe Inc. ramped up its advertising in 2025, spending $1.4 billion to promote its brand in the face of steep competition …
More: Benzinga
| Kate Clark / Wall Street Journal: |
AI voice startup ElevenLabs raised a $500M Series D led by Sequoia at an $11B valuation, taking its total funding to nearly $800M, and reports $330M in 2025 ARR — The startup is increasingly joining with creative stars and expanding its work with business customers
More: Reuters and Tech Funding News
| Nick Turner / Bloomberg: |
Texas Instruments plans to buy US chip company Silicon Labs in a $7.5B deal, paying $231/share in cash, closing in H1 2027; Silicon Labs has a $4.5B market cap — Texas Instruments Inc. has reached an agreement to buy the US chip firm Silicon Laboratories Inc. for about $7.5 billion … Sponsor Posts
ElevenLabs:
ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs — You know us for voice. Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency. Hear it for yourself.
ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs — You know us for voice. Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency. Hear it for yourself.
Intel:
5G's most deployed platform — Powering live networks with built-in Inference across Core and RAN. That's the power of Intel Inside®
5G's most deployed platform — Powering live networks with built-in Inference across Core and RAN. That's the power of Intel Inside®
Zoho:
5 common AI pitfalls in staffing and how to fix them — Staffing teams are turning to AI to keep up with growing hiring demands. It helps recruiters move faster, handle more applications, and stay on top of their pipelines.
5 common AI pitfalls in staffing and how to fix them — Staffing teams are turning to AI to keep up with growing hiring demands. It helps recruiters move faster, handle more applications, and stay on top of their pipelines.
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.
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
Access:
Live @ Nvidia's nerd Super Bowl, poker takes over tech, and the future of AI banking
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's Superapp Ambitions, Jensen on Jobs, Bezos's $100 Billion Automation Fund
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:
'A.I.-Washing' Layoffs? + Why L.L.M.s Can't Write Well + Tokenmaxxing
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.
The Social Radars:
Paul Graham, Founder, Y Combinator
Come be a fly on the wall as Y Combinator's Jessica Livingston and Carolynn Levy talk to some of the most successful founders in Silicon Valley about how they did it.
Subscribe to The Social Radars.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Star Catcher's Andrew Rush: Harnessing The Sun To Build The First Energy Grid In Space
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.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Everybody Goes Home: How technology is helping prevent wildfires from spreading
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.
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