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March 16, 2026, 1:35 PM
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Top News

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Nebius says Meta plans to spend up to $27B over the next five years to access AI infrastructure, starting with $12B of capacity in early 2027; NBIS jumps 12%+  —  Meta Platforms Inc. will pay as much as $27 billion over the next five years for access to artificial intelligence infrastructure …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: OpenAI faced intense backlash from its advisory council over a planned ChatGPT “adult mode”, delayed earlier in March due to technical and other issues  —  Warnings surface that the company risks creating a ‘sexy suicide coach’ if it begins allowing sexually explicit chats
Apple:
Apple unveils the $549 AirPods Max 2, with an H2 chip, up to 1.5x more effective ANC, studio-quality audio recording, and camera remote, shipping in early April  —  Powered by H2, AirPods Max are better than ever with more effective ANC, enhanced sound quality, and new features like Adaptive Audio and Live Translation
Horace Dediu / Asymco:
As AI models commodify, Apple's plans to spend just $14B on 2026 capex, far below hyperscalers' combined $650B, or 90%+ of their cash flow, may be a genius move  —  The 3rd? most valuable company on Earth watched as its rivals lit $650 billion on fire and did nothing.
Hartley Charlton / MacRumors:
Apple acquires MotionVFX, a Polish company that develops plugins, visual effects, and motion graphics tools for Final Cut Pro  —  Apple today acquired MotionVFX, a major developer of plugins, visual effects, and motion graphics tools for Final Cut Pro.  —  MotionVFX is a Polish software company founded by Szymon Masiak in 2009.
Reuters:
Sources: OpenAI is in advanced talks with PE firms including TPG and Advent to form a JV that would distribute its enterprise tools to their portfolio companies  —  OpenAI is in advanced talks with private equity firms including TPG (TPG.O), Advent International, Bain Capital and Brookfield Asset Management …
Faiz Siddiqui / Washington Post:
A group of Tennessee teenagers sues xAI, alleging its AI tools were used to create nude images of them by editing photos in which they were clothed  —  Three plaintiffs, two of whom are minors, accuse xAI of distribution, possession and production with intent to distribute child pornography.
More: Prism.  Bluesky: @faizsays, @faizsays, and @faizsays
Fanny Potkin / Reuters:
Sources: Hua Hong is readying a 7nm process at its Shanghai fab with Huawei's help, which would make it China's second chipmaker with such tech, after SMIC  —  China's Hua Hong Group has developed advanced chip manufacturing technologies that can be used to produce artificial intelligence chips …
Timmy Shen / The Block:
Reliz, which operates crypto lender BlockFills, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, reporting $50M to $100M in estimated assets and $100M to $500M in liabilities  —  Quick Take  — Chicago-based BlockFills has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
Sherry Qin / Wall Street Journal:
Foxconn reports Q4 revenue up 22% YoY to ~$81B, net profit down 2% YoY to ~$1.4B, below ~$1.9B est., due to a higher tax expense, and a 5.9% gross profit margin  —  The company generates a significant share of its revenue making AI servers for the likes of Nvidia and Amazon
Anissa Gardizy / The Information:
Sources: OpenAI appoints new leaders to oversee Stargate after deciding to rent more AI servers from cloud providers, and splits its computing effort in three  —  OpenAI has appointed new leaders to oversee its Stargate computing initiative after deciding to rent more AI servers …
More: WinBuzzer
Theodore Schleifer / New York Times:
How tech billionaires are turning on the Giving Pledge, promoted by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett; Peter Thiel says he privately told ~12 signers to undo it  —  Just a few months after Warren Buffett convened a series of high-end dinners across America to collect signatures for something called …
Matt Burgess / Wired:
Criminal enterprises in Southeast Asian scam hubs are recruiting “AI face models” to facilitate crypto and romance scams; some demand 100+ video calls per day  —  Dozens of Telegram channels reviewed by WIRED include job listings for “AI face models.”
Zac Bowden / Windows Central:
Sources: Microsoft shelved plans to add some Copilot AI features to Windows 11 and shipped some tools without the Copilot branding, to reduce AI bloat in the OS  —  Originally announced in 2024, Microsoft's plan to integrate Copilot across various areas of the Windows 11 shell has been shelved …

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:35 PM ET, March 16, 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.

From Mediagazer

Todd Spangler / Variety:
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr says there was no “pressure from the outside” on the agency leading to an early review of ABC's TV broadcast licenses

Reporters Without Borders:
RSF Press Freedom Index hits a 25-year low: over 50% of the world's countries fall into the “difficult” or “very serious” categories; Norway holds the top spot

Riddhi Setty / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at fights by journalists at McClatchy, ProPublica, EdSource, and the NYT to shape their newsrooms' policies around the use of AI

More News

Washington Post:
GovAI and Brookings: many of the people most at risk if AI transforms work are also the best placed to find new jobs, as researchers disagree over AI's impact
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify announces Taste Profile editing in beta, the first time it lets users fine-tune its recommendations, starting with Premium subscribers in New Zealand

Earlier Picks

Kenrick Cai / Reuters:
President Trump accuses Iran of using AI as a “disinformation weapon” to make fake images of wartime successes against the US, saying “AI can be very dangerous”
Reuters:
JD.com launches its online marketplace Joybuy in the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, as it expands globally to challenge Amazon
Clinton Nwachukwu / Ventureburn:
Standard Kernel, which is making AI-powered GPU optimization software, raised a $20M seed led by Jump Capital, with General Catalyst and others participating
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