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March 19, 2026, 3:40 PM
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| Agnee Ghosh / Bloomberg: |
OpenAI agrees to acquire Astral, which makes Python tools for developers, to integrate its team into Codex, and says Codex has 2M+ users, up 3x since January — OpenAI plans to acquire Astral, a startup that makes Python tools for developers, marking the ChatGPT maker's latest investment …
More: OpenAI, Astral, The Verge, Fortune, MacStories, CNBC, Simon Willison's Weblog, PYMNTS.com, iPhone in Canada, DevOps.com, The Economic Times, Reuters, Proactive, and Implicator.ai
X: @rohanpaul_ai, @openainewsroom, @jsuarez, @gdb, @trekedge, @hsvsphere, @svpino, @theahmadosman, @ivanfioravanti, @chrisalbon, @hanchunglee, @banteg, @charliermarsh, @alxfazio, @reach_vb, @fujikanaeda, @charliermarsh, @julien_c, @boristane, @sherwinwu, @jxnlco, and @himanshustwts
Bluesky: @seldo.com, @reillywood.com, @timonsku.zip, @ramon-astudillo, and @cameron.stream. Mastodon: @webology@mastodon.social
Forums: Hacker News, r/rust, and r/BetterOffline
| Dominic Preston / The Verge: |
Google announces a new “advanced flow” for Android sideloading that requires a mandatory 24-hour cooling-off period to install apps from unverified developers — The one-time ‘advanced flow’ includes 24 hours of cooling off time. … Google has revealed the “advanced flow” …
More: Ars Technica, Android Developers Blog, Android Authority, Engadget, How-To Geek, The Register, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, and BleepingComputer
X: @backlon, @backlon, @backlon, and @androiddev. Bluesky: @tcarmody. Mastodon: @slightlyoff@toot.cafe
Forums: r/EmulationOnAndroid, r/degoogle, r/androiddev, and r/fossdroid
| Rustin Banks / The Keyword: |
Google updates Stitch to let users turn natural language prompts into UI designs, introducing an “AI-native” software design canvas and a reasoning design agent — Stitch is evolving into an AI-native software design canvas that allows anyone to create, iterate and collaborate on high-fidelity UI from natural language.
More: Stitch, CNBC, Business Insider, XDA Developers, Fast Company, The Information, TechRadar, Android Central, The Rundown AI, The Decoder, The Indian Express, The Register, and The Decoder
| John Wang / @j0hnwang: |
More: Benzinga. X: @timhaldorsson, @scottastevenson, @dorizzdt, @hadley, @melkeydev, @hewarsaber, @aakashgupta, and @lexsokolin
Bluesky: @seanhodgdon.com and @seanhodgdon.com
| New York Times: |
Mark Zuckerberg's original metaverse vision is effectively over, after renaming Facebook to Meta and spending ~$80B on the endeavor, as his focus shifts to AI — Five years ago, Mark Zuckerberg proclaimed that the future of Facebook would be the metaverse.
More: 404 Media, PCMag, Sandra Rose, Barron's Online, The Daily Dot, Not the Bee, The Hans India, and Digital Music News
X: @kevinroose, @paultassi, @canteverdie, @kyliebytes, @anisha_moonka, @wdavidmarx, @willsolfiac, @malonebarry, and @abhijitwt
Bluesky: @tommysalty, @tabletopminions, @deanwampler.com, @maeve, @shadowmanos, @edzitron.com, and @daniloc.xyz
| Janko Roettgers / Lowpass: |
More: TechCrunch, CNBC, Ars Technica, The Verge, Engadget, 9to5Mac, UploadVR, Wired, Android Headlines, Gameranx, Road to VR, and Bloomberg
| Rachel Metz / Bloomberg: |
Cursor launches Composer 2, an AI agent trained solely on coding-related data to perform autonomous, lengthy coding tasks, to compete with Anthropic and OpenAI — Cursor, a leading artificial intelligence startup for coding, is set to release a more efficient AI model for software development … | Brian Danga / The Block: |
Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek says the company cut ~12% of its workforce, or ~180 roles, saying the layoffs target roles that “do not adapt” as it integrates AI — Quick Take — Crypto.com cut about 12% of its workforce, or roughly 180 roles based on a previously disclosed headcount of over 1,500 employees.| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Bluesky raised a $100M Series B led by Bain Capital Crypto in April 2025, following a $15M Series A in 2024 and an $8M seed in 2023; it now has over 43M users — Social network Bluesky is gearing up for big changes with today's news that the company raised $100 million in Series B funding.| Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge: |
Uber plans to invest $1.25B in Rivian through 2031, contingent on meeting autonomy milestones, starting with $300M at signing, to deploy 50K Level 4 robotaxis — The companies say they plan on deploying 10,000 autonomous Rivian R2 vehicles by 2031. … Uber and Rivian are joining forces …
More: Austin American-Statesman, Fortune, Uber, TechCrunch, Silicon Valley Business …, Gizmodo, UPI, Engadget, Digital Trends, South Florida Business Journal, Axios, TechEBlog, Carscoops, New York Times, Proactive, Barron's Online, Quartz, Blockchain.News, Automotive World, Motley Fool, Electrek, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Associated Press, InsideEVs, The Information, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Drive, Jalopnik, Reuters, Yahoo Finance, TheTruthAboutCars, EV, The Next Web, CNBC, Dow Jones Newswires, electrive.com, Blockonomi, CBT News, iPhone in Canada, The Independent, Business Insider, Benzinga, Watcher Guru, The Hill, and Morningstar
X: @theaustinlyons, @joshkale, @andrewgordonmac, @pitdesi, @rjscaringe, @zacksjerryrig, @aakashgupta, @rivian, and @uber. LinkedIn: Dara Khosrowshahi. Forums: r/Rivian
| Margi Murphy / Bloomberg: |
CISA warns US companies to follow Microsoft's recommendations for fortifying Intune, a tool that manages staff access, after a cyberattack on Stryker last week — The US government is warning businesses to secure their corporate accounts within a popular Microsoft Corp. management tool … | Wall Street Journal: |
MLB makes Polymarket its official prediction markets platform, giving it exclusive data access; Polymarket will restrict contracts that pose “integrity risk” — On the cusp of opening day and under the cloud of a recent betting scandal, MLB reaches a licensing agreement with event-prediction platform
More: MLB.com, CFTC, PYMNTS.com, Decrypt, Fortune, Cointelegraph, The Hill, The Block, Front Office Sports, Washington Examiner, Awful Announcing, The Crypto Times, ESPN, Associated Press, CoinDesk, Benzinga, CNBC, Bloomberg, Blockonomi, Bitcoin News, Fast Company, and Sports Business Journal
X: @polymarket, @joshbtucker, @mikemayer22, @tipping_pitches, @foolishbb, @joonlee, @matthewmodabber, @ntmoney, @super70ssports, @chairmanselig, @nickdevor_, @cftc, @thamosdeaf, @robtornoe, @bymattweyrich, @benhorney, @wallachlegal, @biasedslightly, @tmathsports, @sportradar, @benhorney, and @jaketodonnell. LinkedIn: Michael Selig
Bluesky: @rjcurren, @caseynewton, @timweston.com, and @josephgruber.com
| Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg: |
Meta plans to reduce its reliance on third-party vendors for content moderation, in favor of AI tools that it says are better at spotting scams and other tasks — Meta Platforms Inc. will soon cut back on its use of third-party vendors to help with content moderation, relying instead …
More: Meta Newsroom, The Information, RTÉ, Engadget, TechCrunch, MediaPost, CNBC, and The Post Millennial. LinkedIn: Brian Dalessandro
| Maxwell Zeff / Wired: |
Google moved some staffers working on Project Mariner, its AI agent that can navigate Chrome and complete tasks on a user's behalf, to higher-priority projects — As Silicon Valley obsesses over a new wave of AI coding agents, Google and other AI labs are shifting their bets.
Bluesky: @caseynewton
| Paresh Dave / Wired: |
Walmart plans to add its Sparky chatbot into ChatGPT and Gemini, after OpenAI's Instant Checkout conversion rates were 3x lower than those with clicking out — After OpenAI's Instant Checkout feature fell short, Walmart is instead embedding its Sparky chatbot directly into ChatGPT and Google Gemini.| Anthropic: |
Anthropic releases a survey of 80,508 Claude users' hopes, dreams, and fears about AI, calling it “the largest and most multilingual qualitative study ever” — Last December, tens of thousands of Claude users around the world had a conversation with our AI interviewer to share how they use AI …
More: TheNeuron and eWeek
X: @jkeatn, @zeynep, @jackclarksf, @saffronhuang, @dounbug, @typewriters, @saffronhuang, @joshkale, @kimmonismus, @gailcweiner, @usgraphics, @lulumeservey, @abhishekn, @jasminewsun, @cryptopunk7213, @neerajka, @divy93t, @provisionalidea, @saffronhuang, @randalltemple, @jackclarksf, and @ahall_research
Forums: Hacker News, r/neoliberal, r/singularity, and r/claudexplorers
| Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: |
Adobe launches Firefly Custom Models in public beta, letting users train AI image generators on their own assets; the custom models are private by default — Firefly custom models analyze your assets to preserve character designs and emulate illustration and photography styles.
More: The Adobe Blog, Moneycontrol, Thurrott, 9to5Mac, The AI Economy, and PetaPixel. LinkedIn: Allison Blais
| Natalie Lung / Bloomberg: |
DoorDash launches Tasks, a new app that pays delivery couriers in some markets to submit video clips and complete other tasks for training AI models — DoorDash Inc. is paying delivery couriers in some markets to submit video clips and complete other digital tasks to help improve artificial intelligence … | Mizy Clifton / Politico: |
Ofcom fines 4chan £520K for OSA violations, including £450K for not complying with age check requirements, and gives it until April 2 to implement age assurance — 4chan has until 2 April to implement age assurance, carry out a “suitable and sufficient” illegal harms risk assessment …
More: Ofcom, BBC, Reclaim The Net, Help Net Security, Dexerto, The Independent, and Engadget
X: @prestonjbyrne, @ofcom, @prestonjbyrne, @prestonjbyrne, and @peteryared
Bluesky: @marypcbuk and @owenboswarva
Forums: Hacker News and r/technology
| Marissa Newman / Bloomberg: |
Oasis Security, which specializes in securing non-human identities, such as AI bots and automated work tools, raised $120M, bringing its total funding to $190M — Oasis Security, a cybersecurity startup that helps companies manage access to their systems from non-human accounts … | Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: |
Sources: Google has started consumer beta testing of a dedicated Gemini AI app for the Mac, as it seeks to compete with Mac apps for ChatGPT and Claude — Google is ramping up development of a dedicated Gemini AI app for Apple Inc.'s Mac computer lineup, looking to step up competition with OpenAI and Anthropic PBC.| Wall Street Journal: |
Sources: Jeff Bezos is in talks to raise $100B for a fund that would buy companies in industrial sectors such as chipmaking and defense and revamp them with AI — Amazon.com founder has traveled to Middle East, Singapore in fundraising effort linked to Project Prometheus AI startup| Dara Kerr / The Guardian: |
Google co-founder Sergey Brin raises his total contribution to $45M for the Building a Better California Super PAC, which opposes a proposed 5% billionaire tax — Sergey Brin gives $25m on top of $20m he's already given to Super Pac trying to block state's proposed 5% wealth tax
Forums: r/google, r/DemocraticSocialism, r/politics, r/siliconvalley, and r/California
| Thomas Brewster / Forbes: |
Privacy-focused MVNO Cape raised a $100M Series C at a $900M valuation, and says its revenue grew from $4.5M in 2024 to $37M in 2025 — Cape cofounder and CEO John Doyle is seeing rapid revenue growth for his cell network, which deletes call logs and doesn't collect social security numbers like AT&T and Verizon do.
More: FinSMEs and Ventureburn
| Oma Seddiq / Bloomberg Law: |
US Senator Marsha Blackburn releases a draft of the TRUMP AMERICA AI Act, a federal framework to replace state AI laws, incorporating KOSA and the NO FAKES Act — The Senate has released a draft national framework to replace state laws on artificial intelligence and promote the technology's development …
More: Techstrong.ai, Engadget, Roll Call, Music Ally, Senator Marsha Blackburn, Axios, and The Tennessean
| Shubham Bose: |
An analysis of a NYT article load finds 422 network requests totaling 49MB, triggering a sprawling programmatic ad auction, an example of “hostile architecture” — If active distraction of readers of your own website was an Olympic Sport, news publications would top the charts every time.
More: Daring Fireball, NextDraft, and Daring Fireball
X: @leahlibresco and @leahlibresco
Bluesky: @mitchsaid, @indyposterboy.scot, and @maggie-lee
Mastodon: @shriramk@mastodon.social, @assaf@mas.to, @js@podcastindex.social, @ppatel@mstdn.social, and @gedankenstuecke@scholar …
Forums: Hacker News and Lobsters
| Connie Loizos / TechCrunch: |
Alphabet's X spins out Anori, which seeks to streamline building approvals through a unified platform for developers and city regulators, with $26M in funding — For more than a decade, Alphabet's X moonshot factory has been quietly trying to fix one of the world's most stubborn industries.| Stephen Foley / Financial Times: |
PwC US Senior Partner Paul Griggs says partners who resist AI have no place at the firm, and PwC plans to convert some services into AI-powered automated tools — Consultancy begins overhaul of pricing and services in face of technology undercutting its business| Kate O'Keeffe / Bloomberg: |
Sources: TP-Link told US federal agencies probing its China ties that CEO Jeffrey Chao applied for US permanent residency under the $1M Trump Gold Card program — The Chinese founder of the massive router maker facing national security probes by the Trump administration has applied …
More: South China Morning Post
| Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge: |
Waymo says its fleet hit 170M+ miles as of December 2025, and its Waymo Driver system was involved in 92% fewer serious-injury crashes than human drivers — Waymo says its robotaxis are involved in 92 percent fewer crashes causing serious injuries or worse than human drivers.Sponsor Posts
ElevenLabs:
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Intel:
5G's most deployed platform — Powering live networks with built-in Inference across Core and RAN. That's the power of Intel Inside®
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Zoho:
Accessibility in Zoho People: Our commitment to an inclusive HR experience — According to a recent statistic, nearly 1.3 billion people live with a disability. In 2024, the employment rate for working-age people …
Accessibility in Zoho People: Our commitment to an inclusive HR experience — According to a recent statistic, nearly 1.3 billion people live with a disability. In 2024, the employment rate for working-age people …
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
The Social Radars:
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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.
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Great Chat:
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A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
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The director's commentary track for Daring Fireball. Long digressions on Apple, technology, design, movies, and more.
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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.
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