|
April 15, 2026, 2:00 PM
|
Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Bryce Elder / Financial Times: |
Shoe company Allbirds, which sold last week for $39M after its valuation fell from $4B+ in 2021, says it aims to become an AI compute provider; BIRD jumps 800%+ — Ah, zeitgeist: — Allbirds is a San Francisco maker of wool trainers that was once valued at more than $4bn.
More: Allbirds, Inc., CNBC, CNN, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Ars Technica, Wall Street Journal, DatacenterDynamics, Straight Arrow News, San Francisco Chronicle, NBC News, The Verge, Reuters, Engadget, PYMNTS.com, Constellation Research, Decrypt, Mercury News, Yahoo Finance, CoinDesk, SFGATE, WWD, PC Gamer, Proactive, Forbes, Capital Brief, The Shortcut, The Information, Crypto Briefing, Barron's Online, Aftermath, Benzinga, Kotaku, Newser, Inc.com, Wired, Watcher Guru, ZeroHedge News, and Sherwood News
X: @krishnanrohit, @packym, @ashleymayer, @mdudas, @mollyjongfast, @dylandittrich, @dogetoshi, @negligible_cap, @upslopecapital, @agentchud, @dylandittrich, @shaughnessy119, @buysellsmb, @edels0n, @kakashiii111, @geiger_capital, @tracyalloway, @firstadopter, @pitdesi, @mikeisaac, @bullandbaird, @doublewidecap, @deepsailcapital, @thestalwart, @negligible_cap, and @samro
LinkedIn: Teresa Mastrangelo, Ehsan Etezad, Craig Reishus, and Scott Newton
Bluesky: @baddestmamajama, @blindeke, @coachfinstock, @damonberes.com, @jakeweindling, @shiraovide, @ernie.tedium.co, @bendwalsh, @caseynewton, @ryancordell.org, and @davidtaggart. Mastodon: @itamarst@hachyderm.io
Forums: r/nottheonion, r/business, r/RunningCirclejerk, r/Allbirds, r/wallstreetbets, r/BetterOffline, and r/30ROCK
| Alexandra S. Levine / Bloomberg: |
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel says the company plans to lay off ~1,000 full-time employees, or 16% of its global workforce, to cut costs and achieve profitability — Snap Inc. is laying off roughly 1,000 full-time employees, or 16% of its global workforce, part of an effort by Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel …
More: Snap Newsroom, The Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, Breitbart, Sources, BBC, Engadget, PCMag, Business Insider, Reuters, TechCrunch, Investor's Business Daily, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Mashable, New York Post, GB News, Allwork.Space, Fast Company, The Next Web, Proactive, Techstrong.ai, CNBC, The Wrap, The Indian Express, Inc.com, Wall Street Journal, The Independent, MarketWatch, Road to VR, The Information, Associated Press, Yahoo Finance, Variety, Digit, Neowin, Newser, Deadline, Implicator.ai, Quartz, and The Verge
X: @buccocapital, @stocksavvyshay, @wallstengine, @stocksavvyshay, @anjneymidha, @markpinc, and @highyieldharry. LinkedIn: Krystal Yoniak. Bluesky: @carnage4life. Forums: r/LosAngeles
| Abner Li / 9to5Google: |
Google launches a Gemini Mac app, featuring a keyboard shortcut, screen sharing for better context, image generation with Nano Banana, and more — Gemini now has a native Mac app in the first expansion from Android and iOS. — This “native desktop experience” is launched via an Option + Space keyboard shortcut.
More: The Keyword, MacRumors, Engadget, Thurrott, 9to5Mac, T3, iPhone in Canada, and TechRadar
| Abner Li / 9to5Google: |
More: Google Search, The Keyword, MobileSyrup, Pureinfotech, Neowin, PCMag, Moneycontrol, Business Standard, Engadget, Phandroid, Digital Trends, PCWorld, Android Authority, XDA Developers, Neowin, The Verge, The Economic Times, Thurrott, iPhone in Canada, and Wired
X: @zachtratar, @omooretweets, and @rajanpatel
| Matt Burgess / Wired: |
Analysis: nearly 90 schools and 600+ students globally have been impacted by AI-generated deepfake nudes; North America had nearly 30 reported cases since 2023 — An analysis by WIRED and Indicator found nearly 90 schools and 600 students around the world impacted by AI-generated deepfake nude images …
More: Indicator. Bluesky: @mantzarlis.com, @dell, @lutzfernandez, @mantzarlis.com, @mantzarlis.com, @davidgilbert, @couts, @mantzarlis.com, @timmarchman, and @katie-drummond
Forums: Hacker News, r/UnderReportedNews, r/WomenInNews, and r/TrueReddit
| Arjun Kharpal / CNBC: |
ASML reports Q1 net sales of €8.8B, above €8.5B est., a €2.8B net profit, above €2.5B est., and raises its 2026 net sales forecast from €34B-€39B to €36B-€40B — ASML stock fell 6% on Wednesday despite raising its sales forecast for 2026 and beating first-quarter revenue and profit expectations.| Gian Volpicelli / Bloomberg: |
The EU unveils an open-source age verification app, which requires showing ID, to shield kids from harmful content, setting the standard for verification tech — The European Union has unveiled an app to confirm users' age online, setting the standard for verification technology …
More: Politico, The Next Web, Agence France-Presse, CNET, Mashable, Reuters, European Commission, and RTÉ
X: @vonderleyen, @vonderleyen, @wallstreetmav, @skylermzx, @tutaprivacy, and @f4micom
| Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: |
Adobe unveils Firefly AI Assistant, which can orchestrate and execute multistep tasks across Creative Cloud apps, available in public beta in the coming weeks — Last October, Adobe previewed a new assistant under the “Project Moonlight” moniker that could do tasks for you by tapping different Adobe apps … | Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg: |
Tel Aviv-based eToro agrees to acquire crypto wallet provider Zengo, a source says for ~$70M, mostly in cash; Zengo lets traders swap between tokens and fiat — EToro Group Ltd. has agreed to acquire Zengo, a crypto wallet provider, as the trading and investment platform expands its reach into decentralized finance.
More: eToro, Decrypt, DL News, FinSMEs, The Hans India, PYMNTS.com, Blockchain.News, The Block, The Crypto Times, CoinDesk, Cryip, CTech, Crypto Briefing, Cointelegraph, and Blockonomi
| Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg: |
The European Commission issues a supplementary statement of objections threatening Meta with an interim ban on WhatsApp policies that allegedly block AI rivals — Meta Platforms Inc. has been threatened with an interim European Union ban on policies that allegedly block rival AI firms …
More: The Economic Times, Associated Press, Reuters, and European Commission
| Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch: |
Spotify launches a feature to buy physical books in the US and UK, powered by Bookshop.org, and expands its Page Match scanning tool to support 30+ languages — In February, Spotify made an exciting (and a bit unusual) move when it entered the world of physical book sales.
More: Spotify, Engadget, Android Police, The Next Web, Good e-Reader, BOOK RIOT, Android Authority, Thurrott, Mashable, PCMag, and The Verge. Forums: r/books
| Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: |
Apple endorses the ~$11.6B Amazon-Globalstar deal, noting that it has a “proven track record” with Amazon infrastructure; Apple holds a ~20% stake in Globalstar — Amazon.com Inc.'s takeover of Globalstar Inc. is poised to benefit one of the company's biggest rivals in hardware devices: Apple Inc.
More: Amazon, Fortune, The Hans India, Blockonomi, Silicon Republic, Benzinga, CNBC, Financial Times, The Next Web, and The Information
X: @markgurman and @tmfassociates
| Rachel Scharf / Billboard: |
A US judge issues a $322.2M judgment against pirate library Anna's Archive for scraping Spotify, a largely symbolic victory as the site is anonymously operated — At least for now, the court judgment is largely a symbolic victory, as no one has identified the anonymous internet users behind Anna's Archive.
More: TorrentFreak and Music Business Worldwide
| Steven Vaughan-Nichols / ZDNET: |
Cal.com, which provides scheduling software, is moving its core open-source codebase to a closed repository, citing the dangers of AI hacking its open code — ZDNET's key takeaways — Cal is reluctantly moving away from open source for security. — This move isn't about Mythos, but risks from modern AI tools.
More: The New Stack and Implicator.ai
X: @simonw, @mjackson, @migueldeicaza, @pumfleet, @johnonolan, @steipete, @xlr8harder, and @mitsuhiko
| David Ingram / NBC News: |
Letter to Senators in January: Apple said it told X it may remove Grok from the App Store for not stopping the app from generating nude and sexualized deepfakes — In a letter to senators sent in January, Apple detailed how it responded to Grok's ability to generate sexualized deepfakes.
More: AppleInsider, PCMag, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, The Mac Observer, iDrop News, The Independent, Business Today, The Verge, Moneycontrol, The Indian Express, Business Standard, Digit, and Livemint
Forums: Hacker News, r/apple, and MacRumors Forums
| Google DeepMind: |
Google DeepMind introduces Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6, a model for robots that it says shows significant spatial and physical reasoning improvements over ER 1.5 — For robots to be truly helpful in our daily lives and industries, they must do more than follow instructions, they must reason about the physical world.| IDC: |
Global smartphone shipments fell 4.1% YoY in Q1, the first drop since mid 2023, amid memory constraints; only Samsung and Apple grew shipments, at 3.6% and 3.3% — Limited memory supply and record high memory prices increase pressure on smartphone OEMs to reduce shipments and increase prices that dampen demand.
More: Thurrott, PhoneArena, Fierce Network, Apple Must, 9to5Mac, and Bloomberg
| Rebecca Torrence / Bloomberg: |
Accel raised $5B, including a $4B Leaders fund, focused on writing large checks to late-stage startups globally, and a $650M sidecar fund, taking AUM to $36B — Accel, the venture capital firm that's backed artificial intelligence companies including Anthropic, Cursor and Perplexity …
More: TechCrunch, Entrackr, Investing.com, The Mac Observer, and Accel
| Madison Mills / Axios: |
Hilbert, whose AI software connects data across teams to help companies make decisions from a single system, raised a $28M Series A led by a16z — Hilbert, an AI startup rethinking how companies drive growth, raised a $28 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, the startup told Axios exclusively.| Pew Research Center: |
A survey of US teens: ~90% say entertainment is a reason they use TikTok, Instagram, or Snapchat, 57% Snapchat message daily, and 37% say TikTok impacts sleep — Teens largely turn to TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat for fun and connection. But experiences around messaging, screen time and cyberbullying vary.
More: Engadget, Mashable, MediaPost, Business Insider, and Pew Research Center
| Natalie Breymeyer / Axios: |
London-based Gizmo, which uses AI to turn young students' notes into gamified study materials, raised a $22M Series A led by Shine Capital and reports 13M users — Gizmo, an AI educational platform, raised a $22 million Series A, CEO Petros Christodoulou tells Axios exclusively.| Bloomberg: |
Filings: Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz donated $25M to pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future, bringing the group's total cash on hand to over $51M — Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz poured $25 million into a pro-artificial intelligence super political action committee … | CNBC: |
Meta and Broadcom announce an expanded partnership to co-develop multiple generations of Meta's MTIA chips; Broadcom CEO Hock Tan plans to leave Meta's board — Meta and Broadcom on Tuesday announced a sweeping deal that extends an existing partnership between the two companies for the design …
More: Meta Newsroom, DatacenterDynamics, Investing.com, Broadcom Inc., Benzinga, Quartz, The Next Web, Blockonomi, Business Today, Bloomberg, CNBC, and Reuters
X: @edludlow, @patrickmoorhead, @broadcom, @patrickmoorhead, and @metanewsroom. LinkedIn: David Berman
| Tim Fernholz / TechCrunch: |
AI cloud infrastructure company Parasail raised a $32M Series A led by Touring Capital and Kindred Ventures, bringing its total funding to $42M — “Give me tokens. Just give me tokens. I want them fast. I want them cheap. I want them now." — That's the mantra for developers building software … | Sharon Goldman / Fortune: |
Artemis, which aims to replace rule-based cybersecurity systems with an AI-driven centralized “brain”, emerges from stealth with a $70M Series A led by Felicis — Artemis, a new cybersecurity startup trying to help defenders fight AI-powered attacks with AI, emerged from stealth today … | Molly Taft / Wired: |
The US Energy Information Administration plans to implement a mandatory nationwide survey of data centers focused on their energy use — In a letter obtained by WIRED, the Energy Information Administration tells two senators that it plans to develop a mandatory assessment of data centers' energy use.
X: @andymasley, @andymasley, and @mollytaft
| Sean Hollister / The Verge: |
The US FCC grants Netgear a conditional approval to import its future consumer routers, cable modems, and cable gateways into the US through October 1, 2027 — Make it make sense. Make it make sense. … The United States' foreign router ban didn't make a whole lot of sense, and today may not change that.
More: PCMag, Cybersecurity Dive, Netgear, AppleInsider, Gizmodo, ZDNET, MakeUseOf, 9to5Mac, Quartz, CNET, Tom's Hardware, Tech Times, Digital Trends, Android Authority, and Engadget
Bluesky: @karlbode.com. Forums: Hacker News, r/politics, r/technology, r/DailyTechNewsShow, r/hardware, and r/technology
| Financial Times: |
Sources and analyst estimates: Uber is on track to spend $7.5B+ on thousands of robotaxis and $2.5B+ on equity stakes in their makers over the next few years — Ride-hailing app races to make up lost ground with equity investments and vehicle order commitments
More: The Verge, Reuters, Barron's Online, Tech Funding News, Proactive, Jalopnik, Sherwood News, Blockonomi, Barchart.com, CNBC, and Tech in Asia
| Juro Osawa / The Information: |
ByteDance launches its Seedance 2.0 video model to enterprise clients in 100+ countries, excluding the US amid legal disputes, after a February launch in China — ByteDance's cloud computing unit has made the company's Seedance 2. AI video generation model available globally to enterprise customers …
More: Hello China Tech
| Washington Post: |
Survey: 35% of Virginia voters are comfortable with new data center construction, down from 69% in 2023, and 37% support data center tax breaks, down from 61% — Virginians previously embraced the facilities, but a Post-Schar School poll finds they are now almost as undesirable as nuclear power plants.| Rachel Metz / Bloomberg: |
OpenAI rolls out GPT-5.4-Cyber, a fine-tuned GPT-5.4 variant for defensive cybersecurity use cases, to some participants of its Trusted Access for Cyber program — OpenAI is letting a select group of users access a new artificial intelligence model that's meant to be more adept …
More: OpenAI, TechRadar, Wired, Silicon Republic, 9to5Mac, The Mac Observer, Implicator.ai, Neowin, Mashable, iThinkDifferent, Infosecurity, Tech Times, Moneycontrol, Blockonomi, The Cyber Express, The Decoder, Help Net Security, and Business Today
X: @openai, @miles_brundage, @openai, @alph4betsoup, @robtlee, @zauthinc, @hesamation, @fouadmatin, @paulsolt, @blackroomsec, @0xocdsec, @morqon, @nrehiew_, @mattshumer_, @chatgpt21, and @andrewcurran_. LinkedIn: Kevin Hiltpold, CISSP. Bluesky: @seldo.com
Forums: Hacker News and r/singularity
| Financial Times: |
Sources: ahead of the US midterms, Democrats have been advised not to antagonize a $300M+ pro-AI lobby; internal polls show broad support for tougher AI rules — Pro-industry campaign groups deploy millions amid growing public support for tighter regulationSponsor Posts
Command Line:
Copilot to autopilot: Why no single safeguard is enough — Microsoft designed a layered model that lets an AI agent resolve network incidents on its own within defined boundaries.
Copilot to autopilot: Why no single safeguard is enough — Microsoft designed a layered model that lets an AI agent resolve network incidents on its own within defined boundaries.
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.
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:
UK tax compliance with Zoho Books — The evolving tax landscape in the UK has added an additional responsibility to business owners, accountants, and bookkeepers to ensure their choice of accounting software supports compliance …
UK tax compliance with Zoho Books — The evolving tax landscape in the UK has added an additional responsibility to business owners, accountants, and bookkeepers to ensure their choice of accounting software supports compliance …
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
Training Data:
Inside the Robot Data Factory: Mecka's Josh Gao on Sensorizing Humans to Train Robots
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Invest Like the Best:
Christina Cacioppo - Building an Enduring Software Company in the Age of AI
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Grit:
The 20-Year Bet to Make Fusion Energy Work | Jeff Lawson
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Acquired:
Seinfeld
Learn the playbooks that built the world's greatest companies - and how you can apply them as a founder, operator, or investor.
Subscribe to Acquired.
Lenny's Podcast:
Inside the black box of AI: How AI models actually think | Emmanuel Ameisen (Anthropic)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
Anthropic IPO Panic, A Spy At OpenAI?, The Great Food Slop Debate
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 2:00 PM ET, April 15, 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
Brian Stelter / CNN:Maya Yang / The Guardian:
CNN:
Upcoming Tech Events
More News
Earlier Picks
| Konstantin Kakaes / Quanta Magazine: |
| Rashi Shrivastava / Forbes: |
More: Mintlify, Salesforce Ventures, and US Department of Justice
X: @matsiiako, @aakashgupta, @kevinzhang, @stuffyokodraws, @jenniferhli, @skeptrune, @hahnbeelee, @handotdev, @handotdev, @handotdev, and @handotdev. LinkedIn: Salesforce Ventures
| Laura Bratton / The Information: |
More: Benzinga. X: @cdpetty, @virtualmilin, @dwlz, @altcap, @clementdelangue, @ericvishria, @cto_junior, @chamath, @tunguz, and @anissagardizy8
Bluesky: @selectric.space and @edzitron.com
| Zac Bowden / Windows Central: |
More: WinBuzzer and TechRadar
X: @isforat, @withinrafael, @daniel_rubino, and @zacbowden
Forums: r/microsoft and r/Surface
| The Information: |
More: Gizmodo, Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At, Implicator.ai, PYMNTS.com, The Information, and VentureBeat
X: @daveshapi and @scaling01
| Claude: |
More: SiliconANGLE, The Register, MacRumors, Don't Worry About the Vase, Caixin Global, TechRadar, and 9to5Mac
X: @alexfinn, @tomhacks, @alexalbert__, @mil000, @dotcsv, @petergyang, @claudeai, @ecommerceshares, @yuchenj_uw, @bcherny, @tannerlinsley, @robertjbye, @kimmonismus, @alexisohanian, @dani_avila7, @omarsar0, @felixrieseberg, @theo, @thsottiaux, @karrisaarinen, @gregisenberg, @chatgpt21, @noahzweben, @noahzweben, @cto_junior, @claudeai, @amorriscode, and @felixrieseberg. Forums: MacRumors Forums