Techmeme
March 16, 2025, 3:25 PM

Top News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
A closer look at the iPhone 17 “Air”, which lays the foundation for major design changes in future devices, including possible portless and foldable iPhones  —  Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 “Air” will foreshadow a move to slimmer models without charging ports.
Bloomberg:
Baidu releases Ernie X1, an AI model that articulates its reasoning similarly to DeepSeek R1, and upgrades its flagship foundation model to Ernie 4.5, both free  —  The Ernie X1 model by China's internet search leader works similarly to DeepSeek R1 — which shocked Silicon Valley …
Catherine Thorbecke / Bloomberg:
The hype around AI agent Manus doesn't represent a second DeepSeek moment, but reveals that Chinese startups can compete with US companies building AI products  —  The viral AI agent from a Chinese startup isn't about research breakthroughs, it's about creating competitive consumer products.
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Bluesky proposes letting users indicate if their data can be used for AI training, web archiving, and more; critics see it as a reversal of its prior statements  —  Social network Bluesky recently published a proposal on GitHub outlining new options it could give users to indicate whether …
Kate Rooney / CNBC:
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Google and other companies are considering bringing back in-person job interviews, as some startups sell AI tools that let engineers cheat in virtual interviews  —  After landing internship offers from Amazon, Meta and TikTok, computer science student Chungin “Roy” Lee has decided to move to San Francisco.
Financial Times:
Spotify slashed nearly €500M in marketing, R&D spending, and general administrative expenses in 2024, which helped the company swing to a net income of €1.1B  —  The Swedish music streaming service's size now gives it a durable advantage over rivals  —  Spotify has found its groove.
Financial Times:
Current and former Meta employees describe GOP lobbyist Joel Kaplan's rise since joining Meta in 2011 to become Mark Zuckerberg's most trusted political fixer  —  Meta's newly promoted head of global affairs has masterminded social media giant's pivot towards Donald Trump
Molly White / Citation Needed:
The real threat of AI models training on open-access material is that they may bleed free repositories dry by draining resources and not providing attribution  —  Listen to me read this post here (not an AI-generated voice!), subscribe to the feed in your podcast app, or download the recording for later.

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Featured Podcasts

Access:
Home robots are coming faster than you think, with Sunday's Tony Zhao
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
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An Intro to Data Centers
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
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Big Technology Podcast:
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis: AI's Next Breakthroughs, AGI Timeline, Google's AI Glasses Bet
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
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Uncapped with Jack Altman:
Vinod Khosla and Keith Rabois from Khosla Ventures
Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
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Channels with Peter Kafka:
Chuck Klosterman on Why Football Owns TV (and Why It Won't Forever)
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
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Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
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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TechCrunch:
Abner Li / 9to5Google: