Techmeme
May 19, 2025, 6:00 PM

Top News

Emma Roth / The Verge:
GitHub announces an AI coding agent for GitHub Copilot that can fix bugs, add features, improve docs, and more, and open-sources GitHub Copilot in VS Code  —  The AI coding agent will start working once a developer assigns it a task. … GitHub is launching an AI coding agent that can do things …
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Microsoft open-sources the Windows Subsystem for Linux, launched in 2016, and makes it available on GitHub, except for a few Windows-specific components  —  Microsoft has open-sourced the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), making its source code available on GitHub, except for a few components that are part of Windows.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Protesters disrupt Build keynote; one then emailed thousands of Microsoft coworkers calling the company's report on its tech's impact on Gaza civilians a “lie”  —  Microsoft employee Joe Lopez sent an email to thousands of colleagues after interrupting the Build keynote.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft adds Grok 3 and Grok 3 mini to its Azure AI Foundry service  —  Grok 3 and Grok 3 mini are both coming to Microsoft's Azure AI Foundry service. … I reported in my Notepad newsletter earlier this month that Microsoft was getting ready to host Elon Musk's Grok AI models, and now it's official.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Bloomberg:
Nvidia unveils NVLink Fusion, which lets clients use NVLink to couple non-Nvidia CPUs or accelerators with Nvidia's GPUs in their rack-scale setups to boost AI  —  Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang outlined plans to let customers deploy rivals' chips in data centers built around …
Kimberley Kao / Wall Street Journal:
Ryan Gallagher / Bloomberg:
The UK says hackers breached its Legal Aid Agency to steal a “significant amount of personal data” from people who received legal aid across England and Wales  —  Hackers have stolen a “significant amount of personal data” from people who received legal aid across England and Wales, the UK's Ministry of Justice said.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google releases the NotebookLM app for Android and iOS, allowing users to listen to Audio Overviews offline, interact with the AI hosts, add sources, and more  —  As previewed earlier this month, Google today released the NotebookLM app for Android and iOS ahead of I/O 2025.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
SAG-AFTRA files an NLRB unfair labor practice charge against Epic's Llama Productions for using AI to recreate James Earl Jones' Darth Vader voice in Fortnite  —  The actors union said Epic-owned Llama Productions “chose to replace the work of human performers with AI technology” …
Dean Seal / Wall Street Journal:
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals says it will acquire 23andMe's assets, including its Personal Genome Service, for $256M, set to close in Q3, in the bankruptcy auction  —  Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said it will acquire substantially all of 23andMe's assets  —  Regeneron Pharmaceuticals …
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott on AI agents and MCP, web search, NLWeb, the relationship with OpenAI, how new hardware and optimizations benefit AI, more  —  Today, I'm talking with Kevin Scott, the chief technology officer of Microsoft and one of the company's AI leaders.
Washington Post:
Investigation: New Orleans police secretly scanned city streets with 200+ facial recognition cameras for two years, seemingly defying a 2022 city ordinance  —  Following records requests from The Post, officials paused the first known, widespread live facial recognition program used by police in the United States.
Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
Trump signs the Take It Down Act, criminalizing the distribution of nonconsensual intimate content and requiring platforms to promptly remove it when notified  —  The bill sailed through Congress with a focus on deepfakes and other nonconsensual intimate images.
Twinnie Siu / Bloomberg:
Filing: Taiwan-based Apple supplier Foxconn plans to inject $1.5B into its India unit via its Singaporean subsidiary, as production shifts away from China  —  The Taiwan-based company said in an exchange filing on Monday that it had made the investment through its Singaporean subsidiary.
CNBC:
Jamie Dimon says JPMorgan will now let clients buy bitcoin, adding “We're not going to custody it. We're going to put it in statements for clients.”  —  JPMorgan Chase is finally allowing clients to buy bitcoin.  But CEO Jamie Dimon is still a skeptic.
Luisa Beltran / Fortune:
Sources: Circle recently engaged in informal talks to sell itself to Coinbase or Ripple, seeking at least $5B, the valuation it is targeting in a potential IPO  —  Brian Armstrong is cofounder and CEO of Coinbase  —  Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of the crypto stablecoin USDC …

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Earlier Picks

Natasha Singer / New York Times:
Bluesky: @moorejh, @patrickmccray, and @ndhapple
X: @natashanyt and @uf_coe.  LinkedIn: Ted Dintersmith.  Forums: Slashdot
Reuters: