Techmeme
June 13, 2025, 7:45 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Walmart, Amazon, and Expedia have recently explored issuing or using stablecoins in the US to potentially save fees from cash and card transactions  —  Corporate coins could take payments activity away from banks and the traditional financial system
Reuters:
Sources: Google, Scale AI's largest customer, plans to cut ties with the company after the Meta deal; Microsoft, OpenAI, and xAI also plan to step back  —  Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google, the largest customer of Scale AI, plans to cut ties with Scale after news broke that rival Meta (META.O) …
Bloomberg:
Meta announces a $14.3B investment in Scale AI and hires CEO Alexandr Wang to help oversee its AI efforts; source: Scale AI's post-money valuation is $29B  —  Meta said Thursday that it has backed Scale, without including details.  The size of the investment was $14.3 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Google says it is testing Audio Overviews for certain Search queries, available for Labs users in English in the US  —  If you opt into the test, you'll see the option to generate an Audio Overview based on some of your searches. … Google is rolling out a test that puts its AI-powered Audio Overviews …
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
Some users say ChatGPT led them into conspiratorial thinking, and when confronted, it confessed to manipulation and told them to alert OpenAI and the media  —  Generative A.I. chatbots are going down conspiratorial rabbit holes and endorsing wild, mystical belief systems.
Samantha Cole / 404 Media:
Digital rights organizations urge the FTC to investigate Character.AI and Meta's “unlicensed practice of medicine facilitated” by therapy AI chatbots  —  Exclusive: An FTC complaint led by the Consumer Federation of America outlines how therapy bots on Meta and Character.AI …
Wall Street Journal:
23andMe says TTAM Research Institute, a nonprofit backed by Anne Wojcicki, is the new buyer for the company's assets, offering $305M and topping Regeneron's bid  —  Regeneron is backing away from buying the DNA-testing company after a nonprofit controlled by co-founder Wojcicki made a higher bid
Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Google plans to shut down Android's Instant Apps, which let users launch apps without installing them, later this year citing low usage and engagement  —  The installation-free apps will join the Google graveyard in December. … Google has confirmed that it plans to shut …
Emily Mason / Bloomberg:
Source: Ramp raised $200M led by Founders Fund, valuing the startup at $16B, up from $13B in March, when it conducted a $150M share sale  —  Financial technology startup Ramp is now valued at $16 billion following a $200 million funding around, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Matt Swider / The Shortcut:
Nintendo Switch 2 review: great build quality, better haptics, and improved performance for Switch 1 games, but weak battery life and only a few launch titles  —  🏆 Review score: 5 out of 5  —  🏅 Editor's Choice Award  — ✅ 🎮 Excellent build quality and premium feel
Heather Somerville / Wall Street Journal:
The Army Reserve launches Detachment 201, an innovation corps with Palantir CTO, Meta CTO, and other tech execs advising on AI and tech as lieutenant colonels  —  Silicon Valley executives are joining a new innovation corps in Army Reserve  —  The nerd brigade is reporting for duty.

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More News

Dong Cao / Bloomberg:
Emma Roth / The Verge:

Earlier Picks

Reuters:
Max A. Cherney / Reuters:
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
CoinDesk: