Techmeme @ 9:15 PM ET, July 2, 2025

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

July 2, 2025, 9:15 PM

Top News

Jordan Novet / CNBC:

Source: Microsoft plans to lay off ~9,000 employees, or less than 4% of its workforce, across teams and role types, after cutting ~6,000 in May and 300+ in June — Microsoft said Wednesday that it will lay off about 9,000 employees. The move will affect less than 4% of its global workforce …

More: Video Games Chronicle, Windows Central, The Verge, Windows Central, Bloomberg, Variety, IGN, Variety, The Information, Gizmodo, The Register, SiliconANGLE, Associated Press, GamesIndustry.biz, Thurrott, San Francisco Business Times, Stevivor, GeekWire, Digital Trends, Capital Brief, Eurogamer.net, CBC News, Deadline, MediaPost, Gamereactor UK, Barron's Online, Dallas Business Journal, Türkiye Today, The Game Post, CNN, The Wrap, Business Insider, Gulf News, Cryptopolitan, AfroTech, ITPro, Financial Times, UPI, New York Post, CRN, Irish Independent, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Mashable, MobileSyrup, Techpresso, Channel Futures, Telegraph, PYMNTS.com, Neowin, WinBuzzer, Cord Cutters News, Fortune, Aftermath, Game Rant, Irish Independent, The Verge, Business Today, Plain Dealer, Nairametrics, Nintendo Life, The Indian Express, iPhone in Canada, Seattle Business Journal, TechCrunch, and Times of India

Bluesky: @jasonschreier, @lightningarts, @brandrick, @carnage4life, @keithamus.social, @jamesdavismakes.com, and @stephentotilo. Mastodon: @nixCraft@mastodon.social. Threads: @johncodezzz

X: @jezcorden, @dc_draino, @mr_rebs_, @derenicbyrd, @ultraegyptian, @xmbgx, @dougmackeycase, @tomwarren, @synthpotato, @fuckyouiquit, @destinlegarie, @_tom_henderson_, and @demickyd

LinkedIn: Noah Berkson, Marty Kahnle, Ruwan Fernando, and Jason Schreier

Eddie Makuch / GameSpot:

Microsoft cuts hundreds of Xbox jobs across studios, sources say including Halo Studios and King, and cancels games like Perfect Dark and Everwild — GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

More: Bloomberg, Blizzard News, Thurrott, IGN, Engadget, Windows Central, The Game Business, The Verge, Press Start, Pure Xbox, Game File, Neowin, VideoGamer, Kotaku, KitGuru, Game Rant, Dexerto, Game Sandwich, PlayStation LifeStyle, Game Developer, Comic Book, TheGamer, Push Square, Gameranx, Screen Rant, Game Informer, The Game Post, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Video Games Chronicle, Forbes, TechRaptor, and Polygon

Bluesky: @jasonschreier, @jasonschreier, @headfallsoff.com, and @eplerjc

X: @charlieintel, @cromwelp, @_sikamikanico_, @wario64, @wario64, @tomwarren, @stealth40k, @nsupergamerguy, and @lusterly_. LinkedIn: Adam Dolin

Forums: r/wow and r/gamesEcultura

Bloomberg:

Sources: OpenAI will rent additional computing power from Oracle, totaling about 4.5 gigawatts of US data center power, as part of its Stargate initiative — The AI company will rent additional capacity from Oracle totaling about 4.5 gigawatts of data center power in the US …

More: The Information, The Verge, Financial Times, Cryptopolitan, Investor's Business Daily, and WinBuzzer

Bluesky: @bwnash, @bwnash, @inspector-w, @onefeincat, @edzitron.com, and @edzitron.com

X: @marionawfal, @prometheanaix, @andrewcurran_, @rohanpaul_ai, @morqon, @edludlow, and @edludlow

Forums: r/artificial, r/OpenAI, and r/wallstreetbets

Jeremie Eliahou Ontiveros / SemiAnalysis:

A deep dive into Oracle's data center strategy and the company's emergence as an AI computing powerhouse, amid questions about its GPU business' sustainability

X: @typewriters and @andrewlekashman. LinkedIn: Greg Martin

MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:

OpenAI says the tokenized OpenAI shares Robinhood has started offering are not equity: “We did not partner with Robinhood...and do not endorse it” — OpenAI is distancing itself from Robinhood's latest crypto push after the trading platform began offering tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX to users in Europe.

More: TechCrunch, Benzinga, Blockworks, CoinDesk, The Block, The Crypto Times, Cryptopolitan, Reuters, Cointelegraph, BeInCrypto, MarketWatch, The American Bazaar, CoinGape, Wu Blockchain, and CryptoSlate

Bluesky: @gidmk, @mattrosoff, and @edzitron.com

X: @openainewsroom, @s4mmyeth, @teslaart3, @waymoproblems, @merts_eth, @chatgpt21, @chooserich, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac, and @mikeisaac

Abbie Richards / Media Matters for America:

TikTok users are posting AI-generated videos, seemingly made with Google's Veo 3, depicting racist and antisemitic tropes that have garnered millions of views — Google's Veo AI video generator is seemingly being used to generate videos depicting racist and antisemitic tropes

More: Ars Technica and The Verge

Bluesky: @smokeytejota, @eliothiggins, @hypervisible, @carnage4life, @jasooooon, @benjaminjriley, @amaramarasingam, @carlosmaza, @garymarcus, @shikhadalmia, and @abbierichards. X: @callmeechef

Forums: Hacker News and Ars OpenForum

Vicky Ge Huang / Wall Street Journal:

Ripple has applied for a national banking license, which would place Ripple's dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, under the US OCC's regulatory remit — A national banking charter would make the OCC a regulator of Ripple's stablecoin — Ripple has applied for a national banking license …

More: PYMNTS.com, Bitcoinist.com, Cointelegraph, ZyCrypto, American Banker, Coinpedia Fintech News, Blockonomi, The Coin Republic, Cryptopolitan, Crypto Briefing, The Crypto Times, CoinGape, Decrypt, Reuters, The Block, CryptoSlate, MarketWatch, Bitcoin Insider, Benzinga, CoinDesk, and Watcher Guru

Bluesky: @grahamsteele. X: @bgarlinghouse, @its_runtime, @diepsanh, and @marionawfal

LinkedIn: Ryan Freeman and Todd H Baker

Forums: r/CryptoCurrency and r/XRP

Bloomberg:

Analysis: crypto ventures have added at least $620M to President Trump's fortune in months, overshadowing traditional real estate licensing deals — The Trumps have used their name and connections to profit from digital assets at a quicker clip than from their traditional real estate business.

More: The Block, New York Post, Cointelegraph, Benzinga, TheStreet, BeInCrypto, crypto.news, and Coinpedia Fintech News

Bluesky: @zonecrypto, @spanglismexico, @jtsteine, @smullins3000, and @ronfilipkowski. Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social. X: @crewcrew

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:

Perplexity launches a $200/month Max plan with unlimited Labs access, early access to features like Comet browser, and priority use of models like o3-pro — Perplexity is launching a $200-per-month subscription plan for its power users, the company announced in a blog post Tuesday.

More: Perplexity, PYMNTS.com, The Verge, Android Headlines, WinBuzzer, and Engadget

Bluesky: @hrbrmstr.dev, @cptjinglepants, and @edzitron.com

X: @prudent_ai, @jowanza, @aravsrinivas, @aravsrinivas, @aravsrinivas, and @aravsrinivas. Forums: r/technology

Molly Taft / Wired:

xAI has been granted a permit to operate 15 gas turbines at its Memphis campus until 2027, despite protests and a potential NAACP lawsuit over air pollution — xAI's gas turbines get official approval from Memphis, Tennessee, even as civil rights groups prepare to sue over alleged Clean Air Act violations.

Bluesky: @wired.com, @wired.com, @charleswlogan, and @mollytaft.com

Johana Bhuiyan / The Guardian:

A report finds Google undercounted its carbon emissions, which rose 65% from 2019 to 2024, not 51% as claimed; the largest YoY jump was 26%, from 2023 to 2024 — Research says Google's carbon emissions went up by 65% between 2019-2024, not 51% as the tech giant had claimed

More: WinBuzzer, ESG Dive, and AI News

Bluesky: @tega, @climateone.org, @tamigraph, and @jmbooyah

X: @shanumathew93 and @ben_inskeep. Forums: Slashdot

Bloomberg:

TikTok lays off workers from the US division of TikTok Shop, the third round of layoffs for the team since April, after a year of missing internal sales targets — TikTok is cutting more workers from its US e-commerce division, TikTok Shop, the third round of layoffs for that team since April.

More: PYMNTS.com, The Information, Business Insider, Social Media Today, and TechCrunch

Bluesky: @nurallie and @moriahj

X: @afpost and @bigredcelttt

Jordan Novet / CNBC:

Datadog is joining the S&P 500, replacing Juniper Networks after HPE acquired Juniper, before trading on July 9; DDOG jumps 10%+ after hours — Datadog shares were up 10% in extended trading on Wednesday after S&P Global said the monitoring software provider will replace Juniper Networks in the S&P 500 U.S. stock index.

More: PR Newswire, MarketWatch, Bloomberg, Benzinga, Barron's Online, and Constellation Research

Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Netflix has held talks with Spotify about partnering on projects such as a music awards show, as it adds content that was core to the cable bundle — The streamer has had talks with Spotify about partnering on events — Netflix ascended by offering prestige TV and movies on demand for a monthly fee.

More: The Verge, The Information, CNBC, Investing.com, The Olympian, What's on Netflix, Barron's Online, Adweek, Proactive, and Digital Music News. LinkedIn: Adi T.

Sponsor Posts

Google:

Try Gemini 3 Pro — Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life

Shopify:

Shopify: Revolutionizing Commerce with Winter Edition '26 — Over 150+ new features transform how merchants build, design, and grow—with technology that amplifies creative vision.

Zoho:

Email fatigue is real: Here's how smart email tools help you regain control — Picture this: It's Monday morning. You walk into the office feeling energized and ready to take on the week.

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:

OpenAI's 2026 Priority, Disney's AI Play, Datacenter Buildout Trouble

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.

Hard Fork:

Australia Kicks Kids Off Social Media + Is the A.I. Water Issue Fake? + Hard Fork Wrapped

The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.

Subscribe to Hard Fork.

Access:

Why the next AI frontier is phone calls, with Beside CEO Maxime Germain

A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.

Subscribe to Access.

Great Chat:

So what happens after AGI?

A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.

Subscribe to Great Chat.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling

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.

Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.

Channels with Peter Kafka:

Lachlan Cartwright Started in Tabloids. Now He's a Must-Read Media Gossip.

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.

Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:15 PM ET, July 2, 2025.

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

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Arkansas PBS severs ties with the PBS network, the first state public TV system to do so since Congress cut CPB funds, citing the annual $2M+ membership cost

Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:

Disney's Zootopia 2 surpasses $1B at the global box office, the fastest PG-rated film to do so after just 17 days in release

Sam Roberts / New York Times:

Arthur L. Carter, who started a Connecticut newspaper in 1981, bought and sold The Nation, and founded the New York Observer in 1987, has died at 93

Upcoming Tech Events

Game Developers Conference

More News

Freya Pratty / Sifted:

Berlin-based Talon.One, which provides software for brands to run personalized promotions and loyalty schemes, raised $135M

More: FinSMEs, Business Wire, and Pulse 2.0

Sudip Kar-Gupta / Reuters:

Amsterdam-based Dexter Energy, which offers AI-based forecasting and trading products for renewable energy and batteries, raised a €23M Series C led by Alantra

Bloomberg:

Sources: Apple supplier Luxshare is working with China International, Citic, and Goldman Sachs on its Hong Kong IPO for as soon as 2025, aiming to raise $1B+

Tracy Qu / Wall Street Journal:

Alibaba plans $7B in delivery and shopping subsidies over the next year, opens a Singapore AI hub, and is opening data centers in Malaysia and the Philippines

More: RCR Wireless News, South China Morning Post, and Bloomberg

Financial Times:

Sources: Stockholm-based AI-powered app builder Lovable is set to raise $150M+ led by Accel at a ~$1.8B valuation, as VCs rush to back “vibe coding” startups

More: TechCrunch and TNW

X: @laura_buhler, @anubhavhing, and @ericnewcomer

Wall Street Journal:

Chinese AI models from DeepSeek and others are becoming more popular worldwide; Sensor Tower: ChatGPT has 910M global downloads compared with DeepSeek's 125M

More: New York Post. LinkedIn: Liza Lin. Forums: r/technology

George Hammond / Financial Times:

VC firms Thrive Capital and General Catalyst deploy private equity's “roll-up” strategy; Khosla Ventures, Bessemer, 8VC, and others are also exploring roll-ups

Bloomberg:

Internal emails and audit reports warned that the Schengen Information System II, used by EU border forces, was rife with software and security vulnerabilities

More: Engadget. LinkedIn: Antonella Napolitano, Romain Lanneau, and Leonardo Quattrucci

Earlier Picks

Danielle Popov / South China Morning Post:

TikTok launches TikTok Shop in Japan, marking the e-commerce platform's 17th market, following launches in the US, the UK, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and more

More: Travel And Tour World and TechNode

Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:

Qantas discloses a cyberattack after hackers gained access to a third-party platform with 6M customers' personal data, but says no financial info was exposed

Reuters:

Sources: Intel is considering writing off its 18A and 18A-P manufacturing processes and stopping their marketing, focusing instead on 14A to compete with TSMC

More: Phoenix Business Journal, SiliconANGLE, Club386, TechPowerUp, Tom's Hardware, MarketWatch, Cryptopolitan, Guru3D, and Motley Fool

X: @reuters. LinkedIn: Richard Platt and Richard Platt

Forums: r/wallstreetbets, r/Semiconductors, r/hardware, r/intelstock, and Slashdot

Steve Lohr / New York Times:

Carnegie Mellon and other US universities are rethinking CS programs to adapt to generative AI, like focusing more on computational thinking and AI literacy

Bluesky: @ctmathewes. LinkedIn: Steve Lohr and Mary Lou Maher

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:

X says it will start to publish Community Notes written by AI agents and developers will soon be able to submit their own AI agents for the company to review

More: The Guardian, eWeek, Ars Technica, Adweek, MediaPost, Livemint, Gizmodo, KnowTechie, Tom's Guide, PCMag, Moneycontrol, Developer Tech News, The Economic Times, and arXiv.org

Bluesky: @mantzarlis.com, @quinnypig.com, @mantzarlis.com, and @mantzarlis.com

Threads: @cult_papa, @renee.diresta, and @renee.diresta

X: @communitynotes, @nomadxx333, @_jaybaxter_, @_jaybaxter_, @_jaybaxter_, @rejuvenatedrex, @kcoleman, @lindayax, and @communitynotes. LinkedIn: Kendra Barnett. Forums: r/technology