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July 17, 2025, 1:25 PM
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Top News

Hayden Field / The Verge:
OpenAI debuts ChatGPT Agent, which can control an entire computer and perform multi-step tasks, powered by a new dedicated model, rolling out to paid users  —  One employee uses it to automate his weekly parking requests at OpenAI's San Francisco office.
Nikkei Asia:
TSMC CEO C.C. Wei says the company is speeding up construction of its second and third Arizona plants “by several quarters” to meet chip demand from US clients  —  TOKYO — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. says it is speeding up construction of its second and third plants in Arizona …
Debby Wu / Bloomberg:
TSMC reports Q2 net income up 61% YoY to ~$13.5B, beating est. every quarter since 2021, and raises its 2025 sales growth guidance in USD from mid-20% to 30%  —  Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. raised its outlook for 2025 revenue growth, shoring up investors' confidence in the momentum of the global AI spending spree.
Tom Hals / Reuters:
Meta shareholders suing Mark Zuckerberg and Meta leaders over Facebook's Cambridge Analytica privacy violations reach a settlement deal, ending an $8B trial  —  Mark Zuckerberg and current and former directors and officers of Meta Platforms (META.O) agreed on Thursday to settle claims seeking $8 billion …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Jack Dorsey invests $10M in “and Other Stuff”, a nonprofit focused on funding open-source projects and tools built on open protocols like Nostr and ActivityPub  —  Twitter co-founder and Block CEO Jack Dorsey isn't just vibe-coding new social apps, like Bitchat and Sun Day …
Jonathan Greig / The Record:
Google says threat actors are breaching fully patched, end-of-life cybersecurity company SonicWall's appliances and stealing sensitive data from organizations  —  Threat actors are stealing sensitive data from organizations by breaching end-of-life appliances made by cybersecurity company SonicWall.
Parmy Olson / Bloomberg:
Big Tech's acquihires of AI startups, like Meta's $14.3B Scale AI deal, leaves investors with modest or no returns and may further entrench Big Tech's dominance  —  Meta and Google's AI talent grab may lead to more sustainable tech companies.  —  If you're a venture capitalist …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Roblox taps Persona to estimate users' ages and verify they are 13+, renames Friends to Connections, and says only users over 13 can message Trusted Connections  —  Teens will have to prove they are older than 13 to make ‘Trusted Connections’ they can chat more freely with.
Reuters:
The US House votes to advance three crypto bills following over nine hours of private talks on July 16, a day after President Trump intervened to save the bills  —  The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives cleared key procedural hurdles on crypto legislation on Wednesday …
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Uber partners with EV maker Lucid and AV startup Nuro to deploy 20K+ robotaxis in the US over six years; Uber plans to invest $300M in Lucid and more in Nuro  —  The companies plan to launch 20,000 robotaxis in the US over the next six years, starting with the first city in 2026.
Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:
Mistral adds new features to its Le Chat chatbot, including a new “deep research” mode, native multilingual reasoning, and advanced image editing  —  French AI lab Mistral introduced a range of new features to its Le Chat chatbot on Thursday that bring it closer to the capabilities of rivals like OpenAI and Google.
Li Yuan / New York Times:
Chinese game Revenge on Gold Diggers, one of the most popular and contentious video games in the country, sparks a debate over misogyny and male resentment  —  A popular and contentious game, Revenge on Gold Diggers, sheds light on misogyny, inequality and the feeling among many men that they are economic victims.
Irina Ivanova / Fortune:
Delta plans for 20% of its fares to be individually determined using AI by the end of 2025, up from ~3% now, and has a goal to eliminate static pricing entirely  —  Each passenger has their specific price, and AI is helping Delta find it.  — Delta has a long-term strategy to boost …
Yogita Khatri / The Block:
Decentralized messaging protocol XMTP developer Ephemera raised a $20M Series B at a $300M equity and $750M network valuation, following a $20M Series A in 2021  —  - XMTP developer Ephemera has raised $20 million Series B at a $300 million equity and $750 million network valuation, with USV's Fred Wilson joining its board.
More: Fortune
Daniel Kuhn / The Block:
In response to a FOIA request, the US Marshals Service said it held 28,988+ BTC as of March, worth ~$3.4B at current prices, far fewer than previously believed  —  - The U.S. Marshals Service reportedly holds slightly over 28,988 BTC, worth about $3.4 billion, as of March …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Multi-service messaging app Beeper relaunches, introducing a $10/month plan and the option to switch to an on-device model; Automattic acquired Beeper in 2024  —  Multi-service messaging app Beeper, which allows people to connect to all their chat apps from one interface …
Taylor Soper / GeekWire:
SEC filing: Seattle-based Augmodo, which is developing wearable tech for retail store employees, like a Smartbadge that collects inventory data, raised $37.5M  —  Augmodo, a Seattle startup developing wearable tech for retail store employees, raised $37.5 million in a new investment round.

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:25 PM ET, July 17, 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

Bloomberg:
Sources: WBD begins exclusive talks with Netflix to sell its film and TV studios and HBO Max; Netflix is offering a $5B breakup fee if the deal isn't approved

The Guardian:
Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, and the Netherlands exit Eurovision after Israel received an all-clear to compete; the BBC and Germany's SWR plan to participate

James Faris / Business Insider:
Kalshi strikes a deal with CNBC that will integrate Kalshi's prediction data into CNBC's channel, site, and app starting in 2026, days after striking a CNN deal

More News

New York Times:
Substack raised a $100M Series C from Chernin Group, a16z, and others, sources say at a $1.1B valuation, as it builds its social network and warms up to ads
Chainalysis:
In H1 2025, hackers stole $2.17B+ from crypto services, which includes North Korea's record $1.5B Bybit hack, surpassing all of 2024 and up 17% on H1 2022
Wall Street Journal:
Samsung Electronics Chair Jay Y. Lee wins a full reprieve from South Korea's Supreme Court in a protracted fight over fraud and stock manipulation allegations
Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times:
The US FCC aims to introduce a ban on companies that use certain Chinese tech and equipment from building submarine communication cables that connect to the US

Earlier Picks

Moneycontrol:
Perplexity offers a free one-year Perplexity Pro subscription, which costs $20/month, to 360M users of Bharti Airtel, India's second-largest telecom operator
Naga Avan-Nomayo / The Block:
Coinbase rolls out the Base App, rebranding its Coinbase Wallet as an “everything app” that combines social networking, mini-apps, chat, payments, and trading
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