Techmeme
July 18, 2025, 5:25 PM

Top News

Gian Volpicelli / Bloomberg:
Joel Kaplan says Meta won't sign EU's AI code of practice, calling its guidelines overreach that will throttle development and deployment of AI models in Europe  —  Meta Platforms Inc. said it won't sign the code of practice for Europe's new set of laws governing artificial intelligence …
Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Apple sues YouTuber Jon Prosser and an Apple staffer's friend over iOS 26 leaks, for allegedly accessing the staffer's iPhone; Prosser denies the claim  —  Earlier this year, YouTuber Jon Prosser shared multiple videos showing off what he claimed to be re-created renderings of what was then presumed …
Jessica Lyons / The Register:
Google files a lawsuit in the US against 25 unnamed individuals in China, accusing them of operating the BadBox 2.0 botnet, compromising 10M+ devices worldwide  —  Ads giant complains of damage to its reputation and finances ... and crime, too  —  Google has filed a lawsuit …
Bloomberg:
President Trump signs the GENIUS Act, and says the first federal bill to regulate stablecoins will “secure the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency”  —  President Donald Trump signed the first federal bill to regulate stablecoins, hailing it as a “giant step …
Washington Post:
Osmond Chia / BBC:
Netflix used AI tools for the first time in one of its TV shows, for a VFX sequence; Ted Sarandos says the VFX costs would have been too high otherwise  —  Netflix says it has used visual effects created by generative artificial intelligence (AI) in one of its original TV shows for the first time.
Zac Bowden / Windows Central:
Microsoft shuts down the Movies & TV storefront on the Microsoft Store on Windows and Xbox; users will continue to be able to access their past purchases  —  After 12 years, Microsoft is shutting down its storefront that let Windows and Xbox users buy or rent Movies & TV shows natively on the platform.
Sabrina Ortiz / ZDNET:
Adobe updates its Firefly video model and adds a beta Generate Sound Effects tool that can create custom sounds from text prompts and the user's voice  —  Just a year and a half ago, the latest and greatest of Adobe's Firefly generative AI offerings involved producing high-quality images …
Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
Sources: Cursor maker Anysphere acquired Koala, an AI-powered CRM startup that raised a $15M Series A five months ago; Koala plans to shut down in September  —  The startup behind the viral AI coding app Cursor is snapping up top talent from AI enterprise startups in a bid to bolster …
Eric Geller / Cybersecurity Dive:
Sources: the US State Department has effectively dismantled its three-year-old Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, firing between nine and 11 staffers  —  Departures and restructuring will make it harder for the agency to pursue global policies that strengthen its own critical infrastructure, experts said.
Lucinda Shen / Axios:
SPAC Insider: SPACs are booming in 2025, with 74 blank check companies going public so far in 2025, raising about $14.7B and beating 2022 total of $13.4B  —  SPACs are reaching heights not seen since 2021, despite their reputation as a symptom of an overly frothy market. … - And its been accelerating.
Eleanor Hawkins / Axios:
Source: the CEO and the chief people officer of Astronomer were put on leave after a video of them cuddling on a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert went viral  —  Astronomer — the software company that made headlines after a video of its CEO Andy Byron and chief people officer Kristin Cabot canoodling …

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