Techmeme
September 16, 2025, 5:55 PM

Top News

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: under the US-China framework, a US investor consortium that includes Oracle, Silver Lake, and a16z would hold an ~80% stake in TikTok's US business  —  Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz are part of consortium that would control 80% stake  —  TikTok's U.S. business …
Bloomberg:
Trump extends the deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok's US operations until December 16, the fourth such extension; a deal is expected to be finalized soon  —  President Donald Trump again extended the deadline for TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. to divest the platform's US operations …
Financial Times:
Megan Morrone / Axios:
OpenAI says it is developing a “different ChatGPT experience” for teens and plans to use age-prediction tech to bar kids under 18 from the standard version  —  OpenAI is developing a “different ChatGPT experience” for teens and plans to use age-prediction technology …
Sabrina Ortiz / ZDNET:
Google launches the Agent Payments Protocol, or AP2, designed to securely facilitate agent-led payments across platforms, with the support of 60+ organizations  —  ZDNET's key takeaways  — Google announces Agent Payments Protocol (AP2).  — AP2 helps companies carry out agent-led payments securely.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
YouTube unveils new generative AI tools for Shorts, including a custom version of Veo 3 called Veo 3 Fast, which includes sound, and an Edit with AI feature  —  At its Made on YouTube live event on Tuesday, the company unveiled new generative AI tools for Shorts creators.
Zach Vallese / CNBC:
YouTube says it has paid out $100B+ to creators over the last four years and the number of YouTube channels making over $100K from TV screens has jumped 45% YoY  —  YouTube said on Tuesday it has paid out over $100 billion to creators, artists and media companies since 2021.
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
YouTube unveils new livestreaming features, including letting creators transition between public and members-only streams, and ads that run next to the stream  —  At its Made on YouTube event on Tuesday, the video giant announced several new features aimed at improving the livestreaming experience.
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
Apple Watch Ultra 3 review: a more significant upgrade than the Ultra 2, with emergency SOS via satellite, 5G, a 42-hour battery life, and a bigger display  —  When Apple Watch arrived in 2015, there was no way to send or receive data without an iPhone or wifi.  Now these things can talk to space.
Victoria Song / The Verge:
Apple Watch Series 11 review: slightly better battery and Sleep Score is intuitive, but the most exciting updates are coming to older watches through watchOS 26  —  No one is going to wax lyrical about the Apple Watch Series 11.  Not because it's a bad smartwatch — it's a great smartwatch, actually.
Nicholas G. Miller / Wall Street Journal:
HR software provider Workday agrees to acquire Sana, an AI startup specializing in workplace tools, for $1.1B; the transaction is set to close before January 31  —  the Sana acquisition also will deepen Workday's educational offerings  —  Workday is acquiring Sana, an AI company focused on workplace tools …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft announces a $30B investment in the UK over four years to support AI infrastructure and ongoing operations, including $15B to build a supercomputer  —  Microsoft's announcement comes on the same day President Trump visits Britain and Google makes its own UK investment.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Jackie Davalos / Bloomberg:
Dyna Robotics, which is building an AI foundation model for robotics, raised a $120M Series A led by Robostrategy, CRV, and First Round Capital  —  Dyna Robotics, a startup working to develop cost-effective, general-purpose robots, has raised $120 million in a new funding round that boosts …
Alex Konrad / Upstarts Media:
Console, which uses AI agents in Slack to resolve lower-level IT support tickets, raised a $23M Series A led by DST Global Partners and Thrive Capital  —  Year-old startup Console works with Ramp, Flock Safety and Scale AI.  Now it's raised a $23 million Series A to go beyond IT, too.  —  The Upshot
Sabrina Willmer / Bloomberg:
Sources: Binance nears a deal with the US DOJ to remove the outside compliance monitor imposed under its $4.3B 2023 settlement over money laundering failures  —  Binance Holdings Ltd., the world's largest crypto exchange, is moving toward a potential deal with the US Justice Department …
Jackie Davalos / Bloomberg:
Humanoid robot startup Figure raised a $1B+ Series C led by Parkway Venture Capital at a post-money valuation of $39B, up from $2.6B in February 2024  —  Figure AI Inc., a company developing humanoid robots, has received more than $1 billion in committed capital in a financing round that values …
Yuliya Chernova / Wall Street Journal:
Jack Altman's Alt Capital raised $275M in just a month for a new fund to lead more Series A rounds at AI startups, after closing a $150M fund in February 2024  —  The former CEO of Lattice raised his fund in just a month—a lightning-fast process  —  Jack Altman has swiftly closed …
Reuters:
Disney, Universal, and WBD sue China-based MiniMax, alleging that its image- and video-generating service Hailuo AI was built from stolen intellectual property  —  Walt Disney (DIS.N), Comcast's (CMCSA.O) Universal and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) have jointly filed a copyright lawsuit …

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More News

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Earlier Picks

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Reuters: