Techmeme
September 19, 2025, 7:05 PM

Top News

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI is recruiting from Apple's hardware, design, manufacturing, and supply chain teams, as it targets late 2026 or early 2027 for its first devices  —  As OpenAI's plans to make devices infused with its artificial intelligence get closer to reality, the company is increasingly plucking talent …
Reuters:
President Trump signs a proclamation requiring companies to pay an annual $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, a move that could significantly impact the tech industry  —  - Visas are used principally by tech sector  — Over 70% of beneficiaries of H-1B visas enter US from India
Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Sources: xAI has raised $10B at a post-money valuation of $200B, weeks after reportedly raising $10B in debt and equity at a ~$150B valuation  —  Elon Musk's xAI is raising $10 billion from investors in a round that values the artificial intelligence startup at $200 billion, sources told CNBC's David Faber.
New York Times:
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Meta CTO says the technical issues during live demos of its new smart glasses were due to a self-inflicted DDoS and a bug that put Zuckerberg's glasses to sleep  —  Meta ran into some spectacularly embarrassing technical issues during the live demos of its new smart glasses this week, and now we know why.
Emmett Lindner / New York Times:
Trump appears to suggest Xi Jinping approved a deal to divest TikTok's US operations during a call, but neither side elaborated on what the approval entailed  —  The president wrote on Truth Social, “appreciate the TikTok approval,” after a call with China's top leader, Xi Jinping.
Jez Corden / Windows Central:
Microsoft plans to raise Xbox Series X price by $50 to $649.99 and Series S by $20 to $399.99 starting Oct. 3, citing “changes in the macroeconomic environment”  —  Microsoft cites challenging “macroeconomic” environment for the price increases, which sees the Xbox Series X hit a whopping $649.99.
The Information:
Sources: Apple told at least two suppliers to boost their daily output of entry-level iPhone 17 by at least 30%, after strong pre-orders last weekend  —  Apple is rushing to boost production of its newly released entry-level model iPhone 17 after strong pre-orders last weekend.
Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
Sources: Nvidia is in advanced discussions to invest $500M in UK self-driving car startup Wayve, as part of a £2B pledge for UK startups; Wayve is evaluating  —  AI chipmaker's chief tells London audience that UK's first trillion-dollar company will be an AI business
Bloomberg:
Sources: Oracle is in discussions with Meta to provide Meta computing power for training and deploying AI models, in a deal worth about $20B  —  Oracle Corp. is in discussions with Meta Platforms Inc. for a cloud computing deal worth about $20 billion, providing further evidence that the company …
Sri Muppidi / The Information:
Sources: OpenAI plans to spend ~$100B on backup servers rented from cloud providers through 2030, in addition to the $350B already projected for server rentals  —  When OpenAI in March released ChatGPT features that could turn photos into animated characters, a spike in usage forced the company to put temporary limits on the features.

Sponsor Posts

Clay:
Turn any GTM idea into reality  —  Clay helps GTM teams combine AI agents, enrichment, and intent data to move faster and turn insights into action.
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Introducing Meeting Co-Host support in Zoho Calendar  —  Because smooth meetings shouldn't depend on just one person.  You've planned your meeting down to the minute.  The agenda is clear, the invite is sent, and everyone's joined on time.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Hard Fork:
Elon Musk's Mega-Merger + We Test Google's Project Genie + What's Next for Moltbook Creator
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
Jeff Bezos Used To Be In Love with The Washington Post. What Happened?
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.
Cheeky Pint:
Elon Musk on Space GPUs, AI, Optimus, and his manufacturing method
Stripe cofounder John Collison interviews founders, builders, and leaders over a pint.
Subscribe to Cheeky Pint.
Access:
Where AI video is headed next, with Synthesia's Victor Riparbelli
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:
Is building in public over?
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:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 7:05 PM ET, September 19, 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.

More News

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Earlier Picks

Alex Wickham / Bloomberg:
Kieran Smith / Financial Times:
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy / Sherwood News:
Reece Rogers / Wired:
Leah Nylen / Bloomberg: