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December 18, 2025, 8:45 AM
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| Fanny Potkin / Reuters: |
Sources: China built a working prototype of an EUV machine in early 2025 with a team of former ASML engineers who reverse-engineered the company's EUV machines — In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent …
More: Tom's Hardware, Implicator.ai, Implicator.ai, The Information, WinBuzzer, TechPowerUp, Modern Diplomacy, DigiTimes, TechEBlog, Engadget, Politico, Wccftech, and Sherwood News
X: @kyleichan, @bubbleboi, @ruima, @byron_wan, @alexandernl, @niubi, @newlefteviews, @dancollins2011, @curtis_yarvin, @shaunrein, @andrewcurran_, @rnaudbertrand, @richten_nach, @zephyr_z9, @jcmittelstaedt, @plzbepatient, @jukan05, @zephyr_z9, @okaythenfuture, @mmjukic, @hsu_steve, @astrogrant, @zephyr_z9, @aureliano451, @glennluk, @thedailymao, @rickjoe_pla, @whyvert, @bgmasters, @lukolejnik, @arctotherium42, @pythiar, @kimmonismus, @emiyazono, @noahpinion, @gustaftweets, @hsu_steve, @asymmetricinfo, @tisktusk, @jukan05, and @industrlpolicy
Bluesky: @petertl and @raphae.li
| Juli Clover / MacRumors: |
Apple makes iOS changes in Japan to comply with local laws, including alternative app stores and payment options, a new fee structure, and new default controls — Apple today introduced several changes to the App Store in Japan to meet the requirements of the Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA) that goes into effect on December 18.
More: Apple, Benzinga, MacTech.com, Mobile World Live, Business Today, Silicon UK, iClarified, Japan Today, Financial Times, Finimize, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, Reuters, and Bloomberg
X: @mattcassinelli and @mrjefago
Forums: r/apple and MacRumors Forums
| The Information: |
Sources: OpenAI has held preliminary discussions with investors about raising tens of billions of dollars, and as much as $100B, at a valuation of around $750B — OpenAI has held preliminary discussions with some investors about raising new funding at a valuation of around $750 billion …
More: Bloomberg, Windows Central, Reuters, Tech in Asia, Tech Funding News, WinBuzzer, StrictlyVC, Benzinga, and The Decoder
X: @ralph_grabowski, @jimcramer, @stwboerse, @logicalthesis, @hypertechinvest, @jimcramer, @kimmonismus, and @firstadopter. Bluesky: @edzitron.com
| MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC: |
Coinbase rolls out stock trading, more advanced trading tools, prediction markets via Kalshi, and other features, amid a push to be a one-stop financial app — Coinbase is making its biggest push yet to reposition itself as a mainstream trading and financial platform, moving beyond crypto …
More: Coinbase, Inside Bitcoins, Bitcoin Insider, Coinpedia Fintech News, The Crypto Basic, CryptoNinjas, DL News, Blockonomi, The Crypto Times, crypto.news, Crypto Briefing, Cryptonews, Tech in Asia, Yahoo Finance, Wall Street Journal, The Information, Investor's Business Daily, CoinCentral, The Block, Fortune, CoinDesk, and Benzinga
X: @coinbase, @solana, @brian_armstrong, @jerallaire, @cryptocurb, @0xaneri, @brian_armstrong, @0xcryptosam, @coinbase, @jessepollak, @j0hnwang, @kalshi, @garrytan, @luanalopeslara, @therollupco, @brian_armstrong, @altcoinpsycho, @1crypticpoet, @jupiterexchange, @elliotrades, @jinglejamop, @matt_hougan, and @brian_armstrong. Forums: r/StockMarket
| Jay Peters / The Verge: |
Filing: Sony and Tencent reach a “confidential settlement” over Tencent's Light of Motiram, a game that Sony alleged was a “slavish clone” of its Horizon series — Sony and Tencent have reached a ‘confidential settlement,’ and Light of Motiram is no longer listed on Steam or the Epic Games Store.
More: GamesIndustry.biz, Engadget, The Game Post, Eurogamer.net, TheGamer, Kotaku, GamingBolt, Dexerto, Video Games Chronicle, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, GameSpot, PlayStation LifeStyle, Push Square, Tech4Gamers, and games fray
Forums: r/LIGHTOFMOTlRAM, r/Games, r/PS5, r/gaming, r/HorizonForbiddenWest, r/horizon, and r/pcgaming
| Rebekah Valentine / IGN: |
Circana: Xbox Series console sales fell 70% YoY to an all-time low in November, compared to the PS5's 40% YoY drop and Switch 1 and 2's combined 10% YoY fall — Down again. — This morning, we learned that November was a surprisingly bad month for video game spending across the board.
More: The Verge, Video Games Chronicle, GamesIndustry.biz, TheGamer, Push Square, CNET, GamesBeat, Game File, and Bloomberg
| OpenAI: |
OpenAI opens app submissions for review and publication in ChatGPT, where users can discover or search for apps in a new app directory — We're opening app submissions for review and publication in ChatGPT, and users can discover apps in the app directory. — Earlier this year at DevDay, we introduced apps in ChatGPT.
More: The Verge, Engadget, Livemint, TestingCatalog, Android Headlines, 9to5Mac, TechRadar, Fast Company, Digit, The Decoder, Analytics India Magazine, PYMNTS.com, Digital Trends, WinBuzzer, iClarified, Bloomberg Law, and TipRanks Financial
X: @gdb, @liadyosef, @0xidanlevin, @therealadamg, @nickadobos, @firt, @ibuildthecloud, @kentcdodds, @romainhuet, @testingcatalog, and @openaidevs. Mastodon: @shish@techhub.social. Forums: Hacker News
| Financial Times: |
TMTG agrees to merge with Google-backed fusion energy company TAE in a $6B deal and begin building the “world's first utility-scale fusion power plant” in 2026 — Trump Media & Technology Group's shares rise 37% after deal with TAE Technologies| Axios: |
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr tells a Senate committee the FCC “is not an independent agency”; the agency removed “independent agency” from its site as he testified — FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in his Wednesday Senate testimony that the agency he governs “is not an independent agency, formally speaking.”
More: New York Times, Ars Technica, Poynter, Washington Post, CNBC, Reuters, The A.V. Club, FedScoop, and New Republic
Bluesky: @karlbode.com, @karlbode.com, and @stevekovach
Forums: Hacker News, r/law, r/politics, and Slashdot
| Jody Godoy / Reuters: |
Sources: the US FTC is investigating Instacart's AI pricing tool, after a study showed different prices for the same items at the same stores; CART drops 8%+ — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is probing Instacart (CART.O), two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters …
More: PYMNTS.com, Engadget, Benzinga, ZeroHedge News, Digital Trends, Silicon UK, TechCrunch, Tech in Asia, San Francisco Business Times, and CNBC
X: @dseetharaman, @leehepner, @ronomaz, @alexsjacquez, @owenslindsay1, and @fuckyouiquit. Bluesky: @groundwork
| Chance Miller / 9to5Mac: |
Apple says it will roll out more App Store ads in 2026 “to increase opportunity in search results”; Apple's website says 800M+ users visit the App Store weekly — Apple is expanding the number of ads that appear in App Store search results. In an update on its Apple Ads website today … | Ian Allison / CoinDesk: |
Wall Street clearinghouse DTCC selects the Canton Network blockchain as a real-world asset tokenization partner after receiving a No-Action Letter from the SEC — Canton creator Digital Asset will help tokenize DTC-custodied U.S. Treasury securities. — What to know:| Gavin Bonshor / More Than Moore: |
An in-depth look at a recent research paper that offered a roadmap to the viability of 3D HBM-on-GPU integration for improved AI performance and utilization — Five Things You Should Know Before Reading: — “3D HBM” Now Feasible: Offers improved AI performance and utilization.| Chainalysis: |
North Korean hackers stole a record $2.02B in crypto in 2025, a 51% YoY rise that takes its cumulative stolen total to $6.75B; individual wallet hacks hit 158K — TL;DR — North Korean hackers stole $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025, a 51% year-over-year increase …
More: Decrypt, NBC News, CoinDesk, Fortune, Infosecurity, Bloomberg, Cryptonews, CryptoPotato, BeInCrypto, The Crypto Times, and The Hacker News
X: @chainalysis and @chainalysis
| Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: |
Meta is testing limiting Facebook professional accounts and Pages to posting just two links per month, unless they subscribe to $14.99+/month Meta Verified — In a new experiment, Meta is limiting the number of links users can post on Facebook, unless they have a paid Meta Verified subscription.
More: BBC, Telegraph, Social Media Today, International Business Times, KnowTechie, Engadget, and MediaPost
X: @indianidle, @klemensarro, @simonowens, and @chafkin
Bluesky: @socialmedialab.ca, @flyingtrilobite.com, and @utopia-defer.red
| Financial Times: |
Sources: Yann LeCun is in early talks to raise €500M for his startup at a ~€3B valuation, and plans to name Alexandre LeBrun as CEO, ahead of a January launch — Turing award winner is in early talks to raise €500mn ahead of January launch — Meta's chief artificial … | Shakeel Hashim / Transformer: |
UK AI Security Institute report: AI models are rapidly improving at potentially dangerous biological and chemical tasks, and show fast jumps in self-replication — UK AISI's first Frontier AI Trends Report finds that AI models are getting better at self-replication, too| Todd Bishop / GeekWire: |
Amazon's AGI team lead, Rohit Prasad, is leaving at the end of 2025; AWS SVP Peter DeSantis will lead a group combining AI, silicon, and quantum computing teams — Rohit Prasad, the executive who has led Amazon's artificial intelligence initiatives and overseen the creation of its homegrown Nova AI models … | Dakin Campbell / Business Insider: |
Fermi CEO Toby Neugebauer says Amazon canceled a $150M advance for a Texas AI data center campus; FRMI fell 34% on December 12 after saying a tenant canceled — - Amazon has been in talks to become the “first tenant” at Fermi America's Texas data centers, Fermi CEO Toby Neugebauer told BI.| Jake Bleiberg / Bloomberg: |
Amazon CSO Stephen Schmidt says subtle keystroke data lag, measuring 110ms instead of the expected tens of milliseconds, helped catch a North Korean IT worker — Security personnel tracked connections from a contractor. — An infinitesimal delay in the typed commands of a new IT worker provided …
More: Tom's Hardware
| Kif Leswing / CNBC: |
Micron reports Q1 revenue up 57% YoY to $13.64B, above $12.84B est., net income up 180% YoY to $5.24B, and Q2 revenue forecast above est.; MU jumps 5%+ — Micron Technology reported fiscal first-quarter results on Wednesday that beat Wall Street expectations for sales and earnings per share … | Niko Gallogly / New York Times: |
Stockholm-based vibe coding startup Lovable raised $330M led by CapitalG and Menlo Ventures at a $6.6B valuation, up from $1.8B after raising $200M in July — The Swedish company is now valued at $6.6 billion, more than triple its $1.8 billion valuation set by investors in July.
More: Inc.com
| Paayal Zaveri / Bloomberg: |
Imprint, which helps retailers like Brooks Brothers offer co-branded credit cards and manage loyalty programs, raised $150M led by Khosla at a $1.2B valuation — Fintech startup Imprint Payments Inc., which helps retailers like Brooks Brothers offer co-branded credit cards …
More: PYMNTS.com, Silicon Republic, FinSMEs, Tech in Asia, and Tech Funding News
| Justine Calma / The Verge: |
Study: AI's 2025 power demand could hit 23GW, above 2024 Bitcoin mining levels, and AI carbon emissions could hit 32.6M to 79.7M tons, compared to NYC's 50M — A new study estimates the environmental impact of AI in 2025 and calls for more transparency from companies on their pollution and water consumption.| Scott Feinberg / The Hollywood Reporter: |
The Academy signs a multi-year deal that will give YouTube the exclusive global rights to the Oscars, beginning in 2029 and running through 2033 — The Academy announced on Wednesday: — LOS ANGELES, CA - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and YouTube signed a multi-year deal …
More: Variety, YouTube Official Blog, Associated Press, israelhayom.com, Tech Times, BMI, TheGrio, Irish Independent, TVREV, TV Tech, Tubefilter, Fortune, Barrett Media, New York Times, Spyglass, and CNET
X: @lucas_shaw, @moorehn, @piersmorgan, @michaelcollado, @812filmreviews, @disparutoo, @seanhannity, @sydneybattle, @offbeatorbit, @jasminelwatkins, @ronnui_, @jayelharris, @clubchalamet, @awards_watch, @katiemiller, @mrbrianrowe, @richlightshed, @gavinpurcell, @brianstelter, @walthickey, @neilcybart, @loudmouthjulia, @nealmohan, @tvgrimreaper, @richlightshed, @nandovmovies, @mattbelloni, @jbflint, @tvgrimreaper, @jason_kint, @pkafka, @unikunka, @brianstelter, @mgsiegler, @updatesfromyt, and @theacademy
LinkedIn: David Freeman and Demetrius Bagley
Bluesky: @joshsternberg.com, @riderbabe52, and @anildash.com
| Bloomberg: |
Honda plans to halt production in Japan and China from December 29 to January 6, showing the ongoing fallout of the global chip shortage and Nexperia takeover — Honda Motor Co. will halt production at plants in Japan and China in coming weeks, highlighting the lingering fallout of the global chip shortage.
More: Tom's Hardware, DigiTimes, and CarNewsChina.com
| Lim Hui Jie / CNBC: |
SoftBank Group was among the Japanese tech stocks that fell on December 18, as Wall Street's AI infrastructure spending worries crossed into the Asian markets — Japanese tech stocks took a tumble on Thursday as AI infrastructure spending worries on Wall Street crossed the ocean into the Asian markets … | Chiranjivi Chakraborty / Bloomberg: |
India-listed RRP Semiconductor surged 55,000%+ in the 20 months through December 17, despite negative revenue; a source says India's SEBI is examining the jump — The world's best-performing stock is turning into a cautionary tale for investors chasing outsized returns from the artificial-intelligence boom.
More: Hindustan Times
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