|
January 2, 2026, 6:45 PM
|
Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Bloomberg: |
xAI's Grok says “lapses in safeguards” led it to create sexualized images of people, including minors, in response to X user prompts; X took some images down — Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok has created sexualized images of people including minors …
More: CNBC, Reuters, BBC, The Present Age, Ars Technica, Spitfire News, The Verge, Engadget, The Guardian, Politico, Forbes, seangoedecke.com, Straight Arrow News, Gizmodo, Los Angeles Times, The Record, MediaPost, Axios, New York Post, CNBC-TV18, PetaPixel, The Decoder, MediaNama, The Economic Times, Tom's Guide, Financial Times, The Hill, Euractiv, Mashable, CBS News, The Hans India, Metro.co.uk, Joe.My.God., and KnowTechie
X: @grok, @grok, @elonmusk, @andrewcurran_, @samanthataghoy, @parsatajik, @robshrum, @miles_brundage, @miles_brundage, @ogdfarmer, @icyvert, @baracenler, @clusterbitch_, @8ap, @altymcaltalt3, @adamlowisz, @jj_denhollander, @electricfutures, @sarafortexlege, @mrjeffu, @theo_wayt, @arictoler, @snazzylabs, @alexinexxx, @dril, @whatapityonyou, and @itsbighonkin. LinkedIn: Melanie Ensign
| Maggie Harrison Dupré / Futurism: |
On top of nonconsensual porn images, X users seem to be using Grok to alter images to depict real women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt, and even killed — Earlier this week, a troubling trend emerged on X-formerly-Twitter as people started asking Elon Musk's chatbot Grok to unclothe images of real people.
More: The Atlantic, Copyleaks, TMZ.com, Inc42 Media, Türkiye Today, Telegraph, The New World, CBS News, and NDTV Profit
Bluesky: @caseynewton, @stevepeers, @charlotte2153, @mharrisondupre, @kincsobiro, and @mharrisondupre
| Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch: |
India orders X to stop Grok from generating obscene content, giving it 72 hours to submit an action-taken report or risk losing its “safe harbor” protections — India has ordered Elon Musk's X to make immediate technical and procedural changes to its AI chatbot Grok after users … | Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Pebble unveils the Pebble Round 2, a smartwatch with a rounded screen and basic health and activity tracking but no heart rate monitor, shipping in May for $199 — Shortly after bringing back the Pebble smart watch and launching a low-cost AI smart ring, Pebble is readying yet another new product: the Pebble Round 2.
More: Pebble, Parker Ortolani, Tick Talk w/ Eric Migicovsky on YouTube, MacRumors, PCMag, Android Headlines, Gizmodo, TechRadar, Lifehacker, KnowTechie, Techaeris, XDA Developers, 9to5Google, ZDNET, The Verge, T3, iPhone in Canada, Digital Trends, CNET, Android Authority, Android Police, Engadget, How-To Geek, Droid Life, and TechEBlog
| Melissa Heikkilä / Financial Times: |
Yann LeCun admits that Llama 4's “results were fudged a little bit”, and that the team used different models for different benchmarks to give better results — The AI pioneer on stepping down from Meta, the limits of large language models — and the launch of his new start-up
More: Business Insider and Implicator.ai
| Carl Franzen / VentureBeat: |
xAI launches Grok Business, priced at $30 per seat/month, for SMBs, and Grok Enterprise, whose price is not listed publicly, for larger organizations — xAI has launched Grok Business and Grok Enterprise, positioning its flagship AI assistant as a secure, team-ready platform for organizational use.
More: The Information and The Indian Express
| Dan Wang: |
Tech analyst Dan Wang reflects on the Chinese Communist Party vs. Silicon Valley, AI and manufacturing, how China and the US are building the future, and more — One way that Silicon Valley and the Communist Party resemble each other is that both are serious, self-serious, and indeed, completely humorless.
More: Marginal Revolution, Blockchain.News, and CNBC
X: @hassankhan, @zdch, @zhengdongwang, @kevinakwok, @hassankhan, @nabeelqu, @buccocapital, @chr1sa, @greg_ip, @stevehou, @s8mb, @mattzeitlin, @bgurley, @richardhanania, @joshdcaplan, @mylesudland, @renesellmann, @rtylercrown, @conorsen, @jchengwsj, @discoplomacy, @eric_is_weird, @ctbeiser, @mattzeitlin, @sbanjo, @mikeelgan, @danwwang, @birdyword, @phequals7, @rmcentush, and @richardhanania
LinkedIn: James Lloyd and Mark Pesce
Bluesky: @gnat, @frankpasquale, and @conorsen. Mastodon: @yiningkarlli@mastodon …. Forums: Hacker News
| Michael Kan / PCMag: |
California launched a free tool on January 1 that lets residents request the deletion of their personal data from over 500 registered data brokers — Reclaiming your digital privacy is getting easier in California. The state has launched a free tool that simplifies the opt-out process …
More: State of California, Washington Post, Palm Springs Desert Sun, and NBC Bay Area
Forums: r/LosAngeles and r/privacy
| Bill Allison / Bloomberg: |
Filing: OpenAI President and co-founder Greg Brockman donated $25M to Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., in H2 2025; Crypto.com operator Foris DAX donated $20M — President Donald Trump's super political action committee raised $102 million in the second half of 2025, fueled by eight-figure donations …
More: HuffPost, SFGATE, New York Times, Politico, and CNN
| Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal: |
Comparing ChatGPT's mini-apps with native iOS apps: some like Uber, OpenTable, and TripAdvisor fell short with frequent error messages, but Instacart did well — ChatGPT apps are a key piece of OpenAI's long-shot bid to replace Apple. Many aren't yet useful. — Sam Altman wants OpenAI to have an app store to rival Apple's.
LinkedIn: Gennaro Cuofano and Rolfe Winkler
| Simon Goodley / The Guardian: |
Uber rewrote its UK driver contracts to act as an agent, rather than a supplier, of taxi services outside London, to avoid the UK's new 20% “taxi tax” on fares — Hailing app will now act as agent rather than supplier outside London, avoiding VAT requirement| Rachel Clun / BBC: |
As of January 1, UK crypto buyers are required to share their account details with tax officials or face penalties, as the UK seeks to collect unpaid taxes — People buying cryptocurrency in the UK now need to share their account details or face penalties, in changes that came into effect on 1 January.| The Circuit on YouTube: |
An interview with analyst Benedict Evans on the role of productization in AI adoption, an AI bubble, OpenAI, comparing Nvidia and Sun Microsystems, and more — In this conversation, Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg engage with Benedict Evans to explore the current state of AI development, its historical context, and future predictions.
X: @howardlindzon, @buccocapital, @benbajarin, and @hobie_tweets
| Bloomberg: |
Chinese AI chip startup Biren's stock jumped almost 76% in its trading debut in Hong Kong, after the company raised ~$717M in its IPO priced at ~$2.52 per share — Shares of Shanghai Biren Technology Co. jumped almost 76% in their trading debut on Friday, marking the best …
More: TrendForce, Nikkei Asia, South China Morning Post, Reuters, The Information, Caixin Global, and Reuters
Sponsor Posts
ElevenLabs:
ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs — You know us for voice. Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency. Hear it for yourself.
ElevenAgents by ElevenLabs — You know us for voice. Now meet ElevenAgents — featuring Expressive Mode, our most human-sounding AI voice technology in 70+ languages with ultra-low latency. Hear it for yourself.
Intel:
5G's most deployed platform — Powering live networks with built-in Inference across Core and RAN. That's the power of Intel Inside®
5G's most deployed platform — Powering live networks with built-in Inference across Core and RAN. That's the power of Intel Inside®
Zoho:
Build vs Buy Embedded Analytics: The Decision That Defines Your Product Roadmap — Every SaaS product team eventually hits the analytics wall. Your customers want insights inside your app. Your roadmap has no room to spare.
Build vs Buy Embedded Analytics: The Decision That Defines Your Product Roadmap — Every SaaS product team eventually hits the analytics wall. Your customers want insights inside your app. Your roadmap has no room to spare.
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.
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
Great Chat:
Go touch some grass (but don't tweet about it)
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.
Lenny's Podcast:
An AI state of the union: We've passed the inflection point, dark factories are coming, and automation timelines | Simon Willison
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Access:
The future of AI might be on your finger
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Axiom's Carina Hong: Solving Math's Hardest Problems With AI, And AI's Problems With Math
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
Iran, Oil, and the US
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ryan Roslansky: Turning AI Anxiety into Skills for the Future of Work
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 6:45 PM ET, January 2, 2026.
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
Variety:Katie Deighton / Wall Street Journal:
Erik Wemple / New York Times:
Upcoming Tech Events
More News
| Kieran Smith / Financial Times: |
More: iPhone in Canada and COINOTAG
LinkedIn: Justin Hotard, Gennaro Cuofano, Dr Marko Sjoblom, and Robert Byggmästar. Bluesky: @robertscotthorton. Forums: Slashdot
| Sneha Kumar / Reuters: |
Earlier Picks
| Rishabh Jaiswal / Reuters: |
More: CNET, Ars Technica, South China Morning Post, The Hill, Interesting Engineering, The Independent, SPACE.com, iPhone in Canada, PCMag, ISPreview UK, Cord Cutters News, Tech in Asia, Business Today, Digit, Gizmodo, The Register, SpaceNews, Channels Television, Analytics India Magazine, Business Insider, Nairametrics, The Verge, Neowin, Moneycontrol, Computerworld, Hürriyet Daily News, and Engadget
X: @michaelnicollsx, @blaze_r935, @seattle_rt, @wagamemnonglenn, @marcushouse, @philipjohnston, @bassonbrain, @iniallanderson, @justin_je_mabie, @teslatino, and @yrouel86. Bluesky: @fack
Mastodon: @jknodlseder@mastodon.social, @knud@mastodon.social, and @hannorein@mastodon.social. Forums: r/space
| Philosopher Count: |
X: @briancalbrecht, @saikatc, @harryh, @jankulveit, @daniel_271828, @krishnanrohit, @besttrousers, @jsevillamol, @mortenstostad, @robinhanson, @t_holden, @erikbryn, @daveg, @dwarkesh_sp, @stevehou, @deepdishenjoyer, @alltheyud, @elocinationn, @garrytan, @garrytan, @briancalbrecht, @pawtrammell, @pawtrammell, @yonashav, @briancalbrecht, @tszzl, @jackwiseman_, @alltheyud, @digeconlab, @mylesudland, @ks_kulk, @garrytan, @drydenwtbrown, @dwarkesh_sp, @dwarkesh_sp, and @dwarkesh_sp
LinkedIn: Octavian Adrian Tanase and Viktor Shvets
| Adi Robertson / The Verge: |
| Vincent Chow / South China Morning Post: |
More: arXiv.org, ZDNET, Business Insider, Constellation Research, WinBuzzer, Bloomberg, Computerworld, Implicator.ai, Bloomberg, Pandaily, SiliconANGLE, and Blockonomi