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Techmeme
January 9, 2026, 2:20 PM
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Top News

Dan Primack / Axios:
a16z raises $15B+ across five new funds, including $6.75B for its fifth growth fund, the largest sum, and $3B for unspecified “other venture strategies”  —  Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, whose past investments included Airbnb and Coinbase, on Friday announced …
Helena Horton / The Guardian:
Grok says image generation and editing are now limited to paid subscribers, after outcry over its use to create sexually explicit and violent imagery  —  X to limit editing function to paying subscribers after platform threatened with fines and regulatory action
Robert Hart / The Verge:
X is restricting Grok's image capabilities via the @grok command for free users, but they can still create sexual deepfakes via X's “Edit image” or Grok's app  —  X's sexual deepfake machine is still running, despite Grok saying otherwise.
The Guardian:
The UK government says X restricting Grok's image creation to paid users is insulting as it just makes the ability to generate unlawful images a premium service
Carmen Arroyo / Bloomberg:
Docs: xAI had a net loss of $1.46B in Q3, up from $1B in Q1; sources: xAI told investors it plans to build AI that will eventually power Optimus humanoid robots  —  Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI is burning cash quickly, with losses mounting as it spends to build data centers …
Jennifer Swann / Wired:
How Craigslist has stayed relevant as a place to find jobs, housing, and personal connections without relying on algorithmic feeds, public profiles, or ratings  —  Millennials are still using Craigslist to find jobs, find love, and even to cast creative projects—eschewing other AI- and algorithm-dominated online spaces.
Jennifer Hiller / Wall Street Journal:
Meta strikes a 20-year deal to buy 2,600+ MW of nuclear power from three Vistra plants, and announces deals to back new TerraPower and Oklo reactor projects  —  Facebook parent will back nuclear projects with Oklo, Bill Gates-backed TerraPower and Vistra  —  Meta Platforms on Friday unveiled …
Jordan Moreau / Variety:
The Golden Globes signs a deal with Polymarket, which will provide stats and predictions about the awards show at the official 2026 viewing party  —  The fast-rising digital marketplace will offer real-time forecasts for winners in top races during Sunday's live telecast on CBS
Sarah Wynn / The Block:
The UK FCA grants Ripple approval for its Electronic Money Institution license and crypto asset registration, clearing the way for Ripple's UK expansion  —  Partner offers  —  Quick Take  — The Financial Conduct Authority granted Ripple approval for its Electronic Money Institution license …
Bloomberg:
OpenAI and SoftBank says they will each invest $500M in SB Energy to support the infrastructure company's growth as a data center developer and operator  —  OpenAI and SoftBank Group Corp. have jointly invested $1 billion in SB Energy, an infrastructure company that's working with the tech firms …
More: Forbes

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 2:20 PM ET, January 9, 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

CNN:
Source: UFC CEO Dana White has declined Trump's offer to become press secretary

Washington Post:
Sources: Trump ally Laura Loomer was paid, including via wire transfers worth ~$60K, for political social media posts without publicly disclosing the payments

The Wrap:
Valnet settles a defamation suit with The Wrap that sought $64.5M after a judge threw out most of the central claims of defamation based on three 2025 articles

More News

Suvashree Ghosh / Bloomberg:
Artemis Analytics: total stablecoin transaction volumes rose 72% YoY to a record $33T in 2025, led by Circle's USDC at $18.3T and Tether's USDT at $13.3T
Jeanny Yu / Bloomberg:
Chinese AI startup MiniMax's stock closed up 109% in its Hong Kong debut on January 9, after raising ~$619M in its IPO, which was priced at ~$21.17 per share
Patrick Coffee / Wall Street Journal:
Nvidia has hired Google Cloud VP of Marketing Alison Wagonfeld to be Nvidia's first CMO, starting in February; source: Wagonfeld will report to CEO Jensen Huang
Sophie Bates / Associated Press:
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves says xAI will spend $20B to build its MACROHARDRR data center in Southaven, xAI's third data center in the greater Memphis area

Earlier Picks

Rebecca Szkutak / TechCrunch:
Snowflake agrees to acquire Observe, an observability platform built on Snowflake databases; in December, the acquisition was reported to be valued at ~$1B
Shirin Ghaffary / Bloomberg:
OpenAI launches a HIPAA-compliant version of ChatGPT for clinicians to help with medical reasoning and reduce administrative work, at Cedars-Sinai and elsewhere
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:
Microsoft debuts Copilot Checkout in the US, enabling in-chat purchases via PayPal, Shopify, Stripe, and more; Shopify merchants will be automatically enrolled
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Google rolls out an AI Inbox view for Gmail that shows users to-dos and summaries of topics rather than a traditional email list, first for US “trusted testers”
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