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January 12, 2026, 4:40 PM
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Samantha Subin / CNBC:
Apple signs a multiyear Google deal to use Gemini and Google Cloud to power Siri's features in 2026, saying Google's tech “provides the most capable foundation”  —  Apple is joining forces with Google to power its artificial intelligence features for products such as Siri later this year.
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Google says Gemini will help power not only a more personalized version of Siri, but also future Apple Intelligence features  —  Google today announced that its AI platform Gemini will help power not only a more personalized version of Siri, but a range of future Apple Intelligence features.
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Elon Musk says Apple and Google's Gemini deal “seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google given that [they] also have Android and Chrome”  —  Elon Musk today expressed concern about Apple and Google partnering on a more personalized version of Siri powered by Google's generative AI platform Gemini.
Financial Times:
Ofcom opens an investigation under the OSA into Grok over the sexualized deepfakes of women and kids being generated on X and threatens X with a ban or a fine  —  Promise by technology secretary comes after media regulator threatens X AI chatbot with ban or multimillion-pound fine
BBC:
The UK plans to bring into force a law this week that will make it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images, as Ofcom investigates X  —  The UK will bring into force a law which will make it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images, following widespread concerns over Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Meta appoints Dina Powell McCormick, a prominent banking executive and former Republican official, as president and vice chair, reporting to Mark Zuckerberg  —  Dina Powell McCormick, a prominent banking executive and former Republican official, is joining Meta full-time as president and vice chairman …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Mark Zuckerberg says Meta is establishing a new “top-level” initiative called Meta Compute to build “tens of gigawatts” of AI infrastructure during this decade
Webb Wright / ZDNET:
Anthropic launches Cowork for Claude, built on Claude Code to automate complex tasks with minimal prompting, as a research preview for Claude Max subscribers  —  ZDNET's key takeaways  — Anthropic is launching Cowork for Claude as a research preview.  — It's built upon Claude Code and can automate complex tasks.
New York Times:
Sources: Meta plans to lay off ~10% of its 15,000-person Reality Labs division, disproportionately affecting those working on VR headsets and Horizon Worlds  —  The layoffs are set to be announced this week and would affect Meta's work on the metaverse, as the company spends heavily on building artificial intelligence.
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Eddy Cue says 2025 was a “record-breaking year” for Apple services: December was a monthly TV engagement record, the App Store has 850M+ weekly users, and more  —  The Apple services executive released a note saying that Apple TV set new monthly engagement records, while Apple Music has hit subscriber records.
Nasteho Said / Bloomberg:
Meta says it shut down nearly 550K accounts in Australia to comply with its under-16 social media ban, including 330,639 Instagram and 173,497 Facebook accounts  —  Meta Platforms Inc. said it has shut down almost 550,000 accounts in Australia to comply with the country's landmark social media ban for children.
Laura Mandaro / The Information:
OpenAI acquires Torch, a one-year-old AI healthcare app that aggregates and analyzes medical records; source: OpenAI is paying $100M in equity  —  OpenAI has agreed to buy Torch, a one-year-old AI healthcare app, for about $100 million in equity, according to a person with direct knowledge of the acquisition.
Bloomberg:
Nvidia and Eli Lilly say they will invest $1B over five years in a new Silicon Valley-based AI drug lab, aiming to speed up the pharmaceutical industry's AI use  —  Nvidia Corp. plans to invest $1 billion over five years in a new laboratory with Eli Lilly & Co., aiming to speed up the use …
Counterpoint Research:
Global smartphone shipments rose 2% YoY in 2025; Apple led with 20% market share and 10% YoY growth, followed by Samsung's 19% market share and 5% YoY growth  —  - Global smartphone shipments grew 2% YoY in 2025, driven by increasing premium demand and improving momentum in key emerging markets.
Andrew Gregory / The Guardian:
Investigation: Google removed AI Overviews for two liver health queries after experts warned of “alarming” results, but slight tweaks still trigger AI responses  —  Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds AI Overviews provided inaccurate and false information when queried over blood tests
New York Times:
Sources and filings: Peter Thiel donated $3M to a group to beat California's wealth tax proposal, the first of several expected tech leader donations in 2026  —  More large donations from wealthy Silicon Valley figures are expected as they try to marshal opposition to a proposed ballot measure …
Olga Kharif / Bloomberg:
World Liberty Financial launches World Liberty Markets, letting users lend and borrow digital assets among one another, supporting its own token USD1 and others  —  World Liberty Financial, the Miami-based crypto startup which says President Donald Trump is “co-founder emeritus,” …
James Hunt / The Block:
Michael Saylor's Strategy bought 13,627 bitcoin for ~$1.25B between January 5 and 11, taking its total holdings to 687,410, and boosts its USD reserve to $2.25B  —  Partner offers  —  Quick Take  — Strategy has purchased another 13,627 BTC for approximately $1.25 billion at an average price …
Dan Gallagher / Wall Street Journal:
Despite dire projections of PC and phone memory shortages, producers like Micron will proceed cautiously in adding new capacity, ever mindful of past downcycles  —  Sandisk, Western Digital, Seagate and Micron need to keep undershooting demand  —  The world needs a lot more memory chips and hard drives.

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:40 PM ET, January 12, 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

Lucia Moses / Business Insider:
WaPo opinion editor Adam O'Neal says he's stepping down after a year in the role; his hiring was part of a push to promote “personal liberties and free markets”

Minho Kim / New York Times:
Sarah B. Rogers, Trump's nominee to lead USAGM, says she would reinstate some agency employees; if confirmed, she would still serve in the State Department

Matt Stout / The Boston Globe:
The Massachusetts Senate passes an amendment that would in many instances bar judges, grand juries, and others from forcing reporters to identify their sources

More News

Financial Times:
A viral Chinese app called “Are You Dead?” that asks users living alone to “check in” with a button press becomes the top paid app in Apple's App Store in China

Earlier Picks

Rachael Levy / Reuters:
President Trump says “we may speak to Elon” about using Starlink to restore the internet in Iran, which has blocked the internet since January 8 amid protests
Bloomberg:
Chinese AI executives say China is unlikely to eclipse the US in the AI race anytime soon, citing limited resources and US chip export curbs as key constraints
Eugene Kim / Business Insider:
Anthropic debuts Claude for Healthcare, which offers HIPAA-ready tools for providers, insurers, and consumers, building on its Claude for Life Sciences offering
Terrence O'Brien / The Verge:
Instagram denies a breach and says it fixed an issue that let an “external party” send password reset emails, after a report that 17.5M users' data was exposed
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Google unveils the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard that lets AI agents work across customer buying processes, from discovery to support
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