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January 18, 2026, 1:55 AM
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| Caroline Haskins / Wired: |
The AI boom is driving an unprecedented wave of data center construction, but there aren't enough skilled workers in the US, such as electricians, to keep up — The AI boom is driving an unprecedented wave of data center construction, but there aren't enough skilled tradespeople in the US to keep up.
More: Axios and Chicago Tribune
| Jeremy Kahn / Fortune: |
OpenAI's former Head of Policy Research Miles Brundage announces AVERI, a nonprofit aimed at advocating the idea of external audits for frontier AI models — Former OpenAI policy chief Miles Brundage, who has just founded a new nonprofit institute called AVERI that is advocating …
More: AVERI
| Marc Jones / Reuters: |
Atlantic Council: China-led cross-border digital currency platform mBridge, still a prototype, has processed 4,000+ cross-border transactions totaling $55.5B — Transactions on a new China-led digital currency platform have surged to over $55 billion, a new report shows … | Rob Copeland / New York Times: |
A look at Michael Saylor's Strategy, known for buying bitcoin via creative financing strategies, as its stock trades way below its peak amid the crypto downturn — Had you glanced too quickly at the crowd packed into Michael Saylor's Tuscan-style Miami compound, you might have assumed it was just another rich dude's party.| Maria Sherman / Associated Press: |
Luminate 2025 report: the global music industry hit 5.1T streams, up 9.6% YoY and a single-year record; AI artist Xania Monet had 125M on-demand audio streams — The global music industry hit 5.1 trillion streams in 2025. It's a new single-year record, up 9.6% from 2024, which held the previous record.
More: Music Business Worldwide
| Axios: |
David Sacks and top MAGA influencers are publicly opposing House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast's proposed AI OVERWATCH Act to regulate AI chip sales to China — But the accusations are flying fast. — “The AI Overwatch Act (H.R. 6875) may sound like a good idea, but when you examine it closely … | Financial Times: |
OpenAI plans to test ads below ChatGPT replies for users of free and Go tiers in the US; source: OpenAI expects to make “low billions” from ads in 2026 — $500bn start-up seeks ways to fund expansion and fend off competition from rivals Google and Anthropic
More: OpenAI, Ars Technica, CNBC, The Verge, Axios, Spyglass, Enterprise AI Trends, The American Bazaar, WebProNews, Digit, New York Times, Engadget, Appleosophy, Tech in Asia, Search Engine Journal, Neowin, The Guardian, The Indian Express, Notebookcheck, Communicate Online, 9to5Google, TestingCatalog, Deadline, BleepingComputer, Fortune, San Francisco Chronicle, The Information, Birchtree, Forbes, Nairametrics, Bloomberg, AdTechRadar, Tom's Guide, Fast Company, PC Gamer, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, PPC Land, KGW-TV, Forbes Middle East, Vogue, KTVZ-TV, Barron's Online, CBS News, PCMag, Reuters, The Decoder, MediaPost, Capital Brief, Sherwood News, Implicator.ai, Adweek, The Economic Times, Mobile Dev Memo, Search Engine Land, BBC, Türkiye Today, NewsMax.com, Axios, Barrett Media, The Deep View, and Wired
X: @openai, @sama, @frantzfries, @basedtorba, @antoniogm, @fidjissimo, @tomwarren, @atabarrok, @anothercohen, @neilcybart, @pmddomingos, @buccocapital, @pitdesi, @meghanbobrowsky, @benjamindekr, @teksedge, @dant3_btc, @alexeheath, @tbpn, @macrocephalopod, @netcapgirl, @sarafischer, @nickfloats, @bindureddy, @brianmcc, @scobleizer, @scaling01, @simonw, @brij, @openai, @rishabhmjain, @tahatesser, @openai, @teksedge, @inafried, and @eric_seufert
LinkedIn: Akshay Khandekar, Varun Nahar, Robert Derow, Lily Ray, and Fidji Simo
Bluesky: @aleyda, @edzitron.com, @timfduffy.com, @mbogen, and @shiraovide. Threads: @benedictevans. Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to
Forums: r/technews, r/artificial, r/ChatGPT, r/singularity, r/ChatGPT, r/technology, and Slashdot
| Elissa Welle / The Verge: |
More: OpenAI, The Register, Android Police, Digital Trends, BleepingComputer, Android Central, WinBuzzer, Livemint, Neowin, Cult of Mac, PPC Land, Benzinga, TechCity, TestingCatalog, ZDNET, Gizmodo, CNET, The Mac Observer, Constellation Research, iClarified, Android Authority, The Information, SiliconANGLE, NBC News, iPhone in Canada, Analytics India Magazine, Thurrott, MacRumors, Crypto Briefing, 9to5Mac, Reuters, and Daring Fireball
X: @simonw and @mweinbach
Forums: r/technology, r/singularity, and r/OpenAI
| Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal: |
TrendForce: data centers will use 70%+ of the high-end memory chips all manufacturers will produce in 2026, with little new manufacturing capacity until 2027 — AI companies' need for a type of once-affordable microchip threatens to drive up prices of all electronics—and limit data-center ambitions
More: MarketWatch, DigiTimes, Trusted Reviews, Motley Fool, HotHardware, and Benzinga. LinkedIn: M Mohan
| Glenn Coin / Syracuse Post-Standard: |
More: Tech in Asia, NNY360, CNBC Television on YouTube, WWNY, CNBC, Bloomberg Law, and The Register
X: @govkathyhochul, @senschumer, @mkratsios47, @gillibrandny, @senschumer, @commercegov, and @microntech. Bluesky: @quinnypig.com
| Valentine Baldassari / Bloomberg: |
Micron signs a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip for $1.8B to expand DRAM memory chip production, expected to close in Q2 2026 — Micron Technology Inc. has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp … | Sage D. Young / Sherwood News: |
Beaconcha.in: a record ~36M ethereum tokens, or 30% of ethereum's total supply, worth ~$119B, are now staked, as institutional investors grow their share — The new record comes as institutional players grow their share in the staking scene. Ether.fi, a restaking protocol known …
More: Cointelegraph, Blockonomi, and crypto.news
| John Reynolds / Tech.eu: |
Mannheim, Germany-based osapiens, a provider of ESG compliance software, raised a $100M Series C solely from Decarbonization Partners at a $1.1B valuation — The $100m Series C was funded solely by Decarbonization Partners, the joint venture between BlackRock and Temasek.| Daniel Kuhn / The Block: |
ZachXBT: a crypto user lost $282M+ in BTC and LTC in a hardware wallet social engineering scam; XMR jumped as the attacker began converting the funds to Monero — Partner offers — Quick Take — XMR hit an all-time high of $797.73 on Jan. 14, coinciding with a series …
More: Web3 is Going Just Great, Bitcoin Insider, BeInCrypto, Cointelegraph, CryptoPotato, CoinDesk, The Crypto Times, NullTX, Coinpedia Fintech News, The Defiant, and Crypto Briefing
X: @zachxbt, @hackapreneur, @xenumonero, @tradepro16, @pepperpetey, @golarrr, @tanuki42_, @beausecurity, and @drtnky. LinkedIn: ZeroShadow
| Iain Martin / Forbes: |
Listen Labs, whose AI tools help Microsoft and others run customer research and interviews, raised a $69M Series B led by Ribbit Capital at a $500M+ valuation — The San Francisco-based company, which has run more than 1 million customer interviews with its automated AI tools … | Laith Al-Khalaf / Financial Times: |
Sources: following investor backlash, Monzo to give outgoing CEO TS Anil an expanded role after he steps down in February; he is likely to retain a board seat — UK digital bank due to give current chief executive broader than expected remit when he steps down next month
More: Reuters
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