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March 16, 2026, 8:30 AM
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memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Horace Dediu / Asymco: |
As AI models commodify, Apple's plans to spend just $14B on 2026 capex, far below hyperscalers' combined $650B, or 90%+ of their cash flow, may be a genius move — The 3rd? most valuable company on Earth watched as its rivals lit $650 billion on fire and did nothing.
More: Wall Street Journal, Daring Fireball, iClarified, and Syrian Arab News Agency
X: @ayushmarda07, @milkroadai, @milkroadai, @beffjezos, @awnihannun, @thekitze, @hexxrl, @aughtdev, @jason, @duderichy, @peer_rich, @y_molodtsov, @__tinygrad__, and @gnoble79. Forums: Hacker News
| Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg: |
Amsterdam-based Nebius says Meta plans to spend up to $27B over the next five years to access AI infrastructure, starting with $12B of capacity in early 2027 — Meta Platforms Inc. will pay as much as $27 billion over the next five years for access to cutting-edge artificial intelligence infrastructure … | Luz Ding / Bloomberg: |
Memo: Alibaba unveils Alibaba Token Hub, a new AI unit that consolidates research, consumer-facing apps, AI products, and more, as it focuses on monetizing AI — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is setting up a business unit to bring its sprawling AI services and development endeavors under a single umbrella …
More: Reuters
| Luz Ding / Bloomberg: |
Sources: Alibaba may unveil a Qwen-based AI agent for enterprises as soon as this week, and plans to gradually integrate the agent into its services like Alipay — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to release an agentic AI service for companies, banking on national enthusiasm around artificial …
More: Silicon Republic, SiliconANGLE, and Tech in Asia
| Theodore Schleifer / New York Times: |
How tech billionaires are turning on the Giving Pledge, promoted by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett; Peter Thiel says he privately told ~12 signers to undo it — Just a few months after Warren Buffett convened a series of high-end dinners across America to collect signatures for something called …
More: TechCrunch, Fortune, and Benzinga
X: @jason_kint, @tyler_m_john, @rcobooth, @teddyschleifer, and @helaineolen
Bluesky: @amandakhurley, @bensoskis, @tamslick, @jvagle.me, and @donmoyn
Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to and @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social
| Wall Street Journal: |
Sources: OpenAI faced intense backlash from its advisory council over a planned ChatGPT “adult mode”, delayed earlier in March due to technical and other issues — Warnings surface that the company risks creating a ‘sexy suicide coach’ if it begins allowing sexually explicit chats
More: The Verge, Yahoo Finance, MediaNama, and Firstpost
| Kenrick Cai / Reuters: |
President Trump accuses Iran of using AI as a “disinformation weapon” to make fake images of wartime successes against the US, saying “AI can be very dangerous” — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday accused Iran of using artificial intelligence as a “disinformation weapon” …
More: The Decoder, The Daily Wire, Raw Story, Implicator.ai, New York Post, BBC, NewsMax.com, Forbes, Mediaite, and New York Times
Bluesky: @metacurity.com, @academicfascism84, @mechachurchill, @brianstelter, and @oldtrotter. Truth Social: @realDonaldTrump …
Forums: r/politics and r/worldnews
| Sherry Qin / Wall Street Journal: |
Foxconn reports Q4 revenue up 22% YoY to ~$81B, net profit down 2% YoY to ~$1.4B, below ~$1.9B est., due to a higher tax expense, and a 5.9% gross profit margin — The company generates a significant share of its revenue making AI servers for the likes of Nvidia and Amazon| Fanny Potkin / Reuters: |
Sources: Hua Hong is readying a 7nm process at its Shanghai fab with Huawei's collaboration, which would make it China's second chipmaker at the node after SMIC — China's Hua Hong Group has developed advanced chip manufacturing technologies that can be used to produce artificial intelligence chips … | Sam Sabin / Axios: |
Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Meta, Amazon, OpenAI, Adobe, and Match sign a voluntary pledge to share threat intelligence on scammers abusing their services — Eight major technology companies — including Google, Amazon and OpenAI — have signed a new pledge promising to share threat intelligence … | Timmy Shen / The Block: |
Reliz, which operates crypto lender BlockFills, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, reporting $50M to $100M in estimated assets and $100M to $500M in liabilities — Quick Take — Chicago-based BlockFills has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.| Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch: |
Google and Accel's joint AI startup accelerator Atoms picks five Indian startups from 4,000+ applications, saying ~70% of rejected applicants were AI “wrappers” — Many artificial intelligence startup ideas are still little more than superficial “wrappers” built on top of existing models.
More: Entrackr, The Indian Express, The Economic Times, Press Trust of India, and Tech in Asia. Bluesky: @nakibjahan.com
| Jordyn Holman / New York Times: |
Q&A with Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana on accidents, why autonomous vehicles won't lead to job losses, plans to license Waymo tech to other companies, and more — Waymo's co-chief executive, Tekedra Mawakana, knows she needs to earn the public's trust. It won't be easy.| Dina Bass / Bloomberg: |
Chip cooling startup Frore, which designs channels that conduct liquid coolant in 3D shapes unique to each chip, raised $143M led by MVP at a $1.64B valuation — Frore Systems Inc., which makes liquid cooling technology for AI chips, raised $143 million in a funding deal that values the startup at $1.64 billion.
More: FinSMEs, Frore Systems, Inc., and Pulse 2.0
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