Techmeme
March 19, 2026, 9:55 AM

Top News

Agnee Ghosh / Bloomberg:
OpenAI agrees to acquire Astral, which makes Python tools for developers, to integrate its team into Codex, and says Codex has 2M+ users, up 3x since January  —  OpenAI plans to acquire Astral, a startup that makes Python tools for developers, marking the ChatGPT maker's latest investment …
Rustin Banks / The Keyword:
Google updates Stitch to let users turn natural language prompts into UI designs, introducing an “AI-native” software design canvas and a reasoning design agent  —  Stitch is evolving into an AI-native software design canvas that allows anyone to create, iterate and collaborate on high-fidelity UI from natural language.
John Wang / @j0hnwang:
Janko Roettgers / Lowpass:
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth says Meta will keep Horizon Worlds in VR for the “foreseeable future”, a day after Meta said Quest owners will lose access from June 15  —  VR Worlds will be available for “foreseeable future”  —  One day after announcing the wind-down of its Horizon …
Shubham Bose:
An analysis of a NYT article load finds 422 network requests totaling 49MB, triggering a sprawling programmatic ad auction, an example of “hostile architecture”  —  If active distraction of readers of your own website was an Olympic Sport, news publications would top the charts every time.
Brian Danga / The Block:
Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek says the company cut ~12% of its workforce, or ~180 roles, saying the layoffs target roles that “do not adapt” as it integrates AI  —  Quick Take  — Crypto.com cut about 12% of its workforce, or roughly 180 roles based on a previously disclosed headcount of over 1,500 employees.
Anthropic:
Anthropic releases a survey of 80,508 Claude users' hopes, dreams, and fears about AI, calling it “the largest and most multilingual qualitative study ever”  —  Last December, tens of thousands of Claude users around the world had a conversation with our AI interviewer to share how they use AI …
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Uber plans to invest $1.25B in Rivian through 2031, contingent on meeting autonomy milestones, starting with $300M at signing, to deploy 50K Level 4 robotaxis  —  The companies say they plan on deploying 10,000 autonomous Rivian R2 vehicles by 2031. … Uber and Rivian are joining forces …
Margi Murphy / Bloomberg:
CISA warns US companies to follow Microsoft's recommendations for fortifying Intune, a tool that manages staff access, after a cyberattack on Stryker last week  —  The US government is warning businesses to secure their corporate accounts within a popular Microsoft Corp. management tool …
Jyoti Mann / The Information:
Meta confirms a critical security incident after an internal rogue AI agent's actions led to exposing sensitive data to employees who didn't have authorization  —  A rogue AI agent recently triggered a major security alert at Meta Platforms, by taking action without approval that led …
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Cloudflare says it has appealed Italy's €14.2M fine for refusing to block access to pirate websites on its 1.1.1.1 DNS service, calling the amount “staggering”  —  Cloudflare said it has appealed a fine issued by Italy over the company's refusal to block access to websites on its 1.1.1.1 DNS service.
Alfred Ng / Politico:
Senate hearing: FBI Director Kash Patel confirms that the FBI purchases “commercially available information” that can be used to track people's location history  —  The U.S. Supreme Court has required law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant for getting people's location data …
Kati Pohjanpalo / Bloomberg:
The UN-backed World Happiness Report says passively consuming algorithmic social media hurts teens' mental health and heavy use disproportionately affects girls  —  Passively consuming algorithmic social media hurts teens' mental health, according to the World Happiness Report for 2026 …
Mizy Clifton / Politico:
Ofcom fines 4chan £520K for OSA violations, including £450K for not complying with age check requirements, and gives it until April 2 to implement age assurance  —  4chan has until 2 April to implement age assurance, carry out a “suitable and sufficient” illegal harms risk assessment …
Aaron Clark / Bloomberg:
TechInsights: chip manufacturing emissions will climb by ~33% to 247M metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030, roughly equivalent to Algeria in 2024  —  The rush to boost production of memory chips to meet fast accelerating demand from artificial intelligence will add …
Laurent Giret / Thurrott:
Perplexity releases its Comet browser with a built-in AI assistant and a native ad blocker for iOS and iPadOS, after launching it on Android in November 2025  —  Perplexity's Comet AI browser is coming to iOS and iPadOS today, four months after its previous launch on Android.
Kai Nicol-Schwarz / CNBC:
Sources: European chip importers are tapping into backup stores and paying more for deliveries as the US-led Iran war disrupts Middle Eastern air freight routes  —  European companies that import semiconductors from Asia are tapping into backup stores and paying more for deliveries …

Sponsor Posts

Niantic Spatial:
World models need real-world data  —  Scaniverse is the gateway to spatial services — self-serve and built for AI and robotics.  Large-area 3D reconstruction from 360° cameras and precise localization, anywhere machines operate.
Zoho:
App Spotlight: WooCommerce for Zoho Inventory  —  App Spotlight brings you hand-picked solutions that enhance your Zoho apps and tools.  Visit Zoho Marketplace to explore all of our apps, integrations …
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.
Anuma:
The Private AI That Remembers  —  Anuma is the all-in-one AI platform with private, portable memory.  Chat, text, create, build, and solve across every model.

Featured Podcasts

Grit:
How AIG Is Reinventing Insurance With AI | Peter Zaffino
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why cultivating agency matters more than cultivating skills in the AI era | Max Schoening (Head of Product, Notion)
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's User Growth Miss, Musk vs. Altman, Prediction Market Ban
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Training Data:
OpenAI's Greg Brockman: Why Human Attention Is the New Bottleneck
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Runway's Cris Valenzuela: Building The Hollywood-Friendly Video AI That OpenAI Couldn't
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.
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 9:55 AM ET, March 19, 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.

More News

Earlier Picks

Bloomberg:
Dina Bass / Bloomberg:
Upstarts Media:
Kanika Talwar / WWD:
Zach Vallese / CNBC: