Techmeme
April 21, 2026, 7:35 PM

Top News

New York Times:
SpaceX says it's working with Cursor to build “the world's most useful models” and it has the right to acquire Cursor for $60B or pay $10B for the partnership  —  The potential acquisition comes as Elon Musk's rocket and satellite maker, which has been emphasizing artificial intelligence, is preparing to go public.
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Longtime colleagues say John Ternus will bring back Jobs-era decisiveness, shifting from Cook's era when decisions were made collectively by top executives  —  When Apple Inc. announced Monday that longtime leader Tim Cook would be replaced by John Ternus, it published an image …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Tim Cook reshaped Apple in his own image and exits as CEO on his own terms, seemingly picking the right successor in John Ternus, much like Jobs did with Cook  —  It's a profoundly different feeling today than the last time Apple's CEO announced his transition to chairman of the board …
Rolfe Winkler / Wall Street Journal:
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Reuters:
Meta is installing tracking software on US staffers' computers to capture mouse movements, clicks, and keystrokes in work-related apps for use in AI training  —  Meta (META.O) is installing new tracking software on U.S.-based employees' computers to capture mouse movements …
Lily Hay Newman / Wired:
Mozilla says its Firefox 150 release includes fixes for 271 vulnerabilities identified using early access to Anthropic's Mythos Preview  —  The Firefox team doesn't think emerging AI capabilities will upend cybersecurity long term, but they warn that software developers are likely in for a rocky transition.
Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
Source: a handful of unauthorized users in a private Discord channel have been accessing Anthropic's Mythos model since the day the company announced it  —  A small group of unauthorized users have accessed Anthropic PBC's new Mythos AI model, a technology that the company says is so powerful …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft cuts Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price from $29.99 to $22.99/month and PC Game Pass from $16.49 to $13.99, but both tiers won't get new Call of Duty games  —  After Xbox CEO Asha Sharma admitted last week that “Game Pass has become too expensive for players,” Microsoft is dropping …
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
New York Attorney General Letitia James sues Coinbase and Gemini, claiming their prediction markets violate state laws against illegal gambling  —  New York's attorney general sued Coinbase Financial Markets (COIN.O) and Gemini Titan (GEMI.O) on Tuesday, claiming their prediction markets violate state laws against illegal gambling.
The Keyword:
Google now offers two research agents: Deep Research, replacing its December preview release, and Deep Research Max, both available via Gemini API paid tiers  —  Built with Gemini 3.1 Pro, the new Deep Research agents bring MCP support, native visualizations and unprecedented analytical quality …
Alex Ebert / Bloomberg Law:
Florida AG James Uthmeier issues criminal subpoenas to OpenAI to investigate if ChatGPT's role in planning a mass shooting constitutes criminal liability  —  Florida is sending criminal subpoenas to OpenAI, opening a novel investigation into whether a chatbot could be criminally liable for use in a mass shooting.
Core Memory:
An interview with Sam Altman and Greg Brockman on OpenAI's restructuring, cutting Sora, “personal AGI”, Anthropic's “fear-based marketing” for Mythos, and more  —  The last two standing - on everything  —  Sam Altman and Greg Brockman came on Core Memory together for a ten-year look back at OpenAI.
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:
The US DOJ says a former ransomware negotiator pleaded guilty to helping cybercriminals extort companies in cyberattacks in five different incidents  —  Angelo Martino, a former ransomware negotiator, has pleaded guilty to helping cybercriminals extort companies in cyberattacks.
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
YouTube makes its deepfake detection tool available to anyone at high risk of having their likeness abused, expanding it from public officials and politicians  —  The tool, which requires a celebrity to upload a digital replica, will flag potentially infringing content — like, say …
Yueqi Yang / The Information:
Sources: Kalshi plans to offer crypto trading in the US, offering perpetual futures, putting it in competition with exchanges like Coinbase  —  Prediction market Kalshi plans to offer crypto trading in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter, putting it in direct competition with crypto exchanges such as Coinbase.
Ed Zitron / Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At:
Anthropic appears to have removed access to Claude Code from its $20/month Pro plan; Anthropic says it is “running a small test on ~2% of new prosumer signups”  —  Executive Summary:  — Anthropic appears to have removed access to Claude Code for its $20-a-month “Pro” Plans.

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NPR:

Earlier Picks

Maddy Varner / Wired:
Ashley Capoot / CNBC: