Techmeme
June 26, 2026, 3:32 PM

Top News

OpenAI:
GPT-5.6 Sol matches Mythos Preview on ExploitBench, adds Ultra mode with subagents for complex workflows, and max reasoning for deep problem-solving  —  We're beginning a limited preview of the GPT-5.6 series: Sol, our flagship model; Terra, a balanced model for everyday work; and Luna, a fast and affordable model.
Axios:
OpenAI releases three versions of GPT-5.6, called Sol, Terra, and Luna, as a limited preview to ~20 companies, with participants disclosed to the US government  —  OpenAI is rolling out GPT-5.6 Friday, but says it's limiting access to all three versions of the new model at the behest of the U.S. government.
Amrith Ramkumar / Wall Street Journal:
OpenAI hopes to make GPT-5.6 generally available in the coming weeks and says “this kind of government access process” should not become the long-term default  —  Company says White House review of AI releases shouldn't become long-term default; ban on Anthropic's Mythos model remains
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple's 14" and 16" OLED touch screen MacBook Pros will be powered by the existing M5 Pro and M5 Max chips and have an updated industrial design  —  Apple Inc.'s first-ever touch-screen laptop will rely on the company's current high-end M5 chips, rather than next-generation silicon …
Dean W. Ball / Hyperdimensional:
How US federal AI policy has gone from implausibly libertarian to increasingly draconian and opaque, and how to fix it, including using independent auditors  —  35 thoughts on what has happened and what America should do  —  Nothing below is an official or unofficial view of OpenAI.
Financial Times:
Sources: during SpaceX's IPO roadshow, COO Gwynne Shotwell told investors that it may launch a Starlink mobile service and build its own terrestrial US network  —  Move would test whether group can turn sky-high ambition into a mass-market phone business  —  Elon Musk's SpaceX has told investors …
Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
President Trump threatens to impose a 100% tariff on any country that imposes a digital services tax on US companies  —  President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose a “100% TARIFF” on the goods of any country that imposes a digital services tax on U.S. companies.
Tim Clark / PC Gamer:
Q&A with Tim Sweeney on his vision for a cross-platform gaming social system, Unreal Engine 6, AI's PR challenges, the state of AAA game development, and more  —  The Epic Games CEO discusses his vision for “Team Open,” his objections to Steam's AI disclosure requirement, and the huge problems facing AAA game development.
Aya Wagatsuma / Bloomberg:
New York Times:
Anna Bawden / The Guardian:
A study of 408 teens in Australia finds 80%+ were still using social media three months after the ban came into force, citing inadequate age verification checks  —  Experts say law not enough to stop children accessing harmful content online and more ‘convincing strategy is required’
Thomas Claburn / The Register:
OpenAI says 97.9% of its employees are now using Codex, up from ~40% in August 2025; non-developer Codex usage is up 137x for individuals and 12x within OpenAI  —  Codex, it's not just for developers, really  —  A company can learn a lot about the market by looking at its own employees.
More: OpenAI, Tech Times, WinCentral, and The Deep View
X: @steph_palazzolo.  LinkedIn: Chris Kraft and Julian Brophy.  Bluesky: @stokel
Jo Constantz / Bloomberg:
California launches a tool designed to be an “early warning system” for widespread AI-driven job loss, linking AI exposure with unemployment insurance claims  —  Politicians like California Governor Gavin Newsom are under pressure to appear proactive in the face of the technology's threat to the labor market
Om Malik / On my Om:
Om Malik, a longtime technology writer, the founder of Gigaom, and a partner at True Ventures, died on Wednesday at 59  —  Om Malik passed away on June 24, 2026, at Stanford Hospital after a long health journey with his heart.  He was surrounded by family and friends.
More: RuntimeWire, Thurrott, Axios, Inc.com, Silicon Valley Business …, Implicator.ai, Platformonomics, SiliconANGLE, Ben Werdmuller, Howie Town, Michael Tsai, The Economic Times, Hindustan Times, Matt Mullenweg, TheDesk.net, The Verge, kottke.org, Victor Wynne, Crazy Stupid Tech, and Daring Fireball
Forums: Hacker News and Lobsters
Kenneth Shepard / Kotaku:
Microsoft says it will increase the prices of Xbox consoles on August 1 by $100 for 512GB models and $150 for 1TB models, the third price hike since May 2025  —  Microsoft is increasing the prices of Xbox Series consoles once more and introducing a ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ option
New York Times:
Sources: Russian hackers were behind a 2025 ransomware attack on Jaguar Land Rover that used “mind-blowing” encryption and cost UK's economy an estimated $2.5B  —  A loose collective of cybercriminals initially took credit for crippling Jaguar Land Rover last year.
Natalie Lung / Bloomberg:
Uber expands the list of criminal convictions that disqualify US drivers and expands the background-check timeline, possibly removing ~0.5% of active US drivers  —  Uber Technologies Inc. is tightening driver background checks in the US and applying the new standards retroactively to existing workers …
Financial Times:
Binance tells EU customers that it will stop providing services for them from July 1, after Greece rejected its application for a bloc-wide license last week  —  World's biggest crypto exchange tells customers how to withdraw their money as MiCA rules set to come into force

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Cloudflare:
Cloudflare Connect 2026: The Agentic Conference  —  Stop preparing for agents.  Start running them.  100+ sessions, workshops, and speakers from OpenAI, Arm, and Cloudflare across AI, security, and performance.
Zoho:
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