Techmeme
August 18, 2026, 11:10 AM

Top News

Juli Clover / MacRumors:
A short video found in Apple's macOS Tahoe 26.7 RC appears to show a man demoing camera-equipped AirPods using Visual Intelligence and Siri to answer questions  —  Apple is working on camera-equipped AirPods that appear to be nearly ready to launch, based on a video MacRumors found in the macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate.
Cecilia Kang / New York Times:
OpenAI debuts ChatGPT for Teens, a mode that limits high-risk chats about self-harm, eating disorders, violence, and more, and has studying tools and guardrails  —  The artificial intelligence start-up announced a chatbot mode that will automatically limit some conversations to better protect young users.
Julian Chokkattu / Wired:
Dutch company Fairphone launches its $650 flagship repairable Fairphone (Gen 6+) in the US and plans to keep launching new phone generations every two years  —  More than a decade after launching in Europe, the Netherlands company is now selling its repairable phones in the US, starting with the Fairphone (Gen 6+).
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Opening arguments begin on Tuesday in the US state AGs' social media addiction lawsuit against Meta; New Mexico AG says the consequences could be “astronomical”  —  If New Mexico created the blueprint for taking on Meta, California could determine the company's fate when it comes …
Michael Acton / Financial Times:
In filings, Apple acknowledges App Store regulatory changes are weighing on its $100B+ services business; US App Store spend fell 6% YoY in Q2, per Sensor Tower  —  Court rulings and new App Store rules are beginning to weigh on one of the iPhone maker's profitable growth engines
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Situational Awareness offered part of its $5B Anthropic stake at a 20% discount as it scrambled for cash; word of its trouble left it “being hunted”  —  From whispers of an Anthropic stake sale to strange options moves, traders sensed trouble and swung into action
Lauly Li / Nikkei Asia:
Sources: Google has told suppliers it plans to move all Pixel phone, smartwatch, and wireless earbud manufacturing out of China in 2027 amid US-China tensions  —  TAIPEI — Google has told suppliers it plans to have all of its Pixel smartphones, watches and wireless earbuds produced outside …
Owen Dahlkamp / Politico:
Sources: AI-drafted bills are swamping the US House's Legislative Counsel, which now spends more time fixing them than it would spend to draft them from scratch  —  Congressional lawyers are struggling to manage a flood of legislative proposals generated using artificial intelligence tools …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Anthropic's revenue run rate reached $65B by the end of July, up from $47B in May, $19B in March, $9B in December 2025, and $4B in July 2025  —  Anthropic PBC is on track to generate annualized revenue of more than $65 billion based on its current performance, according to people familiar …
David Sacks / @davidsacks:
David Sacks says “Dario Amodei believes frontier AI is too powerful to distribute; we believe it is too powerful to centralize” after Amodei shared policy ideas  —  Some thoughts on Dario's post: 1. Dario does not actually address Gavin Baker's account of what he said - something he could easily deny if it were inaccurate. 2. Dario claims his critics live in a “bubble” where all regulation equals regulatory capture. He calls this an overly

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Earlier Picks

Stacy Cowley / New York Times:
Bloomberg:
Cursor:
Emma Roth / The Verge:
James Nani / Bloomberg Law:
Bloomberg: