Thursday, January 1, 2026

Tech startups have started to offer nicotine pouches as a free perk to employees, as some claim the products help them focus despite health hazards (Angel Au-Yeung/Wall Street Journal)

Angel Au-Yeung / Wall Street Journal:
Tech startups have started to offer nicotine pouches as a free perk to employees, as some claim the products help them focus despite health hazards  —  A nicotine replacement for smokers has started popping up in offices in the tech industry, despite health hazards



A look at the rise of AI companion apps; a researcher counts 206 such apps on the App Store and 253 on Google Play, with 220M+ total downloads as of July 2025 (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
A look at the rise of AI companion apps; a researcher counts 206 such apps on the App Store and 253 on Google Play, with 220M+ total downloads as of July 2025  —  The technology is changing the way many people meet and form relationships but some experts believe it may do more harm than good



Hundreds of megawatts of new data center capacity are being planned in Vernon, a city near LA, which is a key US-Asia cable-linking hub and is becoming crowded (Nilesh Christopher/Los Angeles Times)

Nilesh Christopher / Los Angeles Times:
Hundreds of megawatts of new data center capacity are being planned in Vernon, a city near LA, which is a key US-Asia cable-linking hub and is becoming crowded  —  - 6 min Click here to listen to this article  — Vernon, an industrial town with just a little more than 200 residents …



Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Trump Media, owner of Truth Social, plans to distribute a new token to shareholders with partner Crypto.com, expected to operate on the Cronos blockchain (Emily Nicolle/Bloomberg)

Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
Trump Media, owner of Truth Social, plans to distribute a new token to shareholders with partner Crypto.com, expected to operate on the Cronos blockchain  —  Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. plans to issue a new cryptocurrency, which will be distributed among its shareholders.



Finland seizes a ship suspected of damaging an undersea cable linking Helsinki and Estonia in the Gulf of Finland; Estonia says a second cable was also damaged (Essi Lehto/Reuters)

Essi Lehto / Reuters:
Finland seizes a ship suspected of damaging an undersea cable linking Helsinki and Estonia in the Gulf of Finland; Estonia says a second cable was also damaged  —  Finnish police on Wednesday seized a ship suspected of damaging an undersea telecoms cable running from Helsinki …



Dealroom: 76 European deep tech and life sciences companies spun out from universities reached $1B valuations or $100M in revenue in 2025, or both (Anna Heim/TechCrunch)

Anna Heim / TechCrunch:
Dealroom: 76 European deep tech and life sciences companies spun out from universities reached $1B valuations or $100M in revenue in 2025, or both  —  Universities and research labs have long been Europe's deep tech treasure trove.  Now, academic spinouts have consolidated …



How the AI data center boom boosted Caterpillar's power and energy unit; generator sales are up 28% YoY through Sept. 2025, after growing 22% to $7.8B in 2024 (Bob Tita/Wall Street Journal)

Bob Tita / Wall Street Journal:
How the AI data center boom boosted Caterpillar's power and energy unit; generator sales are up 28% YoY through Sept. 2025, after growing 22% to $7.8B in 2024  —  Sales of generators are powering the manufacturing giant's fastest-growing segment and a race to help data centers skip the grid



Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Sources: Chinese AI startup MiniMax is seeking to raise $600M+ from its Hong Kong IPO, set for January 2026, and has secured Alibaba and the ADIA as backers (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Sources: Chinese AI startup MiniMax is seeking to raise $600M+ from its Hong Kong IPO, set for January 2026, and has secured Alibaba and the ADIA as backers  —  Chinese artificial intelligence startup MiniMax has secured Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as key backers …



Sources: China is requiring chipmakers to use at least 50% domestically made equipment for adding new capacity, in a rule that is not publicly documented (Reuters)

Reuters:
Sources: China is requiring chipmakers to use at least 50% domestically made equipment for adding new capacity, in a rule that is not publicly documented  —  China is requiring chipmakers to use at least 50% domestically made equipment for adding new capacity, three people familiar with the matter said …



Sources: Satya Nadella is focused on the increasing AI competition from Amazon and Google; Microsoft Deputy CTO Dee Templeton says Nadella is in "founder mode" (Rafe Rosner-Uddin/Financial Times)

Rafe Rosner-Uddin / Financial Times:
Sources: Satya Nadella is focused on the increasing AI competition from Amazon and Google; Microsoft Deputy CTO Dee Templeton says Nadella is in “founder mode”  —  Software giant faces intense competition from Alphabet, Amazon and start-ups  —  Satya Nadella has overhauled …



Monday, December 29, 2025

Coupang says it is offering $1B+ in compensation to all 33.7M customers affected by South Korea's biggest-ever data breach, after an ex-staffer accessed data (Shinhye Kang/Bloomberg)

Shinhye Kang / Bloomberg:
Coupang says it is offering $1B+ in compensation to all 33.7M customers affected by South Korea's biggest-ever data breach, after an ex-staffer accessed data  —  Coupang is offering compensation worth more than $1 billion to all customers affected by South Korea's biggest-ever data breach.



PitchBook: the biggest US private startups raised $150B in 2025, surpassing the previous high of $92B in 2021, boosted by large funding rounds by AI startups (George Hammond/Financial Times)

George Hammond / Financial Times:
PitchBook: the biggest US private startups raised $150B in 2025, surpassing the previous high of $92B in 2021, boosted by large funding rounds by AI startups  —  Mega funding rounds create ‘fortress balance sheets’ as investors advise top groups to brace for tougher markets



A Kapwing study of the 15,000 top YouTube channels finds 278 of them have only posted AI-generated "slop" videos, amassing 63B+ views and 221M+ subscribers (Aisha Down/The Guardian)

Aisha Down / The Guardian:
A Kapwing study of the 15,000 top YouTube channels finds 278 of them have only posted AI-generated “slop” videos, amassing 63B+ views and 221M+ subscribers  —  Low-quality AI-generated content is now saturating social media - and generating about $117m a year, data shows



Sources: after five Thinking Machines staff left, investors are rattled, potentially impacting fundraising; two researchers quit via Slack during an all-hands (The Information)

The Information : Sources: after five Thinking Machines staff left, investors are rattled, potentially impacting fundraising; two researc...