Vince Zampella, former CEO of Infinity Ward, the studio behind Call of Duty, died Sunday at 55 in a single-car crash in Southern California (NBC Los Angeles)
Vince Zampella, ‘Call of Duty’ developer, killed in LA crash – NBC Los Angeles
Techmeme
Vince Zampella, head of EA-owned Respawn Entertainment, former CEO of Infinity Ward, and co-creator of Call of Duty, died Sunday at 55 in a single-car crash
From NBC Los Angeles. View the full context on Techmeme.
Chinese AI startup Z.ai releases GLM-4.7, an open-weight model that Z.ai says delivers significant improvements in coding performance compared to GLM-4.6 (Z.ai)
GLM-4.7: Advancing the Coding Capability
Techmeme
Chinese AI startup Z.ai releases GLM-4.7, an open-weight model that Z.ai says delivers significant improvements in coding performance compared to GLM-4.6
From Z.ai. View the full context on Techmeme.
OpenAI rolls out Your Year with ChatGPT, a Spotify Wrapped-like feature, to Free, Plus, and Pro users in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)
TechCrunch
ChatGPT launches a year-end review like Spotify Wrapped | TechCrunch
The experience includes awards, poems, and pictures referencing your year in chat.
Techmeme
OpenAI rolls out Your Year with ChatGPT, a Spotify Wrapped-like feature, to Free, Plus, and Pro users in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
By Sarah Perez / TechCrunch. View the full context on Techmeme.
FanDuel and CME Group launch a prediction market app called FanDuel Predicts in five US states, just days after DraftKings rolled out a similar product (Denitsa Tsekova/Bloomberg)
Bloomberg.com
FanDuel Launches Latest Prediction Markets App, Chasing Rivals
FanDuel is launching its own prediction-market app in five states just days after its main rival, DraftKings Inc., rolled out a similar product.
Techmeme
FanDuel and CME Group launch a prediction market app called FanDuel Predicts in five US states, just days after DraftKings rolled out a similar product
By Denitsa Tsekova / Bloomberg. View the full context on Techmeme.
Italy's competition watchdog fines Apple €98.6M, saying the company's ATT rules are "disproportionate" and "harmful" to app developers and advertisers (Joe Rossignol/MacRumors)
MacRumors
Apple Hit With Supersized Fine in Italy Over an iPhone Privacy Feature
Italy
Techmeme
Italy
By Joe Rossignol / MacRumors. View the full context on Techmeme.
Source: Erebor, a digital bank co-founded by Palmer Luckey, raised $350M led by Lux Capital at a $4.35B post-money valuation; it secured FDIC approval last week (Axios) https://www.axios.com/2025/12/22/palmer-luckey-digital-bank
Techmeme
Sources: Erebor, Palmer Luckey
From Axios. View the full context on Techmeme.
Alphabet agrees to acquire clean energy developer Intersect for $4.75B in cash, and existing debt, as part of its push to dramatically expand AI data centers (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg.com
Alphabet to Buy Data Center Partner Intersect for $4.75 Billion
Alphabet Inc. has agreed to buy clean energy developer Intersect Power LLC for $4.75 billion in cash, plus existing debt, marking one of the larges...
Techmeme
Alphabet agrees to acquire data center company Intersect for $4.75B in cash, plus its existing debt, as part of its push to expand its AI data center footprint
From Bloomberg. View the full context on Techmeme.
Instacart says it is ending all item price tests effective immediately, and won't charge different prices for the same items, after a report into the practice (Chris Wack/Wall Street Journal) https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/instacart-ending-all-item-price-tests-on-its-platform-3c97d68d?st=LP28v5&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Techmeme
Instacart scraps all item price tests after customer pushback, and won
By Chris Wack / Wall Street Journal. View the full context on Techmeme.
Paramount says Larry Ellison "agreed to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of $40.4B" for its WBD bid, after WBD's board raised concerns about the offer (Sara Salinas/CNBC)
CNBC
Paramount guarantees Larry Ellison backing in amended WBD bid
Paramount notably did not increase its bid on Monday, reiterating that it believes the deal is superior to Netflix's.
Techmeme
Paramount says Larry Ellison “agreed to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of $40.4B” for its WBD bid, after WBD
By Sara Salinas / CNBC. View the full context on Techmeme.
Investigation: in 22 US states, Uber approves drivers with many types of convictions, such as violent felonies, that are over seven years old to keep costs low (Emily Steel/New York Times)
Uber Cleared Violent Felons to Drive. Passengers Accused Them of Rape.
The ride-hailing giant’s background check process was intended to speed drivers onto its network while keeping costs down, internal documents show.
Techmeme
Investigation: in 22 US states, Uber approves drivers with many types of convictions, such as violent felonies, that are over seven years old to keep costs low
By Emily Steel / New York Times. View the full context on Techmeme.