London-based PolyAI, which makes call center AI voice assistants, raised an $86M Series D led by Georgian, Hedosophia, and Khosla, after raising $50M in 2024 (John Reynolds/Tech.eu) https://tech.eu/2025/12/15/polyai-raises-86m/
Techmeme
London-based PolyAI, which makes call center AI voice assistants, raised an $86M Series D led by Georgian, Hedosophia, and Khosla, after raising $50M in 2024
By John Reynolds / Tech.eu. View the full context on Techmeme.
Filing: Reddit says in its lawsuit against Australia's social media ban that it is "a collection of public fora" and social interaction isn't its "sole purpose" (Lauren Edmonds/Business Insider)
Business Insider
Reddit is arguing it's a 'collection of public fora' and not a social media company. Here's why.
In a lawsuit challenging an Australian law barring children under 16 from having social media accounts, Reddit argues it's not a social media company.
Techmeme
Filing: Reddit says in its lawsuit against Australia
By Lauren Edmonds / Business Insider. View the full context on Techmeme.
US volunteer fire departments are scrambling to find software amid shrinking options and higher costs, as companies backed by private equity dominate the market (Mike Baker/New York Times)
Private Equity Finds a New Source of Profit: Volunteer Fire Departments
Rural departments have long relied on cheap software solutions to keep their operations running. But fire chiefs report sharp price increases as in...
Techmeme
US volunteer fire departments are scrambling to find software amid shrinking options and higher costs, as companies backed by private equity dominate the market
By Mike Baker / New York Times. View the full context on Techmeme.
How David Sacks and AI adviser Sriram Krishnan overcame the opposition to Trump's AI EO, reaching out to lawmakers and finally modifying the text of the order (Washington Post) https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/14/trump-ai-executive-order-divisions/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzY1Njg4NDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzY3MDcwNzk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NjU2ODg0MDAsImp0aSI6IjkyZWE2NjZhLTYwMzYtNDEzYi04MzJmLThjMTgzNDQwYjRlMCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDI1LzEyLzE0L3RydW1wLWFpLWV4ZWN1dGl2ZS1vcmRlci1kaXZpc2lvbnMvIn0.8KXdv8ty_YpWDRgeb6fkZubMbijwTV-h3Dc0J_xokdY
Techmeme
How David Sacks and AI adviser Sriram Krishnan overcame MAGA
From Washington Post. View the full context on Techmeme.
Interviews with copywriters on generative AI's impact: job losses to AI, work used for training, falling wages and rates, freelancers losing clients, and more (Brian Merchant/Blood in the Machine)
"I was forced to use AI until the day I was laid off." Copywriters reveal how AI has decimated their industry
Copywriters were one of the first to have their jobs targeted by AI firms. These are their stories, three years into the AI era.
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Interviews with copywriters on generative AI
By Brian Merchant / Blood in the Machine. View the full context on Techmeme.
AI image generators like Nano Banana have increased realism by mimicking phone camera traits in contrast, exposure, and sharpening to avoid the uncanny valley (Allison Johnson/The Verge)
The Verge
AI image generators are getting better by getting worse
There’s been a surprising development.
Techmeme
AI image generators like Nano Banana have increased realism by mimicking phone camera traits in contrast, exposure, and sharpening to avoid the uncanny valley
By Allison Johnson / The Verge. View the full context on Techmeme.
How Nvidia's lobbying efforts grew after Howard Lutnick brokered Jensen Huang's access to Trump, ending with the president's approval of the H200 sales to China (Financial Times)
Client Challenge
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How Nvidia
From Financial Times. View the full context on Techmeme.
Filing: Oracle signed ~$150B of data center leases in the three months ending November 30, raising its total data center and cloud capacity commitments to $248B (Martin Peers/The Information) https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/oracle-strikes-150-billion-data-center-lease-commitments-november-quarter
Techmeme
Filing: Oracle signed ~$150B of data center leases in the three months ending November 30, raising its total data center and cloud capacity commitments to $248B
By Martin Peers / The Information. View the full context on Techmeme.
A look at iRobot, founded in 1990, and its slow collapse after regulatory pressure killed Amazon's $1.7B acquisition in 2024, and the rising Chinese competition (Connie Loizos/TechCrunch)
TechCrunch
How iRobot lost its way home | TechCrunch
iRobot survived three decades of competition, but couldn't survive European regulators killing its Amazon buyout. Now it's being taken ov...
Techmeme
A look at iRobot, founded in 1990, and its slow collapse after US and EU regulatory pressure killed Amazon
By Connie Loizos / TechCrunch. View the full context on Techmeme.
Investigation: after Trump's return to office, the SEC eased up on or dismissed 60%+ of ongoing crypto cases, including ones involving Trump-linked companies (New York Times)
The S.E.C. Was Tough on Crypto. It Pulled Back After Trump Returned to Office.
An investigation by The Times found the administration’s change in enforcement benefited the industry, including companies that had ties to the p...
Techmeme
Investigation: after Trump returned to the White House, the SEC eased up on or dismissed 60%+ of ongoing crypto cases, including ones about Trump-tied companies
From New York Times. View the full context on Techmeme.