Techmeme Ride Home

Techmeme Ride Home

The day's tech news, every day at 5pm. From Techmeme.com, Silicon Valley's most-read news source. 15 minutes and you're up to date.

Recent Episodes

July 17, 2026

Kimi K3

Moonshot AI released Kimi K3, a 2.8T-parameter model it says rivals Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5. Google fell months behind on Gemini 3.5 Pro, MLB banned dugout iPads from accessing GenAI for in-game calls, and The Verge tested Siri AI. Moonshot AI releases Kimi K3, a 2.8T-parameter AI model that it says rivals Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5, and plans to release its full model weights by July 27 (VentureBeat) Sources: Google is months behind schedule on delivering Gemini 3.5 Pro as it tries to improve i
July 16, 2026

The Delivery Space Consolidates

Uber agreed to acquire Delivery Hero for ~$14.8B, expanding into 99 markets. Thinking Machines released its first open-weight model, Inkling, SpaceXAI open-sourced Grok Build after a data-upload backlash, and sources detailed xAI's chaotic race to catch Claude under new leadership. Uber agrees to acquire Delivery Hero in a deal that values the German food delivery company at ~$14.8B, offering €41.50 per share and buying Prosus' 16.8% stake (Bloomberg) Thinking Machines Lab debuts Inkling, an o
July 15, 2026

PayPal On The Block?

New York became the first state to pause new data center permits, worrying the AI industry. Stripe and Advent offered $53B+ for PayPal, OpenAI's first device leaked as a screen-free speaker, and PrismML shrank a model to run on iPhones. AI advocates fear New York's moratorium on new data centers could embolden Democrats to enact more state restrictions and seize on the issue in the midterms (Politico) Sources: Stripe and PE firm Advent have jointly offered $60.50/share to acquire PayPal, a 28%
July 14, 2026

Let's Regulate This AI Stuff?

Demis Hassabis proposed a US-based frontier AI standards body modeled on FINRA. IBM's stock cratered 20% on a Q2 miss from chip-spending shifts, Spotify launched a voice-control feature, Kalshi debuted an AI compute forward curve, and Anthropic studied Claude's values. Demis Hassabis proposes a US-based Standards Body for "Frontier-class" AI, modeled after FINRA; labs would share models for review up to 30 days before release (X) Demis Hassabis proposes a US-based Standards Body for "Frontier-
July 13, 2026

Apple Sues OpenAI

Apple sued OpenAI, alleging ex-employees stole trade secrets for its hardware push. Twelve states sued to block the Paramount-WBD merger, Anthropic extended free Fable 5 access as rivals raced on price, and Meta killed its Instagram AI opt-out feature. Apple sues OpenAI, alleging that ex-Apple employees stole "Apple's trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI", and says OpenAI never responded to its concerns (9to5Mac) A coalition of 12 states led by California files an antitrust lawsuit to block
July 10, 2026

The New GPT

OpenAI broadly released GPT-5.6 and launched ChatGPT Work, targeting Anthropic. Fidji Simo stepped down from OpenAI citing health, the EU found Meta's "addictive design" violates the DSA, Polymarket sought margin trading approval, and SK Hynix debuted on Nasdaq raising $26.5B. OpenAI broadly releases GPT-5.6, and launches ChatGPT Work, an AI agent that can gather context across apps and files to create documents, on macOS and Windows (Axios) OpenAI broadly releases GPT-5.6, and launches ChatGP
July 9, 2026

The Day Of All The Models

SpaceXAI debuted Grok 4.5 with Cursor, targeting Opus-level performance at lower cost. Meta launched Muse Spark 1.1 via API, OpenAI rolled out full-duplex GPT-Live voice models, PrismML ran the largest AI model on an iPhone, and Character.AI launched AI microdramas. SpaceXAI debuts Grok 4.5, its first model built in partnership with Cursor, designed to "handle difficult, long-running tasks" across finance, legal, and coding (Bloomberg) Meta releases Muse Spark 1.1, capable of more advanced cod
July 8, 2026

China (AI) Rising

Chinese AI models grabbed over 30% of US token use as Beijing weighed curbing access. Anthropic expanded Cowork to mobile and web, Meta launched its first AI image generator on Instagram and WhatsApp, and Xbox's $80B Game Pass bet failed. OpenRouter: Chinese AI models have drawn 30%+ of token use by US companies each week since February 8, peaking at 46%, up from 11% over the previous 12 months (CNBC) Chinese authorities have held meetings with top tech firms about potentially restricting over
July 7, 2026

Xbox Decimated By Layoffs

Microsoft laid off ~4,800 employees and gutted Xbox by 3,200 jobs while divesting five studios. Samsung's profit rocketed past Nvidia's, Meta faced a $1.4 trillion lawsuit demand, xAI rebranded to SpaceXAI, and Anthropic researchers found a hidden "J-space" inside Claude. Microsoft is laying off ~4,800 employees, or ~2.1% of its workforce; most are in sales or Xbox, where ~20% of jobs are set to be cut by the end of FY 2027 (The Verge) Microsoft's Xbox to Cut 3,200 Jobs, Divest Five Studios in
July 5, 2026

(BNS) Using AI To Manage Your Back Yard

This is the article we reference in the conversation: My yard is dying, so I made an app for that (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 2, 2026

(BNS) How I Used AI To Transform My Job

In the fast-paced world of live sports broadcasting, the role of a vision mixer is crucial yet often overlooked. Today, we’re diving into the insights shared by David Steer, an experienced vision mixer currently working at the World Cup in Mexico, who used AI to change how he did his job. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
July 2, 2026

OpenAI To Give It Away?

OpenAI floated giving the US government a 5% stake to court the Trump administration. Nvidia promised to backstop cloud providers for a revenue cut, SpaceX showed investors an xAI phone prototype, Apple ramped foldable iPhone orders, and Z.ai launched ZCode. Sources: OpenAI has discussed giving a 5% stake to the US government, seeking to clear political obstacles by securing buy-in from the Trump administration (FT) Nvidia promises to financially backstop young cloud providers like Firmus that
July 1, 2026

NOW Fable's Back?

Anthropic said Commerce lifted export controls on Fable 5 and Mythos 5, restoring access Wednesday, and launched Sonnet 5. Sony is ending PlayStation game discs in 2028, a 140-company group unveiled Open USD, and Meta's building a cloud business. Anthropic says the Department of Commerce has lifted export controls on Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 and that it will begin restoring access Wednesday (X) Anthropic says the Department of Commerce has lifted export controls on Claude Fable 5 and Mythos
June 30, 2026

Comcast Spins Out

Comcast moved to spin off NBCUniversal and Sky into a new public company. The Supreme Court limited geofence warrants, Australia sued Amazon over Prime Video ads, Chamath returned to lead his AI coding startup, and Gemini's image generation went free. Comcast plans to spin off its media and entertainment assets, including NBCUniversal and Sky, into a new publicly traded entity, set to close by mid-2027 (Variety) SCOTUS limits the law enforcement use of "geofence" warrants, saying people have "

About the Host

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Brian McCullough

Host, Techmeme Ride Home

Brian McCullough is the co-founder of Ride Home Media and host of The Techmeme Ride Home. He founded ResumeWriters.com and is the author of How the Internet Happened: From Netscape to the iPhone.

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