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The US imposes 25% tariff on Nvidia’s H200 AI chips headed to China; plus, OpenAI invests in Sam Altman’s brain computer interface startup Merge Labs Jan 15, 2026

Show notes

The Trump administration formalized its 25% cut of H200 chip sales in China with a tariff that applies to certain semiconductors.

Also, OpenAI is participating in a $250 million seed round into Merge Labs, Sam Altman's brain computer interface startup. The startup is valued at $850 million.

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AI models are starting to crack high-level math problems Jan 15, 2026

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Since the release of GPT 5.2, AI tools have become inescapable in high-level mathematics.

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Tesla will only offer subscriptions for FSD (Supervised) going forward; plus, parents can block kids from watching Shorts Jan 14, 2026

Show notes

It's a huge change to Tesla's approach with FSD, and it could impact Musk's $1T pay package and the company's myriad legal troubles.

Also, parents will be able toggle the Shorts time limit on connected children's accounts.

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New York governor clears path for robotaxis except in NYC; plus, Microsoft announces glut of new data centers Jan 14, 2026

Show notes

New York City will be a notable exclusion from proposed legislation to legalize commercial robotaxis across the state.

The tech giant has pledged to be a "good neighbor" as it continues to invest in AI infrastructure throughout the country.

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Amazon says 97% of its devices can support Alexa+ Jan 13, 2026

Show notes

Announced early last year, Alexa+ is Amazon’s future in the generative AI market, offering more expressive voices, access to world knowledge similar to other AI assistants, and AI agents that perform tasks on behalf of the customer — like calling an Uber or ordering food.

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Mark Zuckerberg says Meta is launching its own AI infrastructure initiative Jan 13, 2026

Show notes

“Meta is planning to build tens of gigawatts this decade, and hundreds of gigawatts or more over time. How we engineer, invest, and partner to build this infrastructure will become a strategic advantage,” Zuckerberg said, in a post on Threads.

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Google announces a new protocol to facilitate commerce using AI agents Jan 12, 2026

Show notes

The standard, developed with companies like Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart, lets agents work across different parts of customer buying processes, including discovery and post-purchase support.

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Indonesia and Malaysia block Grok over non-consensual, sexualized deepfakes Jan 12, 2026

Show notes

These are the most aggressive moves so far from government officials responding to a flood of sexualized, AI-generated imagery — often depicting real women and minors, and sometimes depicting violence — posted by Grok in response to requests from users on the social network X.

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The venture firm that ate Silicon Valley just raised another $15 billion; plus, X restricts Grok’s image generation to paying subscribers only Jan 09, 2026

Show notes

In a blog post published Friday morning, Ben Horowitz writes that "as the American leader in Venture Capital, the fate of new technology in the United States rests partly on our shoulders." It's the kind of statement certain to cause agita at rival firms.

Also, Elon Musk's AI company has restricted Grok's controversial AI image-generation feature to only paying subscribers on X, after the tool invited heated criticism from across the world for letting users generate sexualized images of women and children.

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Critics pan spyware maker NSO’s transparency claims amid its push to enter US market Jan 09, 2026

Show notes

The infamous spyware maker released a new transparency report claiming to be a responsible spyware maker, without providing insight into how the company dealt with problematic customers in the past.

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