John Pavlus / Fast Company:
A profile of Byron Cook, a VP at Amazon who is leading the company's effort to reduce AI hallucinations with a feature called Automated Reasoning Checks  —  Byron Cook, a VP and distinguished scientist at Amazon, is helping the company use an obscure type of AI to minimize artificial intelligence's worst side effect.

Matthias Bastian / The Decoder:
ChatGPT head says screenshots of ChatGPT ads are “either not real or not ads”; OpenAI's research chief says “anything that feels like an ad” is now turned off  —  Paid ChatGPT users recently reported seeing a prompt labeled “Shop for home and groceries.

SemiAnalysis:
A technical deep dive into Amazon's Trainium3 accelerator, including its server SKUs' specifications, silicon design, power budget, and bill of materials  —  Step-Function Software & System Improvements, “Amazon Basics” GB200 NVL36x2, NL72x2/NL32x2 Scale Up Rack Architecture, Optimized Perf per TCO, Trainium4

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple's chip chief Johny Srouji told Tim Cook that he is seriously considering leaving soon; some execs floated elevating him to the CTO role  —  Apple Inc., long the model of stability in Silicon Valley, is suddenly undergoing its biggest personnel shake-up in decades …

Kat Tenbarge / Wired:
Some Reddit moderators say a surge of AI slop on the site is eroding its authenticity and could lead to a feedback loop of AI models training on AI content  —  Reddit is considered one of the most human spaces left on the internet, but mods and users are overwhelmed with slop posts in the most popular subreddits.

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
A look at Phreeli, a privacy-focused phone carrier that lets users sign up with only a ZIP code and uses an encryption system based on “zero-knowledge proofs”  —  Privacy stalwart Nicholas Merrill spent a decade fighting an FBI surveillance order.

Sam Kriss / New York Times:
A look at various quirks in AI-generated prose, mainly influenced by “overfitting” in AI models, as humans increasingly mimic AI language in writing and speech  —  If only they were robotic!  Instead, chatbots have developed a distinctive — and grating — voice.

Bloomberg:
Short seller Grizzly shorts London-listed Trustpilot, alleging the review site pressures businesses to pay for subscriptions; Trustpilot refutes the claims  —  Shares in Trustpilot Group Plc had their steepest ever one-day drop after Grizzly Research said it holds a short position and published …

Tyler Kingkade / NBC News:
Parents are pressuring LA Unified, the second-largest US school district, to reduce mandatory student screen time on school-issued iPads and Chromebooks  —  A growing contingent of public school parents say school-mandated iPads, particularly in elementary and middle schools, are leading to behavior problems.

Abram Brown / The Information:
Source: Microsoft is in talks to design future custom chips with Broadcom, which would involve Microsoft switching its business from Marvell  —  Microsoft is in talks to design future custom chips with Broadcom, which would involve Microsoft switching its business from Marvell …

Jyoti Mann / Business Insider:
Leaked memos: Meta is delaying the release of its MR glasses codenamed “Phoenix” from H2 2026 to H1 2027 for “more breathing room to get the details right”  —  - Meta delays the release of its “Phoenix” mixed reality glasses to 2027, aiming to “get the details right.”

OpenRouter:
An analysis of 100T+ tokens from the past year shows reasoning models now represent over half of all usage, open-weight model use has grown steadily, and more  —  An Empirical 100 Trillion Token Study with OpenRouter  —  Malika Aubakirova*Alex Atallah†Chris Clark†Justin Summerville†Anjney Midha*

Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
Seattle-based Yoodli, which sells AI-powered communication training software, raised a $40M Series B led by WestBridge Capital, valuing the startup at $300M+  —  Yoodli, an AI-powered communication training startup, has reached a valuation of more than $300 million — more than triple …

Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Waymo plans to issue a voluntary software recall over how its robotaxis operate around school buses following an NHTSA investigation opened in October  —  Waymo plans to voluntarily issue a software recall with federal safety regulators related to how its robotaxis operate around school buses …

Bloomberg:
A US judge rules Google must renegotiate annually any contract that makes its search engine or AI app the default on smartphones and other devices  —  Alphabet Inc.'s Google must renegotiate any contract to make its search engine or artificial intelligence app the default for smartphones …

Ted Johnson / Deadline:
A look at the uphill battle to win regulatory approval for Netflix's acquisition of WBD, and the roles of the US DOJ, EU regulators, and state attorneys general  —  In the hours since it was announced, Trump has not yet weighed in, and the White House has said little.

Chris Kerr / Game Developer:
WBD confirms that Warner Bros. Games will be acquired by Netflix along with its wider streaming and television business  —  A Warner Bros. spokesperson has confirmed the video game division will be acquired by Netflix alongside its wider streaming and television business.

Echo Wang / Reuters:
Meta acquires Limitless, which makes a pendant-style AI wearable that records and transcribes real-world conversations; Limitless has raised more than $33M  —  Meta (META.O) has acquired AI-wearables startup Limitless, maker of a pendant-style device that records and transcribes real-world conversations …

Katie Roof / The Information:
Sources: SpaceX has told investors and financial institution representatives that it is aiming for an IPO in the second half of 2026  —  Elon Musk's SpaceX has told investors and financial institution representatives that it is aiming for an initial public offering in the second half of next year …

Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
Netflix's WBD bid marks a striking strategy shift for a company long known for pivots, especially after years of avoiding full commitment to theatrical releases  —  The streaming giant has changed its strategy many times over the years.  But the decision to get deeply into theatrical releases may be the most startling yet.