Samsung says Ballie, a robot announced six years ago but never released, is an "active innovation platform" within the company helping inform other products (Chris Welch/Bloomberg)
Bloomberg.com
Samsung’s Rolling Ballie Robot Indefinitely Shelved After Delays
Samsung Electronics Co. has once again sidelined Ballie, a long-anticipated robot that was first announced six years ago but never released.
Techmeme
Samsung appears to have shelved Ballie, a robot it announced six years ago but never released, calling it an “active innovation platform” within the company
By Chris Welch / Bloomberg. View the full context on Techmeme.
Sources: to hedge against Beijing approval risk, Nvidia is requiring Chinese customers to pay upfront for H200 chips, with no cancellations, refunds, or changes (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/world/china/nvidia-requires-full-upfront-payment-h200-chips-china-sources-say-2026-01-08/
Techmeme
Sources: to hedge against Beijing approval risk, Nvidia is requiring Chinese customers to pay upfront for H200 chips, with no cancellations, refunds, or changes
From Reuters. View the full context on Techmeme.
Ubisoft closes its mobile-focused Halifax studio weeks after majority of the workers voted to unionize, as CWA Canada says it is "demanding information" (Chris Kerr/Game Developer)
Game Developer
Ubisoft closes Halifax studio weeks after devs vote to unionize
Workers at the Canadian studio voted to unionize in December in search of security in an era of
Techmeme
Ubisoft closes its mobile game-focused Halifax studio, weeks after the majority of the workers voted to unionize; CWA Canada says it is “demanding information”
By Chris Kerr / Game Developer. View the full context on Techmeme.
Microsoft's chief scientist Eric Horvitz warns that the US' cuts to academic research funding could push talent abroad and hand rivals an edge in the AI race (Financial Times)
Client Challenge
Techmeme
Microsoft Chief Scientific Officer Eric Horvitz warns that the US
From Financial Times. View the full context on Techmeme.
Grok's website and app are being used to produce extremely graphic, sometimes violent, sexual imagery of adults that is far more explicit than images on X (Wired)
WIRED
Grok Is Generating Sexual Content Far More Graphic Than What's on X
A WIRED review of outputs hosted on Grok’s official website shows it’s being used to create violent sexual images and videos, as well as conten...
Techmeme
Grok
From Wired. View the full context on Techmeme.
Chinese AI company Zhipu opened up 3.3% in its Hong Kong trading debut after raising ~$558M in its IPO at a valuation of about $6.55B (Yantoultra Ngui/Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/chinese-tech-companies-led-by-zhipu-ai-climb-hong-kong-debut-2026-01-08/
Techmeme
Chinese AI company Z.ai closed up 13.2% in its Hong Kong trading debut, after raising ~$558M in its IPO at a ~$6.55B valuation, amid a flurry of AI startup IPOs
By Yantoultra Ngui / Reuters. View the full context on Techmeme.
Sources: OpenAI last fall set aside RSUs worth 10% of the company, which was valued in October at $500B; it has already awarded about $80B in vested equity (Sri Muppidi/The Information) https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-reserves-50-billion-stock-grant-pool
Techmeme
Sources: OpenAI last fall set aside RSUs worth 10% of the startup, which was valued in October 2025 at $500B; OpenAI has already awarded ~$80B in vested equity
By Sri Muppidi / The Information. View the full context on Techmeme.
Cyera researchers detail Ni8mare, a critical RCE flaw that lets hackers access local instances of the n8n workflow automation platform, impacting ~100K servers (Bill Toulas/BleepingComputer)
BleepingComputer
Max severity Ni8mare flaw lets hackers hijack n8n servers
A maximum severity vulnerability dubbed "Ni8mare" allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to take control over locally deployed instances of the N...
Techmeme
Cyera researchers detail Ni8mare, a critical RCE flaw that lets attackers access local instances of workflow automation platform n8n, impacting ~100K servers
By Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer. View the full context on Techmeme.
Ford plans to launch an AI voice assistant on its apps this year before expanding to its vehicles in 2027, and aims to debut Level 3 autonomous driving in 2028 (Andrew J. Hawkins/The Verge)
The Verge
Ford’s AI voice assistant is coming later this year, L3 driving in 2028
Ford is shooting for vertical integration.
Techmeme
Ford plans to add an AI voice assistant to its apps in 2026 before expanding it to its vehicles in 2027, and aims to debut Level 3 autonomous driving in 2028
By Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge. View the full context on Techmeme.
Arm creates a "Physical AI" unit to focus on robotics and automotive sectors, as part of a reorganization that includes "Cloud and AI" and "Edge" business units (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/arm-launches-physical-ai-division-expand-robotics-market-2026-01-07/
Techmeme
Arm forms a Physical AI unit focused on robotics and automotive sectors, as part of a reorganization that also includes “Cloud and AI” and “Edge” business units
From Reuters. View the full context on Techmeme.