Appfigures: global consumer spending in mobile apps on the App Store and Google Play rose 21.6% YoY to $155.8B in 2025, but app downloads dropped 2.7% to 106.9B (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)
TechCrunch
App downloads declined again in 2025, but consumer spending soared to nearly $156B | TechCrunch
Global app downloads were down, but consumer spending was up to nearly $156B in 2025.
Techmeme
Appfigures: global consumer mobile app spending on Apple
By Sarah Perez / TechCrunch. View the full context on Techmeme.
Microsoft agrees to buy a record 2.85M soil carbon credits from Indigo Carbon linked to regenerative US agriculture; a source values the deal at $171M-$228M (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/microsoft-record-deal-soil-carbon-credits-data-centres-surge-2026-01-15/
Techmeme
Microsoft agrees to buy a record 2.85M soil carbon credits from Indigo Carbon linked to regenerative US agriculture; a source values the deal at $171M to $228M
From Reuters. View the full context on Techmeme.
Hong Kong-based WeLab, which operates two digital banks in Hong Kong and Indonesia, raised $220M in equity and debt from HSBC, Prudential Hong Kong, and others (Denise Wee/Bloomberg)
Bloomberg.com
HSBC, Prudential in $220 Million Funding for Hong Kong’s WeLab
Hong Kong-based fintech firm WeLab Ltd. has secured $220 million from investors including HSBC Holdings Plc and Prudential Hong Kong Ltd. in its la...
Techmeme
Hong Kong-based WeLab, which runs digital banks WeLab in Hong Kong and Saqu in Indonesia, raised $220M in equity and debt from HSBC, Prudential HK, and others
By Denise Wee / Bloomberg. View the full context on Techmeme.
Blockchain-based lender Figure unveils the On-Chain Public Equity Network to issue, trade, and lend stocks natively on a blockchain, not as tokenized replicas (Kyle Baird/The Block) https://www.theblock.co/post/385595/figure-onchain-equity-network-aimed-remaking-stock-trading-lending
Techmeme
Blockchain-based lender Figure unveils the On-Chain Public Equity Network to issue, trade, and lend stocks natively on a blockchain, not as tokenized replicas
By Kyle Baird / The Block. View the full context on Techmeme.
Source: Apple's Google Gemini deal will be a cloud contract where Apple pays Google; another source says OpenAI declined to be Apple's custom model provider (Financial Times)
Client Challenge
Techmeme
Source: Apple
From Financial Times. View the full context on Techmeme.
OpenAI quietly rolls out ChatGPT Translate, a standalone website that currently supports plain text translations across 50+ languages (Adamya Sharma/Android Authority)
Android Authority
ChatGPT Translate is here to take on Google Translate, but the battle is just beginning
OpenAI has quietly launched ChatGPT Translate, a Google Translate competitor with AI smarts to personalize translations.
Techmeme
OpenAI quietly rolls out ChatGPT Translate, a standalone website that supports plain text translations across 50+ languages and features prompt customization
By Adamya Sharma / Android Authority. View the full context on Techmeme.
TSMC reports Q4 net profit up 35% YoY to a record ~$16B, handily beating estimates, as it benefited from surging demand for AI chips (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/world/china/tsmc-q4-profit-jumps-35-record-beats-expectations-2026-01-15/
Techmeme
TSMC reports Q4 net profit up 35% YoY to a record ~$16B, above $15.17B est., as it benefited from surging demand for AI chips and hit $100B in 2025 revenue
From Reuters. View the full context on Techmeme.
Sources: China is drafting rules for Nvidia H200 purchases, limiting how many chips local companies can buy and requiring them to justify the need (Nikkei Asia)
Nikkei Asia
China drafting purchase rules for Nvidia H200 chips
Beijing wants to boost domestic industry, but big tech companies need top hardware
Techmeme
Sources: China is drafting Nvidia H200 purchase rules, limiting how many chips local companies can buy and requiring them to justify the need, instead of a ban
From Nikkei Asia. View the full context on Techmeme.
A source close to Thinking Machines alleged that ex-CTO Barret Zoph, who is returning to OpenAI, had shared confidential company information with competitors (Maxwell Zeff/Wired)
WIRED
Two Thinking Machines Lab Cofounders Are Leaving to Rejoin OpenAI
The departures are a blow for Thinking Machines Lab. Two narratives are already emerging about why they happened.
Techmeme
A source close to Thinking Machines Lab alleges ex-CTO Barret Zoph, who is returning to OpenAI, had shared confidential company information with competitors
By Maxwell Zeff / Wired. View the full context on Techmeme.
GlobalFoundries agrees to acquire Synopsys' ARC processor IP business, which includes ARC-V (RISC-V) and ARC CPU IP, and integrate it into its MIPS business (Nitin Dahad/EE Times) https://www.eetimes.com/globalfoundries-mips-to-buy-arc-ip-business-from-synopsys/
Techmeme
GlobalFoundries agrees to acquire Synopsys
By Nitin Dahad / EE Times. View the full context on Techmeme.