- An interview with Niantic CEO John Hanke on the company selling its games business, pivoting to enterprise AI, returning to its digital mapping roots, and more (Richard Nieva/Forbes)
- UK-based R3, a blockchain tech developer for financial institutions, partners with the Solana Foundation to let R3 customers use the Solana blockchain (Philip Stafford/Financial Times)
- Sources: companies co-owned by JPMorgan Chase, BOA, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and other large commercial banks are exploring whether to issue a joint stablecoin (Wall Street Journal)
- Bluesky lets "notable and authentic" accounts apply for blue check verification and enables select organizations to become Trusted Verifiers to verify others (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)
- Valve releases SteamOS 3.7.8, adding support for the Lenovo Legion Go S, a recovery image to install SteamOS on other AMD handhelds like the ROG Ally, and more (Sean Hollister/The Verge)
- Meta is testing turning images on some Instagram feeds into 3D photos on the Instagram app for Quest, as well as a new Horizon OS interface called Navigator (David Heaney/UploadVR)
- The US DOJ indicts a Russian national for allegedly leading the Qakbot malware operation that infected 700K+ computers and enabled ransomware attacks for years (Ionut Ilascu/BleepingComputer)
- The US FTC drops a case that sought to block Microsoft's $69B purchase of Activision Blizzard, saying that pursuing the case was not in the public interest (Jody Godoy/Reuters)
- Sources: OnlyFans owner Fenix is in talks to sell OnlyFans to an investor group led by Forest Road Company at an ~$8B valuation and is also considering an IPO (Reuters)
- Anthropic releases new API features for building agents: a code execution tool, MCP connector, Files API, and extended prompt caching, all in public beta (Anthropic)
- Leaked memo: YouTube hired longtime Disney executive Justin Connolly to serve as its global head of media and sports, a newly created position (Lucas Shaw/Bloomberg)
- The US DOJ charges 16 individuals allegedly linked to a Russia-based malware operation known as DanaBot that infected 300,000+ machines globally (Andy Greenberg/Wired)
- State lawmakers and AGs from both parties, Democrats, consumer advocates, and others oppose GOP's push to ban state AI regulations for the next 10 years (Will Oremus/Washington Post)
- Sources: the US FTC is investigating whether Media Matters illegally colluded with advertisers; Elon Musk sued the advocacy group in 2023 (New York Times)
- Sources: Apple aims to release smart glasses at the end of 2026 as part of a push into AI devices, but has shelved plans for an Apple Watch with a camera (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)