Tech Brew Ride Home

Grok and X have been letting people create some risqué and in some cases, probably illegal images, and governments around the world are getting pissed. Does Google think AI can obviate your email inbox? And would you upload your medical history to ChatGPT? Sam Altman is asking you to. Grok Is Generating Sexual Content Far More Graphic Than What's on X (Wired) Google is taking over your Gmail inbox with AI (The Verge) OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health, encouraging users to connect their medical records (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

xAI has raised another monster round. Polymarket has yet another controversy around whether a bet should pay out or not. Could the AI datacenter buildout actually disrupt politics in local America? And a sort of roundup of what’s been at CES so far. Elon Musk’s xAI Raises $20 Billion (NYTimes) Polymarket refuses to pay bets that US would ‘invade’ Venezuela (FT) Americans Hate AI. Which Party Will Benefit? (Politico) The data center rebellion is here, and it’s reshaping the political landscape (Washington Post) Three Reasons We Can’t Get Enough of LinkedIn (WSJ) What surprised us the most at CES 2026 (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nvidia launches its next chip platform. AMD says, hey, us too! Also, did you know Nvidia is building self-driving car platforms? Did you know Dell is bring the XPS brand back? And did you know that the most interesting product launch I’ve seen so far has come from Lego? Nvidia launches Vera Rubin AI computing platform at CES 2026 (The Verge) AMD shows off new higher performing AI chip at CES event (Reuters) I tested Nvidia’s Tesla Full Self-Driving competitor — Tesla should be worried (The Verge) Dell Admits It Made a Huge Mistake When It Abandoned XPS (Gizmodo) Robot Vacuum Maker Roborock Shows Off Stair-Climbing Model With Legs (Bloomberg) Lego announces Smart Brick, the ‘most significant evolution’ in 50 years (The Verge) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coming to you live from Las Vegas with the first of the CES madness. More signs that insider betting on prediction markets is going to become something we’re going to have to live with. Is Reddit bigger than TikTok now, at least by one measure? And how Reels became bigger than YouTube by maybe the most important measure. Exclusive: Samsung to double AI mobile devices to 800 million units this year (Reuters) Voice control opening and closing comes to Samsung’s Family Hub smart fridges (The Verge) Someone made a ton of money betting on Maduro’s capture (The Verge) SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to launch landmark IPOs (Financial Times) Reddit overtakes TikTok in UK thanks to search algorithms and gen Z (The Guardian) How Meta’s Reels Became a $50 Billion Business (WSJ) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More on Manus, who they are, how they got positioned to sell, and more on what Meta wants to do with them. Open AI is paying employees more than anyone in history. The TriFold phone is a bit a dud. And, of course, the weekend longreads suggestion. How Meta’s Newest Acquisition Target Got Around Worries Over Its Ties to China (WSJ) Manus: The Hands of AI Fate (Spyglass) Musk’s xAI Buys Building to Expand ‘Colossus’ Data Center (Bloomberg) OpenAI Is Paying Employees More Than Any Major Tech Startup in History (WSJ) AI Trade’s Next Leg Is All About Tech’s ‘Pick-and-Shovel’ Stocks (Bloomberg) Samsung’s First Trifold Phone Is Expensive and Half-Baked (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestion: 2025 letter (Zhengdong Wang) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices