Emil Protalinski
@emilprotalinski.bsky.social
emilprotalinski.com Consultant for startups and VCs Editor @techmeme.com formerly Executive Editor, VentureBeat other bylines: GeekWire, The Next Web, ZDNet, CNET, TechSpot, Ars Technica
I'm back. Introducing the Hard Coded newsletter, where I share my knowledge, thoughts, and firm opinions about the most compelling tech news of the week: hardcoded.insightmediagroup.io Oh, and no, I will not be AI-generating Hard Coded. That market is oversaturated.
There are plenty of products that will clearly get worse with generative AI. Google Earth is near the top of the list.
Techmeme@techmeme.com · 5d agoGoogle rolls back an image generation tool in Google Earth to add "stronger guardrails" after concerns arose it can be used to create deepfake satellite imagery (Geoff Brumfiel/NPR) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
I didn't know Om for very long, but for the handful of times we spoke, he was kind, generous with his time, and incredibly genuine.
Techmeme@techmeme.com · last mo.Om Malik, a longtime technology writer, founder of Gigaom, and a partner at True Ventures, died on Wednesday at 59 (Om Malik/On my Om) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
I got a free Pizza Hut pizza when Canada won at the World Cup. Uber is flipping the script in all the wrong ways:
This headline has everything an editor could dream of.
Techmeme@techmeme.com · 2mo agoA US judge rejects Meta's bid to dismiss a lawsuit from Strike 3, which owns porn production companies, that alleges Meta torrented its videos for AI training (Ernesto Van der Sar/TorrentFreak) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
SpaceX is now a public company, making Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.
Is an AI price war coming? OpenAI is reportedly considering drastically lowering the prices it charges users for tokens (www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...). The AI startup is anticipating Anthropic to make similar cuts, so it’s weighing its options.
5 things you should know about Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5:
OpenAI is going public, but not immediately. OpenAI has confidentially filed for an IPO, alongside an unexpected statement:
It looks like Google wants to start a price war just as the unprofitable Anthropic and OpenAI prepare to go public.
Techmeme@techmeme.com · 2mo agoGoogle lowers the price of its Google AI Plus plan to $4.99 per month, down from $7.99, and doubles the included storage to 400GB (Abner Li/9to5Google) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
6 Nvidia announcements you should know about from Computex 2026:
Anthropic has overtaken OpenAI’s valuation. Anthropic has raised a $65 billion Series H funding round at a $965 billion post-money valuation (www.anthropic.com/news/series-h). This is more than double Anthropic’s previous valuation in February and above OpenAI's $852 billion valuation in March.
Would you pay for Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp? Meta has globally rolled out Facebook Plus for $4 per month, Instagram Plus for $4 per month, and WhatsApp Plus for $3 per month (techcrunch.com/2026/05/27/m...).
China continues to smile and nod at Trump and Huang while still blocking Nvidia chip sales in the country. Actions speak louder than words.
Techmeme@techmeme.com · 3mo agoDocument and sources: China banned Nvidia's RTX 5090D V2 chip, aimed at gamers and animators, while Jensen Huang was visiting China with Donald Trump last week (Financial Times) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
