TikTok has formed a joint venture to keep its platform operating in
the US. Adam Presser will be the CEO of TikTok USDS Joint Venture
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TLDR
TOGETHER WITH [Kaggle] [4]
TLDR 2026-01-23
KAGGLE LAUNCHES COMMUNITY BENCHMARKS FOR ANYONE TO BUILD THEIR OWN AI EVALS (SPONSOR) [4]
As AI evolves at an unprecedented pace, measuring intelligence
requires more than a few AI research labs alone – it requires the
imagination and collective expertise of the global community. That's
why Kaggle launched Community Benchmarks, a new way for anyone to
build, design, run and share custom benchmarks for evaluating AI
models AT NO COST.
Community Benchmarks [4] enable you to build evaluations easily. With
free access to state-of-the-art AI models (subject to quota), support
for multimodal inputs/outputs, tool use, and an easy-to-use interface,
you can start building right away!
→ Learn more [5]
→ Watch the tutorial [4]
→ Get started [6]
📱
BIG TECH & STARTUPS
TIKTOK FORMS US JOINT VENTURE, NAMES ADAM PRESSER CEO (4 MINUTE READ)
[7]
TikTok has formed a joint venture to keep its platform operating in
the US. Adam Presser, who has worked at TikTok for almost four years
and was previously a senior executive at Warner Bros., will be the CEO
of TikTok USDS Joint Venture. TikTok CEO Shou Chew will be a director.
The joint venture will operate under defined safeguards that protect
national security.
CAPITAL ONE STRIKES $5.15 BILLION DEAL FOR FINTECH BREX (3 MINUTE
READ) [8]
Capital One Financial has agreed to buy Brex for $5.15 billion in
cash and stock. Brex launched in 2017 to cater to startups that ran
into difficulties getting corporate cards from traditional players. It
is one of the youngest US startups to join the billion-dollar
valuation club. Capital One expects to close the deal in the second
quarter.
🚀
SCIENCE & FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGY
TESLA LAUNCHES PUBLIC ROBOTAXI RIDES IN AUSTIN WITH NO SAFETY MONITOR
(3 MINUTE READ) [9]
Tesla Robotaxi riders in Austin, Texas, are now able to hail a Model
Y Robotaxi without anyone in the vehicle. The company has removed the
human Safety Monitors that have been present in its robotaxis since
launch last June. The change has not rolled out to the entire fleet
yet. Videos of riders experiencing the driverless service are
available in the article.
TESLA WILL SELL HUMANOID ROBOTS BY END OF 2027 (2 MINUTE READ) [10]
Elon Musk says he expects Tesla to begin selling humanoid robots to
the public by the end of 2027. Tesla's Optimus robots are already
performing simple tasks in the company's factories. There are still
profound technological challenges remaining for humanoid robots,
including basic issues like hand function. Musk has warned that
initial production for Optimus and the Cybercab will be agonizingly
slow, but eventually will end up being insanely fast.
💻
PROGRAMMING, DESIGN & DATA SCIENCE
BUILD AN AGENT INTO ANY APP WITH THE GITHUB COPILOT SDK (4 MINUTE
READ) [11]
GitHub Copilot SDK allows developers to embed the same agentic core
that powers GitHub Copilot CLI into any application. It provides
programmatic access to the same production-tested execution loop, so
developers don't have to manage context across turns, orchestrate
tools and commands, route between models, integrate MCP servers, or
think through permissions, safety boundaries, and failure modes. The
SDK also provides support for multiple AI models, custom tool
definitions, GitHub authentication, and real-time streaming. It is now available in technical preview.
EXPOSING SAAS FUNCTIONALITY TO AGENTS IN LIEU OF MCP (9 MINUTE READ)
[12]
There is a lot of power in composing CLIs. With some creativity, it's
possible for an individual to maintain CLIs instead of an MCP server.
This post discusses how to expose SaaS functionality to agents without
MCP. It provides examples of how to do so by giving an agent access to
Google Docs and to Google Groups.
🎁
MISCELLANEOUS
AN INTERVIEW WITH NETFLIX CO-CEO GREG PETERS ABOUT ENGAGEMENT AND
WARNER BROS. (58 MINUTE READ) [13]
Netflix is facing increasing skepticism from Wall Street due to its
intention to acquire Warner Bros. The decision is a stark departure
from Netflix's build-not-buy philosophy. This article contains an
interview with Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters where he discusses why
engagement is an important metric and how live events play into that,
the Warner Bros. acquisition, why Peters is convinced it is a home
run, and the company's arguments as to why regulators should allow the acquisition. The interview is available as a podcast.
MY TIME AT AMAZON, PART I (18 MINUTE READ) [14]
Becca Selah joined Amazon in April of 2019, six months after becoming
a mother. This post takes a look at her time at the company. It covers
Amazon's levels, work/life balance, vacations, vesting, and more.
Selah left a year and two days into her tenure with an unceremonious
exit.
⚡
QUICK LINKS
TLDR IS HIRING A SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER, APPLIED AI ($200K-$300K,
FULLY REMOTE) [15]
As the first engineer on TLDR's new Applied AI team, you'll build AI
agents and composable Claude Skills to let non-technical teammates
create their own AI workflows. Learn more [16].
APPLE EXPANDS HARDWARE CHIEF'S ROLE IN LATEST SIGN OF CEO CANDIDACY
(8 MINUTE READ) [17]
Apple's hardware chief John Ternus' role now includes design work, a
role that has long been entrusted to a senior leader.
THE AI START-UP SOAP OPERA RIVETING SILICON VALLEY (8 MINUTE READ)
[18]
Barret Zoph's firing from Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab has
resulted in several employees leaving for OpenAI and other companies.
STATE OF MARKETS (3 MINUTE READ) [19]
a16z's State of Markets slide deck shares what the firm sees in the
private and public markets, what it thinks the state of AI looks like,
and why today's winners are just built different.
EPIC AND GOOGLE HAVE A SECRET $800 MILLION UNREAL ENGINE AND SERVICES
DEAL (2 MINUTE READ) [20]
Epic helped Google market Android, and in return, Google helped
market Fortnite.
MICROSOFT IS USING CLAUDE CODE INTERNALLY WHILE SELLING YOU COPILOT
(1 MINUTE READ) [21]
Microsoft's Windows, Teams, M365, and other divisions have been told
to install Claude Code for internal testing alongside Copilot.
AMAZON PLANS THOUSANDS MORE CORPORATE JOB CUTS NEXT WEEK (2 MINUTE
READ) [22]
The job cuts are part of the company's broader goal of cutting about
10% of its corporate workforce.
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[12]
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