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Daily Tech News Roundup - 2025-12-15

1. How iRobot lost its way home
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/14/how-irobot-lost-its-way-home/
Summary: iRobot survived three decades of competition, but couldn't survive European regulators killing its Amazon buyout. Now it's being taken over by its own supplier in bankruptcy court.

2. WhatsApp’s biggest market is becoming its toughest test
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/14/whatsapps-biggest-market-is-becoming-its-toughest-test/
Summary: Meta has three months to comply with Indian government directions that could affect how WhatsApp operates in the country.

3. You need to listen to Sudan Archives’ violin opus for the club
Source: https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/844447/sudan-archives-the-bpm
Summary: My introduction to Sudan Archives was the song "Nont for Sale" from her first EP Sink in 2018. I've been a die-hard fan ever since. With each album, she finds new ways to sculpt the sound of her violin, contorting it in defiance of expectations. Athena found her in conversation with it, leaving its timbre […]

4. Grok got crucial facts wrong about Bondi Beach shooting
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/14/grok-gets-the-facts-wrong-about-bondi-beach-shooting/
Summary: Grok, the chatbot built by Elon Musk’s xAI and popularized on his social media platform X, appears to have repeatedly spread misinformation about today’s mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Australia.

5. Mesa shuts down credit card that rewarded cardholders for paying their mortgages
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/14/mesa-shuts-down-credit-card-that-rewarded-cardholders-for-paying-their-mortgages/
Summary: Fintech startup Mesa has shut down its Homeowners Card, which awarded points to cardholders for paying their mortgages.

6. Grok is spreading misinformation about the Bondi Beach shooting
Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/844443/grok-misinformation-bondi-beach-shooting
Summary: Grok's track record is spotty at best. But even by the very low standards of xAI, its failure in the aftermath of the tragic mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Australia is shocking. The AI chatbot has repeatedly misidentified 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed, the man who heroically disarmed one of the shooters, and claimed the […]

7. Absynth is back and weirder than ever after 16 years
Source: https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/844432/native-instruments-absynth-6-mpe-brian-eno
Summary: Absynth is something of a cult classic in the soft synth world. It was originally released in 2000, and quickly found an audience among the growing cadre of people making music on computers. But its last major update, Absynth 5, was released in 2009, and Native Instruments officially discontinued the instrument in 2022, citing a […]

8. Making sense of the risky Netflix-Warner Bros. deal
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/14/making-sense-of-the-risky-netflix-warner-bros-deal/
Summary: Netflix's $82.6 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. encapsulates a fraught moment for Hollywood, as the entertainment business is increasingly overshadowed by tech giants.

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