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Daily Tech News Roundup - 2026-01-19

1. Sequoia to invest in Anthropic, breaking VC taboo on backing rivals: FT
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/18/sequoia-to-invest-in-anthropic-breaking-vc-taboo-on-backing-rivals-ft/
Summary: Sequoia Capital is reportedly joining a blockbuster funding round for Anthropic, the AI startup behind Claude, according to the Financial Times. It’s a move sure to turn heads in Silicon Valley. Why? Because venture capital firms have historically avoided backing competing companies in the same sector, preferring to place their bets on a single winner. […]

2. You need to listen to the cosmic horror-comedy podcast Welcome to Night Vale
Source: https://www.theverge.com/column/864078/cosmic-horror-comedy-podcast-welcome-to-night-vale
Summary: It's relatively rare for a podcast to last 14 years, especially a fiction one. In fact, as far as I can tell, Welcome to Night Vale is the longest continually running fiction podcast out there. (Some will argue it's actually We're Alive, but that has taken a few significant breaks between seasons.) The story of […]

3. TechCrunch Mobility: ‘Physical AI’ enters the hype machine
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/18/techcrunch-mobility-physical-ai-enters-the-hype-machine/
Summary: Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for all things “future of transportation.”

4. Threads edges out X in daily mobile users, new data shows
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/18/threads-edges-out-x-in-daily-mobile-users-new-data-shows/
Summary: Threads’ daily mobile usage has quietly surpassed X as Meta leans on cross-promotion, creator tools and fast feature rollouts — even as X faces fresh controversies

5. Microsoft’s first Windows 11 update of 2026 stopped some computers from shutting down
Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/864032/microsofts-out-of-band-windows-11-update-bug
Summary: Microsoft released its first security update of 2026 for Windows 11 on January 13th. Just four days later, it was forced to release an emergency out-of-band update to fix some pretty serious bugs, the first one introduced. The security patch was stopping some systems from shutting down or hibernating properly, and also preventing some users […]

6. How YC-backed Bucket Robotics survived its first CES
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/18/how-yc-backed-bucket-robotics-survived-its-first-ces/
Summary: Now, the startup is turning its attention to building the business, fundraising and striking commercial deals.

7. Moxie Marlinspike has a privacy-conscious alternative to ChatGPT
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/18/moxie-marlinspike-has-a-privacy-conscious-alternative-to-chatgpt/
Summary: Confer is designed to look and feel like ChatGPT or Claude, but your conversations can't be used for training or advertising.

8. Here are the 10 deals worth grabbing from Best Buy’s winter sales event
Source: https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/863660/best-buy-winter-sale-2026-oled-tvs-headphones-fitness-trackers-deal-sale
Summary: Good deals are often hard to come by at the beginning of the year — which is precisely what makes Best Buy’s Winter Sale worth checking out. The ongoing sales event features discounts on everything from big-ticket OLED TVs to smaller electronics, including fitness trackers that can help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions. There […]

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