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Thinking Machines ousts CTO Barret Zoph over alleged “unethical conduct”; he will return to OpenAI
Bay Area Times
January 15, 2026
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Top stories today:
- Thinking Machines ousts CTO Zoph over alleged “unethical conduct”
- Google’s Gemini adds “Personal Intelligence” for tailored answers
- Skild AI raises $1.4B Series C at $14B+ valuation for robotics software
- Supreme Court delays ruling on Trump tariffs, leaving fate uncertain
- U.S. retail sales +0.6% in Nov., biggest gain since Jul.
- TSMC Q4 profit +35% YoY to $16B, revenue +25.5% to $33.1B
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Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing today’s newsletter (beware of hallucinations):
1. Thinking Machines ousts CTO Barret Zoph over alleged “unethical conduct”; he will return to OpenAI
Soumith Chintala will take over as CTO.
Mira Murati announced the move at an all-hands, then posted about it on X.
Zoph is returning to OpenAI, alongside Luke Metz and Sam Schoenholz, OpenAI Applications CEO Fidji Simo said.
Zoph allegedly shared confidential company information with competitors.
2. Google’s Gemini adds “Personal Intelligence” for tailored answers from Gmail, YouTube history
Launching in beta in the U.S. for paid users.
Off by default and won’t train on sensitive data, Google said.
Connects Gmail, Photos, YouTube, and Search in a single tap.
Pulls details across emails, photos, and other sources to answer questions.
Powered by Gemini 3, with support for proactive insights.
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4. Skild AI raises $1.4B Series C at $14B+ valuation for robotics software
