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January 14, 2025, 9:45 AM
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Bloomberg:
Sources: Chinese officials are evaluating an option involving Elon Musk acquiring TikTok US; X would take control of TikTok US and run the businesses together  —  - ByteDance's preferred strategy is to fight ban, people say  — Trump has said he would like to delay ban to seek resolution
More: Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Investor's Business Daily, Reuters, PYMNTS.com, Quartz, Barron's Online, South China Morning Post, Livemint, Decrypt, Spyglass, Reuters, The Independent, The Sun, Toronto Star, New York Times, NME, Bitcoin Insider, Arabian Business, Investing.com, Fortune, Agence France-Presse, Music Ally, The Daily Dot, MakeUseOf, CNBC, The Mirror, PetaPixel, Newser, PhoneArena, UPI, Silicon Republic, Tech.co, Althouse, Euronews, International Business Times, Tech in Asia, Hindustan Times, Al Jazeera, Outlook Business, Hypebeast, Benzinga, BGR, indy100, HuffPost, Khaama Press, The Crypto Basic, Neowin, KrASIA, Interesting Engineering, Malay Mail, Tuko.co.ke, Android Authority, Lowyat.NET, The Economic Times, Cryptopolitan, Pixel Envy, Android Police, Mark Carrigan, MEDIANAMA, TVNewsCheck, Cointelegraph, en.ain.ua, Lovin Malta, Mashable, CCN.com, Business Today, Financial Express, 9meters, PRWeek, The Post Millennial, Times of India, Daily Mail, 9News, Wall Street Pit, BroBible, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Consequence, Raw Story, and The Verge
Bluesky: @guayjg, @pomurray, @amberbenge, @principalengineer.com, @wcooperbooks, @daveweigel, @lorak, @noupside, @alexheath, @davelee.me, @kevinroose.com, @mikeelgan, @steinekin, @doremusjessup, @evacide, @quinnypig.com, @shepardcdr, @larakate, @tk.gg, @mediaevan, @martinsfp, @caseynewton, @civicwhitaker, @carlbergstrom.com, @schooley, @ashtonpittman, @rincewind.run, @kurtwagner, @karissabe, and @peark.es.  Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social.  Threads: @susyqli
X: @mgsiegler, @benmullin, @hzjoe03, @alexeheath, @mattyglesias, @kyliebytes, @austinahlman, @pushastee, @alexeheath, @matthewstoller, @loudmouthjulia, @turnernovak, @maxwelltani, @kyliebytes, @newley, @newley, @loudmouthjulia, @newley, @mrbeast, and @chamath.  LinkedIn: Isaac Stone Fish
Forums: r/TSLA, r/worldnews, r/TheAllinPodcasts, r/Destiny, r/China, r/politics, r/EnoughMuskSpam, r/neoliberal, and r/wallstreetbets
See also Mediagazer
Todd Spangler / Variety:
TikTok denies a report that China is looking at potentially facilitating a sale of the app to Elon Musk to keep it operating the US, calling it “pure fiction”  —  TikTok denied a report that China is looking at potentially facilitating a sale of the app to tech billionaire Elon Musk …
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
The UK CMA opens an investigation into whether Google has “strategic market status” in search and how it impacts consumers, advertisers, publishers, and rivals  —  LONDON — Britain's competition watchdog on Tuesday said that it's opening a formal antitrust investigation into Google's search and search advertising services.
Reece Rogers / Wired:
How Cleo AI and Bright, personalized AI chatbots offering financial advice, often function as a way to sell high-interest loans and cash advances to young users  —  AI finance apps are reaching Gen Z and millennial users with personalized chatbots that offer money advice—and upsell them big-time.
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
Texas sues Allstate and its subsidiary Arity, accusing the insurer of illegally collecting and selling data about people's driving behavior through mobile apps  —  The lawsuit accuses Arity, an Allstate subsidiary, of collecting data about people's driving behavior through mobile phone apps …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Databricks secures $5B+ in its largest debt raise to date, from lenders including Blackstone and Apollo, after raising $10B in equity in December 2024  —  - Blackstone, Apollo, Blue Owl among lenders in private loan  — Financing also includes a $2.5 billion credit line from banks
Financial Times:
Sources: the EU is reviewing its DMA probes into US tech giants from March 2024, as US groups urge Trump to intervene; the EU says “there is no such review”  —  Tech groups have urged Donald Trump to intervene against overzealous European regulation
Niket Nishant / Reuters:
Zurich- and Singapore-based Sygnum, a crypto-focused bank and trading platform for institutional users, raised $58M led by Fulgur Ventures at a $1B valuation  —  Crypto-focused bank Sygnum secured a valuation of $1 billion after raising $58 million in its latest funding round, it said on Tuesday.
Zeyi Yang / Wired:
Ahead of a likely US TikTok ban, users flee to Chinese apps Xiaohongshu, aka RedNote, and ByteDance's Lemon8, currently the top two apps in the US App Store  —  Some say they joined Xiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book,” to spite the US government after a ban on TikTok became more likely.
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
The US SEC says that two Robinhood broker-dealers agreed to pay $45M in combined penalties to settle charges that they violated 10+ securities law provisions  —  - CNBC Councils  — CNBC on Peacock  — Join the CNBC Panel  — Supply Chain Values  — Select Shopping  — Ad Choices
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Microsoft is creating a new “CoreAI - Platform and Tools” unit led by Jay Parikh, the ex-Lacework CEO and Meta engineering executive who joined in October 2024  —  Microsoft is creating a new engineering division, led by the former global head of engineering at Facebook (now Meta) …
Will Knight / Wired:
The US' new chip export rule enters a 120-day consultation period, requiring the Trump admin to listen to input, perhaps modify the rule, and then enforce it  —  The US government has announced a radical plan to control exports of cutting-edge AI technology to most nations.
Financial Times:
The Biden admin unveils a new chip export rule that gives 18 key allies full AI chips access while requiring licenses from most other countries, including China

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:45 AM ET, January 14, 2025.

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From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: Bari Weiss is planning to create a masthead for CBS News as part of a broader overhaul of standards and procedures

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Comcast extends Mike Cavanagh's contract through January 1, 2029, and grants a ~$35M performance-based stock package; he's set to become co-CEO in January 2026

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
A US judge denies WBD's bid to block Sling TV from selling short-term offerings that let users sign up for access to its bundles for as little as one day

More News

Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
DirecTV launches MySports, a sports streamer featuring games from NFL and other major leagues, and access to 40 channels, in 24 US metro areas for $70/month
Taylor Soper / GeekWire:
Bellevue, WA-based Truveta, which aggregates medical data from 30 partner institutions, raised $320M from Regeneron, Illumina, and others at a $1B+ valuation

Earlier Picks

Jesse Hamilton / CoinDesk:
A US court rules the SEC must “explain itself” on why, when pressed by Coinbase, it failed to clarify its rules or offer clear new rules for crypto securities
Washington Post:
An investigation finds 15 police departments across 12 US states have arrested suspects identified through facial recognition without having any other evidence
More: Biometric Update.  Bluesky: @joffirphd, @drewharwell.com, and @hypervisible.  X: @glynco.  LinkedIn: Douglas MacMillan.  Forums: r/technology
Leena Rao / Business Insider:
Chainalysis buys AI-agent security startup Alterya, sources say for ~$150M; Alterya is still in stealth mode but has clients including Coinbase, Square, Binance
Richard Nieva / Forbes:
Free Our Feeds, backed by Jimmy Wales and others, aims to raise $30M by 2028 to billionaire-proof the AT Protocol by making it easier for Bluesky users to leave
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is leaving following a botched app revamp that upset customers and stymied growth; Sonos names board member Tom Conrad as interim CEO
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