Techmeme
January 15, 2025, 7:05 AM

Top News

Nicola M White / Bloomberg:
The SEC sues Elon Musk, claiming he failed to timely disclose a major purchase of Twitter shares ahead of his takeover of the social media platform in 2022  —  - Agency alleges billionaire ignored disclosure deadline in 2022  — Musk's lawyer says he did ‘nothing wrong’ and SEC has no case
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Sources and docs: Meta has dismantled its system that identified viral hoaxes and limited their reach, and told content-ranking teams to stop penalizing misinfo  —  The company built effective systems to reduce the reach of fake news.  Last week, it shut them down  —  I.
Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
Tether plans to relocate its corporate entity and subsidiaries to El Salvador after obtaining a digital asset service provider license in the country  —  - Company and all subsidiaries will relocate to El Salvador  — Stablecoin firm incorporated in the British Virgin Islands
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
The Information:
Sources: TikTok plans to block access to its app for US users on Jan. 19 unless SCOTUS stops the ban; one source says a pop-up message will give users more info  —  TikTok plans to shut off its app for U.S. users on Sunday, the day a federal law will ban the app, unless the Supreme Court intervenes …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Decentralized Instagram alternative Pixelfed debuts iOS and Android apps; its Android app is the top Social app on Google Play in some markets, including the US  —  Pixelfed, a decentralized alternative to Instagram, has launched its official mobile apps.  The service today runs …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Email: Sonos CPO Maxime Bouvat-Merlin is leaving; some employees say he shares a significant amount of blame for the brand damage after the botched app revamp  —  A day after Sonos announced a CEO transition, the company is making more moves.  Chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin will also be leaving his position.
Elliptic:
Huione Guarantee, a Telegram marketplace that facilitates “pig butchering” and other scams, recently launched several crypto products, including a stablecoin  —  - Huione Guarantee is a Telegram-based marketplace serving fraudsters in South East Asia, including those responsible for so-called “pig butchering” scams.
The Verge:
Court docs: internal messages suggest Meta used data from piracy site LibGen to train AI Llama models and worked to conceal it, as Meta raced to beat rivals  —  A major copyright lawsuit against Meta has revealed a trove of internal communications about the company's plans to develop …
Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE:
Quantum Brilliance, which makes quantum computing hardware using synthetic diamond qubits that work at room temperature in any setting, raised a $20M Series A  —  Quantum Brilliance GmbH said today it's ready to begin mass production of its diamond-based quantum computers after closing on a $20 million early-stage round of funding.
More: SmartCompany
Kylie Robison / The Verge:
OpenAI launches Tasks, rolling out in beta to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro subscribers, to let users schedule reminders, with up to ten active at any given time  —  OpenAI is launching a new beta feature in ChatGPT called Tasks that lets users schedule future actions and reminders.
New York Times:
Brazilian nonprofit Legal Games Institute estimates betting apps draw over $23B in wagers annually, nearly 10 times the Mafia-run animal lottery in the country  —  Digital gambling could spell the end for a lottery run by criminal gangs that has been a fixture of Brazilian life for decades.
Dan Primack / Axios:

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Shopify's new AI commerce stack  —  Their VP of Product digs into just-launched products to help entrepreneurs and developers build with the latest AI and tech.
Zoho:
Connecting, collaborating, and growing: Zoho Mail 2025 wrap-up  —  Your inbox has been home to a lot this year—quick updates, long threads, approvals, reminders, and the occasional late-night draft you weren't sure about.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

BG2 Pod:
AI Enterprise - Databricks & Glean
Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.
Subscribe to BG2 Pod.
Great Chat:
The stories we told ourselves in 2025
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Grit:
How Brands Stay Visible When AI Decides | Profound CEO James Cadwallader
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI's Potential, Google's Speedy Model, Copilot Hits Turbulence
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Ted Sarandos: Netflix and how tech changed storytelling
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 7:05 AM ET, January 15, 2025.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
CyberScoop:

Earlier Picks

Steven Vaughan-Nichols / ZDNET:
Josh Russell / Courthouse News Service:
Carly Page / TechCrunch:
Riley Griffin / Bloomberg: