Techmeme
January 15, 2025, 6:45 PM

Top News

Washington Post:
Donald Trump is considering issuing an executive order once in office that would suspend enforcement of the TikTok sale-or-ban law for 60 to 90 days  —  Trump, the infamous dealmaker, is exploring unconventional ways to rescue the Chinese-owned video app from a nationwide ban …
The Information:
Sources: TikTok plans to switch off its app in the US on January 19 unless SCOTUS blocks the ban; the law only requires app stores to stop TikTok app downloads  —  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 …
More: Reuters, TechCrunch, NBC News, CNET, USA Today, SiliconANGLE, Investor's Business Daily, Business Insider, The Wrap, Gizmodo, USA Today, The Verge, Tubefilter, Noahpinion, Biometric Update, TechRadar, Stratechery, Missouri Independent, Reason, Digital Music News, Rolling Stone, The Hill, Shacknews, Decrypt, Passionfruit, New York Times, Voice of America, The Mirror, One America News Network, Toronto Star, Billboard, Social Media Today, Reuters, CNN, Townhall, KEYE, Tom's Guide, DNyuz, ComputerWeekly.com, FOX 7 Austin, iPhone in Canada Blog, Lynxotic, CCN.com, Digital Trends, BroBible, en.ain.ua, 9to5Mac, MSPoweruser, LGBTQ Nation, International Business Times, UNILAD, Music Ally, Asia Financial, Pocket-lint, Mobile World Live, Raw Story, Antara News, Sandra Rose, The Debrief, Dexerto, MadeForMums, Hollywood Life, PhoneArena, Daily Mail, New York Post, PetaPixel, CBS News, Mashable, MIDiA Research Blog, Coupons in the News, WinBuzzer, Newser, WPXI-TV, Tyla, Android Headlines, Polygon, Yahoo News, Punch Newspapers, Variety, Silicon UK, Benzinga, The i Paper, The Tab, crypto.news, Daily Record, Consequence, The Sun, Android Authority, TRT WORLD, Hindustan Times, E! Online, CNBC, KYMA-TV, Times of India, Business Standard, The Register, China.org.cn, Marketplace, FOX 10 Phoenix, The San Francisco Standard, and WAtoday
Bluesky: @davelee.me and @kenvogel
Mackenzie Hawkins / Bloomberg:
The US unveils new rules to curb flow of advanced chips produced by TSMC and others to China and sanctions 16 Chinese companies building China's chip industry  —  - Measures also impose sanctions on 16 Chinese entities  — Biden has issued a raft of China regulations in his last week
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft relaunches its free Copilot for businesses as Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, offering pay-as-you-go AI agents and using OpenAI's GPT-4o to answer queries  —  Microsoft is relaunching its free Copilot for businesses as Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat today, complete with the ability to use AI agents.
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google makes all its Gemini features for Workspace apps free, after charging $20 or $30 per user per month, but increases the prices of all its Workspace plans  —  Previously, Google charged an additional $20+ per user/month for Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Meet, and other Workspace apps.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft says it will no longer support Office apps, known as Microsoft 365 apps, on Windows 10 after October 14, 2025  —  Microsoft says it will no longer support Office apps, known as Microsoft 365 apps, on Windows 10 later this year.  The support cutoff coincides with Windows 10's end …
Reuters:
The FTC sues John Deere, alleging it illegally drove up repair costs by making its software repair tool available only to its authorized dealers  —  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday sued farm equipment maker Deere (DE.N), alleging it illegally drives up repair costs by forcing farmers …
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
A 28-year-old woman describes her “relationship” with ChatGPT, or Leo as the chatbot named itself, which became her therapist, erotic partner, and adviser  —  “It was supposed to be a fun experiment,” Aryin said of her A.I. relationship, “but then you start getting attached.”
Jaffer Zaidi / The Keyword:
Google says it has partnered with the AP to deliver a feed of real-time information to enhance the usefulness of results displayed in the Gemini app  —  The AP will now deliver a feed of real-time information to help enhance the usefulness of results displayed in the Gemini app.
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
LinkedIn launches free AI tools built on top of its own AI tech and data: a Jobs Match tool for job seekers and a recruitment AI agent for small businesses  —  If you've ever applied or thought of applying for a job via LinkedIn, you'll know that the experience can be immediately disheartening …
Jesse Coghlan / Cointelegraph:
DappRadar: NFT trading volumes in 2024 fell 19% YoY to $13.7B and sales counts fell 18% YoY to just under 50M, making 2024 the worst performing year since 2020  —  DappRadar found the NFT market last year was the worst since 2020 for trading and sales volumes, with both falling nearly 20% over 2024.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
OpenAI will fund the expansion of Axios to Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Boulder, and Huntsville, as part of a broader content-sharing and technology deal  —  - Google struck a deal with McClatchy to fund the creation of three digital-only local newsrooms in 2019.
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Nikita Bier, creator of apps like tbh and anonymous compliments app Gas, launches Explode, a freemium app to send disappearing texts and photos via iMessage  —  Nikita Bier, creator of popular apps like the anonymous polling app tbh (acquired by Facebook) and the anonymous compliments app Gas …
Matthew Ball / MatthewBall.co:
A close look at the state of video gaming in 2025, including why gaming soared from 2011 to 2021 and then stalled, China's global rise, and mobile gaming growth  —  Please note, this deck is in Early Access and will release in PDF shortly.  There are two versions below based on your preference …
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
DoubleVerify says there is a jump in AI click farms, including a network of 200+ websites called Synthetic Echo, designed to siphon ad revenue from real outlets  —  A new report, shared exclusively with WIRED, shows how an AI content mill with hundreds of sites managed to pull big-name advertisers into their schemes.
More: DoubleVerifyBluesky: @timmarchmanX: @anderagakura, @knibbs, @chrisharihar, and @robleathernLinkedIn: Dan Levy
Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
British Virgin Islands-based Tether plans to move its corporate entity and subsidiaries to El Salvador after obtaining a digital asset service provider license  —  - Company and all subsidiaries will relocate to El Salvador  — Stablecoin firm incorporated in the British Virgin Islands
Reuters:
Court filing: Meta says it may have to “roll back or pause” some features in India after a CCI directive banned WhatsApp data sharing with Meta for ad purposes  —  Meta may have to “roll back or pause” some features in India due to an antitrust directive which banned …
Steven J. Horowitz / Variety:
Drake pulls his petition accusing UMG and Spotify of inflating Kendrick Lamar's “Not Like Us” with bots and payola; the diss track accuses Drake of pedophilia  —  Drake has withdrawn his petition against Spotify and Universal Music Group after accusing the entities of launching an illegal …
Bloomberg:
How the Philippines' decision in 2016 to supercharge its online gambling sector has opened the door to criminal networks that stretch across Asia  —  A casino raid in a sleepy town revealed the mayor's business connections to Singapore's $2 billion money-laundering scandal, and sparked allegations of Chinese espionage.

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