Techmeme
January 29, 2025, 10:50 AM

Top News

Financial Times:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Microsoft and OpenAI are investigating whether a DeepSeek-linked group obtained a large amount of data from OpenAI's API in an unauthorized manner  —  Microsoft's security researchers in the fall observed individuals they believe may be linked to DeepSeek exfiltrating a large amount …
Jackie Davalos / Bloomberg:
Eduardo Baptista / Reuters:
Alibaba releases Qwen 2.5-Max, an AI model that the company's cloud unit claims “outperforms” GPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3, and Llama-3.1-405B “almost across the board”  —  Chinese tech company Alibaba (9988.HK) on Wednesday released a new version of its Qwen 2.5 artificial intelligence model …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple has been working with SpaceX and T-Mobile to add Starlink support from iOS 18.3; T-Mobile is testing it with some users, exclusively for texting  —  - T-Mobile begins pushing offering in limited beta test to users  —  Apple Inc. has been secretly working with SpaceX …
Vittoria Elliott / Wired:
Sources: the US Office of Personnel Management's highest ranks are now controlled by former employees of Elon Musk's companies, like xAI and the Boring Company  —  Sources tell WIRED that the OPM's top layers of management now include individuals linked to xAI, Neuralink, the Boring Company, and Palantir.
New York Times:
Sources detail Elon Musk's time in government, bringing his friends and employees, as he races to cut staff; Musk's plane has not left DC since the inauguration  —  The billionaire and his Silicon Valley allies landed in Washington and immediately moved to cut the size of the federal government …
New York Times:
Meta executives say DeepSeek's breakthrough shows that upstarts now have a chance to innovate and compete with AI giants, vindicating its open-source strategy  —  The Silicon Valley giant was criticized for giving away its core A.I. technology two years ago for anyone to use.  Now that bet is having an impact.
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Researchers detail two Apple silicon side-channel attacks that could leak secrets: SLAP, affecting M2, A15, and newer chips, and FLOP, affecting M3, M4, and A17  —  Apple-designed chips powering Macs, iPhones, and iPads contain two newly discovered vulnerabilities that leak credit card information …
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Google's maps unit reclassifies the US as a “sensitive country”, a designation for states with strict governments or border disputes, after Trump's map changes  —  Google's maps division on Monday reclassified the U.S. as a “sensitive country,” a designation it reserves for states …
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Ben Wilson / Windows Central:
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 review: slim, lightweight, reasonable power draw, and DLSS 4, but mild generational performance uplift and spotty availability at launch  —  The RTX 5080 Founders Edition at $999 makes far more sense for enthusiasts targeting max-setting gaming and ultra-HD resolutions if you can find it at MSRP.
bellingcat:
A look at MrDeepFakes, a site with obscure ownership that hosts non-consensual deepfake porn, has close to 650K members, and gets millions of visits per month  —  This article is the result of a collaboration with German YouTube channel STRG_F.  You can watch their documentary here.
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Sony names CFO Hiroki Totoki as CEO, succeeding Kenichiro Yoshida, and PlayStation co-CEO Hideaki Nishino as CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, from April 1  —  The corporate shuffle, effective April 1, was approved late Tuesday by the electronics and entertainment giant's board of directors in Tokyo.
Hayden Field / CNBC:
The US Navy instructs its members to avoid using DeepSeek “in any capacity” due to “potential security and ethical concerns”  —  The U.S. Navy has instructed its members to avoid using artificial intelligence technology from China's DeepSeek, CNBC has learned.

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More News

Christopher Dring / Video Games Chronicle:
More: Windows Central, Pure Xbox, and The Shortcut
Bluesky: @shinobi602 and @knoebel
Forums: r/Games, r/xbox, and r/PS5
Ryan Gallagher / Bloomberg:

Earlier Picks

Ryan Knappenberger / Courthouse News Service:
More: Thurrott, 9to5Mac, MediaPost, and MLex
Bluesky: @quinnypig.comX: @balancecrafting, @jason_kint, and @vidushi_lawForums: r/apple
Jyoti Mann / Business Insider:
Dan Milmo / The Guardian: