Techmeme
January 29, 2025, 3:00 PM

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 …
Dario Amodei:
DeepSeek makes US export controls to China even more important, and DeepSeek-V3 is not a unique breakthrough but an expected point on a cost reduction curve  —  A few weeks ago I made the case for stronger US export controls on chips to China.  Since then DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company …
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
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.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Comcast starts rolling out its “pioneering new, ultra-low lag connectivity experience” to select US cities, using the L4S standard to significantly cut latency  —  The new technology is based on a standard called L4S, which can significantly reduce latency to help things like video games feel smoother.
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 …
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Christopher Dring / Video Games Chronicle:
Ampere: users spent $465M on Microsoft games in December, making it the biggest publisher, ahead of EA's $366M; Call of Duty HQ had 38M MAUs in November 2024  —  NEARLY $0.5BN WAS SPENT ON XBOX GAMES ACROSS STEAM, PLAYSTATION AND XBOX IN DECEMBER  —  $465 million was spent on Microsoft games …
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 …
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.
Vlad Savov / Bloomberg:
Appfigures: ChatGPT's app has grossed $529M since its May 2023 release, around 4x the second-highest earner, as AI app spending grew ~4x YoY to $1.4B in 2024  —  - US spends more on AI apps than other top 10 markets combined  — OpenAI's app has earned several times more than next rival

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More News

Ben Wilson / Windows Central:
Ryan Gallagher / Bloomberg:
Ryan Knappenberger / Courthouse News Service:
More: Thurrott, 9to5Mac, MediaPost, and MLex
Bluesky: @quinnypig.comX: @balancecrafting, @jason_kint, and @vidushi_lawForums: r/apple

Earlier Picks

Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Dan Milmo / The Guardian: