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February 4, 2025, 9:20 AM
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| Wired: |
Sources: Marko Elez, a 25-year-old Elon Musk-linked engineer, has admin privileges over Treasury Department code that controls Social Security payments and more — The Bureau of the Fiscal Service is a sleepy part of the Treasury Department. It's also where, sources say …
More: 404 Media, Bloomberg, Paul Krugman, and Notes on the Crises
Bluesky: @molly.wiki, @dell, @jilldlawrence, @brandonfriedman, @leahfeiger, @martinsfp, and @dell. Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social
X: @mattgoldstein26, @stephaniekelton, @daithaigilbert, @public_citizen, @marymcnamara, @wired, @samfbiddle, @wired, @ingridlunden, and @wsbgnl
Forums: r/inthenews, r/TrueReddit, and r/politics
| Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge: |
Elon Musk's goal seems to amount to a coup over the US administrative state; Musk said the 18F Direct File tax program was “deleted”, but that may not be true — Elon Musk has an uncanny ability to sort out which of America's rules are real.
More: The Atlantic, Techdirt, Raw Story, Time, and Associated Press
Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social. X: @elonmusk, @kylascan, @mattlesser, @andrewkrok, @ashleyschapitl, @ericgeller, @flyosity, @nateberkopec, @buddingmonkey, @rwpusa, @rajgoyle, @socdoneleft, @chrismegerian, @meidastouch, @jdcmedlock, @besttrousers, @sturgeons_law, @tszzl, @joshtpm, @alx, @angry_staffer, @mattyglesias, @ctjlewis, @dylanmatt, @dancow, @joshtpm, @tim_walz, @growing_daniel, and @coryfromphilly
Forums: Hacker News, r/france, and r/politics
| Evan Weinberger / Bloomberg Law: |
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent orders the CFPB to stop activities, like rulemaking, communications, and litigation; in November, Musk said to “delete CFPB” — Search by Topic — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has shut down a wide variety of operations inside …
More: FinTech Futures, American Prospect, Consumer Financial …, Americans for Financial Reform, House Financial Services Committee, Washington Post, National Law Review, New Republic, Reuters, Law360, New York Times, NBC New York, UPI, Salon, American Banker, Forbes, Consumer Bankers Association, Politico, NBC News, U.S. House Committee …, NPR, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, The Block, and The Hill
Bluesky: @hamiltonnolan, @andycraig, @adambonin, @reporterev, @reporterev, and @tonyromm
X: @nathantankus, @jstein_wapo, @elonmusk, @repmeuser, @brendanpedersen, @financialcmte, @alexandergrieve, @consumerbankers, @helaineolen, @emptywheel, @mattgertz, @silvermanjacob, @neerajka, @jonahallon, @paulg, @repgwenmoore, @groundwork, @drewchudson, @ellieckaufman, @dwallacewells, @repjayapal, @sfof_states, @senatordurbin, @econliberties, @brendanpedersen, @rickclaypool, @repcleaver, @alex_danco, @nhegde, @gardnerakayla, @iamdcinvestor, @josheidelson, @cmseeberger, @moreperfectus, @reichlinmelnick, @jchervinsky, @maxfieldonbanks, @reploudermilk, and @krystalball. LinkedIn: Evan Weinberger
Forums: r/politics and r/politics
| Makena Kelly / Wired: |
Sources: Thomas Shedd, GSA's new Technology Transformation Services director and Elon Musk ally, told GSA workers the agency will pursue an “AI-first strategy” — Sources say the former Tesla engineer now in charge of the Technology Transformation Services wants an agency that operates like a “startup software company.”
More: New York Times and Nextgov/FCW
Bluesky: @lizthegrey.com, @tyleraking.com, @brbarrett, @timmarchman, and @kateconger.com
| Caleb Ecarma / Musk Watch: |
An OPM staffer believes that a server Elon Musk's associates installed, with access to federal staff info like SSNs, has not had a Privacy Impact Assessment — Several of Elon Musk's associates installed at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have received unprecedented access …
More: HuffPost, Techdirt, New Republic, PCMag, DCMediaGroup, Techdirt, Slate, and SiliconANGLE
Bluesky: @jljacobson, @timmarchman, @murshedz, @wired.com, @lolgop, @mmasnick, @jayapal.house.gov, @rincewind.run, @joshuajfriedman.com, @repbarragan, @kinosminion, @martinsfp, @carbajal.house.gov, @molly.wiki, @repkevinmullin, @neal.house.gov, @calebecarma, @nathantankus, @juddlegum, @tonytellez, @juddlegum, @juddlegum, @juddlegum, @juddlegum, @juddlegum, @juddlegum, @juddlegum, @juddlegum, and @juddlegum. Threads: @senadamschiff
X: @kylebrussell, @jarvis_best, @slisker, @canderaid, @hackingbutlegal, @calebecarma, @juddlegum, @bakari_sellers, @chadpergram, @juddlegum, @josephpatrice, @stealthygeek, @tnoquoproquid, @mattgertz, @sarah_micheleg, and @victorshi2020
Forums: r/antiwork, r/Fuckthealtright, r/economicCollapse, r/Futurism, r/the_everything_bubble, r/Foodforthought, r/KeepOurNetFree, r/politics, r/politics, r/AnythingGoesNews, r/uspolitics, r/feddiscussion, r/usajobs, r/politics, r/politics, r/solarpunk, r/Political_Revolution, r/IronFrontUSA, r/antiwork, r/TheSecondTerm, r/behindthebastards, r/inthenews, and r/washingtondc
| Josh Xiao / Bloomberg: |
China's State Administration for Market Regulation says it will probe Google for alleged antitrust violations, moments after Trump put tariffs on Chinese goods — China announced an investigation into Google and imposed new tariffs on a range of US products moments after President Donald Trump slapped …
More: TechCrunch, The Information, Wall Street Journal, The Wire China, Associated Press, ZeroHedge News, Fortune, Android Headlines, Silicon Republic, Business Today, Yahoo Finance, Livemint, Sharecast, TipRanks Financial, Le Monde, The Guardian, Xinhua, The i Paper, NPR, The Guardian, WAtoday, FOX31 Denver, The Indian Express, Times of India, Türkiye Today, Financial Express, ANI News, The Irish Times, ITV News, WinBuzzer, Decrypt, Sharecafe, Digital Journal, South China Morning Post, NBC News, TheCable, CBS News, and CoinDesk
Forums: r/worldnews, r/politics, and Slashdot
| Financial Times: |
Sources: China is looking at launching a formal probe into Intel; a source says whether such a probe is officially launched could depend on US-China relations — Beijing seeks leverage against US president by reviving investigations into tech giants — China has revived antitrust investigations …
More: The Verge, Associated Press, Fortune, and NBC Connecticut
| Bloomberg: |
Donald Trump signs an executive action to direct officials to create a US sovereign wealth fund and says that it could be used to facilitate a sale of TikTok US — - Fund could be used as US facilitates TikTok sale, Lutnick says — Bessent says fund will be created in the next 12 months
More: Reuters, Mashable, The White House, The White House, Inside Bitcoins, Music Ally, PetaPixel, Android Headlines, The Mirror, Protos, Bitcoinist.com, Music Business Worldwide, CNBC, Irish Examiner, CryptoSlate, Business Insider, PhoneArena, Agence France-Presse, Blockonomi, The Guardian, en.ain.ua, Silicon UK, The Independent, MEDIANAMA, Sydney Morning Herald, TipRanks Financial, Daily Sabah, Blockhead, Roll Call, Axios, @realDonaldTrump …, Washington Post, The Times, BBC, Breitbart, DNyuz, and @realDonaldTrump …
Bluesky: @brunojnavarro. X: @senlummis, @mcuban, @chamath, @elonmusk, @modeledbehavior, @realalexjones, @martinshkreli, @mviser, @jacksonhinklle, @jgarzik, @dampedspring, @cliffordasness, @cliffordasness, @margomartin47, @vkiriak, @byheatherlong, @johnhcochrane, @salansar1, @gordongchang, @pudgypenguins, @aravsrinivas, @cynthiamlummis, @polymarket, @jessetinsley, @monetsupply, @theallinpod, @chamath, @presssec, and @danprimack. LinkedIn: Sarah Beth Felix
| Ethan Mollick / One Useful Thing: |
OpenAI's Deep Research hands-on: very good at nuanced, in-depth research, and the first economically valuable, narrow agent that can produce sophisticated work — The first narrow agents are here — A hint to the future arrived quietly over the weekend.
More: OpenAI, PYMNTS.com, and TechCrunch
Bluesky: @carnage4life. X: @thestalwart, @emollick, @bobmcgrewai, @reidhoffman, @polynoamial, @mckaywrigley, @aravsrinivas, @dharmesh, @kimmonismus, @blader, @levie, @emollick, and @afinetheorem
| Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: |
Meta defines the types of AI systems that it deems too risky to release, including ones capable of aiding in cybersecurity, chemical, and biological attacks — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to make artificial general intelligence (AGI) — which is roughly defined as AI that can accomplish … | Bloomberg: |
Nintendo reports Q3 revenue down ~33% YoY to ~$2.8B, net profit down ~33% YoY to ~$831M, both below est, 4.8M Switch sales, and cuts Switch and profit forecasts — The Kyoto-based company now expects ¥280 billion ($1.8 billion) in operating income in the fiscal year to March, slashing more than a fifth from its prior forecast.
More: Engadget, Reuters, GoNintendo, Associated Press, GamesRadar, Reuters, CNBC, Wccftech, Nikkei Asia, and MarketBeat
| Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: |
Toronto-based programmatic ad startup StackAdapt raised $235M led by Teachers' Venture Growth, after raising $300M from Summit Partners in 2022 — While the U.S. and Canada duke it out over tariffs between the two countries, a tech company based out of Toronto is announcing a major round of funding led by a homegrown VC.
More: Globe and Mail
| Brody Ford / Bloomberg: |
Source: Salesforce is cutting 1,000+ roles and will let displaced workers apply for other jobs internally; Salesforce had nearly 73,000 workers in January 2024 — - Many affected employees will be able to apply for other jobs — Amazon, Microsoft and Meta also trimming roles to start 2025
More: CRN, Fortune, Tech.co, Tech Monitor, Reuters, TechRadar, The Economic Times, TipRanks Financial, and NewsBytes
| Zachary Small / New York Times: |
An interview with The Sims designer Will Wright on the virtual dollhouse game turning 25, its mechanics, infusing it with chaos, ants, The Sims Online, and more — Will Wright kindly requests that admirers stop describing him as a god. — “I don't think God would concern himself with taking … | Paige Smith / Bloomberg: |
PayPal reports Q4 revenue up 4% YoY to $8.4B, adjusted net income down 1.9% YoY to $1.21B, above est., payment volume up 7% to $437.8B, and plans a $15B buyback — Growth in the total payment volume for PayPal's unbranded payment-processing business — the volume of payments it processes for other firms …
More: Reuters, PayPal Holdings, Inc., and CNBC
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