Techmeme: Spotify reports Q4 revenue up 16% YoY to €4.2B, MAUs up 12% YoY to 675M, subscribers up 11% YoY to 263M, and €1.14B in 2024 net income, vs. a €532M loss in 2023 (Anne Steele/Wall Street Journal)

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February 4, 2025, 8:55 AM

Top News

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, Notes on the Crises, and Paul Krugman

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 he “deleted” the 18F Direct File tax group, 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

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

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

X: @kellymakena, @johnstempinnpr, and @jdabre11. Forums: r/politics

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, SiliconANGLE, and New York Magazine

X: @kylebrussell, @jarvis_best, @slisker, @canderaid, @hackingbutlegal, @calebecarma, @juddlegum, @bakari_sellers, @chadpergram, @juddlegum, @josephpatrice, @stealthygeek, @tnoquoproquid, @mattgertz, @sarah_micheleg, and @victorshi2020

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, CryptoSlate, CNBC, TipRanks Financial, Irish Examiner, Business Insider, PhoneArena, Agence France-Presse, Blockonomi, The Guardian, en.ain.ua, Silicon UK, The Independent, MEDIANAMA, Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Sabah, Blockhead, Axios, Roll Call, @realDonaldTrump …, Washington Post, The Times, BBC, Semafor, Breitbart, DNyuz, and @realDonaldTrump …

Forums: r/TheAllinPodcasts, r/Libertarian, r/Trumponomics, r/technology, r/BasicIncome, r/LibertarianUncensored, r/inthenews, r/unusual_whales, and r/neoliberal

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: @emollick, @bobmcgrewai, @reidhoffman, @polynoamial, @mckaywrigley, @aravsrinivas, @dharmesh, @kimmonismus, @blader, @levie, @emollick, and @afinetheorem

Josh Xiao / Bloomberg:

China's State Administration for Market Regulation says it will probe Google for antitrust violations, moments after Trump announced 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 …

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 …

More: Meta, 9to5Mac, Benzinga, Tom's Guide, MEDIANAMA, Meta, WinBuzzer, NewsBytes, Analytics India Magazine, CoinGape, and The Hill

X: @haydnbelfield. Forums: r/artificial and r/technology

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

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

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

Zachary Small / New York Times:

An interview with The Sims designer Will Wright on the dollhouse game turning 25, the game's 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 …

More: BBC, GamesRadar, and The Sims on YouTube. X: @popbase

Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:

Spotify reports Q4 revenue up 16% YoY to €4.2B, MAUs up 12% YoY to 675M, subscribers up 11% YoY to 263M, and €1.14B in 2024 net income, vs. a €532M loss in 2023 — Price increases, cost discipline help audio-streaming giant pivot from heavy spending on growth to sustained profits

More: The Verge, Irish Independent, Bloomberg, RTÉ, Music Ally, The Hollywood Reporter, Spotify, Fast Company, Music Business Worldwide, and Yahoo Finance. X: @eldsjal

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From Mediagazer

Todd Spangler / Variety:

On a staff call, Bari Weiss defends firing Scott Pelley, saying the foundation of “trust and mutual respect” was broken after Pelley's outburst on Monday

Washington Post:

Two Stars and Stripes advisory board members sue the US Defense Department, saying new restrictions on the paper violate the First Amendment and federal law

Bloomberg:

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square plans to sell its stake in Universal Music Group, days after the Amsterdam-listed group rejected his takeover bid

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More News

Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:

Self-driving truck startup Waabi partners with Volvo to develop and deploy autonomous trucks, starting with pilots in Texas and a launch in late 2025 or 2026

More: FreightWaves, BetaKit, Waabi, Self Drive News, Axios, Quartz, Reuters, and Transport Topics

Mark Keierleber / Wired:

An investigation into 300+ cyberattacks against US K-12 schools since 2020 shows how schools can withhold crucial details from affected students and parents

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal invests $230M in his Indian AI startup Krutrim, and plans to raise $1.15B from outside investors by 2026, to build local AI

More: The Economic Times, Entrackr, TechCircle, Verdict, Livemint, Moneycontrol, Analytics India Magazine, and Inc42 Media. X: @bhash

FinSMEs:

Salt Lake City-based Jump, which offers AI tools for financial advisors and other financial services providers, raised a $20M Series A led by Battery Ventures

More: Jump, Tech Funding News, PYMNTS.com, Venture Capital Journal, Pulse 2.0, FinTech Global, VC News Daily, and Wealth Management

Kelcee Griffis / Bloomberg:

Sources: the Trump admin plans to nominate Arielle Roth, a critic of Biden's $42.5B broadband infrastructure plan, to lead the NTIA, which oversees the project

More: Broadband Breakfast. X: @sentedcruz

Adrian Pennington / StreamTV Insider:

Ampere Analysis: the US streaming market will reach $17B in advertising revenue in 2025; 24% of US-based Netflix subscribers are on the Standard with Ads tier

X: @tvgrimreaper

Earlier Picks

Bloomberg:

A US appeals court panel appeared skeptical of Google's bid to overturn a 2023 jury verdict that declared the Play Store an illegal monopoly in the Epic case

More: Proactive and Benzinga

X: @vidushi_law, @leehepner, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, and @vidushi_law. Forums: r/Android

Cristina Criddle / Financial Times:

Anthropic details Constitutional Classifiers, a protective LLM layer designed to stop AI model jailbreaking by monitoring inputs and outputs for harmful content

More: Ars Technica, Anthropic, InfoWorld, Cyber Security News, BGR, Simon Willison's Weblog, and VentureBeat

X: @janleike, @alexalbert__, @simonw, @simonw, @anthropicai, @anthropicai, @simonw, @skirano, @anthropicai, and @anthropicai

Forums: r/Anthropic and Slashdot

Umar Shakir / The Verge:

A US district court judge denies Apple's emergency motion to halt the remedy phase of DOJ v. Google, saying that Apple hasn't demonstrated satisfactory reasons

More: CourtListener, District Court for the District of Columbia, MacRumors, MEDIANAMA, MLex, Thurrott, The Wrap, and AppleInsider

X: @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @tanayj, @megangra, and @megangra

Forums: r/apple, Slashdot, and MacRumors Forums

Andrew Orr / AppleInsider:

Counterpoint: global smartphone revenue grew 5% in 2024, with the iPhone 15 leading sales, followed by the iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, and Galaxy A15 5G

Samantha Subin / CNBC:

Palantir reports Q4 revenue up 36% YoY to $828M, vs. $776M est., and US commercial revenue up 64% YoY; PLTR, which soared 340% in 2024, jumps ~20%

More: Financial Times, Wall Street Pit, Benzinga, Business Insider, DNyuz, and Constellation Research

X: @finchat_io, @jimcramer, @amitisinvesting, @palantirtech, @joecarlsonshow, and @jimcramer

Ben Smith / Semafor:

Adam Candeub, a Big Tech critic and architect of Trump's first term effort to revoke Section 230 protections for social media, will be the FCC's general counsel

X: @semaforben, @adamkovac, and @brendancarrfcc

CBC News:

Ontario Premier Doug Ford pauses retaliatory measures like “ripping up” the province's CA$100M Starlink contract, after Donald Trump delays US tariffs on Canada

More: Engadget, @realDonaldTrump …, Associated Press, TESLARATI, CTV News, Canadian Press, Yahoo Finance, Reuters, Irish Independent, Silicon UK, SiliconANGLE, Financial Times, Social Media Today, SpaceNews, The Independent, Financial Times, and Washington Post

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Hot Tub, the first ever native iPhone porn app, arrives in the EU via alternative store AltStore PAL, which the DMA made possible; Apple is “deeply concerned”