Techmeme
February 21, 2025, 10:30 AM

Top News

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple removes Advanced Data Protection in the UK for new users, pulling the optional E2EE feature rather than complying with the UK's order to build a backdoor  —  - Company removes Advanced Data Protection feature for UK users  — “We never will” build backdoor to user data, iPhone maker says
Jesse Pound / CNBC:
Benj Edwards / Ars Technica:
Microsoft researchers introduce Magma, an AI foundation model that combines visual and language processing to control software interfaces and robotic systems  —  On Wednesday, Microsoft Research introduced Magma, an integrated AI foundation model that combines visual and language processing …
Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:
DeepSeek plans to open source five of its code repositories next week, letting anyone download, build on, or improve the code behind its well-regarded AI models  —  - The startup will begin making technology available next week  — DeepSeek is pushing harder on its open-source approach
Gergely Orosz / The Pragmatic Engineer:
A look at the potential reasons why software developer job listings on Indeed hit a five-year low in January, down 35% from January 2020, including AI's impact  —  Hi, this is Gergely with a bonus issue of the Pragmatic Engineer Newsletter.  In every issue, I cover topics related to Big Tech …
Bluesky: @kakurady.caX: @gergelyorosz and @gergelyorosz
Forums: Hacker News and Slashdot
Emily Birnbaum / Bloomberg:
US FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson announces an inquiry into “Big Tech censorship”, which he calls “un-American” and “potentially illegal”, and seeks public comment  —  - FTC Chair Ferguson invites public comment about tech platforms  — Conservatives claim ideas, affiliations have been censored
Anna Tong / Reuters:
Source: AI search engine startup Genspark raised a $100M Series A at a $530M valuation and currently has over 2M MAUs; it raised a $60M seed in June 2024  —  Search startup Genspark has raised $100 million in a series A funding round, valuing the startup at $530 million …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
OpenAI launches Operator in the UK, Japan, and most ChatGPT regions, and says it's working to expand to the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland  —  OpenAI said on Friday that it is rolling out Operator, its so-called AI agent that can perform tasks on behalf of users …
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
SEC filing: Meta raises executives' annual bonuses from 75% to 200% of their base salary, after reportedly cutting most employees' annual stock options by ~10%  —  Executives at Meta stand to get bigger bonuses this year.  —  The company said in a corporate filing Thursday that it had approved …
Ian Duncan / Washington Post:
Sources: the NHTSA is losing about 10% of its workforce through firings and buyout offers, including half of a small team that regulates autonomous vehicles  —  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is losing about 10 percent of its workforce through firings and buyout offers, according to people briefed on the cuts.
More: TechCrunch, Jalopnik, Quartz, and CNBC
Bluesky: @boisekaty, @davidzipper, and @deanbaker13Forums: r/RealTesla
MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:
Block reports Q4 revenue up 4% YoY to $6.03B, vs. $6.29B est., gross profit up 14% YoY to $2.31B, and Cash App gross profit up 16% YoY to $1.38B; XYZ drops 10%+  —  Block reported fourth-quarter results on Thursday that fell short of Wall Street expectations.  The stock dropped more than 7% in extended trading.
Ian Carlos Campbell / Engadget:
Meta says that US users over 18 can now sign up to be a Community Notes contributor on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads; notes will have a 500-character limit  —  The company is replacing third-party fact-checking with Community Notes on Threads, Instagram and Facebook.

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More News

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Earlier Picks

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
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New York Times:
Ryan Christoffel / 9to5Mac:
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: