Techmeme
January 15, 2025, 6:25 AM

Top News

Nicola M White / Bloomberg:
The SEC sues Elon Musk, claiming he failed to timely disclose a major purchase of Twitter shares ahead of his takeover of the social media platform in 2022  —  - Agency alleges billionaire ignored disclosure deadline in 2022  — Musk's lawyer says he did ‘nothing wrong’ and SEC has no case
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Sources and docs: Meta has dismantled its system that identified viral hoaxes and limited their reach, and told content-ranking teams to stop penalizing misinfo  —  The company built effective systems to reduce the reach of fake news.  Last week, it shut them down  —  I.
Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
Tether plans to relocate its corporate entity and subsidiaries to El Salvador after obtaining a digital asset service provider license in the country  —  - Company and all subsidiaries will relocate to El Salvador  — Stablecoin firm incorporated in the British Virgin Islands
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Email: Sonos CPO Maxime Bouvat-Merlin is leaving; some employees say he shares a significant amount of blame for the brand damage after the botched app revamp  —  A day after Sonos announced a CEO transition, the company is making more moves.  Chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin will also be leaving his position.
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Decentralized Instagram alternative Pixelfed debuts iOS and Android apps; its Android app is the top Social app on Google Play in some markets, including the US  —  Pixelfed, a decentralized alternative to Instagram, has launched its official mobile apps.  The service today runs …
The Information:
Sources: TikTok plans to block access to its app for US users on Jan. 19 unless SCOTUS stops the ban; one source says a pop-up message will give users more info  —  TikTok plans to shut off its app for U.S. users on Sunday, the day a federal law will ban the app, unless the Supreme Court intervenes …
Elliptic:
Huione Guarantee, a Telegram marketplace that facilitates “pig butchering” and other scams, recently launched several crypto products, including a stablecoin  —  - Huione Guarantee is a Telegram-based marketplace serving fraudsters in South East Asia, including those responsible for so-called “pig butchering” scams.
The Verge:
Court docs: internal messages suggest Meta used data from piracy site LibGen to train AI Llama models and worked to conceal it, as Meta raced to beat rivals  —  A major copyright lawsuit against Meta has revealed a trove of internal communications about the company's plans to develop …
Kylie Robison / The Verge:
OpenAI launches Tasks, rolling out in beta to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro subscribers, to let users schedule reminders, with up to ten active at any given time  —  OpenAI is launching a new beta feature in ChatGPT called Tasks that lets users schedule future actions and reminders.
Cagan Koc / Bloomberg:
The Netherlands tightens export control rules, requiring ASML and ASM International to seek licenses from the Dutch government for some chipmaking tools  —  The Netherlands tightened export control rules to make ASML Holding NV apply for licenses with the Dutch government instead of Washington for some of its tools.
Dan Primack / Axios:
New York Times:
Brazilian nonprofit Legal Games Institute estimates betting apps draw over $23B in wagers annually, nearly 10 times the Mafia-run animal lottery in the country  —  Digital gambling could spell the end for a lottery run by criminal gangs that has been a fixture of Brazilian life for decades.
Nikkei Asia:
Analysis: the ten leading chip companies cut their fiscal 2024 capex by a combined $9.5B from initial plans due to a weakening demand for smartphones and EVs  —  TOKYO/SEOUL — The 10 leading global semiconductor companies are cutting capital spending from initial plans in the face …
Yoolim Lee / Bloomberg:
PUBG developer Krafton, whose Seoul-listed shares are up more than 70% since early 2024, plans to invest over $136M in 2025 in more than a dozen game studios  —  - Krafton CEO sets aside $136 million for new studio investments  — Company working with Nvidia on AI-powered game characters

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CyberScoop:
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Earlier Picks

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Riley Griffin / Bloomberg: