Techmeme
January 17, 2025, 8:25 PM

Top News

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg:
SCOTUS upholds the TikTok divest-or-ban law, saying free speech rights must yield to concerns that Chinese control of the app creates a national-security risk  —  The Supreme Court upheld a law that threatens to shut down the wildly popular TikTok social media platform in the US as soon as Sunday …
More: Supreme Court of the United States, CNBC, Associated Press, The White House, The Verge, Wired, NPR, New Scientist, BBC, Deadline, USA Today, Times of India, Adweek, The Torment Nexus, The Information, Fox News, US Department of Justice, CBS News, Axios, Exalting Artifice Above …, BuzzFeed, New York Times, Time, SiliconANGLE, Law Dork, Reuters, WinBuzzer, Fast Company, Shore News Network, Vox, MediaPost, Patently Apple, Roll Call, Rolling Stone, Search Engine Land, Business Insider, Shacknews, Game Rant, JURIST, Retail TouchPoints, Common Dreams, PC Gamer, Inc, TucsonSentinel.com, iPhone in Canada Blog, and Technical.ly
CNN:
Donald Trump says he will “be making the decision” about TikTok and confirms he talked with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the app  —  The Supreme Court ruled Friday that a controversial ban on TikTok may take effect this weekend, rejecting an appeal from the popular app's owners …
Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
After SCOTUS upheld the TikTok law, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeals to Donald Trump in a TikTok video to find a solution that keeps the app available in the US  —  In his first statement since the Supreme Court upheld a law that could ban TikTok from the US on Sunday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew offered …
NBC News:
Financial Times:
The EU expands its X probe, asking for internal docs about X's recommendation algorithm, after complaints from German politicians about X boosting the far right  —  Move follows complaints from German politicians ahead of election next month  —  Brussels has ordered Elon Musk …
Caitlin Webber / Reuters:
The US sanctions a China-based cybersecurity company involved in the Salt Typhoon hacks and a Shanghai-based hacker involved in the recent US Treasury breach  —  The U.S. Treasury department on Friday issued cyber-related sanctions related to the Salt Typhoon hack on Singaporean Yin Kechen …
Bloomberg:
Bloomberg:
The FTC says Genshin Impact maker Cognosphere will pay $20M to settle claims that it deceived players about the cost of winning prizes and mishandled kids' data  —  - FTC said maker of Genshin Impact mishandled children's data  — Company also accused of deceiving players on cost of prizes
Sarah Wynn / The Block:
Digital Currency Group agrees to settle and pay $38.5M in civil penalties to the US SEC over charges that it misled investors via crypto lender Genesis Global  —  - The SEC said that one of Genesis' largest borrowers was asset hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and said on June 13 that the fund “failed to meet a margin call.”
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Google has begun requiring users to turn on JavaScript to use Google Search, to “better protect” the service against malicious activity, such as bots and spam  —  Google says it has begun requiring users to turn on JavaScript, the widely-used programming language to make web pages interactive, in order to use Google Search.
Bloomberg:
The US FTC releases a report saying Microsoft's $13B investment in OpenAI raises concerns that the company could extend its cloud computing dominance into AI  —  - Federal Trade Commission probed big tech, AI relationships  — Agency opened inquiry into tech investments last year
Dana Wollman / Bloomberg:
Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd will return to the company as CEO in mid-March, replacing current CEO Lidiane Jones, who is departing for “personal reasons”  —  She will replace the current chief executive, Lidiane Jones, who is departing for “personal reasons,” the firm said.
Mia Sato / The Verge:
Instagram adds a new tab in the Reels feed that will show videos that a user's friends have liked or added commentary to  —  Instagram is bringing back one of its more chaotic features, now reworked for the short-form video era.  —  A new tab in the Reels feed will serve up videos …
The Hollywood Reporter:
A look at efforts by Meta, YouTube, Snap, X, and Substack to attract TikTok's 170M US creators and users; Substack is offering a $25K “TikTok Liberation Prize”  —  Tech giants like Meta and YouTube want to poach TikTokers, with Snapchat, X, Substack and others also planning efforts to coax them to their platforms.
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Q&A with Marc Andreessen on his political evolution from a “normie Democrat” to a Donald Trump supporter, and what he and others expect from the administration  —  Marc Andreessen explains the newest faction of conservatism. … Ross Douthat: I'm someone who follows politics primarily and Silicon Valley secondarily.
Brady Dale / Axios:
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong endorses a US bitcoin strategic reserve in a blog post on “economic freedom” that calls on world leaders to embrace crypto  —  - This is the first time Coinbase has specifically addressed the idea of a strategic bitcoin reserve, doing …
Tabby Kinder / Financial Times:
Sources: Shield AI, maker of software for autonomous aircraft and drones, is raising ~$200M from Palantir and others at a $5B valuation, up from $2.8B in 2024  —  Maker of software for autonomous aircraft is raising around $200mn from backers  —  Artificial intelligence start-up Shield AI …
Bluesky: @mikefulk
Jonathan Greig / The Record:
During her confirmation hearing for secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem says addressing foreign disinformation campaigns were outside the CISA's remit  —  South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem had harsh criticism for the nation's leading cybersecurity agency on Friday during …

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More News

Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Charles Rollet / TechCrunch:
Billy Perrigo / Time:
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Earlier Picks

Kathrin Hille / Financial Times:
Zeyi Yang / Wired:
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
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