Techmeme
January 19, 2025, 9:00 AM

Top News

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
TikTok is not available for download in the App Store and Play Store in the US, as the app halts service in the country to comply with the divest-or-ban law  —  Apple and Google removed TikTok from their app stores Saturday night, complying with a law requiring China's ByteDance to divest …
NBC News:
ByteDance's TikTok and CapCut suspend service in the US, telling users “Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok”  —  Users reported being unable to access TikTok Saturday after a pop-up message from the company came up on their screens saying “a law banning TikTok has been enacted.”
More: Wired, Reuters, The Information, Gizmodo, The Verge, 9to5Mac, Business Today, Video Games Chronicle, Moneycontrol, RTL Today, ZeroHedge News, The Drum, Financial Times, Politico, TechCrunch, BusinessLIVE, The Independent, Suggest, NPR, Polygon, USA Today, Gamereactor UK, PennLive, TheStreet, NME, The Mirror, Metro.co.uk, The Hacker News, CBS News, The Hollywood Reporter, Lawyer Monthly, Lynxotic, Variety, DNyuz, Yahoo Finance, The Indian Express, Times of India, Forbes, Premium Times Nigeria, 9to5Google, Axios, VentureBeat, South China Morning Post, New York Post, Hindustan Times, Tyla, ITV News, Daily Post Nigeria, Gizchina.com, Reuters, News18, TweakTown, Android Central, Gizmochina, Financial Express, Washington Examiner, Deseret News, India Today, Engadget, Khaama Press, Dailymirror, Shacknews, WAtoday, UNILAD, 9to5Mac, Anadolu Ajansı …, Fox Business, BBC, WVEC, NewsBytes, GB News, Just Jared, The National, WDAM-TV, KCRG-TV, Businessday NG, Daily Mail, iPhone in Canada Blog, and PCMag
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Card game Marvel Snap, published by ByteDance-owned Nuverse, cuts off access for US gamers, as the TikTok divest-or-ban law impacts other ByteDance-linked apps  —  The divest-or-ban law aimed at TikTok is also taking down other ByteDance-linked apps, including the popular card game Marvel Snap.
Nitish Pahwa / Slate:
The messy TikTok saga in the US over the past five years has shown that lawmakers are as spineless and skittish as everyone suspects them to be  —  Well, that escalated slowly over the course of four years.  —  It is 2020.  The United States government threatens to forbid access …
NBC News:
Trump says he will “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve after he takes office on Monday “because it's appropriate”  —  Trump spoke to NBC News' Kristen Welker in an exclusive phone interview Saturday, discussing his plans on what to do about the popular social media app.
Will Oremus / Washington Post:
TikTok bans in countries around the world have played out quite differently; Instagram Reels largely replaced TikTok in India, following TikTok's ban in 2020  —  India's 2020 crackdown helped give rise to Instagram Reels, which has largely replaced it there.  But TikTok has proved more resilient elsewhere.
Hayden Field / CNBC:
Source: Perplexity AI made a TikTok US bid to ByteDance, proposing a merger that brings video to Perplexity, with ByteDance investors retaining their stakes  —  Perplexity AI officially made a play for TikTok on Saturday, submitting a bid to its parent company, ByteDance …
Politico:
Financial Times:
Ana Faguy / BBC:
Axios:
Andrew Hayward / Decrypt:
Matthew Green / A Few Thoughts on Cryptographic Engineering:
A close look at some privacy implications of AI interfacing with messaging apps and other E2EE systems, Apple's approach to “Private Cloud Compute”, and more  —  Recently I came across a fantastic new paper by a group of NYU and Cornell researchers entitled “How to think about end-to-end encryption and AI.”
Mackenzie Hawkins / Bloomberg:
US officials have struck binding deals for 85% of the CHIPS Act funding; sources: Gina Raimondo said her successor, Howard Lutnick, is committed to the program  —  - Officials have struck binding contracts for 85% of grant money  — Trump Commerce pick told Raimondo he's committed to program

Sponsor Posts

Clay:
Turn any GTM idea into reality  —  Clay helps GTM teams combine AI agents, enrichment, and intent data to move faster and turn insights into action.
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Event-driven document automation using webhooks in Zoho Writer  —  Instantly generate and send documents based on triggers from any form builder, business app, or automation workflow.We are excited …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Great Chat:
No one won the AI Bowl
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
Subscribe to Great Chat.
Big Technology Podcast:
Who's Winning The AI Race? + Software's Future — With Sridhar Ramaswamy
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
How Odd Lots' Joe Weisenthal Turned Curiosity Into a Career, and a Hit Podcast
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Access:
OpenAI's Fidji Simo on why ads are coming to ChatGPT
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Invest Like the Best:
Alex Behring and Daniel Schwartz - Inside 3G Capital
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 9:00 AM ET, January 19, 2025.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Zack Abrams / The Block: