Techmeme
January 21, 2025, 4:30 PM

Top News

Bobby Allyn / NPR:
Trump signs an EO seeking to pause the TikTok ban for 75 days, in a bid to give him time to negotiate a resolution and protect TikTok's providers from liability  —  President Trump signed an executive order on Monday seeking to hit pause on a law banning TikTok and to provide a liability shield …
Washington Post:
Legal experts and lawmakers: Trump's EO halting the TikTok ban may not protect companies that host or distribute the app, as Trump cannot overturn Congress' law  —  Measure directs Justice Department to not enforce the law for 75 days while administration determines “the appropriate course forward.”
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple says installing macOS Sequoia 15.3, iOS 18.3, or iPadOS 18.3 will turn on Apple Intelligence automatically on compatible devices; users can opt out later  —  When installing macOS Sequoia 15.3, iOS 18.3, or iPadOS 18.3, Apple Intelligence will be turned on automatically on compatible devices …
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Trump signs an EO renaming the US Digital Service as the US DOGE Service, directing agency heads to form “DOGE Teams” of at least four employees within 30 days  —  The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory commission spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk recommending deep cuts …
New York Times:
Counterpoint Research:
Chinese smartphone sales fell 3.2% YoY in Q4 2024, the only negative quarter in 2024; Apple fell 18.2% to a 17.1% share and Huawei rose 15.5% to an 18.1% share  —  - During the quarter, Huawei secured the top spot, followed by Xiaomi.  Huawei's sales grew 15.5% YoY, supported by the release of the Mate 70 series in early December.
Radhika Rajkumar / ZDNET:
DeepSeek's new MIT-licensed AI models can be accessed via DeepSeek's API at a fraction of the cost of comparable OpenAI models but there are censorship concerns  —  Open-source artificial intelligence (AI) has reached another milestone — and the cost differences it represents could shake up the industry.
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Netflix reports Q4 revenue of $10.2B, up 16% YoY, an operating income of $2.3B, and 301.6M global subs, adding 18.9M subs, more than doubling Wall St. estimates  —  - Netflix is raising subscription prices in its biggest market  — Report marks the end of regular quarterly customer updates
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
Parrot Analytics estimates Severance season 1 earned $200M+, with ~50% coming in the year following the finale; Ted Lasso generated $609.4M from Q3'20 to Q3'24  —  Parrot came to these figures via its Content Valuation methodology, which uses a formula to correlate audience demand with subscribers and therefore revenue.
Anna Gross / Financial Times:
The UK debuts digital driving licenses and veteran ID cards, launching in 2025 via the GOV.UK Wallet, and AI tools, nicknamed “Humphrey”, to help civil servants  —  New app will also include documents showing criminal record checks and proof of eligibility for state benefits
James Hunt / The Block:
MicroStrategy bought 11K bitcoin for ~$1.1B from January 13 to 20, at an average of $101,191 per BTC, taking its holding to 461K, worth $48B+, or 2%+ of supply  —  - MicroStrategy has purchased another 11,000 BTC for approximately $1.1 billion at an average price of $101,191 per bitcoin.
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Meta will soon let users link WhatsApp accounts with Instagram and Facebook, allowing cross posts of WhatsApp Statuses as Stories on Instagram and Facebook  —  Meta announced on Tuesday that users will soon be able to add their WhatsApp account to their Accounts Center …
The Information:
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
The SEC launches a “Crypto 2.0” task force led by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, to create a “comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets”  —  The Trump administration took its firs steps Tuesday toward an expected lowering of regulatory barriers for cryptocurrency.
Noah Smith / Noahpinion:
How purchasing Trump's memecoin, of which he reportedly holds $50B+ at January 19 prices, could be used to buy favors without actually transferring him funds  —  Crypto is, in fact, about sending people money.  —  Financial disclosure: I hold a modest amount of BTC and ETH.
Politico:

Sponsor Posts

Termina:
AI Powered Diligence at Scale  —  VCs and founders deploy Termina AI Scans on >12% of all known series A+ deals to uncover hidden risks and opportunities.  Explore how you too can invest and build better companies with AI.
Zoho:
Top live chat software in 2025  —  When it comes to customer communication, every second counts for businesses because it leads to either a treasure trove or an empty cave.  To help with this …
SBS Comms:
Expect Better: SBS Comms  —  The media landscape is changing fast, so don't be slow — out with the old, in with the new.  SBS helps tech companies like GitHub, Cloudflare, Flexport, Ramp and more modernize comms and secure impactful results.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
A founder's guide to crisis management | Uri Levine (Waze co-founder, serial entrepreneur)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Techmeme Ride Home:
Arm Upends The Entire Semiconductor Industry
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
The Logan Bartlett Show:
Andy Price (Artisanal): Executive Hiring Advice from the Founder of Tech's Top Recruiting Firm
A podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett, an investor at Redpoint Ventures, covering tech with industry insiders.
Subscribe to The Logan Bartlett Show.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
The FCC is a weapon in Trump's war on free speech
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:30 PM ET, January 21, 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

Krisztian Sandor / CoinDesk:
Todd Spangler / Variety:

Earlier Picks

Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post:
David Shepardson / Reuters:
Matt Novak / Gizmodo:
More: The Guardian, Wired, Associated Press, Global News, Digital Journal, Rolling Stone, Time, Sandra Rose, The Forward, BBC, Futurism, Townhall, The Wrap, Republic World, The Root, Interesting Engineering, Le Monde, Metro.co.uk, Althouse, New York Times, The Independent, Boing Boing, 9News, Raw Story, WUSA, The Mirror, New York Daily News, AS USA, Newsweek, Times of India, The Forward, Hindustan Times, The Daily Beast, NZ Herald, The Economic Times, The Wrap, Jerusalem Post, The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, and Deadline