Techmeme
February 2, 2025, 8:20 PM

Top News

Vittoria Elliott / Wired:
A look at six engineers with Elon Musk and Peter Thiel ties, between 19 and 24 years old, playing key DOGE roles, as Musk seizes control of US infrastructure  —  Engineers between 19 and 24, most linked to Musk's companies, are playing a key role as he seizes control of federal infrastructure.
More: New York Times, Wired, TechCrunch, New York Times, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Wait - what ?, New Republic, and Associated Press
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
OpenAI unveils Deep Research, an AI agent for creating in-depth reports, available to subscribers of the $200 ChatGPT Pro tier and limited to 100 queries/month  —  OpenAI is announcing a new AI “agent” designed to help people conduct in-depth, complex research using ChatGPT, the company's AI-powered chatbot platform.
Bloomberg:
Donald Trump's EO for levies on China says the “de minimis” exemption for items under $800 no longer applies, affecting Alibaba, JD.com, Shein, Temu, and others  —  - President could block tariff exemption for packages under $800  — Change could affect retailers such as Alibaba, Shein, Temu
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
The US NTSB says it will stop emailing updates about two recent plane crashes to news outlets and reporters, opting to exclusively post updates on its X account  —  The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Saturday said it will stop e-mailing news organizations and reporters …
Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Google's X spins out Heritable Agriculture, which aims to use AI to improve crop yield, as the incubator aggressively spins off companies under CEO Astro Teller  —  Google's X “moonshot factory” this week announced its latest graduate.  Heritable Agriculture is a data- and machine learning …
More: Screen Rant
Sima Kotecha / BBC:
The UK announces four new laws that make it illegal to possess, create, or distribute AI tools designed to produce CSAM, becoming the first country to do so  —  Four new laws will tackle the threat of child sexual abuse images generated by artificial intelligence (AI), the government has announced.
Bloomberg:
Some parents say they are eschewing 529 college savings plans and other traditional investments to invest in cryptocurrency to build wealth for their children  —  Despite the risks and volatility, some families are investing in cryptocurrency to build wealth for their children.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
In a Reddit AMA, Sam Altman admitted that DeepSeek has lessened OpenAI's lead and said OpenAI has been “on the wrong side of history” in terms of open sourcing  —  To cap off a day of product releases, OpenAI researchers, engineers, and executives, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman …

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Reimagine your photos with a prompt  —  Our new native image generation and editing is state-of-the-art, and ranked #1 in the world.  Try it for free in the Gemini app.
Zoho:
Why the AI era demands better internships  —  Tech is reinventing the workforce.  But is it really AI, or the people behind it?  Think of it like a hamster who got tired of running in its wheel, so it automated the wheel.
Sevalla:
Sevalla - PaaS from the future  —  Deploy your app before your coffee gets cold.  It's that simple.  Application, database, object storage and free static site hosting.  Start with $50 free credit!
Bitrix24:
Bitrix24 powers the next generation of high-performing businesses  —  Chat, projects, CRM, and automation — all in one place.  Replace dozens of tools so your team moves faster, collaborates smarter, and grows effortlessly.
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

Decoder with Nilay Patel:
Ring's Jamie Siminoff thinks AI can reduce crime
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Grit:
Synthetic Data and the Future of AI | Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
The Godmother of AI on jobs, robots & why world models are next | Dr. Fei-Fei Li
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
Inside The AI Bubble: Debt, Depreciation, and Losses — With Gil Luria
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.
Hard Fork:
Data Centers in Space + A.I. Policy on the Right + A Gemini History Mystery
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Great Chat:
Turns out, there's still a line (don't mock the pope)
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:20 PM ET, February 2, 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

Earlier Picks

Shivangi Acharya / Reuters:
Andy Bounds / Financial Times:
Josh Boak / Associated Press:
Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal: