Techmeme
February 4, 2025, 6:30 PM

Top News

Alphabet Inc:
Alphabet Q4: revenue up 12% YoY to $96.47B, net income up 28% to $26.54B, Google Cloud revenue up 30% to $12B, and Google Services revenue up 10% to $84.1B  —  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - February 4, 2025 - Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) today announced financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Alphabet reports YouTube Q4 ad revenue up 14% YoY to $10.47B, vs. $10.23B est.; together, Google Cloud and YouTube ended 2024 at a $110B annual revenue run rate  —  YouTube, the internet's biggest streaming video platform, delivered a healthy 13.8% increase in global ad revenue …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Elon Musk accused an X user, who named federal staff in a post X then removed, of “a crime”, showing what actual government social media censorship looks like  —  For years, we've watched self-proclaimed “free speech warriors” hyperventilate about imaginary government control of social media content moderation.
Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge:
Wired:
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple debuts Invites, an app to help plan events like birthdays, graduations, and more, with Image Playground and Writing Tools tie-ins, for iCloud+ subscribers  —  Apple today announced the launch of a new app called “Invites,” which is designed to allow users to plan events like birthday parties …
Washington Post:
Google drops language from its AI Principles that said it would not pursue AI applications “likely to cause overall harm”, such as for weapons and surveillance  —  In 2018 the company updated its policies to explicitly exclude applying AI to weapons.  Now that promise is gone.
Ian King / Bloomberg:
AMD reports Q4 revenue up 24% YoY to $7.66B, Data Center revenue up 69% to $3.86B, vs. $4.09B est., and forecasts Q1 sales of $6.8B to $7.4B, vs. $7.04B est.  —  - Results suggest the chipmaker is still lagging behind Nvidia  — Company fares better in PC market, making gains on Intel
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Adobe adds “contract intelligence capabilities” to Acrobat's $4.99-per-month AI Assistant, letting the PDF manager summarize complicated language in contracts  —  The new contract surfaces key terms and dates within complex agreements.  —  The new contract surfaces key terms and dates within complex agreements.
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple raises the monthly AppleCare+ price for iPhone users by $0.50 in the US and will only offer one-time AppleCare+ purchase options in its online store  —  Apple this week increased the prices for its monthly AppleCare+ subscription prices for the iPhone, raising the cost by 50 cents for all models in the United States.
Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Opera launches Opera Air, a free browser focused on mindfulness and mental well-being, including break reminders and ambient soundscapes, for Windows and macOS  —  Opera Air offers break reminders, ambient soundscapes, and breathing exercises, all in your browser.
Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:
Memo: Cruise lays off “approximately 50%” of its staff, after GM cut robotaxi operations funding and shifts its focus to tech like hands-free driver assistance  —  Autonomous vehicle company Cruise is laying off “nearly” 50% of its workforce — cuts that extend to the CEO and several …
Financial Times:
Sources: China is looking at launching a formal probe into Intel; a source says whether such a probe is officially launched could depend on US-China relations  —  Beijing seeks leverage against US president by reviving investigations into tech giants  —  China has revived antitrust investigations …
Josh Xiao / Bloomberg:
The Information:
Sources: Meta is merging Facebook's and Messenger's teams into one unit and shuffling its generative AI group, as it prepares for company-wide layoffs next week  —  Meta Platforms is merging the teams behind Facebook and Messenger into one unit as the company prepares for layoffs across the business next week.
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
The EC releases its guidelines on prohibited AI practices under the EU's AI Act, such as using AI to track employees' emotions or manipulate website users  —  Employers will be banned from using artificial intelligence to track their staff's emotions and websites will not be allowed to use …

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:
Instagram marketing strategies for 2025  —  If you're reading this blog, you probably use Instagram.  Statistics say that of everyone who has access to the Internet, at least 25% of them have an Instagram account …
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.
Techmeme Leaderboards:
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more  —  We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics.  Download reports immediately for just $100.

Featured Podcasts

Techmeme Ride Home:
Elon Wants To Buy OpenAI
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Invest Like the Best:
Marc Andreessen - The Battle For Tech Supremacy
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
Sen. Ron Wyden is here to stop Elon Musk
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Grit:
Former CEO Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick w/ Bing Gordon: Change the Game
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
OpenAI researcher on why soft skills are the future of work | Karina Nguyen (Research at OpenAI, ex-Anthropic)
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.
The Logan Bartlett Show:
Matt Mullenweg (Co-Founder WordPress): WordPress Controversy, Future of Open Source AI, and Navigating Backlash
A podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett, an investor at Redpoint Ventures, covering tech with industry insiders.
Subscribe to The Logan Bartlett Show.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:30 PM ET, February 4, 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

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:

Earlier Picks

Mark Keierleber / Wired:
More: The 74Bluesky: @zackwhittaker and @dellMastodon: @douglevin@infosec.exchangeLinkedIn: Nicole Ridgway
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal: