Techmeme
February 6, 2025, 2:01 PM

Top News

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
Stanford and University of Washington AI researchers claim they trained AI reasoning model s1, distilled from a Gemini 2.0 model, for under $50 in cloud compute  —  AI researchers at Stanford and the University of Washington were able to train an AI “reasoning” model for under $50 in cloud compute credits …
Washington Post:
Sources: DOGE is processing sensitive data from across the Education Department with AI tools in Microsoft's Azure to look for potential spending cuts  —  At the Department of Education, the tech billionaire's team has turned to artificial intelligence to hunt for potential spending cuts —
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Google Photos starts adding its SynthID watermarks to photos that have been edited using Magic Editor, but says some changes may be too small to detect  —  But Google admits that some generative AI adjustments may be ‘too small’ for SynthID to detect.  —  But Google admits …
Emma Roth / The Verge:
OpenAI opens ChatGPT search to users who are not logged in, after launching it to paying subscribers in October 2024 and logged-in users in December 2024  —  OpenAI is making its AI search engine more accessible.  —  OpenAI is making its AI search engine more accessible.
Miles Kruppa / Wall Street Journal:
Email: Google eliminates its goal of hiring more employees from historically underrepresented groups and is reviewing some DEI programs after Donald Trump's EOs  —  Search giant is eliminating goals to hire more minority employees and reviewing DEI programs, part of a pullback across Silicon Valley
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple is at the center of an escalating US-China geopolitical fight spanning tariffs, regulatory probes, and a backlash due to growing anti-US rhetoric in China  —  - The iPhone is in crosshairs of 10% tariffs on Chinese imports  — China also is weighing a probe into company's App Store fees
Natalie Andrews / Wall Street Journal:
US lawmakers introduce a bipartisan bill that would ban DeepSeek's app from government-owned devices, amid concerns that the app allows China to see user data  —  Bipartisan bill comes amid concerns that the application allows China to see user data  —  WASHINGTON—Lawmakers plan to introduce …
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Roblox reports Q4 revenue up 32% YoY to $988.2M, bookings up 21% YoY to $1.36B, vs. $1.37B est., and DAUs up 19% YoY to 85.3M, vs. 88.4M est.; RBLX falls 15%+  —  - Roblox had 85.3 million daily active users in fourth quarter  — The company's quarterly bookings reached $1.36 billion
Henry Stockdale / UploadVR:
Interviews with nearly two dozen VR studios on shipping games on Quest, Meta's increased focus on Horizon Worlds, concerns over declining game sales, and more  —  With concerns about declining sales and discoverability, UploadVR spoke with nearly two dozen VR studios to discuss the state of VR development for Quest.
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
Mistral releases iOS and Android apps and unveils several updates to its AI assistant Le Chat, including a $14.99 per month Pro tier  —  Mistral, the company that is sometimes considered as Europe's great hope for AI, is releasing several updates to Le Chat, its AI assistant product.
Casey Hall / Reuters:
Trump's de minimis cancellation is likely to hit Shein harder than online dollar-store Temu, which has shifted to an Amazon-like bulk overseas shipment strategy  —  The Trump administration move to stop low-cost imports entering the U.S. tariff-free is likely to hit fast fashion retailer Shein harder …
Stephanie Hughes / Bloomberg:
Payments software company Lightspeed says it plans to continue operating as a publicly traded company and will buy back up to $400M of stock; LSPD falls 15%+  —  - Board of directors ‘unanimously’ agreed not to go private  — Shares slide 16% after company announces results of review
More: BetaKitBluesky: @sheepmachine
Politico:
The Senate Commerce Committee approves the Kids Off Social Media Act to ban under-13s from social media, clearing the way for consideration by the full Senate  —  The Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation Wednesday to ban children under 13 from social media.
Bloomberg:
Sources: online payments company Paysafe is exploring a sale after receiving takeover interest; it went public in 2020 in a SPAC deal valued at $9B  —  - Bill Foley-backed payments firm is working with an adviser  — Paysafe went public in 2020 in SPAC deal valued at $9 billion
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: OpenAI is expected to air its first TV ad during Super Bowl LIX; MediaRadar says AI companies spent $332M on ads in 2024, over double their 2023 spend  —  The TV spot marks the artificial-intelligence company's biggest foray into consumer advertising to date

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Earlier Picks

MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:
Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:
Stephen Nellis / Reuters:
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
404 Media:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg: