Techmeme
February 7, 2025, 9:55 PM

Top News

Joseph Menn / Washington Post:
Sources: in a secret January order, UK security officials demanded that Apple create a backdoor to access all cloud content any Apple user globally has uploaded  —  Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create a back door allowing them to retrieve all the content …
More: The Verge, BBC, The Guardian, MacRumors, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Ars Technica, Six Colors, Techdirt, The Verge, 9to5Mac, Reuters, PYMNTS.com, HotAir, Electronic Frontier Foundation, BNN Bloomberg, Bloomberg, Information Technology …, Daily Mail, Open Rights Group, Pixel Envy, Sky News, VICE, MobileSyrup, GSMArena.com, WebProNews, Gizmodo, Pocket-lint, MacRumors, PCMag, MakeUseOf, mjtsai.com, TechRepublic, Android Headlines, The Apple Post, Reclaim The Net, TechRadar, ComputerWeekly.com, The Independent, iPhone in Canada Blog, Newser, CyberInsider, Forbes, iDownloadBlog.com, The Register, Blockchain News, New Scientist, Redmond Pie, Computerworld, Macworld, Tech.co, CNET, Cult of Mac, Neowin, Wall Street Pit, Silicon UK, Metacurity, Seeking Alpha, and DeviceSecurity.io
LinkedIn: Tim Turner and Mike Chapple
Punchbowl News:
Sources: Trump has tasked JD Vance and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz with overseeing a potential sale of TikTok  —  Vance is in charge of “quarterbacking a deal to save TikTok,” according to a source familiar with the matter.  Waltz and the National Security Council are in charge …
Bloomberg:
Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of DOGE, was fired from an internship at cybersecurity firm Path Network for allegedly sharing info with a competitor  —  Edward Coristine posted online that he had retained access to the firm's servers.  Now he has access to sensitive government information.
CNBC:
Hayden Field / CNBC:
Sources: SoftBank is set to invest $40B in OpenAI at a $260B pre-money valuation; investors last valued OpenAI at $157B, when it raised $6.6B in October 2024  —  - CNBC Councils  — CNBC on Peacock  — Join the CNBC Panel  — Supply Chain Values  — Select Shopping  — Ad Choices
Reuters:
Sources: Ilya Sutskever's Safe Superintelligence is in talks to raise funding at a $20B+ valuation, up from a $5B valuation in its September 2024 funding round  —  Safe Superintelligence, an artificial intelligence startup co-founded by OpenAI's former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever last year …
Louise Matsakis / Wired:
Filing: Kash Patel, Trump's nominee to head FBI, was allotted Shein shares of $1M to $5M in exchange for consulting services; he has no plans to divest them  —  Donald Trump's pick for FBI director told senators he has no plans to divest his shares, which his financial disclosure form …
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Reuters:
SolarWinds says it will go private in a $4.4B deal with buyout firm Turn/River Capital; SWI closes up 21.8%  —  SolarWinds (SWI.N) said on Friday it would go private in a $4.4 billion deal with buyout firm Turn/River Capital, the latest sign debt-funded deals were set to rebound this year as borrowing costs decline.
Ryan Christoffel / 9to5Mac:
Apple settles a lawsuit against a former iOS Software Engineer who leaked Journal app details and more to journalists; the employee issues an apology on X  —  Last March, Apple filed a lawsuit against one of its former employees, an iOS Software Engineer who had leaked confidential information …
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
WBD took $300M in gaming writedowns in 2024; current and former staff blame a lack of a strong, cohesive vision during former games chief David Haddad's tenure  —  Last year, Warner Bros. Discovery took $300 million in losses on gaming.  The near future is rife with additional challenges.
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
Microsoft warns that attackers are using static ASP.NET machine keys found online to inject malware into ViewState, which controls web form state during reloads  —  Microsoft warns that attackers are deploying malware in ViewState code injection attacks using static ASP.  NET machine keys found online.
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Google edited Gemini's response in a Super Bowl commercial to remove an incorrect statistic about Gouda cheese, regurgitated from seeming SEO-optimized blogs  —  Gemini's response no longer says that Gouda makes up '50 to 60 percent of the world's cheese consumption.'
Bloomberg:
Sources: Island, which makes secure browsers for businesses, is raising money at a $4.5B valuation in a round led by Coatue; it was valued at $3B in April 2024  —  Valuation jump shows VCs are still enthusiastic for cybersecurity deals.  —  Enterprise software and security startup Island Technology Inc …

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Earlier Picks

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Ashley Belanger / Ars Technica:
Stephen Nellis / Reuters:
Wired:
Paul Sawers / TechCrunch: