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February 7, 2025, 2:15 PM
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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, MacRumors, Bloomberg, The Guardian, TechCrunch, Ars Technica, Reuters, The Verge, The Register, 9to5Mac, Six Colors, New Scientist, Computerworld, Gizmodo, CNET, Forbes, Reclaim The Net, Pixel Envy, iPhone in Canada Blog, Metacurity, Sky News, CyberInsider, TechRadar, Cult of Mac, iDownloadBlog.com, The Apple Post, Open Rights Group, The Record, WebProNews, Blockchain News, Financial Express, Neowin, PhoneArena, Digital Trends, Benzinga, Engadget, Wall Street Pit, Patently Apple, DeviceSecurity.io, Android Headlines, Cyber Security News, BGR, Silicon UK, The Independent, MacStories, and The Stack
Bluesky: @carnage4life, @hern, @stamos.org, @dyatesswfl, @malwarejake, @fredis, @metacurity.com, and @coleraineyid
Mastodon: @evacide@hachyderm.io, @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social, @thirstybear@agilodon.social, @cwebber@social.coop, @karlemilnikka@social …, @henry@dindon.one, @dcdeejay@mastodon.online, and @mttaggart@infosec.exchange
X: @markgurman, @jsrailton, @jsrailton, @timsweeneyepic, @timsweeneyepic, @gilbeezyskit93, @jhurfurt, @matthew_d_green, @paulg, @tomwarren, @matthew_d_green, @matthew_d_green, @matthew_d_green, @matthew_d_green, @alex, @benlovejoy, and @matthew_d_green
LinkedIn: Mike Chapple and Tim Turner
Forums: Hacker News, r/ukpolitics, r/technology, r/anime_titties, r/apple, r/technology, r/unitedkingdom, r/Scotland, r/iphone, r/privacy, r/technews, r/worldnews, r/uknews, r/InternationalNews, r/cybersecurity, r/europe, and MacRumors Forums
Financial Times:
Sources: the UK used Snoopers' Charter to send a “technical capability notice” to Apple; notice recipients aren't allowed to warn users of weakened security  —  British government orders US tech group to grant secret access to its customers' accounts
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.
Ashley Belanger / Ars Technica:
Kadrey v. Meta: unsealed emails show Meta allegedly torrented 81.7TB+ of data across multiple shadow libraries through the site Anna's Archive, for AI training  —  Newly unsealed emails allegedly provide the “most damning evidence” yet against Meta in a copyright case raised by book authors alleging …
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 …
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.'
Wired:
Sources: DOGE is pushing to develop GSAi, a custom generative AI chatbot for the US GSA to boost productivity, analyze contract and procurement data, and more  —  The chatbot is part of Elon Musk and President Donald Trump's ambitions to use AI and other technologies to cut costs and modernize the US government.
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 …
More: TechCrunch
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
OpenAI updates o3-mini's chain of thought to help free and paid ChatGPT users “understand how the model thinks”, in response to DeepSeek and other competitors  —  In response to pressure from rivals including Chinese AI company DeepSeek, OpenAI is changing the way its newest AI model …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple plans to unveil its long-awaited overhaul of the iPhone SE as early as next week, opting to reveal it on its website instead of at a launch event  —  - Revamped SE model is set to be unveiled in the coming days  — Apple plans flurry of 2025 products, including smart home hub
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
Financial Times:
Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta reported a combined $246B capex in 2024, up 63% YoY from $151B, and forecast that their 2025 spending could exceed $320B  —  Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet forecast massive capital expenditure despite investor concerns about returns and DeepSeek
Bloomberg:
Uber's stock jumps 7%+ after Bill Ackman disclosed that his hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management owns 30.3M shares; Pershing started buying in January  —  Bill Ackman said his hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management owns 30.3 million shares of Uber Technologies Inc. …
Stephen Nellis / Reuters:
Mistral partnered with Cerebras to help its Le Chat app respond to user questions at 1,000 words per second, making Le Chat the world's fastest AI assistant  —  Cerebras Systems, an artificial intelligence chip firm backed by UAE tech conglomerate G42, said on Thursday it has partnered …
Marina Temkin / TechCrunch:
In a meeting with GOP lawmakers, Donald Trump proposed taxing carried interest as ordinary income, a policy that could sharply increase the tax bill for VCs  —  On Thursday, President Trump asked Republican lawmakers to end tax breaks on carried interest.  —  The tax break allows private equity …

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From Mediagazer

David Ellison / @ellisonskydance:
David Ellison announces that the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will be called Skydance “to preserve what has made each of these studios iconic”

New York Times:
Sources: Trump personally told his budget director to use taxpayer money for TV ads praising his presidency; at least four spots have run at a cost of ~$5.5M

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney licenses a large group of titles to Netflix, including all five Ice Age movies, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Felicity, Elio, and more

More News

Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon expects to boost its capex to $100B in 2025, largely driven by AI and up from 2024's ~$83B, in what Andy Jassy calls a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity

Earlier Picks

Katherine Long / Wall Street Journal:
DOGE staff member Marko Elez resigns after being linked to racist X posts; the 25-year-old was embedded in the US Treasury and previously worked at SpaceX and X
Amazon.com, Inc.:
Amazon reports Q4 revenue up 10% YoY to $187.8B, vs. $187.3B est., net income up 89% YoY to $20B, and operating income up 61% YoY to $21.2B
Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:
GitHub announces updates for Copilot, including Vision for Copilot being able to generate interfaces, code, and alt text from a screenshot, photo, or a diagram
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