Techmeme
February 21, 2025, 10:05 AM

Top News

Jesse Pound / CNBC:
Benj Edwards / Ars Technica:
Microsoft researchers introduce Magma, an AI foundation model that combines visual and language processing to control software interfaces and robotic systems  —  On Wednesday, Microsoft Research introduced Magma, an integrated AI foundation model that combines visual and language processing …
Emily Birnbaum / Bloomberg:
US FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson announces an inquiry into “Big Tech censorship”, which he calls “un-American” and “potentially illegal”, and seeks public comment  —  - FTC Chair Ferguson invites public comment about tech platforms  — Conservatives claim ideas, affiliations have been censored
MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC:
Block reports Q4 revenue up 4% YoY to $6.03B, vs. $6.29B est., gross profit up 14% YoY to $2.31B, and Cash App gross profit up 16% YoY to $1.38B; XYZ drops 10%+  —  Block reported fourth-quarter results on Thursday that fell short of Wall Street expectations.  The stock dropped more than 7% in extended trading.
Ian Carlos Campbell / Engadget:
Meta says that US users over 18 can now sign up to be a Community Notes contributor on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads; notes will have a 500-character limit  —  The company is replacing third-party fact-checking with Community Notes on Threads, Instagram and Facebook.
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Filing: Meta approves raising executives' annual bonuses to 200% of base salary, up from 75%, as most employees' annual stock options are reportedly cut by ~10%  —  Executives at Meta stand to get bigger bonuses this year.  —  The company said in a corporate filing Thursday that it had approved …
Gergely Orosz / The Pragmatic Engineer:
A look at the potential reasons why software developer job listings on Indeed hit a five-year low in January, down 35% from 2020, including the impact of AI  —  Hi, this is Gergely with a bonus issue of the Pragmatic Engineer Newsletter.  In every issue, I cover topics related to Big Tech …
Bluesky: @kakurady.caX: @gergelyorosz and @gergelyorosz
Forums: Hacker News and Slashdot
Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:
DeepSeek will start open-sourcing five code repositories next week, letting anyone download, build on, or improve the code behind its well-regarded AI models  —  - The startup will begin making technology available next week  — DeepSeek is pushing harder on its open-source approach
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
OpenAI launches Operator in the UK, Japan, and most ChatGPT regions, and says it's working to expand to the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland  —  OpenAI said on Friday that it is rolling out Operator, its so-called AI agent that can perform tasks on behalf of users …
Anna Tong / Reuters:
Source: AI search engine startup Genspark raised a $100M Series A at a $530M valuation and currently has over 2M MAUs; it raised a $60M seed in June 2024  —  Search startup Genspark has raised $100 million in a series A funding round, valuing the startup at $530 million …
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
YouTube plans to add a “premium lite” tier, a source says for the US, Australia, Germany, and Thailand, offering podcasts without ads and music videos with ads  —  - The service will continue to put ads in music videos  — The tier will launch in areas that include the US, Australia

Sponsor Posts

Google:
Try Gemini 3 Pro  —  Google's newest and most intelligent AI model that helps you bring any idea to life
Shopify:
Transform ML Experimentation with Tangle  —  Save months of compute time with Tangle, built by Shopify.  Try this open-source platform to simplify ML workflows, ensure reproducibility, and seamlessly share with collaborators.
Zoho:
Contract Signed.  Project Ready.  Tasks Created.  —  Every project begins with a promise; a contract that outlines the deliverables, the timelines, and the terms.  But for most businesses …
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

Access:
Is Roblox making the internet better or worse? We asked the CEO
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
Why LinkedIn is turning PMs into AI-powered "full stack builders" | Tomer Cohen (LinkedIn CPO)
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.
Great Chat:
Code red: our favorite tech rivalries
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.
Big Technology Podcast:
How An AI Model Learned To Be Bad — With Evan Hubinger And Monte MacDiarmid
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.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
PBS Lost a Billion Dollars. Now what? With CEO Paula Kerger
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 10:05 AM ET, February 21, 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

Ben Lang / Road to VR:

Earlier Picks

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Matt Novak / Gizmodo:
New York Times:
Ryan Christoffel / 9to5Mac:
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: