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February 21, 2025, 2:30 AM
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| Emily Birnbaum / Bloomberg: |
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson announces an inquiry into “Big Tech censorship”, which he says is “un-American” and “potentially illegal” — - FTC Chair Ferguson invites public comment about tech platforms — Conservatives claim ideas, affiliations have been censored
More: Federal Trade Commission, Platformer, Reuters, Ars Technica, The Information, Wall Street Journal, Agence France-Presse, Tech in Asia, SiliconANGLE, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, New York Post, The Wrap, PYMNTS.com, Fox Business, MLex, TechCrunch, MediaPost, TVNewsCheck, and The Daily Caller
Bluesky: @caseynewton, @zero-to-hero, @mmasnick, @leahnylen, @leahnylen, and @leahnylen
X: @afergusonftc, @mholyoakftc, @afergusonftc, @ambermarieduke, @nathanleamerdc, @andyjungtech, @randyebarnett, @zephyrteachout, @wendyndavis, @castrotech, @ftc, @sayssimonson, @josephvconiglio, @nicoperrino, @mikebenzcyber, @adamkovac, @josephvconiglio, @benremaly, @realjdenton, @afergusonftc, @robmcgravytrain, @benbrodydc, @allumbokhari, @ryangrim, and @wesghodges. Forums: r/Conservative
| Bloomberg: |
Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu calls the pursuit of AGI the company's “primary objective”, saying “our first and foremost goal is to pursue AGI” — “Our first and foremost goal is to pursue AGI,” Eddie Wu told investors on a call after the company reported results that surpassed analyst estimates.
More: Alibaba Group
| MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC: |
Block reports Q4 revenue up 4.5% YoY to $6.03B vs. $6.29B est., gross profit up 14% to $2.31B, Cash App gross profit up 16% to $1.38B; XYZ drops 6%+ after hours — Block reported fourth-quarter results on Thursday that fell short of Wall Street expectations. The stock dropped more than 7% in extended trading.
More: Capital Brief, Investor's Business Daily, SiliconANGLE, Reuters, Yahoo Finance, Investing.com, and Benzinga. X: @buccocapital
| Matt Novak / Gizmodo: |
Elon Musk says he will “fix” Community Notes as they are “increasingly being gamed by governments & legacy media”, after disagreeing with notes about Ukraine — The billionaire has a history of manipulating X to fit his far-right worldview.
More: Meta, Agence France-Presse, Al Jazeera, Engadget, Social Media Today, The Independent, The Hill, Mediaite, and Washington Examiner
Bluesky: @gordonmoat, @mantzarlis.com, @runtcpip, @quinnypig.com, @sweet-jesus, @wilkos, @onto2028, @rawveggies, @justbcause, @zackhouse, @creatrixpj, and @paleofuture
X: @elonmusk, @elonmusk, @ike_saul, @charliepick, @ibd_ecarson, @oalexanderdk, @matthewberman, @youranoncentral, @walshfreedom, @alexandrosm, @amuse, @ike_saul, @levyantoine, @eyeslasho, @page_eco, @jseyff, @alanlevinovitz, @tekbog, @rothschildmd, @spencerfernando, @billybinion, @stankutcher, @piersmorgan, @gummibear737, @elonmusk, @philipdbunn, @elonmusk, @billybinion, @shayan86, @theabridgedzach, @ike_saul, @christogrozev, @shayan86, @byzgeneral, @rorystewartuk, @angry_staffer, @kareemrifai, and @lefterisjp. Forums: r/BlockedAndReported
| 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 …
More: Microsoft Research. X: @5000hui, @azeem, and @jw2yang4ai
Forums: Hacker News and Ars OpenForum
| Ian Carlos Campbell / Engadget: |
Meta says 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.
More: The Guardian Nigeria, Meta, Tech in Asia, and PhoneArena
| 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| Sarah Wynn / The Block: |
The US SEC announces the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit to protect investors from bad actors in crypto and AI, replacing the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit — - The agency announced the new unit on Thursday, calling it the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, or CETU.
More: US Securities …, The Record, Blockhead, Bitcoin Insider, CryptoPotato, CyberScoop, Cryptopolitan, Law360, Benzinga, The Daily Hodl, CoinJournal, Blockchain News, The Coin Republic, The Crypto Times, Decrypt, crypto.news, CoinGape, and CoinDesk
X: @eleanorterrett, @digitalartchick, @moonoverlord, @jchervinsky, @cryptojellenl, @stoolpresidente, @kookcapitalllc, @campbelljaustin, @nickilsanders, @adamscochran, @cryptodonalt, @byzgeneral, @tier10k, @lpcapitalchi, @themisterfrog, @tradermercury, @valueandtime, @digitalartchick, @iamkadense, @austin_federa, @sunil_trades, @0xaporia, and @gainzy222
LinkedIn: Madiha Zuberi and Howard Fischer
| New York Times: |
Sources: the Trump administration targets officials fighting foreign interference in US elections, focused on those combating cyberattacks and false content — The Trump administration has reassigned or forced out several dozen government employees who had been working to fight foreign interference …
More: Default and StateScoop
Bluesky: @daphnek, @noupside, @noupside, @noupside, and @lawfare. Mastodon: @metacurity@infosec.exchange
Forums: r/technology, r/Intelligence, r/news, r/nytimes, r/law, and r/politics
| Kate Rooney / CNBC: |
OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap says ChatGPT crossed 400M weekly active users in February 2025, up 33% from 300M in December 2024, and 2M paying enterprise customers — OpenAI appears to be growing quickly despite increasing competition. — The San Francisco-based tech company …
More: TechCrunch, Engadget, Nairametrics, Cyber Daily, PYMNTS.com, Seeking Alpha, SiliconANGLE, Digital Trends, eWeek, VentureBeat, The Rio Times, TVNewsCheck, and San Francisco Business Times
| 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 …
More: Financial Express, Benzinga, Financial Times, and Business Insider
Forums: r/technology, r/news, and r/Layoffs
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Amazon plans to end support for its videoconferencing tool Chime on February 20, 2026; report: Amazon is adopting Zoom as its standard app for internal meetings — Amazon Chime, the tech giant's underwhelming alternative to Zoom and Google Meet, is shutting down for good.
More: Amazon Web Services, Entrepreneur, MakeUseOf, GeekWire, and Thurrott
Bluesky: @emilprotalinski, @aleph1.underground.org, and @itspatrickpl. Mastodon: @harrymccracken@mastodon …
X: @frichette_n, @rickasaurus, @eugenekim222, and @rekdt
LinkedIn: Milo Fels, David Victoria, Dhaval Nagar, Iqbal Javaid, and Derek Pando
| Mobile EDR Security: |
iVerify's iOS app detected a Pegasus infection in 11 new cases in December 2024, and about half of them did not receive Threat Notifications from Apple — In December, we published our groundbreaking investigation into mobile device threats. The public didn't just read the report … | Ryan Christoffel / 9to5Mac: |
Kuo: all iPhone 17 models will have Apple's in-house Wi-Fi chips, enhancing connectivity and cutting costs; only the slim iPhone 17 will have the C1 modem chip — Apple just launched its brand new C1 modem yesterday with the iPhone 16e. But there's another new Apple-designed chip coming soon … | Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: |
Twitch plans to implement a 100-hour storage cap for Highlights and Uploads from April 19, automatically deleting content from streamers who exceed the limit — Streamers who have exceeded this limit will have their content automatically deleted until it meets the threshold.
More: Ars Technica, Engadget, Gizmodo, Tubefilter, Passionfruit, TechCrunch, Dexerto, TOS.gg, Cord Cutters News, and Android Headlines
Bluesky: @quinnypig.com. X: @twitchsupport, @helloitskolo, @realcouri, @scifichicktv, @ravsy_, @shiftposting, @metalman_20, @notenglishben, @thefiz_, @zisteau, @amaliasolaris, and @iateyourp1e
Forums: r/technology, Slashdot, and Ars OpenForum
| Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: |
Spotify begins accepting AI-narrated audiobooks recorded using ElevenLabs' software; Spotify already allows AI-recorded audiobooks, with several restrictions — A new ElevenLabs partnership aims to help authors bring AI-narrated audiobooks to Spotify listeners.
More: Spotify, Agence France-Presse, Pocket-lint, The Decoder, Digital Trends, and iPhone in Canada Blog
Bluesky: @theopriestley.com. Mastodon: @mloxton@med-mastodon.com. X: @elevenlabsio. LinkedIn: Anders Larsen and Dustin Blank
| 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 … | Ben Lang / Road to VR: |
Meta announces a $50M creator fund for Horizon Worlds; CTO Andrew Bosworth reportedly told staff that 2025 is a make-or-break year for Meta's XR ambitions — Meta today announced a $50 million fund to incentivize the creation of new and improved content in Horizon Worlds, the company's first-party social gaming platform.
More: Meta, Android Central, Digital Music News, and UploadVR
Bluesky: @jawnpaulsarte. Threads: @schultzdavidg. X: @brandonjla, @kentbye, @gwanatu, @nathievr, @gwanatu, @slhamlet, and @azadux
| Wired: |
How Breeze Liu, an advocate for digital abuse victims, got Microsoft to scrub 142 nonconsensual explicit images of her hosted on Azure after months of struggle — Breeze Liu has been a prominent advocate for victims. But even she struggled to scrub nonconsensual intimate images and videos of herself from the web.| Harry Dempsey / Financial Times: |
Japanese officials and executives warn that China's export curbs on gallium, germanium, and other chip raw materials threaten global electronics supply chains — Officials and executives say gallium rules will upset supply chains for chips and vehicle batteries| Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: |
Amazon plans to discontinue its Appstore for Android and its Coins program on August 20, 2025, but keep its Appstore on its devices like Fire TV and Fire Tablet — Amazon will discontinue its app store for Android on August 20 this year. The company sent a notice to developers indicating …
More: Amazon, Amazon Appstore Developer Blog, The Economic Times, 9to5Google, GamingonPhone, Ars Technica, SammyGuru, Android Central, How-To Geek, WebProNews, Engadget, iPhone in Canada Blog, PCMag, PYMNTS.com, Trusted Reviews, AFTVnews, Liliputing, XDA Developers, The Verge, PocketGamer.biz, Droid Life, Digital Trends, PhoneArena, and BetaNews
X: @rizbituk, @timsweeneyepic, @zhuinden, @superzomgbbq, @superzomgbbq, @videogamedeals, and @arstechnica
Forums: r/technology and r/Games
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