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May 20, 2025, 11:35 AM
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Top News

Bloomberg:
Sources: Nintendo picked Samsung to produce the Switch 2's main chips, aiming to sell 20M+ units by March 2026, a key win for Samsung as it competes with TSMC  —  Securing a contract for one of the summer's hottest new gadgets will likely help lift utilization or boost business for the Korean conglomerate's chip foundries.
Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
Trump signs the Take It Down Act, criminalizing the distribution of nonconsensual intimate images and requiring platforms to promptly remove them when notified  —  The bill sailed through Congress with a focus on deepfakes and other nonconsensual intimate images.
Wall Street Journal:
Analysis: four of the world's top 50 tech companies are European, and none of the top 10 quantum companies are in Europe, as the continent lags the US and China  —  A risk-averse business culture and complex regulations have stifled innovation on the continent, weighing on its future
Politico:
France says it banned Telegram founder Pavel Durov on May 12 from going to the US for “negotiations with investment funds”, after arresting him in August 2024  —  The Russian-born entrepreneur is not allowed to leave France without permission following his August arrest.
More: 404 Media and Cryptopolitan
X: @durov, @victorglaf, and @durov.  Forums: Slashdot
Clare Duffy / CNN:
The US House Budget Committee advances a budget bill that would ban US states from enforcing any law regulating AI for 10 years; the bill now goes to the House  —  New York CNN —  —  More than 100 organizations are raising alarms about a provision in the House's sweeping tax …
Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:
The US Senate advances the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin bill, after a group of Democrats dropped their opposition on May 19, a major victory for the crypto industry  —  Stablecoin legislation overcame a procedural blockade in the US Senate, marking a major victory for the crypto industry …
Bloomberg:
Chinese government data: smartphone exports including iPhones fell 72% MoM to $688.5M in April, the lowest since 2011, outpacing a 21% drop in overall shipments  —  Smartphone exports slid 72% to just under $700 million last month, sharply outpacing an overall 21% drop in Chinese shipments to the US …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Sam Altman had for months sought to delegate more responsibility before hiring Fidji Simo, an adept and detail-oriented manager, in contrast to Altman  —  Fidji Simo is leaving Instacart for a newly created role at Sam Altman's startup as it prepares for a potential public offering
Bloomberg:
Malaysia downplays its deal to use 3,000 Huawei chips to build a first-of-its-kind AI system by 2026, underscoring its delicate position in the US-China AI race  —  Malaysia declared it'll build a first-of-its-kind AI system powered by Huawei Technologies Co. chips, only to distance itself …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
SAG-AFTRA files an NLRB unfair labor practice charge against Epic's Llama Productions for using AI to recreate James Earl Jones' Darth Vader voice in Fortnite  —  The actors union said Epic-owned Llama Productions “chose to replace the work of human performers with AI technology” …
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Spotify says Apple approved an update that lets US users buy individual audiobooks and see audiobook prices inside its iOS app, after the Epic v. Apple ruling  —  You'll see a ‘Buy’ button alongside an audiobook's price. … It's finally possible to purchase an audiobook from Spotify's iPhone app with just a few taps.
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott on AI agents, MCP, web search, NLWeb, the relationship with OpenAI, how new hardware and optimizations benefit AI, and more  —  Today, I'm talking with Kevin Scott, the chief technology officer of Microsoft and one of the company's AI leaders.
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
Microsoft open sources the Windows Subsystem for Linux, launched in August 2016, and releases its code on GitHub, except for a few Windows-specific components
Emma Roth / The Verge:
GitHub debuts an AI coding agent for GitHub Copilot that can fix bugs, add features, improve documentation, and more, and open sources GitHub Copilot in VS Code

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From Mediagazer

Jeremy Barr / The Guardian:
President Trump says Fox News “bears responsibility” for the GOP's losses after “constantly and consistently putting on the Dumocrat opposition, and worse”

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
As Democrats take the House and the Senate, David Ellison and other media executives are likely to face inquiries and hearings over their deals and Trump ties

The New York Times Company:
NYT reports Q3 revenue up 9.7% YoY to $768.5M, digital-only subscription revenue up 14.6% to $421.3M, and operating profit up 16.4% to $121.9M; NYT jumps 4%+

More News

Bloomberg:
Huawei launches HarmonyOS for PCs, including its 18-inch foldable MateBook Fold, and is working to make the OS compatible with 2,000+ apps, like WeChat and QQ
Bloomberg:
Source: the US DOJ opens an investigation into Coinbase's recent data breach; Coinbase says it's working with the DOJ and US and global law enforcement agencies

Earlier Picks

Washington Post:
Investigation: for two years, New Orleans police secretly scanned city streets using 200+ facial recognition cameras, seemingly violating a 2022 city ordinance
Luisa Beltran / Fortune:
Sources: Circle recently engaged in informal talks to sell itself to Coinbase or Ripple, seeking at least $5B, the valuation it is targeting in a potential IPO
Pradeep Viswanathan / Neowin:
Microsoft unveils Microsoft Discovery, an enterprise agentic platform with a graph-based knowledge engine meant to help scientists and engineers accelerate R&D
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft adds xAI's Grok 3 and Grok 3 mini to its Azure AI Foundry service, risking further OpenAI tensions; sources say Satya Nadella had pushed to host Grok
Ryan Gallagher / Bloomberg:
The UK says hackers breached its Legal Aid Agency to steal a “significant amount of personal data” from people who received legal aid across England and Wales
Dean Seal / Wall Street Journal:
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals says it will acquire 23andMe's assets, including its Personal Genome Service, for $256M, set to close in Q3, in the bankruptcy auction
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