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September 25, 2025, 4:25 PM
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| Financial Times: |
Amazon reaches a $2.5B settlement with the FTC over deceptive Prime practices, with a $1B civil penalty and $1.5B in consumer redress, three days into the trial — Agreement includes largest penalty issued for violating consumer protection agency's rules — Amazon has reached a $2.5bn settlement …
More: Federal Trade Commission, Associated Press, CNBC, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, CNET, ZDNET, The Register, Wall Street Journal, Android Police, How-To Geek, Washington Post, Benzinga, Investor's Business Daily, CNN, Gizmodo, New York Times, Seattle Business Journal, AppleInsider, Reuters, New York Post, Breitbart, BleepingComputer, The Economic Times, Fortune, San Francisco Chronicle, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Engadget, Ars Technica, NPR, The Information, ABC, TVNewsCheck, GameSpot, Le Monde, Plain Dealer, Mashable, The Verge, Washington Examiner, Variety, iPhone in Canada, Yahoo Finance, MediaPost, Los Angeles Times, Tom's Guide, Deadline, Quartz, Axios, RTÉ, About Amazon, The Irish Times, Politico, Nairametrics, CyberInsider, The US Sun, and Cord Cutters News
X: @chesterj1, @matthewstoller, @meadorftc, @xpangler, @afergusonftc, @adamkovac, @realjdenton, @ftc, @zephyrteachout, @stacyfmitchell, @amazon_policy, @bedoyausa, @delrey, @delrey, and @linamkhan. LinkedIn: Andrew Dillon. Bluesky: @quinnypig.com. Mastodon: @finnmyrstad@eupolicy.social
Forums: r/amzn and r/technology
| The Guardian: |
Microsoft terminated Israel military's Unit 8200 access to Azure, after an investigation found the tech was used for mass surveillance in Gaza and West Bank — Exclusive: Tech firm ends military unit's access to AI and data services after Guardian reveals secret spy project
More: Microsoft, Engadget, The Verge, New York Times, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Game Developer, ZDNET, Financial Times, GeekWire, Reuters, Windows Central, PCMag, CNBC, The Times of Israel, Bloomberg, israelhayom.com, Polygon, Kotaku, and Türkiye Today
X: @hshaban and @tomwarren
LinkedIn: Mike Adams, Gayatri Khandhadai, and Tarek Dawoud
Bluesky: @guyoron.net, @kerrblimey, @peark.es, @joolia, @hypervisible.blacksky.app, @stephentotilo, and @carlquintanilla
Forums: Hacker News, r/Seattle, r/Palestine, r/PoliticalOptimism, r/kindafunny, r/microsoft, r/news, r/technology, r/anime_titties, r/politics, and r/worldnews
| Apple: |
Apple says the DMA exposes users to new risks, reduces choice by making iOS resemble Android, and creates unfair competition by not applying to Samsung — At Apple, we've always focused on creating technology that empowers people and enriches their lives. We design our products to be intuitive …
More: Politico, The Guardian, MacRumors, PYMNTS.com, The Verge, Notebookcheck, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Six Colors, WinBuzzer, TidBITS, iPhone in Canada, Developer Tech News, Thurrott, BGR, iDrop News, Appleosophy, TechCrunch, Cult of Mac, T3, iClarified, The Hans India, Macworld, Inc, UPI, Computerworld, Mobile World Live, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, and BBC
LinkedIn: Jordy Thery. Mastodon: @stroughtonsmith …, @ansuz@social.cryptography.dog, @Frederik_Borgesius …, and @khaost@mastodon.tz.is
Forums: Hacker News, r/apple, and MacRumors Forums
| France 24: |
Apple asks the EU to repeal the DMA; EU rejects Apple's demand, saying it is “not surprised” as Apple has “contested every little bit” of DMA since day one — Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) - The European Union rejected a call by Apple to scrap its landmark digital competition law …
More: 9to5Mac, Financial Times, Engadget, AppleInsider, The American Bazaar, iClarified, MarketWatch, iThinkDifferent, MacRumors, Investing.com, Wall Street Journal, MLex, and Euractiv
X: @aaronp613. LinkedIn: Aaron McLoughlin. Bluesky: @fbermingham, @margotdor, @nojohn, @andrewstroehlein, @hidde.blog, @gateklons, and @carnage4life
Mastodon: @brucelawson@social …, @Wen@mastodon.scot, @slightlyoff@toot.cafe, @jzb@mastodon.social, @kjhealy@mastodon.social, @jer@hachyderm.io, and @rileytestut@mastodon.social
Forums: Hacker News, r/BuyFromEU, r/europe, r/stupidpol, r/technology, r/europe, r/eutech, and Slashdot
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft Windows 10 users will receive free Extended Security Updates in the EEA without enabling Windows Backup, after pressure from the Euroconsumers group — You won't have to enable Windows Backup to get extended Windows 10 security updates in the European Economic Area.
More: Windows Central, XDA Developers, Thurrott, BleepingComputer, Engadget, PCMag, TechRadar, PCWorld, Help Net Security, Windows Report, Pureinfotech, and WinBuzzer
Bluesky: @tomwarren.co.uk and @marypcbuk
Mastodon: @never_released@mastodon … and @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social
Forums: r/Windows10, r/popculturechat, r/windows, r/technology, r/technews, and Beehaw
| Hayden Field / The Verge: |
OpenAI launches ChatGPT Pulse, a mobile feature for Pro users that delivers daily personalized updates based on their chats, feedback, and connected apps — ChatGPT's new Pulse feature does personalized research on your behalf overnight and serves you up a digest each morning.
More: OpenAI, Engadget, Bloomberg, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Mashable, iThinkDifferent, iPhone in Canada, The Decoder, TechRadar, BGR, Blockchain.News, and Tom's Guide
Forums: r/OpenAI, r/OpenAI, and r/MyBoyfriendIsAI
| Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch: |
OpenAI releases GDPval, a benchmark to test AI performance on “economically valuable, real-world tasks”, and says Claude Opus 4.1 was the best performing model — OpenAI released a new benchmark on Thursday that tests how its AI models perform compared to human professionals across a wide range of industries and jobs.
More: OpenAI, Axios, ZDNET, ZDNET, Blockchain.News, and Don't Worry About the Vase
X: @tasslermarcus, @gasca, @anuraagsidhu, @kevinweil, @kimmonismus, @tunedgradient, @shyamalanadkat, @shanumathew93, @deenamousa, @kaicathyc, @michelelwang, @nancyafairbank, @gregkamradt, @kliu128, @oliviagwatkins2, @sid_899, @_simonsmith, @deredleritt3r, @daniel_mac8, @tanayj, @abhanshusharma, @gdb, @scaling01, @abhishekn, @tejalpatwardhan, @gracejkim9, @iterintellectus, @scaling01, @scaling01, and @scaling01
| Tabby Kinder / Financial Times: |
A profile of AI skeptic Ed Zitron: Sam Altman's firing and return was his “Joker moment”, tech journalism is flawed, his brash persona is not a mask, and more — How a British-born hobbyist blogger became one of Big Tech's punchiest critics — Ed Zitron is not a journalist …
Bluesky: @edzitron.com, @edzitron.com, @benansell, @theravenof, and @edzitron.com
| Wired: |
Sources: Meta poached Yang Song, who led OpenAI's strategic explorations team, to be the research principal of Meta Superintelligence Labs earlier this month — The Best Robot Vacuums to Keep Your Home Clean — Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Revolutionized Windows Laptops. Here Comes the Second Act| Makini Brice / Reuters: |
The EU launches an antitrust probe into SAP over its ERP software maintenance and support services, with a potential fine of ~10% of its annual global sales — The European Commission has opened an investigation into possible anticompetitive practices by Germany's SAP (SAPG.DE) …
More: European Commission, The Register, SAP News Center, CIO Dive, Bloomberg, CIO.com, Euractiv, MarketWatch, and Financial Times
| Oma Seddiq / Bloomberg: |
xAI signed a deal with the GSA to offer Grok to US federal agencies for $0.42 per agency for 18 months, a discount to OpenAI's $1 per year for ChatGPT — - Follows recent deals with Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic and Google — xAI engineers to assist federal agencies with implementation
More: New York Times, U.S. General Services …, TechCrunch, PYMNTS.com, UPI, The Register, Fortune, New Republic, Livemint, Engadget, The Information, The Hill, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, FedScoop, Townhall, RedState, The Wrap, Reuters, Washington Examiner, Crypto Briefing, TESLARATI, and Fox News. Bluesky: @jeczjan
| Blockworks: |
Cloudflare announces plans to launch NET Dollar, a US dollar-backed stablecoin designed to support payments for the “agentic web” — The company introduced a dollar-backed stablecoin to power instant payments and microtransactions for AI-driven web platforms| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Neon, which pays users to record their phone calls and sells that audio data to AI companies for training, becomes the #2 social app on the US App Store — A new app offering to record your phone calls and pay you for the audio so it can sell the data to AI companies is, unbelievably …
More: CNET, 9to5Mac, ZDNET, The American Bazaar, Digital Trends, Mashable, Dexerto, iDrop News, Implicator.ai, and PCMag
Bluesky: @russwilcox and @joetidy
Mastodon: @davemark@mastodon.social and @skry@mastodon.social
Forums: r/passive_income and Slashdot
| Joel Drapper: |
Sources allege that nonprofit Ruby Central took control of some Ruby open-source projects from their maintainers without consent, after pressure from Shopify — Ruby Central recently took over a collection of open source projects from their maintainers without their consent.
More: André Arko, pupdates, Freedom's Substack, Ruby Central, The Register, André Arko, Michael Tsai, Matt Mullenweg, and The Register
LinkedIn: Brian Greene. Bluesky: @campuscodi.risky.biz, @martinemde.com, @rmfranca, @katproto.girlonthemoon.xyz, @davidcel.is, @seldo.com, @thomasfuchs.at, @duckinator, @wwahammy.com, @valeriecodes, and @baweaver
Mastodon: @joeldrapper@ruby.social, @ceejbot@toot.cat, @somebitslinks@tech.lgbt, @technotenshi@infosec.exchange, @anthroposamu@mastodon.social, @phillmv@hachyderm.io, @jbz@indieweb.social, @maxine@hachyderm.io, @elilla@transmom.love, @aesthr@wandering.shop, @jaredwhite@indieweb.social, and @bascule@mas.to
Forums: Hacker News, r/ruby, Lobsters, and Lobsters
| Ari Levy / CNBC: |
Sources: Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi's MGX will be the main TikTok USA investors, with a ~45% stake; ByteDance will own 19.9% and ByteDance investors 35% — Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi's MGX will be main investors in TikTok's U.S. business, sources told CNBC's David Faber on Thursday.| Dominic Preston / The Verge: |
Xiaomi unveils 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max, available September 27 in China; Pro phones feature a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and a back screen — The company could lay off the Apple comparisons a bit though. … A critic might accuse Xiaomi of copying Apple a little too closely …
More: Bloomberg, 9to5Google, South China Morning Post, iPhone in Canada, PetaPixel, Android Headlines, and XiaomiTime
X: @bengeskin and @tomwarren
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Spotify updates its AI policy, including adopting the upcoming DDEX standard to label and identify AI music and rolling out a new music spam filter — Spotify on Thursday announced a series of updates to its AI policy, designed to better indicate when AI is being used to make music … | Daniel Bader / Android Police: |
Qualcomm details the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, its latest flagship mobile SoC, claiming a 20% boost in YoY CPU performance and a 23% uplift in GPU performance — Daniel started writing about tech in 2007, before Android existed. He got his start reviewing phones, wearables, and headphones, as the managing editor of MobileSyrup.
More: Qualcomm, CNET, Android Authority, Digit, The Walkman Blog, Digit, Android Authority, Droid Life, Benzinga, Thurrott, MobileSyrup, CNET, and Tom's Hardware
| Brody Ford / Bloomberg: |
CoreWeave expands its data center capacity agreements with OpenAI by $6.5B, bringing their total potential value to $22.4B, to support training of OpenAI models — CoreWeave Inc. expanded its agreements to supply data center capacity to OpenAI by as much as $6.5 billion to $22.4 billion … | Jeff John Roberts / Fortune: |
Source: cryptocurrency exchange Kraken quietly closed a $500M funding round at a $15B valuation, including from co-CEO Arjun Sethi's Tribe Capital — “My neighbors think I'm under house arrest,” observes Arjun Sethi. It's not hard to see why. On the driveway of Sethi's comfortable Menlo Park home … | Melissa Heikkilä / Financial Times: |
Google DeepMind unveils Gemini Robotics 1.5 and Robotics-ER 1.5, enabling robots to perform multi-step tasks like sorting laundry, including by using web search — New technology advances reasoning capabilities in general-purpose machines in push to make them more useful| George Hammond / Financial Times: |
Factory, which makes AI agents called “droids” to assist in coding, raised $50M at a $300M valuation; AI coding startups raised $7.5B+ in the past three months — Sequoia, NEA and Nvidia invest $50mn in Factory in bet software engineering will be critical application for the tech
More: Implicator.ai, Business Wire, Factory.ai, and Sourcery
| Financial Times: |
Circle president Heath Tarbert says Circle is exploring the possibility of reversible stablecoin transactions to allow refunds in cases of fraud or disputes — President says sector should learn from traditional finance and allow refunds in cases of fraud or disputes
More: Decrypt, Cointelegraph, CoinDesk, Protos, Bloomberg, PYMNTS.com, Benzinga, Coinspeaker, The Crypto Times, Coinpedia Fintech News, and Cryptonews
| Arjun Neil Alim / Financial Times: |
HSBC says it has tested an IBM quantum computing tool on European bond market data and saw a 34% improvement over traditional methods in predicting order fills — Europe's largest lender tested a tool developed by IBM on bond market data — HSBC claimed quantum computing tools … | Marina Temkin / TechCrunch: |
Juicebox, whose PeopleGPT helps employers analyze professional profiles to identify qualified candidates, raised $36M, including a $30M Series A led by Sequoia — For years, recruiters used machine learning to find potential hires by searching for keywords in resumes and LinkedIn profiles.| Wall Street Journal: |
Sources: Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has spoken to TSMC CEO C.C. Wei about a partnership or a joint venture; he also met with Tim Cook this year; INTC is up 9%+ — Semiconductor maker has been winning support from other tech companies following the deal that gave the U.S. government 10% stake| Karissa Bell / Engadget: |
Meta expands Facebook and Messenger teen accounts, which have extra safety controls, globally; Instagram now lets all US schools report safety concerns — Instagram is also opening up its program that allows middle schools and high schools to report bullying.| Jon Keegan / Sherwood News: |
xAI sues OpenAI in California for allegedly stealing trade secrets by means of hiring away key employees; in August, xAI sued an ex-staffer who left for OpenAI — Following a recent lawsuit against a former employee over allegedly stealing trade secrets, Musk's xAI is now suing the company that executive left to work for — OpenAI.
More: Washington Post, TheStreet, The Guardian, Business Insider, Reuters, Engadget, WinBuzzer, Bloomberg Law, and The Information. X: @andrewcurran_
| Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: |
Nothing plans to invest $100M to spin off budget brand CMF into an independent subsidiary, with India as its manufacturing and R&D headquarters — Hardware startup Nothing said Thursday that it plans to make its affordable device brand, CMF, into an independent subsidiary with India serving …
More: Engadget, NDTV Profit, The Hindu, Fortune India, Moneycontrol, and Inc42 Media
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More: CNET, Search Engine Land, Axios, Fortune, Livemint, Adweek, Financial Express, and PYMNTS.com
X: @loudmouthjulia. LinkedIn: Glenn Gabe. Bluesky: @edzitron.com, @kazmonaut.kzstan.com, @peterswimm.com, and @alexeheath.com. Threads: @eric_seufert
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