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January 9, 2025, 6:45 PM
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Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat / Reuters: |
Frank McCourt's Project Liberty says it made a formal bid to ByteDance to buy TikTok's US assets and keep the app alive without its current algorithm — Entrepreneur and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt's Project Liberty and its consortium of partners in The People's Bid … | Financial Times: |
Sources: Musk is probing how he and his right-wing allies can go beyond aggressive X posts to destabilize the UK Labour government and remove Keir Starmer as PM — Technology billionaire interested in building support for another political party, notably Reform UK
More: Reuters, New York Times, Semafor, The i Paper, Business Standard, Daily Express, Sky News, The Times, Daily Express, Telegraph, The Irish Times, Financial Times, Republic World, The Indian Express, CBS Chicago on YouTube, Deccan Herald, Mediaite, The US Sun, Fortune, The Mirror, and New Republic
Bluesky: @premnsikka, @t0nyyates, @umakumaran, @pickardje, @mijrahman, @blairmcdougall, and @mijrahman
X: @elonmusk, @yanisvaroufakis, @carolineslocock, @peterstefanovi2, @jamesrbuk, @elonmusk, @mattgubba, @amberrudduk, @p_kallioniemi, @shashj, @elonmusk, @jonlis1, @p_kallioniemi, @tashecon, @jimfergusonuk, @acoyne, @elonmusk, @simon_schama, @tashecon, and @elonmusk. LinkedIn: Danny Rogers. Forums: r/unitedkingdom
| Financial Times: |
Analysis: Elon Musk's UK obsession is driven by a few X accounts; an ex-Twitter exec says Musk may be the first tech leader to be radicalized by his own product — Tech billionaire's posts about grooming gangs scandal have elevated issue — Elon Musk's recent obsession with UK politics …
More: Ars Technica, Human Events, modernity, and Byline Times
Bluesky: @lylescout, @yanisvaroufakis, @rswestmore.land, @bucketshopbob, @chez-rolez, @ianfraser, @bobrmitchell, @kadriliik, @mostlymammoths, @anneapplebaum, and @josiah.writes.news
Forums: r/technology and r/europe
| Ashley Capoot / CNBC: |
Google and Microsoft donate $1M to Trump's inauguration; Google says the donation, a YouTube livestream, and a homepage event link align with past inaugurations — Google donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration fund, becoming the latest major tech company to try …
More: CNBC, The Hill, The Verge, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Windows Central, Fast Company, AV Club, Forbes, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, Politico, Breitbart, New York Post, The Guardian, Watcher Guru, UPI, Silicon UK, The Independent, Cryptopolitan, The Wrap, Crypto Briefing, Coinpedia Fintech News, Quartz, Benzinga, The Block, CryptoSlate, Associated Press, Fortune, and The Dispatch
Forums: r/esist, r/politics, and r/technology
| Carly Page / TechCrunch: |
Ivanti warns that threat actors exploited a critical-rated zero-day in its widely used Connect Secure VPN tool to compromise its corporate customers' networks — U.S. software giant Ivanti has warned that a zero-day vulnerability in its widely-used enterprise VPN appliance has been exploited …
More: Google Cloud Blog, BleepingComputer, Ars Technica, Cybersecurity …, Ivanti, Rapid7, The Record, SecurityWeek, Cybersecurity Dive, Security Boulevard, CRN, CyberScoop, The Register, MacSecurity.net, SC Media, Help Net Security, DataBreachToday.com, Tech Monitor, Infosecurity, Cyber Security News, ISPreview UK, Security Affairs, The Hacker News, Cyber Daily, CSO, and The Stack
Bluesky: @phillyfilly and @campuscodi.risky.biz. Mastodon: @carlypage@mastodon.social. X: @uk_daniel_card. Forums: Slashdot
| Jason Koebler / 404 Media: |
Sources: many Meta employees are furious about its moderation changes that allow “allegations of mental illness” when based on “gender or sexual orientation” — Meta's decision to specifically allow users to call LGBTQ+ people “mentally ill” has sparked widespread backlash at the company.
More: Techdirt, New Republic, Attitude, Business Today, INTO, Social Media Today, and The Atlantic
| Colby Hall / Mediaite: |
GOP Senator Markwayne Mullin says Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump the day before announcing that Meta would replace fact-checking with Community Notes — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with President-elect Donald Trump the day before announcing his social media platforms would end …
More: Gizmodo, The Hill, GreenBot, Prospect Magazine, The Independent, and The Economist
| Mike Masnick / Techdirt: |
More: 404 Media, Financial Times, Wired, YourStory, Cautious Optimism, Beyond Search, Reuters, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, Semafor, Platformer, TechCrunch, and Washington Post
Bluesky: @rani, @natecardozo, @joshsternberg.com, @0x0.boo, @0x0.boo, @karlbode.com, @mmasnick, @willoremus.com, and @viacristiano
Mastodon: @KimPerales@toad.social, @ethanz@social.coop, and @stefthepef@mastodon.social. Threads: @jtroll
X: @shayan86, @jonathanstray, and @_jaybaxter_
Forums: r/technology, r/KeepOurNetFree, and r/technology
| Ryan Browne / CNBC: |
Ubisoft says it is appointing advisers to review and pursue strategic options after an October 2024 report said its majority backers were considering a buyout — French video game publisher Ubisoft said Thursday it's appointing advisors to review and pursue strategic options after a report … | Jonathan Stempel / Reuters: |
A US judge rules that Google must face a class action claiming Google collected users' personal data from their phones after switching off Web & App Activity — Google failed to persuade a federal judge to dismiss a privacy class action claiming it collected personal data from people's cellphones …
More: Ars Technica, SiliconANGLE, MediaPost, The Verge, SC Media, Newswise, San Francisco Business Times, PhoneArena, Computerworld, Forbes, NewsBytes, and PYMNTS.com. Forums: r/degoogle
| Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: |
xAI launches a Grok app in beta for iOS in multiple countries, including the US, Australia, and India, and is preparing a dedicated Grok.com website — Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, is testing out a standalone iOS app for its chatbot, Grok, which was available only to X users until now.
More: MacRumors, TechCrunch, Engadget, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, iLounge, MakeUseOf, PhoneArena, WinBuzzer, iClarified, iDownloadBlog.com, 9to5Mac, Digital Trends, BGR, Redmond Pie, Tom's Guide, and NewsBytes
Bluesky: @germanshepherdgirl. X: @ns123abc, @pitdesi, @parkerortolani, @scobleizer, @brianroemmele, @brianroemmele, @brianroemmele, and @manan. Forums: MacRumors Forums
| Lillian Rizzo / CNBC: |
Disney says it has an estimated 157M global MAUs watching ad-supported content across its streaming services Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, including 112M US users — Disney said Wednesday it has an estimated 157 million global monthly active users watching ad-supported content across its streaming platforms — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
More: PYMNTS.com, Storyboard18, 9meters, The Streamable, Proactive, CNET, TVNewsCheck, Benzinga, The Walt Disney Company, Deadline, IndieWire, Media Play News, The Desk, Adweek, and The Wrap
Forums: r/stocks, r/Piracy, r/technology, and r/cordcutters
| Richard Lawler / The Verge: |
Apple says it “has never used Siri data to build marketing profiles” and never sold it for advertising or other purposes, after paying $95M to settle a lawsuit — A Siri lawsuit settlement over privacy issues has dredged up old rumors about iPhone ad targeting …
More: Apple, TechSpot, Reuters, MacRumors, AppleInsider, Proactive, PCMag, Mashable, Neowin, BetaNews, Deccan Herald, Thurrott, Silicon UK, The Record, UPI, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, New York Post, Quartz, Computerworld, PhoneArena, BGR, iClarified, O'Grady's PowerPage, The Economic Times, International Business Times, Sherwood News, MacDailyNews, Hindustan Times, Benzinga, MySmartPrice, Gearrice, 9to5Mac, Bloomberg Law, and iLounge
Bluesky: @justinschuh.com and @davidcarroll.org
Mastodon: @SuffolkLITLab@esq.social and @chartier@toot.cafe
X: @verge, @pkafka, @aaronp613, and @pkafka
| Annie Palmer / CNBC: |
Amazon launches Amazon Retail Ad Service to let companies show ads in search results, product pages, and other areas of their own websites, initially in the US — Amazon has turned into an online ad juggernaut in recent years, with brands paying big bucks for premium placement on the retailer's websites.| Steven Scheer / Reuters: |
Israeli cybersecurity startup Wiz names veteran exec Fazal Merchant as president and CFO to prepare for a US IPO; sources: Wiz has annual revenues of ~$500M — Israeli startup Wiz said on Thursday it had named veteran executive Fazal Merchant as president and chief financial officer …
More: The Information, Seeking Alpha, Globes Online, Wall Street Journal, and CRN
| Vince Dioquino / Decrypt: |
Filing: the Northern District Court of California gives the US government final approval to sell 69,370 BTC, worth $6.5B, seized in its Silk Road investigation — The ruling does not ensure immediate liquidation of the seized Bitcoin, as federal asset forfeiture requires several administrative processes.
More: Ars Technica, Unchained, CoinDesk, Fortune, Bitcoin Insider, CourtListener, crypto.news, NewsBTC, Cointelegraph, Cryptopolitan, CryptoGlobe, Coinpedia Fintech News, Bitcoinist.com, The Coin Republic, CCN.com, CryptoSlate, Inside Bitcoins, CryptoPotato, Watcher Guru, The Crypto Times, CoinGape, Cryptonews, Benzinga, Blockchain.News, and Crypto Briefing
| George Hammond / Financial Times: |
Elon Musk calls on California and Delaware AGs to force OpenAI to auction off a large stake in its business; source: OpenAI had no plans for such an auction — Latest salvo in legal battle over ChatGPT-maker's restructuring as a for-profit company — A lawyer for Elon Musk has called … | Stephen Totilo / Game File: |
December court filing: Activision revealed that Call of Duty: Black Ops III cost $450M+ to make, Modern Warfare cost $640M+, and Black Ops Cold War cost $700M+ — The biggest development budgets ever disclosed by a game company, buried in a court filing (but found by Game File), along with updated sales figures.
More: Creative Bloq, iPhone in Canada Blog, PlayStation LifeStyle, and VideoGamer
Bluesky: @tslwhidbey, @isaacalves, @mdelamerced, @toadsanime.lostincult.co.uk, @knoebel, and @stephentotilo
LinkedIn: Jesper Juul and Stephen Totilo
| Heather Landi / Fierce Healthcare: |
Hippocratic AI, which is building an LLM for health care, raised a $141M Series B, valuing the company at $1.64B, and launches a health care AI agent app store — Hippocratic AI funding round generative AI Kleiner Perkins — Hippocratic AI is kicking off 2025 with a bang.| Peter Eavis / New York Times: |
US dockworkers and shipping industry officials reach a tentative labor agreement, overcoming their differences over automated cargo-moving machinery at ports — Dockworkers and employers on the East and Gulf Coasts had until Jan. 15 to reach a new agreement that settled differences over automation.
More: The Boston Globe and NBC News
| Taylor Nicole Rogers / Financial Times: |
More: New York Times, Associated Press, Transport Topics, CBS News, CNBC, FreightWaves, CBS News, and Reuters. LinkedIn: Max Holmes
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