Techmeme
January 14, 2025, 1:35 PM

Top News

Bloomberg:
Sources: Chinese officials are evaluating an option involving Elon Musk acquiring TikTok US; X would take control of TikTok US and run the businesses together  —  - ByteDance's preferred strategy is to fight ban, people say  — Trump has said he would like to delay ban to seek resolution
More: Wall Street Journal, Gizmodo, Austin American-Statesman, Ars Technica, The Daily Dot, Financial Times, The Independent, Reuters, The Verge, CNET, CNBC, AppleInsider, The Hill, Business Insider, Investor's Business Daily, Reuters, Semafor, Vanity Fair, Spyglass, Legit.ng, PYMNTS.com, Entrepreneur, Quartz, The American Conservative, Washington Times, Barron's Online, Washington Examiner, RedState, South China Morning Post, Forbes, USA Today, Toronto Star, New York Times, NME, Investing.com, Fortune, Music Ally, Livemint, Nairametrics, Taipei Times, Decrypt, Dazed, Tech.co, Khaama Press, Hindustan Times, The London Economic, The Sun, Silicon Republic, indy100, en.people.cn, The Crypto Basic, Interesting Engineering, UPI, Neowin, Lowyat.NET, Arabian Business, PhoneArena, International Business Times, Asia Financial, The Mirror, Cryptopolitan, Music Business Worldwide, Android Police, Bitcoin Insider, MEDIANAMA, MakeUseOf, PetaPixel, en.ain.ua, TechCrunch, and The Verge
Todd Spangler / Variety:
TikTok denies a report that China is looking at potentially facilitating a sale of the app to Elon Musk to keep it operating the US, calling it “pure fiction”  —  TikTok denied a report that China is looking at potentially facilitating a sale of the app to tech billionaire Elon Musk …
Justine Calma / The Verge:
Biden signs an EO that directs the DOD and DOE to lease land to companies building gigawatt-scale AI data centers and clean power facilities, and more  —  President Biden issued an executive order today aimed at speeding the development of AI data centers in the US.
Bloomberg:
The Biden admin finalizes a rule banning the import or sale of connected vehicles with hardware or software that have a “sufficient nexus” to China or Russia  —  - Biden finalizes ban on Chinese vehicles and moves to widen it  — US to lease federal land to AI companies to build data centers
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
The UK CMA opens an investigation into whether Google has “strategic market status” in search and how it impacts consumers, advertisers, publishers, and rivals  —  LONDON — Britain's competition watchdog on Tuesday said that it's opening a formal antitrust investigation into Google's search and search advertising services.
Riley Griffin / Bloomberg:
Meta plans to cut about 5% of its lowest performers with the intent of backfilling their roles this year, according to an internal memo sent to employees  —  Meta Platforms Inc. is planning to cut about 5% of its lowest performers with the intent of backfilling their roles this year, according to an internal memo sent to employees.
Financial Times:
Reece Rogers / Wired:
How Cleo AI and Bright, personalized AI chatbots offering financial advice, often function as a way to sell high-interest loans and cash advances to young users  —  AI finance apps are reaching Gen Z and millennial users with personalized chatbots that offer money advice—and upsell them big-time.
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:
Sources and business records detail how Barcelona has emerged as an unlikely hub for spyware companies, raising concerns from digital rights groups  —  Toward the end of 2023, an Israeli security researcher from Tel Aviv said that he was approached on LinkedIn with an opportunity to work abroad with “good pay.”
Cynthia Brumfield / CSO:
Draft of an EO called “Strengthening and Promoting Innovation in the Nation's Cybersecurity” that Biden may issue this week lists 52 actions agencies must take  —  The ambitious final executive order requires 52 agency actions to bolster cyber protections and counter adversaries …
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
The US, Japan, and South Korea issue a joint statement saying North Korean-backed hackers stole $659M+ in crypto heists in 2024 and were behind the $235M WazirX  —  North Korean-backed hackers stole at least $659 million through multiple cryptocurrency heists in 2024, while also deploying …
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
Texas sues Allstate and its subsidiary Arity, accusing the insurer of illegally collecting and selling data about people's driving behavior through mobile apps  —  The lawsuit accuses Arity, an Allstate subsidiary, of collecting data about people's driving behavior through mobile phone apps …
Niket Nishant / Reuters:
Zurich- and Singapore-based Sygnum, a crypto-focused bank and trading platform for institutional users, raised $58M led by Fulgur Ventures at a $1B valuation  —  Crypto-focused bank Sygnum secured a valuation of $1 billion after raising $58 million in its latest funding round, it said on Tuesday.
Cheng Ting-Fang / Nikkei Asia:
Sources: Apple is in the final stage of verifying its first cutting-edge chips from TSMC's Arizona plant, with the first batch expected as early as this quarter  —  TAIPEI — Apple is in the final stage of verifying its first “made in America” cutting-edge processor chips from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s plant in Arizona.
Will Knight / Wired:
The US' new chip export rule enters a 120-day consultation period, requiring the Trump admin to listen to input, perhaps modify the rule, and then enforce it  —  The US government has announced a radical plan to control exports of cutting-edge AI technology to most nations.
Financial Times:

Sponsor Posts

TELUS Digital:
Are you ready for the era of agentic AI?  —  Tech leaders are always talking about what's next, and right now, agentic AI is dominating the discourse.  Equip yourself with the info you need in this recorded webinar.
Tribe AI:
State of AI: Adoption, Challenges and Recommendations  —  Examining the current state of AI, the key challenges organizations face, and practical recommendations for utilizing AI integration alongside other best practices.
Zoho:
Everything new in the Zoho Sign iOS mobile app  —  Ranked highly in the iOS App Store (4.9 stars), Zoho Sign's mobile app for iPhone is a user favorite.  We're thrilled to share that the app has been enhanced …
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

Techmeme Ride Home:
Why COULDN'T Apple Make An iPhone In The US?
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
The Logan Bartlett Show:
Derek Thompson (Writer, The Atlantic) and Zach Weinberg (Co-founder & CEO, Curie.Bio) Discuss the Tariff Withdrawal and America's Future
A podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett, an investor at Redpoint Ventures, covering tech with industry insiders.
Subscribe to The Logan Bartlett Show.
Hard Fork:
Big Tech's Tariff Chaos + A.I. 2027 + Llama Drama
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Great Chat:
The bull case for domestic manufacturing
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.
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
Why DOGE is killing the agency that keeps banks from ripping you off
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Lenny's Podcast:
OpenAI's CPO on how AI changes must-have skills, moats, coding, startup playbooks, more | Kevin Weil (CPO at OpenAI, ex-Instagram, Twitter)
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.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:35 PM ET, January 14, 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

Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
Taylor Soper / GeekWire:

Earlier Picks

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Zeyi Yang / Wired:
Richard Nieva / Forbes: