Techmeme
January 15, 2025, 8:50 AM

Top News

Nicola M White / Bloomberg:
The US SEC sues Elon Musk, claiming he failed to timely disclose a 5%+ purchase of Twitter's stock ahead of his takeover of the social media platform in 2022  —  - Agency alleges billionaire ignored disclosure deadline in 2022  — Musk's lawyer says he did ‘nothing wrong’ and SEC has no case
The Information:
Sources: TikTok plans to switch off its app in the US on January 19 unless SCOTUS blocks the ban; the law only requires app stores to stop TikTok app downloads  —  TikTok plans to shut off its app for U.S. users on Sunday, the day a federal law will ban the app, unless the Supreme Court intervenes …
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Sources and docs: Meta has dismantled its system for identifying and limiting viral hoaxes, and told content-ranking teams to stop penalizing misinformation  —  The company built effective systems to reduce the reach of fake news.  Last week, it shut them down  —  I.
Emily Nicolle / Bloomberg:
British Virgin Islands-based Tether plans to move its corporate entity and subsidiaries to El Salvador after obtaining a digital asset service provider license  —  - Company and all subsidiaries will relocate to El Salvador  — Stablecoin firm incorporated in the British Virgin Islands
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Decentralized Instagram alternative Pixelfed debuts iOS and Android apps; its Android app is the top Social app on Google Play in some markets, including the US  —  Pixelfed, a decentralized alternative to Instagram, has launched its official mobile apps.  The service today runs …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Email: Sonos CPO Maxime Bouvat-Merlin is leaving; some employees say he shares a significant amount of blame for the brand damage due to the botched app revamp  —  A day after Sonos announced a CEO transition, the company is making more moves.  Chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin will also be leaving his position.
The Verge:
Court docs: internal chats suggest Meta used data from piracy site LibGen to train its Llama AI models and worked to conceal it, as Meta raced to beat rivals  —  A major copyright lawsuit against Meta has revealed a trove of internal communications about the company's plans to develop …
Elliptic:
Huione Guarantee, a Telegram-based marketplace that enables “pig butchering” and other scams, recently debuted a few crypto products, including a USD stablecoin  —  - Huione Guarantee is a Telegram-based marketplace serving fraudsters in South East Asia, including those responsible for so-called “pig butchering” scams.
Matthew Ball / MatthewBall.co:
An in-depth look at the state of video gaming in 2025, including why gaming soared from 2011-2021 then stalled, China's global rise, and mobile gaming growth  —  Please note, this deck is in Early Access and will release in PDF shortly.  There are two versions below based on your preference …
Steven J. Horowitz / Variety:
Drake withdraws petition accusing UMG and Spotify of inflating Kendrick Lamar's “Not Like Us” with bots and payola; the diss track accused Drake of pedophilia  —  Drake has withdrawn his petition against Spotify and Universal Music Group after accusing the entities of launching an illegal …
Bloomberg:
The Philippines' decision to supercharge its online gambling sector has been disastrous, opening the door to crimes, including money laundering, in the country  —  A casino raid in a sleepy town revealed the mayor's business connections to Singapore's $2 billion money-laundering scandal, and sparked allegations of Chinese espionage.
Reeta Raman / Rest of World:
Authorities in Singapore, which has a dire shortage of nurses, see the potential in AI tools to assist in preventive illness care, especially for the elderly  —  The country has a dire shortage of nurses, so to fill the manpower gap, it's using AI for preventive care.  —  • SINGAPORE
Forums: Hacker News
New York Times:
Brazilian nonprofit Legal Games Institute estimates betting apps draw over $23B in wagers annually, nearly 10 times the Mafia-run animal lottery in the country  —  Digital gambling could spell the end for a lottery run by criminal gangs that has been a fixture of Brazilian life for decades.
Dan Primack / Axios:

Sponsor Posts

Microsoft:
6 AI Trends to Watch in 2025  —  Explore insight from Microsoft on key AI advancements that will shape our work and daily lives in the coming year.
Genesys:
The Levels of Experience Orchestration  —  What's your vision for the future of customer experience?  See how AI can transform your business - and take you to the next level.
Zoho:
Declutter your organizational storage with ease  —  Data takes up storage space, whether it's on your desk or in your digital workspace.  Over time, unnecessary files, videos, and documents from past projects pile up …
Techmeme Leaderboards:
Discover the top reporters on AI, VR, policy, and much more  —  We've analyzed Techmeme's news crawl to identify the most influential and prolific writers on 48 news topics.  Download reports immediately for just $100.
Techmeme Ride Home:
(BNS) Senator Ron Wyden On TikTok, AI, Regulation And His New Book
The day's tech news, every day. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 8:50 AM ET, January 15, 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

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
CyberScoop:

Earlier Picks

Steven Vaughan-Nichols / ZDNET:
Josh Russell / Courthouse News Service:
Laura Bratton / Yahoo Finance:
Carly Page / TechCrunch:
Kylie Robison / The Verge: