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January 15, 2025, 12:00 PM
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
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Top News

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 …
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
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.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft relaunches its free Copilot for businesses as Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, offering pay-as-you-go AI agents and using OpenAI's GPT-4o to answer queries  —  Microsoft is relaunching its free Copilot for businesses as Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat today, complete with the ability to use AI agents.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft says it will no longer support Office apps, known as Microsoft 365 apps, on Windows 10 after October 14, 2025  —  Microsoft says it will no longer support Office apps, known as Microsoft 365 apps, on Windows 10 later this year.  The support cutoff coincides with Windows 10's end …
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
Sara Fischer / Axios:
OpenAI will fund the expansion of Axios to Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Boulder, and Huntsville, as part of a broader content-sharing and technology deal  —  - Google struck a deal with McClatchy to fund the creation of three digital-only local newsrooms in 2019.
Steven J. Horowitz / Variety:
Drake pulls his petition accusing UMG and Spotify of inflating Kendrick Lamar's “Not Like Us” with bots and payola; the diss track accuses Drake of pedophilia  —  Drake has withdrawn his petition against Spotify and Universal Music Group after accusing the entities of launching an illegal …
Matthew Ball / MatthewBall.co:
A close look at the state of video gaming in 2025, including why gaming soared from 2011 to 2021 and 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 …
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google makes all its Gemini features for Workspace apps free, after charging $20 or $30 per user per month, but increases the prices of all its Workspace plans  —  Previously, Google charged an additional $20+ per user/month for Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Meet, and other Workspace apps.
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
DJI replaces its geofence around the US' No-Fly Zones with a dismissible warning, saying the update “aligns” with FAA rules and is similar to changes in the EU  —  For over a decade, you couldn't easily fly a DJI drone over restricted areas in the United States.
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 …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Nikita Bier, creator of apps like tbh and anonymous compliments app Gas, launches Explode, a freemium app to send disappearing texts and photos via iMessage  —  Nikita Bier, creator of popular apps like the anonymous polling app tbh (acquired by Facebook) and the anonymous compliments app Gas …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
LinkedIn launches free AI tools built on top of its own AI tech and data: a Jobs Match tool for job seekers and a recruitment AI agent for small businesses  —  If you've ever applied or thought of applying for a job via LinkedIn, you'll know that the experience can be immediately disheartening …
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.
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.
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
A 28-year-old woman describes her “relationship” with ChatGPT, or Leo as the chatbot named itself, which became her therapist, erotic partner, and advisor  —  “It was supposed to be a fun experiment,” Aryin said of her A.I. relationship, “but then you start getting attached.”
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.

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About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 12:00 PM 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.

From Mediagazer

Paul Hiebert / Adweek:
IAB and PWC: online ad spend hit $258.6B in 2024, up 15% YoY, with 39.8% going to search, 28.7% to display, 24% to video, and $2.4B to podcasts, up 26.4% YoY

NPR:
An interview with NPR CEO Katherine Maher on the impact of Trump's proposed budget cuts; $100M of the $121M NPR receives annually goes to member stations

Ted Johnson / Deadline:
In an X post, the FCC chairman suggests Comcast may be violating its licenses and accuses it of “news distortion” after MSNBC didn't air a WH press hearing

More News

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Synthesia, a London-based B2B startup building products around highly realistic AI avatar technology, raised a $180M Series D led by NEA at a $2.1B valuation

Earlier Picks

CyberScoop:
Experts say Donald Trump and others pushing for stronger US cyber offense must clarify if escalation is a proper response to recent Chinese cyber breaches
Josh Russell / Courthouse News Service:
In federal court, lawyers for Microsoft and OpenAI defended the scraping of news stories to train LLMs and urged the dismissal of news outlets' copyright claims
Dan Primack / Axios:
Intel Capital plans to split off from its parent into a standalone fund with a new name in H2 2025; Intel Capital has invested $20B+ into over 1,800 companies
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
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