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January 14, 2025, 6:15 AM
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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: Reuters, Wall Street Journal, The Sun, The Independent, Agence France-Presse, Silicon Republic, Business Today, Livemint, Android Police, Euronews, Fortune, CNBC, The Crypto Basic, Mark Carrigan, International Business Times, Businessday NG, Hindustan Times, en.ain.ua, Novinite.com, The Economic Times, indy100, Mashable, Cryptopolitan, Interesting Engineering, Android Authority, MEDIANAMA, Khaama Press, TechSpot, Lovin Malta, Lowyat.NET, Mobile World Live, Nairametrics, Cointelegraph, Neowin, Al Jazeera, Washington Examiner, Daily Mail, NBC Connecticut, Invezz, Hypebeast, SiliconANGLE, Benzinga, Forbes, BGR, HuffPost, KrASIA, Tuko.co.ke, The Post Millennial, Raw Story, Wall Street Pit, BroBible, The Information, The Verge, Pixel Envy, 9meters, Consequence, TechCrunch, Dexerto, RedState, TechCrunch, The Wrap, Times of India, KEYE, Axios, Barron's Online, Malay Mail, and Proactiveinvestors UK
Bluesky: @steinekin, @alexheath, @davelee.me, @rincewind.run, @caseynewton, @noupside, @kevinroose.com, @karissabe, @shepardcdr, @lorak, @martinsfp, @larakate, @tk.gg, @ashtonpittman, @doremusjessup, @mikeelgan, @evacide, @carlbergstrom.com, @mediaevan, @daveweigel, @civicwhitaker, @wcooperbooks, @kurtwagner, @quinnypig.com, @peark.es, and @schooley.  Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social.  Threads: @susyqli
X: @mgsiegler, @benmullin, @hzjoe03, @alexeheath, @mattyglesias, @kyliebytes, @austinahlman, @pushastee, @alexeheath, @matthewstoller, @loudmouthjulia, @turnernovak, @maxwelltani, @kyliebytes, @newley, @newley, @loudmouthjulia, @newley, @mrbeast, and @chamath
Forums: r/neoliberal, r/Destiny, r/worldnews, r/politics, r/China, r/TheAllinPodcasts, r/wallstreetbets, and r/EnoughMuskSpam
See also Mediagazer
Todd Spangler / Variety:
TikTok denies a report that China is looking at potentially facilitating a sale of the app to Elon Musk, 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 to keep TikTok operational …
Zeyi Yang / Wired:
Ahead of a likely US TikTok ban, users flee to Chinese apps Xiaohongshu, aka RedNote, and ByteDance's Lemon8, currently the top two apps in the US App Store  —  Some say they joined Xiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book,” to spite the US government after a ban on TikTok became more likely.
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
The UK CMA opens a probe to assess Google's position in search and search ads business and how it impacts consumers, advertisers, publishers, and its 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.
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 …
Vince Dioquino / Decrypt:
Sony launches Soneium Ethereum L2 platform for creators, after a four-month test that drew 14M+ users; Blockscout: Soneium testnet processed ~47M transactions  —  Sony says it plans to explore ways for protecting creator rights and mechanisms for equitable value distribution between creators and fans.
Richard Nieva / Forbes:
Jimmy Wales, Mark Ruffalo, others debut Free Our Feeds to raise $30M by 2028 to “billionaire-proof” AT Protocol, by making it easier for users to leave Bluesky  —  Free Our Feeds, which includes support from the Mozilla Foundation, is working with Bluesky to make sure …
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
Microsoft is creating a new “CoreAI - Platform and Tools” unit led by Jay Parikh, the ex-Lacework CEO and Meta engineering executive who joined in October 2024  —  Microsoft is creating a new engineering division, led by the former global head of engineering at Facebook (now Meta) …
Niket Nishant / Reuters:
Sygnum, a Switzerland and Singapore-based digital asset bank and crypto trading platform, 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.
Reece Rogers / Wired:
How Cleo AI and Bright, AI chatbots offering personalized 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.
Taylor Soper / GeekWire:
Bellevue, WA-based Truveta, which aggregates medical data from 30 partner institutions, raised $320M from Regeneron, Illumina, and others at a $1B+ valuation  —  Seattle-area health data company Truveta announced $320 million in fresh funding and an ambitious new initiative to create a giant genomic dataset.
Financial Times:
Sources: the EU is reassessing its DMA probes into US tech giants like Apple, Meta, and Google, launched since March 2024, as US groups urge Trump to intervene  —  Tech groups have urged Donald Trump to intervene against overzealous European regulation  —  Brussels is reassessing …
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
The SEC says that two Robinhood broker-dealers agreed to pay $45M in combined penalties to settle charges that they violated over 10 securities law provisions  —  - CNBC Councils  — CNBC on Peacock  — Join the CNBC Panel  — Supply Chain Values  — Select Shopping  — Ad Choices
Leena Rao / Business Insider:
Chainalysis buys AI-agent security startup Alterya, sources say for ~$150M; Alterya is still in stealth mode but has clients including Coinbase, Square, Binance  —  - Chainalysis has acquired Alterya, a fraud-detection startup, for $150 million.  — Founded in 2022, Alterya uses AI to detect scams for financial and crypto firms.
Washington Post:
An investigation finds 15 police departments across 12 US states have arrested suspects identified through facial recognition without having any other evidence  —  Confident in unproven facial recognition technology, sometimes investigators skip steps; at least eight Americans have been wrongfully arrested.
More: Biometric Update.  Bluesky: @joffirphd, @drewharwell.com, and @hypervisible.  X: @glynco.  LinkedIn: Douglas MacMillan.  Forums: r/technology
Financial Times:
The Biden admin unveils a new chip export rule that gives 18 key allies full AI chips access while requiring licenses from most other countries, including China  —  US semiconductor industry warns move will aid competitors  —  The US is imposing expansive export controls on chips used …
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

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From Mediagazer

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: WaPo officials told staffers a cyberattack compromised the email accounts of several journalists and was potentially the work of a foreign government

Ben Johansen / Politico:
Sources: USAGM told employees of VOA's Persian-language service who were placed on administrative leave to return to their roles amid the Iran-Israel conflict

Michael Savage / The Guardian:
Hamish McKenzie says WaPo approached Substack about hosting its writers, and there has been a “change in mindset” of traditional media about the platform

More News

Earlier Picks

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
SCOTUS declines to hear Meta's bid to avoid a class action by advertisers that accused the company of overcharging them by inflating their potential ad reach
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is leaving following a botched app revamp that upset customers and stymied growth; Sonos names board member Tom Conrad as interim CEO
New York Times:
OpenAI publishes a “economic blueprint” for “AI in America”, calling on the new Trump admin to spur investment from the Middle East and avoid strict regulations
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