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Techmeme
January 16, 2025, 12:00 AM
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
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Top News

Mackenzie Hawkins / Bloomberg:
The US unveils new rules calling for TSMC, Samsung, and other chip producers to step up their scrutiny and due diligence of customers, especially Chinese firms  —  - Measures also impose sanctions on 16 Chinese entities  — Biden has issued a raft of China regulations in his last week
Washington Post:
Donald Trump is considering issuing an executive order once in office that would suspend enforcement of the TikTok sale-or-ban law for 60 to 90 days  —  Trump, the infamous dealmaker, is exploring unconventional ways to rescue the Chinese-owned video app from a nationwide ban …
Daniel Kuhn / The Block:
BitMEX is fined an additional $100M for US Bank Secrecy Act violations between 2015 and 2020; it pleaded guilty in July 2024 and previously agreed to pay $110M  —  - BitMEX has been slapped with an additional $100 million fine for Bank Secrecy Act violations between 2015 and 2020.
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.
Lindsay Whitehurst / Associated Press:
During oral arguments, SCOTUS seemed open to a Texas law requiring age checks to view online porn, but could send the case back to a lower court  —  The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed open to a Texas law aimed at blocking kids from seeing online pornography, though the justices could still send …
Pete Schroeder / Reuters:
Block agrees to pay $80M to a group of 48 US state financial regulators that say it had insufficient policies for policing money laundering through Cash App  —  Block Inc (SQ.N) has agreed to pay a fine of $80 million to a group of 48 state financial regulators after the agencies determined …
Jaffer Zaidi / The Keyword:
Google says it has partnered with the AP to deliver a feed of real-time information to enhance the usefulness of results displayed in the Gemini app  —  The AP will now deliver a feed of real-time information to help enhance the usefulness of results displayed in the Gemini app.
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 adviser  —  “It was supposed to be a fun experiment,” Aryin said of her A.I. relationship, “but then you start getting attached.”
Jesse Coghlan / Cointelegraph:
DappRadar: NFT trading volumes in 2024 fell 19% YoY to $13.7B and sales counts fell 18% YoY to just under 50M, making 2024 the worst performing year since 2020  —  DappRadar found the NFT market last year was the worst since 2020 for trading and sales volumes, with both falling nearly 20% over 2024.
Reuters:
The FTC sues John Deere, alleging it illegally drove up repair costs by making its software repair tool available only to its authorized dealers  —  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday sued farm equipment maker Deere (DE.N), alleging it illegally drives up repair costs by forcing farmers …
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 …
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.
Yazhou Sun / Bloomberg:
Germany-based Neura Robotics, which is building cognitive, humanoid robots for logistics and other sectors, raised a €120M Series B led by Lingotto Investment  —  Neura Robotics, a German startup that manufactures robots that can “see, hear and touch,” has raised $120 million …
More: Sifted
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 …

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From Mediagazer

Minho Kim / New York Times:
A Trump administration letter to Congress outlines a plan to restructure VOA that would shrink the agency to 18 employees, down from roughly 1,400 in March

Liam Scott / Columbia Journalism Review:
Q&A with Tamara Bralo, the head of journalist safety at Radio Free Asia, on Trump's cuts, the future of at-risk visa holders, jailed staffers abroad, and more

Peter White / Deadline:
Sources: WBD initiates a round of layoffs in its cable TV divisions, affecting well under 100 employees and largely impacting the Discovery side of the company

More News

Kate Knibbs / Wired:
DoubleVerify says there is a jump in AI click farms, including a network of 200+ websites called Synthetic Echo, designed to siphon ad revenue from real outlets
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

Earlier Picks

Reuters:
Court filing: Meta says it may have to “roll back or pause” some features in India after a CCI directive banned WhatsApp data sharing with Meta for ad purposes
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
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
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
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
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