Techmeme
January 17, 2025, 3:10 AM

Top News

New York Times:
Sources: Zuckerberg told Stephen Miller that he would do nothing to obstruct Trump's agenda and blamed Sheryl Sandberg for an inclusivity initiative at Facebook  —  Stephen Miller was the architect of Donald J. Trump's hard-line immigration agenda in his first term.
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple disables notification summaries for News & Entertainment apps in iOS 18.3 beta and makes other changes to summaries, including using italicized text  —  Apple released iOS 18.3 beta 3 to developers this afternoon.  The update includes a handful of changes to the notification summaries feature of Apple Intelligence.
ABC News:
A US official says the Biden administration won't force TikTok to go dark in the country on January 19 and will leave it up to Trump to implement the law  —  The ban goes into effect on Sunday unless the Supreme Court intervenes.  —  TikTok logo on a smartphone.
More: The Verge, Techdirt, TechCrunch, Associated Press, New York Times, BBC, KTVU-TV, DNyuz, Mashable, Reuters, The Information, Adweek, Hypebeast, Politico, thealpenanews.com, Flipboard, The Hill, Reuters, Bloomberg, NBC News, Bloomberg, PhoneArena, Benzinga, Sky News, Washington Examiner, The Torment Nexus, Times of India, Reason, Digital Music News, Lifehacker, Engadget, Associated Press, AzerNews, The Desk, KEYE, The Wrap, RealClearPolicy, MyNorthwest.com, AfroTech, Digital Trends, Android Police, Just The News, PolitiFact, New York Post, Breitbart, B&T, Variety, Fox Business, SheKnows, The Independent, Dallas Express, Voice of America, Daily Mail, Forbes, The Post Millennial, Slate, Business Insider, The Daily Upside, Pixel Envy, OMG.BLOG, Al Jazeera, Social Media Today, Iowa Capital Dispatch, Entrepreneur, NewsBytes, Blavity News & Entertainment, AppleInsider, South China Morning Post, WHDH-TV, HuffPost, Pocket-lint, New Republic, UNILAD, The Independent, The Boston Globe, Adweek, KTVU-TV, Barron's Online, Investor's Business Daily, NTD, NBC News, and Washington Post
Threads: @tomgara and @senschumer
Bloomberg:
Sources: Trump plans an EO to elevate crypto to a national imperative or priority and create a crypto advisory council to advocate for industry priorities  —  - Executive order expected to create a crypto advisory council  — Trump allies are discussing stopping federal crypto litigation
David Yaffe-Bellany / New York Times:
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
The FTC bans GM from selling driver behavior and geolocation data to consumer reporting agencies for five years, after finding GM didn't properly inform drivers  —  An investigation by the Federal Trade Commission determined that consumers had not been aware that the automaker was providing their driving information to data brokers.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Nintendo teases the Switch 2, featuring a new kickstand design and backward compatibility for physical and digital games, with more details on April 2, 2025  —  The console looks a lot like the original, but it's bigger.  In the video, the Joy-Con controllers are black with colored accents, and they attach to the console magnetically.
Bloomberg:
Crypto wallet Phantom raised a $150M Series C co-led by Sequoia Capital and Paradigm at a $3B valuation, more than double its $1.2B valuation in January 2022  —  Phantom raised $150 million from big-name investors.  —  Cryptocurrency-wallet provider Phantom Technologies Inc. has raised $150 million …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft bundles its AI-powered Office features into Microsoft 365 Personal and Home subscriptions for an extra $3 per month  —  Microsoft is bundling its AI-powered Office features into Microsoft 365 Personal and Home subscriptions, but it's also raising prices as a result.
The Information:
Sources: RedNote staff is scrambling to hide US users' posts from Chinese users after China raised concerns about politically sensitive English-language posts  —  A pending ban of TikTok in the U.S. is prompting a flood of TikTok users to try out Chinese social media app RedNote.
Zeyi Yang / Wired:
Eric Geller / Wired:
Joe Biden issues a cybersecurity EO to improve the way the government monitors its networks, buys software, uses AI, and punishes foreign hackers  —  US president Joe Biden just issued a 40-page executive order that aims to bolster federal cybersecurity protections, directs government use of AI …
Zoë Schiffer / Wired:
Sources: Mira Murati's AI startup has poached about 10 researchers and engineers, including former OpenAI Head of Special Projects Jonathan Lachman, from rivals  —  It's a major get for Murati's mysterious startup, which has also poached engineers and researchers from a number of other prominent AI firms.
Bluesky: @edzitron.com
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
The US FTC refers a complaint against Snap to the DOJ, alleging Snapchat's My AI chatbot poses “risks and harms to young users”; SNAP closed down 5%  —  Snap shares closed down 5% on Thursday after the Federal Trade Commission said it would refer a complaint against the company to the Department of Justice.
Pew Research Center:
A survey of US teens aged 13-17 found 26% used ChatGPT for schoolwork in 2024, up from 13% in 2023, while 79% had heard of it, up from 67% in 2023  —  As debates continue over whether chatbots should have a role in the classroom, more teens are turning to ChatGPT to help with schoolwork.
Leo Schwartz / Fortune:
CFPB announces a $175M settlement with Block, including $120M in refunds to consumers, saying Cash App allowed rampant fraud while misleading its customers  —  On Thursday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a massive $175 million settlement with Block, the publicly traded financial conglomerate led by Jack Dorsey.
Kathrin Hille / Financial Times:
Researchers fear TikTok is softening Taiwanese youth's stance on China with pro-China content; a report says 22% of Taiwan's population uses TikTok or Douyin  —  A growing number of researchers fear that the controversial app is promoting pro-China content and softening attitudes towards the People's Republic
Patrick Coffee / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta's Community Notes won't apply to paid ads, but will be enabled for organic content, which includes brands' and influencers' unpromoted posts  —  New system could make marketers more cautious about organic posts on Facebook and Instagram  —  Facebook and Instagram owner Meta …
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Apple launches its dedicated Apple Store app in India, allowing customers to purchase products, receive personalized shopping recommendations, and more  —  Apple launched its dedicated Apple Store app in India on Friday, deepening its retail presence in the world's most populous country …
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Trump plans to nominate Olivia Trusty, policy director for a US Senate committee, as the third Republican member of the FCC's five-person commission  —  President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday said he intends to nominate Olivia Trusty to fill an upcoming vacancy at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Gaby Del Valle / The Verge:
Tech trade groups NetChoice and TechNet sue CFPB for its efforts to regulate digital payment apps like Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Venmo more like banks  —  Two major tech trade groups are challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) effort to treat payment apps and digital wallets like banks.

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Zoho:
Zoho Sign at Kenya's Digital Trust Forum 2025 organized by Evrotrust and Geda  —  Kenyan businesses and government services are adapting to digital alternatives to explore opportunities in the nation's newly launched ten-year Digital Master Plan.
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.

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More News

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