Open Links In New Tab
Mobile Archives Advertise
Techmeme
February 5, 2025, 1:30 AM
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Events Get our daily newsletter and never miss a story!   ⓧ Newsletter

Top News

Alphabet Inc:
Alphabet Q4: revenue up 12% YoY to $96.47B, net income up 28% to $26.54B, Google Services revenue up 10% to $84.1B, and Other Bets revenue down 39% to $400M  —  MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - February 4, 2025 - Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) today announced financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
Reuters:
Alphabet expects 2025 capex of ~$75B, vs. ~$58B est., and reports Google Cloud Q4 revenue up 30% YoY to $11.96B, vs. $12.16B est.; GOOG drops 7%+ after hours  —  Alphabet (GOOGL.O) said on Tuesday it will spend $75 billion on its AI buildout this year, 29% more than Wall Street expected …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Alphabet reports YouTube Q4 ad revenue up 14% YoY to $10.47B, vs. $10.23B est.; together, Google Cloud and YouTube ended 2024 at a $110B annual revenue run rate
Washington Post:
Google drops language from its AI Principles that said it would not pursue AI applications “likely to cause overall harm”, such as for weapons and surveillance  —  In 2018 the company updated its policies to explicitly exclude applying AI to weapons.  Now that promise is gone.
Zeyi Yang / Wired:
The USPS halts all inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong, after President Trump ended the “de minimis” exemption, sending the e-commerce industry into chaos  —  As part of new tariffs on Chinese imports, President Donald Trump eliminated an exemption for small packages …
Ian King / Bloomberg:
AMD reports Q4 revenue up 24% YoY to $7.66B, Data Center revenue up 69% to $3.86B, vs. $4.09B est., and forecasts Q1 sales of $6.8B to $7.4B, vs. $7.04B est.  —  - Results suggest the chipmaker is still lagging behind Nvidia  — Company fares better in PC market, making gains on Intel
Olivia Reingold / The Free Press:
Andreessen Horowitz hires ex-Marine Daniel Penny, who was recently acquitted in a controversial NYC subway chokehold case, to work on its American Dynamism team  —  “Daniel acted with courage in a tough situation,” said partner David Ulevitch in a statement explaining the hire.
New York Times:
Sources: the US SEC is moving to scale back a special unit of 50+ lawyers and staff members that had been dedicated to bringing crypto enforcement actions  —  Some in a special unit of 50 lawyers and staff members that had been assigned to regulate cryptocurrency are being reassigned in the agency.
Jonathan Bell / Wallpaper*:
OpenAI unveils a visual rebrand, featuring a new bespoke typeface called OpenAI Sans, a refined logo, and a new color palette  —  A new typeface, word mark, symbol and palette underpin all the ways in which OpenAI's technology interacts with the real world  — Sign up to our newsletter -
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Sources: Sonos will release an Android-based streaming box in the coming months, priced between $200 and $400, that combines content from Netflix, Max, and more  —  After the most tumultuous nine months in Sonos' history, the brand is trying to find its footing again.
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple debuts Invites, an app to help plan events like birthdays, graduations, and more, with Image Playground and Writing Tools tie-ins, for iCloud+ subscribers  —  Apple today announced the launch of a new app called “Invites,” which is designed to allow users to plan events like birthday parties …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Elon Musk accused an X user, who named federal staff in a post X then removed, of “a crime”, showing what actual government social media censorship looks like  —  For years, we've watched self-proclaimed “free speech warriors” hyperventilate about imaginary government control of social media content moderation.
Melissa Heikkilä / Financial Times:
Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman poaches three Google DeepMind former colleagues, including two who built NotebookLM's Audio Overviews and worked on Astra  —  Rival companies in fierce battle for talent in race to build powerful artificial intelligence ‘agents’
Ryan Christoffel / 9to5Mac:
The Iconfactory debuts Tapestry for iOS and iPadOS, bringing Bluesky, Mastodon, RSS, YouTube, and more into one timeline, with a $1.99/month tier to remove ads  —  The Iconfactory, makers of the now-discontinued Twitterrific app, have today launched the spiritual successor to their Twitter client.
Lina M. Khan / New York Times:
Lina Khan says that DeepSeek's breakthroughs highlight how US Big Tech's monopolistic practices may actually be hampering the US' technological leadership  —  When Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley and Wall Street with its powerful new A.I. model …
More: Nikkei Asia.  Threads: @carnage4life.  X: @nhegde, @atabarrok, @tysonbrody, and @bigblackjacobin.  LinkedIn: Yann LeCun.  Forums: r/neoliberal
Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch:
Memo: Cruise lays off “approximately 50%” of its staff, after GM cut robotaxi operations funding and shifts its focus to tech like hands-free driver assistance  —  Autonomous vehicle company Cruise is laying off “nearly” 50% of its workforce — cuts that extend to the CEO and several …
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple raises the monthly AppleCare+ price for iPhone users by $0.50 in the US and will only offer one-time AppleCare+ purchase options in its online store  —  Apple this week increased the prices for its monthly AppleCare+ subscription prices for the iPhone, raising the cost by 50 cents for all models in the United States.
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Adobe adds “contract intelligence capabilities” to Acrobat's $4.99-per-month AI Assistant, letting the PDF manager summarize complicated language in contracts  —  The new contract surfaces key terms and dates within complex agreements.  —  The new contract surfaces key terms and dates within complex agreements.
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
The EC releases its prohibited AI practices guidelines under the EU's AI Act, like using AI to track employees' emotions or to manipulate app and website users  —  Employers will be banned from using artificial intelligence to track their staff's emotions and websites will not be allowed …
Bloomberg:
How India kept its satellite internet market closed to Starlink, Amazon, and more, despite poor rural connectivity; a regulator is set to publish rules in 2025  —  As global resistance to Starlink dies down, Elon Musk wants to beam connectivity across the world's most populous country.
Preeti Singh / Bloomberg:
Sources: BlackRock plans to hire ~1,200 people to build its AI teams in India and will inherit ~1,500 staff in Bengaluru through its proposed Preqin acquisition  —  - Firm is bolstering artificial intelligence teams for its hubs  — Money manager leases additional office space in Mumbai
Bloomberg:
Sources: OpenAI has spent months talking about potential commercial deals for Sora with film studios, who are worried about how their data may be used and more  —  - Startup has met with Hollywood studios about commercial deals  — Studios worry about business implications of new technology

Sponsor Posts

TELUS Digital:
The brand supporting the biggest brands in tech  —  Deliver memorable experiences throughout the customer journey with customer experience support from TELUS Digital.  Scale quickly, automate efficiently and win decisively.
Intel:
Intel Delivers powerful CPUs for AI and Networking  —  With the onset of AI, businesses demand powerful and efficient CPUs.  Explore new Intel Xeon 6 processors, for the broadest set of workloads with leadership performance and lower TCO.
Zoho:
Gamification: A simple way to enjoy getting more work done  —  Work doesn't have to be boring.  Gamification transforms everyday tasks into exciting challenges, making employees feel more engaged and motivated.
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.
Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Invest Like the Best:
 Alex Wiltschko - Giving Computers A Sense Of Smell
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Techmeme Ride Home:
 Europe Wants To Ween Itself Off Silicon Valley
The day's tech news, every day at 5pm ET. Fifteen minutes and you're up to date.
Subscribe to Techmeme Ride Home.
Sponsor this podcast
Decoder with Nilay Patel:
 How Trump's tariff chaos is already changing global trade
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
Subscribe to Decoder with Nilay Patel.
Grit:
 From Bootstrapped to $12B: Mailchimp's Ben Chestnut on Life After the Exit
Grit explores what it takes to create, build and scale world-class organizations.
Subscribe to Grit.
Lenny's Podcast:
 The hidden power of introverts: How to thrive without changing who you are | Susan Cain (author of "Quiet")
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
The Logan Bartlett Show:
 Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen Breaks Down the Global Impact of Trump's New Tariffs
A podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett, an investor at Redpoint Ventures, covering tech with industry insiders.
Subscribe to The Logan Bartlett Show.
Add your postcast here
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:30 AM ET, February 5, 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

Nectar Gan / CNN:
Chinese nationalists and state media praise Trump's decision to dismantle VOA, RFA, and other US-funded media outlets that broadcast to authoritarian regimes

Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says Conan O'Brien will reprise his Oscar hosting duties in 2026, one of the earliest renewals for an Oscar host

Steven J. Horowitz / Variety:
UMG files a motion to dismiss Drake's lawsuit, says he's suing because he “lost a rap battle” with Kendrick Lamar and took legal action to “salve his wounds”

More News

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Snap reports Q4 revenue up 14% YoY to $1.56B, vs. $1.33B est., global DAUs up 9%, issues light Q1 guidance, names Ajit Mohan as CBO; SNAP jumps 10%+ after hours
Associated Press:
A US judge says Elon Musk's claims of harm from OpenAI are a “stretch”, but she wouldn't stop the case from moving to trial as soon as next year

Earlier Picks

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Mark Zuckerberg says users on Threads can now make their custom feeds public and follow custom feeds made by others
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
ByteDance researchers demo OmniHuman-1, an AI system trained on 19K hours of video from undisclosed sources and that appears to beat prior deepfake techniques
Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Opera launches Opera Air, a free browser focused on mindfulness and mental well-being, including break reminders and ambient soundscapes, for Windows and macOS
Financial Times:
Sources: China is looking at launching a formal probe into Intel; a source says whether such a probe is officially launched could depend on US-China relations
Mark Keierleber / Wired:
An investigation into 300+ cyberattacks against US K-12 schools since 2020 shows how they can withhold details from students and parents whose data was stolen
More: CBS News and The 74
Bluesky: @zackwhittaker and @dell.  Mastodon: @douglevin@infosec.exchange.  LinkedIn: Nicole Ridgway
Zachary Small / New York Times:
An interview with The Sims designer Will Wright on the virtual dollhouse game turning 25, its mechanics, infusing it with chaos, ants, The Sims Online, and more
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
Home River Leaderboards About Events Newsletter