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February 12, 2025, 1:55 AM
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Top News

Kate Knibbs / Wired:
Thomson Reuters wins the first major US AI copyright ruling against fair use, in a case filed in May 2020 versus legal research AI startup Ross Intelligence  —  The Thomson Reuters decision has big implications for the battle between generative AI companies and rights holders.
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple now lets users migrate apps, music, books, shows, and movies between Apple accounts, but the feature isn't available to users in the EU, the UK, or India  —  If you have two Apple Accounts with multiple digital purchases between them, Apple now has a way for you to consolidate the accounts …
Matt Levine / Bloomberg:
The bid for OpenAI's nonprofit is top-tier M&A trolling by Musk, as it complicates OpenAI's fundraising by likely altering the cost of equity for new investors  —  Also passthrough fees, memecoins and financial advisers who tell you how to give away all your money.  —  OpenAI hostile takeover
More: On my Om, Business Insider, and GeekWire
Bluesky: @marypcbuk.  Threads: @itismattlevine.  X: @binarybits and @pmddomingos
Zoë Schiffer / Wired:
Sources: Sam Altman told staff that OpenAI's board has not received an offer from Musk and other investors, and if it happens, the board plans to reject the bid
The Hill:
In response to Elon Musk's $97.4B OpenAI bid, Sam Altman says on X “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want”; Musk replies “swindler”
Ina Fried / Axios:
Sam Altman says “OpenAI is not for sale” and “OpenAI's mission is not for sale”, especially to “a competitor who is not able to beat us in the market”
The Logic:
Internal message: Shopify's general council said the company closed Ye's store since the swastika shirt listed for sale “brought with it the real risk of fraud”  —  TORONTO — Shopify's general counsel said the company took down musician Kanye West's online store because of the potential …
Patrick Smith / NBC News:
Shopify shuts down Ye's store, which began selling swastika shirts and used a Super Bowl ad to boost traffic to the website, saying it violated Shopify's ToS
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google schedules I/O 2025 for May 20 to 21 in Mountain View, with the main keynote on May 20 at 10am PT; Gemini, Android 16, and more announcements are expected  —  Following the “Prism Shift” puzzle this morning, Google has announced that I/O 2025 is taking place Tuesday, May 20
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Annual letter: YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says the TV has overtaken mobile as the “primary device for YouTube viewing in the US”, indicating YouTube is “the new TV”  —  YouTube CEO Neal Mohan released his annual letter Tuesday morning, outlining his priorities for the video platform.
Anthony Capaccio / Bloomberg:
Anduril plans to assume the management and eventual manufacturing of the US Army's infantry goggles from Microsoft, in a $20B+ deal that the Army must approve  —  It expands the previously announced role of the defense technology startup in a project that could be valued at more than $20 billion …
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple is renaming the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America in Apple Maps, following Google, first for users in the US and soon for all users globally  —  - Change to occur for US users and then roll out globally later  — Move follows Google; Microsoft and MapQuest haven't made shift
Katarina Hoije / Bloomberg:
Central African Republic, the first in Africa to adopt Bitcoin as tender, launches CAR MEME on Solana, which traded at $0.03 on Feb. 11, down ~90% since launch  —  - CAR Meme is second cryptocurrency launched by the country  — Nation first in Africa to adopt Bitcoin as tender in 2022
Liv McMahon / BBC:
The US and the UK refuse to join France, China, India, and 57 other countries in signing the international agreement in Paris promoting “transparent”, “safe” AI  —  The UK and US have not signed an international agreement on artificial intelligence (AI) at a global summit in Paris.
Reuters:
Paris AI summit: US VP JD Vance warns the EU that excessive AI regulation could strangle the tech and rejects content moderation as “authoritarian censorship”
Wall Street Journal:
AI Action Summit in Paris: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the EU plans to mobilize €200B to invest in AI to catch the US and China
New York Times:
Elon Musk's six companies, which face 32+ ongoing probes, pending complaints, or enforcement actions from 11+ US agencies, score benefits from Trump shake-ups  —  Elon Musk controls six companies, including Tesla.  Mr. Musk's companies secured $13 billion in federal contracts …
The Information:
Source: Apple and Alibaba submitted their co-developed AI features for approval by China's cyberspace regulator; Apple considered but rejected DeepSeek's models  —  Apple has recently started working with Chinese internet and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group to roll out artificial intelligence features …
Emma Goldberg / New York Times:
A look at ACTS 17, a nonprofit devoted to introducing Christianity to technologists by inviting Peter Thiel and other tech executives to talk about their faith  —  Everything clicked when Peter Thiel gave the speech about God.  —  The occasion was a 40th birthday party for Trae Stephens …
Stephen Nellis / Reuters:
US chip startup Groq says it has secured a $1.5B commitment from Saudi Arabia to expand the delivery of its AI chips to the country over the course of this year  —  U.S. semiconductor startup Groq said on Monday it has secured a $1.5 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to expand the delivery of its advanced AI chips to the country.
Melissa Heikkilä / Financial Times:
At the AI Action Summit, Eric Schmidt urged the West to focus on open-source AI or risk losing to China while calling for AI safety collaboration with China  —  Former Google chief's caution comes following Chinese start-up DeepSeek's breakthrough  —  Former Google chief Eric Schmidt …

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This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 1:55 AM ET, February 12, 2025.

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From Mediagazer

Tyler Pager / New York Times:
Trump signs an EO seeking to dismantle seven federal agencies, including VOA parent USAGM, which is congressionally chartered as an independent agency

The Times:
An investigation into the unsolved 1977 murder of The Sunday Times foreign correspondent David Holden in Egypt suggests he doubled as a KGB spy and had CIA ties

Kayla Gogarty / Media Matters for America:
An analysis of popular podcasts, streams, and other long-form audio and video content with political leanings indicates that right-leaning outlets dominate

More News

Reuters:
Filing: Binance and the US SEC jointly asked a federal judge to stay the regulator's lawsuit against the crypto exchange for 60 days, citing Trump's task force
John Kang / Forbes:
Sources: Meta is in talks to acquire South Korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI, which has raised ~$115M since its 2017 founding; the deal could close this month

Earlier Picks

Eric Slivka / MacRumors:
Apple debuts the $250 Powerbeats Pro 2 with heart rate monitoring, an H2 chip, ANC, IPX4 water resistance, and a 20% lighter design than the previous generation
Gloria Li / Financial Times:
Chinese EV maker BYD unveils a “God's Eye” self-driving system and aims to install it on its entire lineup, including its ~$9,600 Seagull hatchback
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Google confirms it removed Calendar's Pride Month, Black History Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and other events for not being “scalable or sustainable”
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