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February 20, 2025, 7:45 PM
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| Kate Rooney / CNBC: |
OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap says the startup hit 400M weekly active users in February 2025, up 33% from 300M in December 2024, and 2M paying enterprise customers — OpenAI appears to be growing quickly despite increasing competition. — The San Francisco-based tech company …
More: Engadget, TechCrunch, SiliconANGLE, PYMNTS.com, USA Today, Seeking Alpha, eWeek, VentureBeat, Analytics India Magazine, San Francisco Business Times, TVNewsCheck, The Wrap, The Rio Times, Quartz, and Thurrott
| Emily Birnbaum / Bloomberg: |
FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson announces an inquiry into “Big Tech censorship”, which he says is “un-American” and “potentially illegal” — - FTC Chair Ferguson invites public comment about tech platforms — Conservatives claim ideas, affiliations have been censored
More: Federal Trade Commission, Reuters, Ars Technica, The Hill, The Information, Japan Today, PYMNTS.com, TVNewsCheck, New York Post, The Wrap, MediaPost, Fox Business, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, MLex, and TechCrunch
Bluesky: @mmasnick, @leahnylen, @leahnylen, @leahnylen, and @zero-to-hero
X: @afergusonftc, @nicoperrino, @josephvconiglio, @mholyoakftc, @afergusonftc, @ambermarieduke, @nathanleamerdc, @andyjungtech, @randyebarnett, @zephyrteachout, @wendyndavis, @castrotech, @ftc, @sayssimonson, @josephvconiglio, @mikebenzcyber, @adamkovac, @benremaly, @realjdenton, @afergusonftc, @robmcgravytrain, @benbrodydc, @allumbokhari, @ryangrim, and @wesghodges
| Bloomberg: |
Alibaba reports Q3 revenue up 8% YoY to ~$38.6B, vs. ~$38B est., its fastest pace of growth in over a year, and a ~$6.7B net income; BABA closes up 8.09% — - Revenue beats estimates thanks to strong growth in cloud arm — Alibaba is staging a comeback as AI initiatives bear fruit| MacKenzie Sigalos / CNBC: |
Block reports Q4 revenue up 4.5% YoY to $6.03B vs. $6.29B est., gross profit up 14% to $2.31B, Cash App gross profit up 16% to $1.38B; XYZ drops 6%+ after hours — Block reported fourth-quarter results on Thursday that fell short of Wall Street expectations. The stock dropped more than 7% in extended trading.
More: Investor's Business Daily, SiliconANGLE, Investing.com, Reuters, Yahoo Finance, and Benzinga. X: @buccocapital
| Sarah Wynn / The Block: |
The US SEC announces the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit to protect investors from bad actors in crypto and AI, replacing the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit — - The agency announced the new unit on Thursday, calling it the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, or CETU.
More: US Securities …, The Record, CyberScoop, Law360, PYMNTS.com, Decrypt, crypto.news, Crypto Briefing, CoinJournal, Cryptopolitan, Blockchain News, Watcher Guru, CryptoSlate, The Daily Hodl, The Crypto Times, Coinpedia Fintech News, CryptoPotato, CoinDesk, and Finextra
X: @cryptojellenl, @adamscochran, @cryptodonalt, @lpcapitalchi, @iamkadense, @sunil_trades, @tier10k, and @tradermercury
LinkedIn: Howard Fischer and Madiha Zuberi
| Dominic Preston / The Verge: |
Oppo launches the Find N5, the world's thinnest foldable at 8.93mm closed and 4.21mm open, with IPX6, X8, and X9 ratings, in Europe and Asia for ~$1,870 — Oppo's Find N5 is the thinnest book-style foldable yet, and it's launching worldwide — but it's another foldable the US just won't get.
More: 9to5Google, Android Authority, ben's gadget reviews on YouTube, Android Police, The Verge, Android Headlines, TalkAndroid.com, Mashable, Pocket-lint, PetaPixel, Beebom, Gizchina.com, Tech Advisor, Forbes, Phandroid, MacRumors, Xiaomiui.Net, Digital Trends, CNET, Android Central, Multicore, CNBC, GSMArena.com, T3, ZDNET, The Verge, PhoneArena, and Engadget
X: @bencsin, @bencsin, @bencsin, @oppo, @345triangle, and @alexmaxham
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Amazon plans to end support for its videoconferencing tool Chime on February 20, 2026; report: Amazon is adopting Zoom as its standard app for internal meetings — Amazon Chime, the tech giant's underwhelming alternative to Zoom and Google Meet, is shutting down for good.
More: Amazon Web Services, MakeUseOf, Business Insider, GeekWire, Thurrott, Entrepreneur, TechRadar, and Verdict
Bluesky: @emilprotalinski, @aleph1.underground.org, and @itspatrickpl. Mastodon: @harrymccracken@mastodon …
LinkedIn: Milo Fels, David Victoria, Dhaval Nagar, Iqbal Javaid, and Derek Pando
| Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: |
Amazon plans to discontinue its Appstore for Android and its Coins program on August 20, 2025, but keep its Appstore on its devices like Fire TV and Fire Tablet — Amazon will discontinue its app store for Android on August 20 this year. The company sent a notice to developers indicating …
More: Amazon, Amazon Appstore Developer Blog, 9to5Google, Ars Technica, MakeUseOf, How-To Geek, Engadget, PCMag, Android Central, WebProNews, Android Authority, BetaNews, Trusted Reviews, iPhone in Canada Blog, Android Police, The Verge, PYMNTS.com, XDA Developers, Digital Trends, Android Headlines, The Sun, HotHardware, Liliputing, Mobilegamer.biz, Droid Life, AFTVnews, PhoneArena, Neowin, Mirror, and PocketGamer.biz
X: @rizbituk, @timsweeneyepic, @arstechnica, @zhuinden, @superzomgbbq, @superzomgbbq, and @videogamedeals
Forums: r/technology and r/Games
| Matt Novak / Gizmodo: |
Elon Musk says he will “fix” Community Notes as they are “increasingly being gamed by governments & legacy media”, after disagreeing with notes about Ukraine — The billionaire has a history of manipulating X to fit his far-right worldview.
More: Washington Examiner, Engadget, Social Media Today, The Independent, The Hill, and Mediaite
Bluesky: @quinnypig.com, @gordonmoat, @onto2028, @zackhouse, @runtcpip, @wilkos, @justbcause, @rawveggies, @creatrixpj, @sweet-jesus, and @paleofuture
X: @elonmusk, @ike_saul, and @kareemrifai
| Ashley Carman / Bloomberg: |
YouTube plans to add a “premium lite” tier, a source says for the US, Australia, Germany, and Thailand, offering podcasts without ads and music videos with ads — - The service will continue to put ads in music videos — The tier will launch in areas that include the US, Australia| Ian Carlos Campbell / Engadget: |
Meta says US users over 18 can now sign up to be a Community Notes contributor on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads; notes will have a 500-character limit — The company is replacing third-party fact-checking with Community Notes on Threads, Instagram and Facebook.
More: Meta, Meta, TechCrunch, and PhoneArena
| Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: |
Twitch plans to implement a 100-hour storage cap for Highlights and Uploads from April 19, automatically deleting content from streamers who exceed the limit — Streamers who have exceeded this limit will have their content automatically deleted until it meets the threshold.
More: Ars Technica, Gizmodo, Engadget, Tubefilter, Game Rant, Passionfruit, TechCrunch, Android Headlines, and Cord Cutters News
| New York Times: |
Sources: the Trump administration targets officials fighting foreign interference in US elections, focused on those combating cyberattacks and false content — The Trump administration has reassigned or forced out several dozen government employees who had been working to fight foreign interference … | Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: |
Spotify begins accepting AI-narrated audiobooks recorded using ElevenLabs' software; Spotify already allows AI-recorded audiobooks, with several restrictions — A new ElevenLabs partnership aims to help authors bring AI-narrated audiobooks to Spotify listeners.
More: Spotify, The Decoder, Pocket-lint, Digital Trends, iPhone in Canada Blog, TechCrunch, and Thurrott
Bluesky: @theopriestley.com. Mastodon: @mloxton@med-mastodon.com. X: @elevenlabsio. LinkedIn: Anders Larsen and Dustin Blank
| Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer: |
CISA and the FBI: attackers deploying Ghost ransomware breached victims from multiple industry sectors across 70+ countries, including critical infrastructure — CISA and the FBI said attackers deploying Ghost ransomware have breached victims from multiple industry sectors across over 70 countries …
More: SC Media, Hackread, Cybersecurity …, DataBreachToday.com, Cybersecurity Dive, Forbes, TechRadar, CyberInsider, Infosecurity, Tech Monitor, and Cyber Security News. Forums: r/cybersecurity
| Ryan Christoffel / 9to5Mac: |
Kuo: all iPhone 17 models will have Apple's in-house Wi-Fi chips, enhancing connectivity and cutting costs; only the slim iPhone 17 will have the C1 modem chip — Apple just launched its brand new C1 modem yesterday with the iPhone 16e. But there's another new Apple-designed chip coming soon … | Wired: |
Investigation: Google's Display & Video 360 ad platform openly serves up sensitive information about Americans, despite Google's rules against such practices — Google enables marketers to target people with serious illnesses and crushing debt—against its policies …
More: The Record, Pluralistic, Mostly signs, and Mind Matters
Bluesky: @dell, @evacide, @glynmoody, @karlbode.com, and @couts
Forums: r/technews, r/TrueReddit, and r/technology
| Lizette Chapman / Bloomberg: |
Palantir's stock fell 10% on February 19 after WaPo reported that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth plans to cut military spending; PLTR is up 40%+ in 2025 — - Spending shift would affect 8% of US defense spending — AI-focused Palantir has become major government contractor| Mobile EDR Security: |
iVerify's iOS app detected a Pegasus infection in 11 new cases in December 2024, and about half of them did not receive Threat Notifications from Apple — In December, we published our groundbreaking investigation into mobile device threats. The public didn't just read the report … | Nikkei Asia: |
Tokyo-based Sakana AI details its AI CUDA Engineer, which it says can speed up AI training and inference 10x to 100x by “breeding” more efficient instructions — TOKYO — Tokyo-based startup Sakana AI says it has developed a system capable of accelerating artificial intelligence development …
More: Sakana AI, pub.sakana.ai, and Hugging Face
X: @miru_why, @main_horse, @roberttlange, @falhazmiai, and @sakanaailabs
| Annie Palmer / CNBC: |
Amazon surpassed Walmart in quarterly sales for the first time during the most recent quarter, with revenue of $187.8B compared to Walmart's $180.5B — Amazon has dethroned Walmart in quarterly revenue for the first time ever. — Amazon said earlier this month that it brought in $187.8 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter.
More: PYMNTS.com, MediaPost, Quartz, Fortune, Fast Company, Investor's Business Daily, Sherwood News, and RetailWire. Forums: Slashdot
| Ben Lang / Road to VR: |
Meta announces a $50M creator fund for Horizon Worlds; CTO Andrew Bosworth reportedly told staff that 2025 is a make-or-break year for Meta's XR ambitions — Meta today announced a $50 million fund to incentivize the creation of new and improved content in Horizon Worlds, the company's first-party social gaming platform.
More: UploadVR, Meta, and Android Central
Threads: @schultzdavidg. X: @slhamlet, @brandonjla, @kentbye, @gwanatu, @nathievr, @gwanatu, and @azadux
| Jonathan Vanian / CNBC: |
Filing: Meta approves raising executives' annual bonuses to 200% of base salary, up from 75%, as most employees' annual stock options are reportedly cut by ~10% — Executives at Meta stand to get bigger bonuses this year. — The company said in a corporate filing Thursday that it had approved …
More: Reuters and Financial Times
| Sherry Qin / Wall Street Journal: |
Chinese game giant NetEase reports Q4 net profit up 33% YoY to ~$1.2B, above ~$1.05B est., and revenue down 1.4%, a sign its gaming business is turning around — The company's revenue fell 1.4% but was slightly better than analysts' expectations — Chinese videogame giant NetEase returned …
More: NetEase, Inc., Video Games Chronicle, GamesIndustry.biz, and TechRaptor
| Bloomberg: |
Sources: X's financials, which show ~$1.4B in adjusted profit, fall outside corporate accounting standards; 2023 figures were audited, but 2024 figures were not — - Heavily adjusted figures, advertising rebound boost outlook — Leverage ratio remains a burdensome nine times adjusted profit
More: Social Media Today, WinBuzzer, The Information, Futurism, and Wall Street Journal
Bluesky: @taumuyi, @martinsfp, and @seanhodgdon.com
| Pew Research Center: |
US survey: views of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk tilt negative; Democrats and Republicans view Zuckerberg unfavorably; Musk is polarizing along party lines — Americans' views of two prominent tech executives - Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg - tilt more negative than positive.
More: TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Social Media Today, New York Times, The Ankler, KRON4, The Independent, Forbes, TechSpot, Fortune, Poynter, Axios, PCMag, and Mediaite
Bluesky: @justinbaragona, @mims, @paularmstrongtbd, @kenlowery, @stevierea, @daveweigel, @ericcolumbus, and @stevierea
X: @johngramlich, @sr_lazarus, @johngramlich, @brianstelter, and @maxwelltani. Forums: r/EnoughMuskSpam
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