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July 26, 2025, 1:45 PM
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Mediagazer
memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Wired: |
The UK starts enforcing new online child safety laws, requiring websites that host porn, self-harm, suicide, and eating disorder content to verify users' age — Starting today, UK adults will have to prove their age to access porn online. Experts warn that a global wave of age-check laws threatens …
More: PC Gamer, PinkNews, Mashable, Sky News, Push Square, The Independent, Gizmodo, Tom's Guide, Sky News, HuffPost, TheGamer, GamesRadar, Reclaim The Net, Neowin, PCMag, BBC, Metro.co.uk, The Sun, TechSpot, and UKTN
Bluesky: @sesmith.lol, @isabelroses.com, @dylanreeve.com, @samleecole, @mikestabile, @matthewdgreen, @matthewdgreen, @matthewdgreen, @matthewdgreen, @matthewdgreen, and @matthewdgreen
X: @danysterkhov, @protonvpn, @jess4lowestoft, @g0adm, @transsexualfag, @lilaclazure, and @knucklesox2
Forums: Hacker News, r/pcgaming, r/uknews, and r/technews
| Jackson Chen / Engadget: |
Some users are circumventing UK's age checks by using VPNs, providing fake AI-generated photo IDs, or using images of high-fidelity video game characters — As of Friday, anyone trying to watch porn online in the UK will need to subject themselves to an awkward selfie or get their photo ID ready.
More: PCMag, Dexerto, TheGamer, The Independent, and Metro.co.uk
| Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch: |
US insurance giant Allianz Life says hackers stole the personal information of the “majority” of its customers, staffers, and employees, in a mid-July breach — U.S. insurance giant Allianz Life has confirmed to TechCrunch that hackers stole the personal information of the … | Jonathan Greig / The Record: |
A US judge sentences an Arizona woman to 8.5 years in prison for running a “laptop farm” that enabled North Korean workers to secure IT jobs at 309 US companies — A U.S. District Court judge sentenced an Arizona woman to eight and a half years in prison for running a laptop farm used … | Evan Ratliff / Bloomberg: |
Christina Marie Chapman, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison for aiding a North Korean remote IT worker scheme, details her time as a “laptop farmer” — Thousands of undercover agents feed Kim Jong Un's rocket program with millions from the likes of Google and Amazon.
More: Metacurity, Bitcoinist.com, BleepingComputer, IJR, and Cointelegraph
Bluesky: @coricrider.com. Mastodon: @mttaggart@infosec.exchange. X: @ev_rat, @ev_rat, @ev_rat, and @ev_rat. LinkedIn: Roman Rozhavsky
| Richard Waters / Financial Times: |
Google has defended Search against the first wave of disruption from generative AI, but AI agents and apps that can reduce clicks now threaten its ad business — The company has defended search but its dominant position in online advertising may still be up for grabs
More: Forbes, The Decoder, and Search Engine Roundtable
Mastodon: @carnage4life@mas.to and @1br0wn@eupolicy.social
| Financial Times: |
China's premier Li Qiang proposes creating an organization for global cooperation in AI and says “bottlenecks” in chip supplies are hindering AI innovation — Premier Li Qiang warns ‘bottlenecks’ in chip supplies are hindering innovation — William Langley in Guangzhou and Eleanor Olcott and Ryan McMorrow in Shanghai
More: Reuters, Engadget, The Guardian, The Decoder, Cryptopolitan, Nairametrics, and Reuters
X: @davidsacks47 and @mkratsios47
| Washington Post: |
Sources: DOGE has built an AI tool aiming to cut 50% of federal regulations, or around 100,000 rules, by the first anniversary of Trump's inauguration — An internal proposal suggests how the Trump administration is planning to slash federal regulations, but obstacles loom.
More: WinBuzzer and The Guardian
Bluesky: @wilkos, @nyxa5, @profdanwalters, @uxchampion, and @justinhendrix
| Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch: |
Source: India orders ISPs and app stores to block 25 streaming services, like Ullu and ALTT with millions of downloads, for allegedly promoting obscene content — India has ordered the blocking of 25 streaming services — many with millions of viewers and even paying subscribers … | Pretish M J / Reuters: |
Pony AI gets a permit to provide fully driverless robotaxi services in Shanghai, making it the only company with permits in all four of China's biggest cities — Chinese robotaxi operator Pony AI (PONY.O) said on Saturday it had received a permit to provide fully driverless commercial robotaxi services …
More: Reuters, Pony AI Inc., KTVU-TV, NBC News, Automotive World, Benzinga, and CnEVPost
| Aaron Mak / Politico: |
The AI Action Plan suggests Trump wants to inculcate a “try-first” culture through regulatory sandboxes for AI, which have already popped up in some US states — Among the many, many ambitious ideas baked into his AI Action Plan, President Donald Trump wants to inculcate a “try-first” culture for innovation in the U.S.| Andrew Martin / Bloomberg: |
The SharePoint hacks increase pressure on Microsoft's Secure Future Initiative, which the company calls an ambitious effort expected to take years to complete — Three months ago, Microsoft Corp. issued a progress report on what it described as the largest cybersecurity engineering project in history.
More: Benzinga, Bloomberg Law, and Reuters
Zoho:
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| NBC News: |
Tea says hackers accessed a database from more than two years ago, leaking 72,000 images, including 13,000 verification photos and images of government IDs — The viral app requires new users to take selfies, which it says it deletes after review. — Hackers have breached the Tea app …
More: Simon Willison's Weblog, TechCrunch, Washington Post, SFGATE, BBC, ZeroHedge News, New York Times, Daring Fireball, Associated Press, CNET, Cartoons Hate Her, CyberInsider, Financial Express, The Gateway Pundit, The Economic Times, The Independent, Decrypt, Baller Alert, Gizmodo, Sandra Rose, Business Insider, R Street Institute, Mashable, Barron's Online, Engadget, Neowin, and Pharyngula
Bluesky: @endeavorance.camp, @kat.meangirls.online, @socialmedialab.ca, @chronotope.aramzs.xyz, and @bengoggin
X: @senatorshoshana, @troyhunt, @g0adm, @simonw, @troyhunt, @austen, @belowtearline, @vxunderground, @lachlan, @vxunderground, @vxunderground, @ztobias114838, and @cremieuxrecueil
Forums: r/privacy, r/morningsomewhere, r/news, and r/SwipeHelper
| Financial Times: |
Sources: Anthropic is in talks to raise $3B to $5B, including from Middle Eastern investors, in a round that could more than double its valuation to $150B+ — Rival to ChatGPT maker OpenAI has so far shunned Gulf sovereign investors that ‘enrich dictators’| Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg: |
Yann LeCun will continue to work at Meta as chief scientist of the AI research group FAIR; a source says he will report to Alexandr Wang — Mark Zuckerberg has named Shengjia Zhao, an artificial intelligence researcher who joined Meta Platforms Inc. from OpenAI in June …
More: VentureBeat, Analytics India Magazine, and Channel NewsAsia
Threads: @yannlecun, @zuck, @yannlecun, @jjackyliang, and @crumbler
X: @pfau and @lossdecay
| Ina Fried / Axios: |
More: CNBC, TechCrunch, MacDailyNews, iPhone in Canada, The Economic Times, The Times, Beyond Search, The Information, Livemint, Benzinga, Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Moneycontrol, The Decoder, KPNX, Cryptopolitan, and CNN
Threads: @zuck. X: @shengjia_zhao, @morqon, @morqon, @signulll, @drjimfan, @bonegpt, @yuchenj_uw, @aiatmeta, @marvinvonhagen, @mikeisaac, @alexeheath, @alexeheath, and @alexandr_wang. Forums: r/singularity
Sponsor Posts
Google:
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Zoho:
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IDrive:
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F5:
F5's 2025 AI Strategy Report — Only 2% of Enterprises Are Fully AI-Ready. Most face security gaps like weak data governance and lack of AI firewalls, stalling adoption and innovation. What is your readiness to scale AI?
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Newest
Jackson Chen / Engadget:
Some users are circumventing UK's age checks by using VPNs, providing fake AI-generated photo IDs, or using images of high-fidelity video game charactersFind
35 minutes ago
Washington Post:
Sources: DOGE has built an AI tool aiming to cut 50% of federal regulations, or around 100,000 rules, by the first anniversary of Trump's inaugurationFind
80 minutes ago
Pretish M J / Reuters:
Pony AI gets a permit to provide fully driverless robotaxi services in Shanghai, making it the only company with permits in all four of China's biggest citiesFind
2½ hours ago
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
US insurance giant Allianz Life says hackers stole the personal information of the “majority” of its customers, staffers, and employees, in a mid-July breachFind
4 hours ago
Aaron Mak / Politico:
The AI Action Plan suggests Trump wants to inculcate a “try-first” culture through regulatory sandboxes for AI, which have already popped up in some US statesFind
4 hours ago
Andrew Martin / Bloomberg:
The SharePoint hacks increase pressure on Microsoft's Secure Future Initiative, which the company calls an ambitious effort expected to take years to completeFind
5 hours ago
Richard Waters / Financial Times:
Google has defended Search against the first wave of disruption from generative AI, but AI agents and apps that can reduce clicks now threaten its ad businessFind
8 hours ago
From Mediagazer
Todd Spangler / Variety:New York Times:
Lucia Moses / Business Insider:
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| Samantha Subin / CNBC: |
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