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January 10, 2025, 11:15 AM
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Top News

Casey Newton / Platformer:
Meta's new policies for contractors and staff moderating Facebook and Instagram allow dehumanizing speech, like “a trans person isn't a he or she, it's an it”  —  “A trans person isn't a he or she, it's an it,” reads a new guideline telling moderators what is now allowed on Facebook and Instagram
Sam Biddle / The Intercept:
A look at Meta's convoluted or contradictory hate speech examples for user content moderators, allowing derogatory remarks about races, nationalities, and more  —  Meta is now granting its users new freedom to post a wide array of derogatory remarks about races, nationalities, ethnic groups …
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Sources: many of Meta's employees are furious about its moderation changes allowing “allegations of mental illness” when based on “gender or sexual orientation”
Colby Hall / Mediaite:
GOP Senator Markwayne Mullin says Mark Zuckerberg met with Donald Trump the day before announcing that Meta would replace fact-checking with Community Notes
More: The National Pulse, Salon, Gizmodo, and The Hill
Bluesky: @noupside, @noupside, and @noupside.  Threads: @aaron.rupar.  X: @bennyjohnson
Joseph Cox / Wired:
A hack of data company Gravy reveals Candy Crush, Tinder, and thousands of other apps are used to collect user location data; app developers may not even know  —  A hack of location data company Gravy Analytics has revealed which apps are—knowingly or not—being used to collect your information behind the scenes.
Wired:
Live blog: The US Supreme Court hears oral arguments in TikTok's appeal against the divest-or-ban law  —  We're tuning in live as the justices consider what could be one of the most consequential First Amendment rulings of the past several decades.  —  The US Supreme Court is expected …
Kevin Purdy / Ars Technica:
The Linux Foundation launches an initiative to fund developing Chromium projects in a “neutral space”, with support from Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Opera  —  But it's really a “neutral space” for funding and support, corralling together some big names with a stake in the future of Chrome's open source roots, Chromium.
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney, Fox, and WBD say they have agreed to discontinue their Venu Sports streaming joint venture and will focus on existing products and distribution channels  —  The sports-focused streaming service will not move forward, the companies said Friday.  —  Venu is dead.
CNBC:
Sources: Venu's cancellation came after the companies decided it was better to avoid the risk of an extended lawsuit that could jeopardize bundling in general
Politico:
In a weird X Spaces chat, Elon Musk and Alice Weidel, a co-chair of the German far-right party AfD, pushed disinformation about Hitler, migrants, war, and more  —  God!  Martians!  A “communist” Hitler!  It was heavy on oddness and light on policy as the X owner and the AfD co-leader hit it off.
Financial Times:
Sources: Elon Musk and his right-wing allies discussed how to destabilize the UK Labour government and remove PM Keir Starmer, beyond Musk's aggressive X posts
Automattic:
Automattic plans to cut its WordPress contributions to ~45 hours per week “due to the lawsuits from WP Engine”, focusing mostly on security and critical updates  —  Automattic has always been deeply committed to the success of WordPress, dedicating significant resources and talent to its development for almost two decades.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Court docs: Mark Zuckerberg approved the Meta team that trains AI Llama models to use data from LibGen, a “links aggregator” to pirated, copyrighted material  —  Counsel for plaintiffs in a copyright lawsuit filed against Meta allege that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave the green light …
John Gapper / Financial Times:
A look at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, RELX's largest division, which accounts for ~35% of RELX's revenue and holds 9B device records and 3B digital identities  —  Company once known as Reed Elsevier has moved from legal and scientific publishing into AI fraud detection

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UiPath:
UiPath Unveils 10 Innovations that Will Shape the Agentic Future  —  Orchestration engine, API workflows and agentic testing among key features of new UiPath Platform™ for agentic automation, launched at UiPath DevCon 2025
Zoho:
AI meeting assistants: A game-changer in communication  —  We've come a long way from live video call demonstrations at world's fairs.  What was once considered a futuristic idea is now a vital part of how we collaborate …
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From Mediagazer

Ally Jarmanning / New Hampshire Public Radio:
The US charges addiction treatment network founder Eric Spofford with orchestrating vandalism at NHPR reporters' homes after a report into alleged sexual abuse

Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: in May 2024, Business Insider sent some staff a recommended reading list that included seemingly AI-generated books that did not appear to exist

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Taylor Swift is the most business-savvy artist alive, reacquiring her music by driving negotiations between major music groups, streamers, and social networks

More News

Nikkei Asia:
TSMC reports December revenue up 58% YoY to ~$8.4B, pushing its 2024 revenue up 34% YoY to ~$88.02B, driven by AI chip demand from Nvidia, Broadcom, and others

Earlier Picks

Heather Landi / Fierce Healthcare:
Hippocratic AI, which is building an LLM for health care use cases, raised a $141M Series B at a $1.64B valuation, and launches a health care AI agent app store
George Hammond / Financial Times:
Elon Musk calls on California's and Delaware's AGs to force OpenAI to auction off a large stake in its business; source: OpenAI had no plans for such an auction
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Ubisoft says it is appointing advisers to review and pursue strategic options after an October 2024 report said its majority backers were considering a buyout
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Apple says it “has never used Siri data to build marketing profiles” and never sold it for advertising or other purposes, after paying $95M to settle a lawsuit
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