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January 21, 2025, 2:40 PM
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Top News

Bobby Allyn / NPR:
Trump signs an EO seeking to pause the TikTok ban for 75 days, in a bid to give him time to negotiate a resolution and protect TikTok's providers from liability  —  President Trump signed an executive order on Monday seeking to hit pause on a law banning TikTok and to provide a liability shield …
Washington Post:
Legal experts and lawmakers: Trump's EO halting the TikTok ban may not protect companies that host or distribute the app, as Trump cannot overturn Congress' law  —  Measure directs Justice Department to not enforce the law for 75 days while administration determines “the appropriate course forward.”
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Card game Marvel Snap, published by ByteDance's Nuverse, is back online in the US; developer Second Dinner plans to find a new publisher to avoid future bans  —  Marvel Snap is back online in the US after access was cut off Saturday night due to the law that banned TikTok and other ByteDance-owned apps.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Trump signs an EO renaming the US Digital Service as the US DOGE Service, directing agency heads to form “DOGE Teams” of at least four employees within 30 days  —  The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory commission spearheaded by billionaire Elon Musk recommending deep cuts …
New York Times:
Sources: Elon Musk is likely to get a West Wing office, putting him close to Donald Trump, after Musk had for many days been asking about his level of access  —  The world's richest man had been expected to be situated in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, but a West Wing office would give him closer access to President Trump.
Counterpoint Research:
Chinese smartphone sales fell 3.2% YoY in Q4 2024, the only negative quarter in 2024; Apple fell 18.2% to a 17.1% share and Huawei rose 15.5% to an 18.1% share  —  - During the quarter, Huawei secured the top spot, followed by Xiaomi.  Huawei's sales grew 15.5% YoY, supported by the release of the Mate 70 series in early December.
Radhika Rajkumar / ZDNET:
DeepSeek's new MIT-licensed AI models can be accessed via DeepSeek's API at a fraction of the cost of comparable OpenAI models but there are censorship concerns  —  Open-source artificial intelligence (AI) has reached another milestone — and the cost differences it represents could shake up the industry.
James Hunt / The Block:
MicroStrategy bought 11K bitcoin for ~$1.1B from January 13 to 20, at an average of $101,191 per BTC, taking its holding to 461K, worth $48B+, or 2%+ of supply  —  - MicroStrategy has purchased another 11,000 BTC for approximately $1.1 billion at an average price of $101,191 per bitcoin.
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
The SEC launches a “Crypto 2.0” task force led by SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, to create a “comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets”  —  The Trump administration took its firs steps Tuesday toward an expected lowering of regulatory barriers for cryptocurrency.
David Shepardson / Reuters:
Trump revokes Biden's 2023 executive order that sought to reduce the risks that AI poses to consumers, workers, and national security, fulfilling a GOP pledge  —  U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday revoked a 2023 executive order signed by Joe Biden that sought to reduce the risks …
Anna Gross / Financial Times:
The UK debuts digital driving licenses and veteran ID cards, launching in 2025 via the GOV.UK Wallet, and AI tools, nicknamed “Humphrey”, to help civil servants  —  New app will also include documents showing criminal record checks and proof of eligibility for state benefits
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
Parrot Analytics estimates Severance season 1 earned $200M+, with ~50% coming in the year following the finale; Ted Lasso generated $609.4M from Q3'20 to Q3'24  —  Parrot came to these figures via its Content Valuation methodology, which uses a formula to correlate audience demand with subscribers and therefore revenue.
Noah Smith / Noahpinion:
How purchasing Trump's memecoin, of which he reportedly holds $50B+ at January 19 prices, could be used to buy favors without actually transferring him funds  —  Crypto is, in fact, about sending people money.  —  Financial disclosure: I hold a modest amount of BTC and ETH.
Politico:
CoinGecko: Trump's memecoin, with a ~$7.5B market cap, is around the 28th most valuable cryptocurrency; some in crypto call Official Trump a “horrible look”

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From Mediagazer

Harshita Mary Varghese / Reuters:
Warner Bros. Discovery says John Malone is not seeking re-election to the board of directors and will instead take on the role of chairman emeritus

Natalie Korach / Vanity Fair:
Q&A with Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway on covering Trump's tariffs; their Odd Lots newsletter saw sign-ups jump 142% in April vs. March average

Julian Clover / Broadband TV News:
A group of current and former BBC World Service journalists warn that cuts to the international service risk fracturing “the core identity of the World Service”

More News

Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
Brendan Carr becomes FCC chair, and plans to focus on tech and media regulation, combating China, spectrum licenses, infrastructure, the space economy, and more

Earlier Picks

The Information:
Source: Meta is offering creators with large TikTok followings bonuses ranging from $10K to $50K per month to post on Instagram Reels before other platforms
Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post:
Donald Trump signs an EO ending “federal censorship” of online platforms, and directs the AG to investigate if the Biden admin censored US citizens' free speech
Matt Novak / Gizmodo:
During a speech after Donald Trump's inauguration, Elon Musk delivered what many saw as two “Nazi salutes”; Musk posted a three-minute video of his speech to X
More: The Guardian, Wired, Rolling Stone, The Forward, The Wrap, Time, Althouse, Republic World, Futurism, BBC, Metro.co.uk, The Root, Interesting Engineering, New York Times, Le Monde, Joe.My.God., Slate, Business Today, Salon, The Independent, The Hill, Boing Boing, 9News, Raw Story, WUSA, The Mirror, New York Daily News, AS USA, Newsweek, Times of India, The Forward, Hindustan Times, The Daily Beast, NZ Herald, The Economic Times, The Wrap, Jerusalem Post, The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, Deadline, and New Republic
Bluesky: @karlbode.com, @karlbode.com, @jeffjarvis, @katie-drummond, @ahjohnson, @walkerbragman, @ahjohnson, @fredericl, @miasato, @cameronwilson, @cameronwilson, @marypcbuk, @rmac, @edbott.com, @grumpyzeus, @wademinter.com, @waxmonkey, @supremebeing504, @davidcolarusso.com, @mnateshyamalan, @thedailyshow.com, @thedextriarchy, @joshtpm, @marisakabas, @emptywheel, @joshsternberg.com, @rachelgilmore, @stevecooke.org, @stevanzetti, @stevanzetti, @mgsiegler.com, @davekarpf, @paleofuture, @jesseltaylor, @evansutton, @ericajoy.astrel.la, @timdickinson, @mattgarrahan, and @atrupar.com
Threads: @yannlecun, @shabazzstuart, @benjamin_goggin_, @theheatherashley, @realjuddlegum, @_disparition_, @kenpopehat, @sharon.a.life, @aaron.rupar, @parkert, @fathernathan, @theheatherashley, @vocino, @pstomlinson, and @yasharali
X: @adl, @aoc, @esjesjesj, @rpsagainsttrump, @elonmusk, @coribush, @pinko69420, @rpsagainsttrump, @elonmusk, @gianmarcosoresi, @atrupar, @nikitabier, @emmavigeland, @tszzl, @bungarsargon, @loudmouthjulia, @lrozen, @devahaz, @elonmusk, @naval, @aidancramer, @andyorin, @nkulw, @dougboneparth, @gfodor, @yoda, @nkulw, @silvermanjacob, @jake_hanrahan, @shashj, @libsoftiktok, @yoda, @nkulw, @jphilllllll, and @sawyerhackett
Forums: Hacker News, r/InternationalNews, r/popculturechat, r/centrist, r/the_everything_bubble, r/Republican_misdeeds, r/AuthoritarianNewsHub, r/IHateElonHub, r/ParlerWatch, r/politics, r/politics, r/millenials, r/RealTesla, r/interestingasfuck, r/europe, r/politics, r/pics, r/interestingasfuck, r/gifs, r/MurderedByWords, r/EnoughMuskSpam, r/AnythingGoesNews, r/politics, r/CivPolitics, r/EnoughMuskSpam, and r/EnoughMuskSpam
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