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February 4, 2025, 8:55 AM
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| Wired: |
Sources: Marko Elez, a 25-year-old Elon Musk-linked engineer, has admin privileges over Treasury Department code that controls Social Security payments and more — The Bureau of the Fiscal Service is a sleepy part of the Treasury Department. It's also where, sources say …
More: 404 Media, Bloomberg, Notes on the Crises, and Paul Krugman
Bluesky: @molly.wiki, @dell, @jilldlawrence, @brandonfriedman, @leahfeiger, @martinsfp, and @dell. Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social
X: @mattgoldstein26, @stephaniekelton, @daithaigilbert, @public_citizen, @marymcnamara, @wired, @samfbiddle, @wired, @ingridlunden, and @wsbgnl
Forums: r/inthenews, r/TrueReddit, and r/politics
| Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge: |
Elon Musk's goal seems to amount to a coup over the US administrative state; Musk said he “deleted” the 18F Direct File tax group, but that may not be true — Elon Musk has an uncanny ability to sort out which of America's rules are real.
More: The Atlantic, Techdirt, Raw Story, Time, and Associated Press
Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social. X: @elonmusk, @kylascan, @mattlesser, @andrewkrok, @ashleyschapitl, @ericgeller, @flyosity, @nateberkopec, @buddingmonkey, @rwpusa, @rajgoyle, @socdoneleft, @chrismegerian, @meidastouch, @jdcmedlock, @besttrousers, @sturgeons_law, @tszzl, @joshtpm, @alx, @angry_staffer, @mattyglesias, @ctjlewis, @dylanmatt, @dancow, @joshtpm, @tim_walz, @growing_daniel, and @coryfromphilly
Forums: Hacker News, r/france, and r/politics
| Evan Weinberger / Bloomberg Law: |
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent orders the CFPB to stop activities, like rulemaking, communications, and litigation; in November, Musk said to “delete CFPB” — Search by Topic — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has shut down a wide variety of operations inside …
More: FinTech Futures, American Prospect, Consumer Financial …, Americans for Financial Reform, House Financial Services Committee, Washington Post, National Law Review, New Republic, Reuters, Law360, New York Times, NBC New York, UPI, Salon, American Banker, Forbes, Consumer Bankers Association, Politico, NBC News, U.S. House Committee …, NPR, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, The Block, and The Hill
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Forums: r/politics and r/politics
| Makena Kelly / Wired: |
Sources: Thomas Shedd, GSA's new Technology Transformation Services director and Elon Musk ally, told GSA workers the agency will pursue an “AI-first strategy” — Sources say the former Tesla engineer now in charge of the Technology Transformation Services wants an agency that operates like a “startup software company.”
More: New York Times and Nextgov/FCW
Bluesky: @lizthegrey.com, @tyleraking.com, @brbarrett, @timmarchman, and @kateconger.com
| Caleb Ecarma / Musk Watch: |
An OPM staffer believes that a server Elon Musk's associates installed, with access to federal staff info like SSNs, has not had a Privacy Impact Assessment — Several of Elon Musk's associates installed at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have received unprecedented access …
More: HuffPost, Techdirt, New Republic, PCMag, DCMediaGroup, Techdirt, Slate, SiliconANGLE, and New York Magazine
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| Bloomberg: |
Donald Trump signs an executive action to direct officials to create a US sovereign wealth fund and says that it could be used to facilitate a sale of TikTok US — - Fund could be used as US facilitates TikTok sale, Lutnick says — Bessent says fund will be created in the next 12 months
More: Reuters, Mashable, The White House, The White House, Inside Bitcoins, Music Ally, PetaPixel, Android Headlines, The Mirror, Protos, Bitcoinist.com, Music Business Worldwide, CryptoSlate, CNBC, TipRanks Financial, Irish Examiner, Business Insider, PhoneArena, Agence France-Presse, Blockonomi, The Guardian, en.ain.ua, Silicon UK, The Independent, MEDIANAMA, Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Sabah, Blockhead, Axios, Roll Call, @realDonaldTrump …, Washington Post, The Times, BBC, Semafor, Breitbart, DNyuz, and @realDonaldTrump …
Bluesky: @brunojnavarro. X: @senlummis, @mcuban, @chamath, @elonmusk, @modeledbehavior, @realalexjones, @martinshkreli, @mviser, @jacksonhinklle, @jgarzik, @dampedspring, @cliffordasness, @cliffordasness, @margomartin47, @vkiriak, @byheatherlong, @johnhcochrane, @salansar1, @gordongchang, @pudgypenguins, @aravsrinivas, @cynthiamlummis, @polymarket, @jessetinsley, @monetsupply, @theallinpod, @chamath, @presssec, and @danprimack. LinkedIn: Sarah Beth Felix
| Ethan Mollick / One Useful Thing: |
OpenAI's Deep Research hands-on: very good at nuanced, in-depth research, and the first economically valuable, narrow agent that can produce sophisticated work — The first narrow agents are here — A hint to the future arrived quietly over the weekend.
More: OpenAI, PYMNTS.com, and TechCrunch
Bluesky: @carnage4life. X: @emollick, @bobmcgrewai, @reidhoffman, @polynoamial, @mckaywrigley, @aravsrinivas, @dharmesh, @kimmonismus, @blader, @levie, @emollick, and @afinetheorem
| Josh Xiao / Bloomberg: |
China's State Administration for Market Regulation says it will probe Google for antitrust violations, moments after Trump announced tariffs on Chinese goods — China announced an investigation into Google and imposed new tariffs on a range of US products moments after President Donald Trump slapped …
More: Financial Times, TechCrunch, The Information, Wall Street Journal, ZeroHedge News, Silicon Republic, Business Today, Android Headlines, Fortune, Yahoo Finance, TheCable, Times of India, Livemint, Sharecast, TipRanks Financial, Le Monde, The Guardian, Xinhua, The i Paper, NPR, The Guardian, WAtoday, FOX31 Denver, The Indian Express, Türkiye Today, Financial Express, ANI News, The Irish Times, ITV News, WinBuzzer, Decrypt, Sharecafe, Digital Journal, NBC News, South China Morning Post, CBS News, and CoinDesk
Forums: r/worldnews and r/politics
| Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: |
Meta defines the types of AI systems that it deems too risky to release, including ones capable of aiding in cybersecurity, chemical, and biological attacks — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to make artificial general intelligence (AGI) — which is roughly defined as AI that can accomplish … | Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: |
Toronto-based programmatic ad startup StackAdapt raised $235M led by Teachers' Venture Growth, after raising $300M from Summit Partners in 2022 — While the U.S. and Canada duke it out over tariffs between the two countries, a tech company based out of Toronto is announcing a major round of funding led by a homegrown VC.
More: Globe and Mail
| Bloomberg: |
Nintendo reports Q3 revenue down ~33% YoY to ~$2.8B, net profit down ~33% YoY to ~$831M, both below est, 4.8M Switch sales, and cuts Switch and profit forecasts — The Kyoto-based company now expects ¥280 billion ($1.8 billion) in operating income in the fiscal year to March, slashing more than a fifth from its prior forecast.
More: Engadget, Reuters, GoNintendo, Associated Press, GamesRadar, Reuters, CNBC, Wccftech, Nikkei Asia, and MarketBeat
| Paige Smith / Bloomberg: |
PayPal reports Q4 revenue up 4% YoY to $8.4B, adjusted net income down 1.9% YoY to $1.21B, above est., payment volume up 7% to $437.8B, and plans a $15B buyback — Growth in the total payment volume for PayPal's unbranded payment-processing business — the volume of payments it processes for other firms …
More: Reuters, PayPal Holdings, Inc., and CNBC
| Zachary Small / New York Times: |
An interview with The Sims designer Will Wright on the dollhouse game turning 25, the game's mechanics, infusing it with chaos, ants, The Sims Online, and more — Will Wright kindly requests that admirers stop describing him as a god. — “I don't think God would concern himself with taking … | Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal: |
Spotify reports Q4 revenue up 16% YoY to €4.2B, MAUs up 12% YoY to 675M, subscribers up 11% YoY to 263M, and €1.14B in 2024 net income, vs. a €532M loss in 2023 — Price increases, cost discipline help audio-streaming giant pivot from heavy spending on growth to sustained profitsSponsor Posts
Google:
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model — Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy. Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
Gemini 2.5 Pro: Our most intelligent AI model — Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental) is now available, with thinking capabilities, enhanced performance, and improved accuracy. Try it at no cost in the Gemini app.
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
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:
Building a more inclusive web experience: Our journey toward better accessibility — Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)Technology has the power to connect, empower, and transform lives, but only if it's built for all.
Building a more inclusive web experience: Our journey toward better accessibility — Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)Technology has the power to connect, empower, and transform lives, but only if it's built for all.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Box data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.Featured Podcasts
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Hard Fork:
Ed Helms Answers Your Hard Questions
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
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Great Chat:
Are VC jobs truly AI Proof? (Marc thinks so)
A podcast mostly about tech. Brought to you weekly by Angela Du, Sally Shin, Mac Bohannon, Helen Min, and Ashley Mayer.
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Decoder with Nilay Patel:
Workday's new head of product wants you to like Workday as much as he does
A show from the Verge about big ideas - and other problems.
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Lenny's Podcast:
How Revolut trains world-class product managers: The "local CEO" model, raw intellect over experience, and a cultural obsession with building wow products | Dmitry Zlokazov (Head of Product)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
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Conversations with people I admire about things I'm genuinely interested in.
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