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February 13, 2025, 4:41 AM
Mediagazer memeorandum WeSmirch
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Top News

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Sam Altman says GPT-5 will include o3, which is no longer set to ship as a standalone model, GPT-4.5 will be OpenAI's last non-chain-of-thought model, and more  —  OpenAI has effectively canceled the release of o3, which was slated to be the company's next major AI model …
Kylie Robison / The Verge:
OpenAI expands its Model Spec for how its AI models should behave, from 10 to 63 pages, emphasizing “customizability, transparency, and intellectual freedom”  —  ChatGPT is learning how to handle Stalin, ethical erotica, and trolley problems.  —  ChatGPT is learning how to handle Stalin …
Malathi Nayak / Bloomberg:
Filing: OpenAI says Elon Musk's $97.4B bid contradicts his attacks in his lawsuit against OpenAI that its assets can't be “transferred away” for “private gain”  —  Elon Musk's all-cash bid to buy OpenAI debunks arguments he's making in court that the artificial …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: X agrees to pay ~$10M to settle Trump's 2021 lawsuit against Twitter and then-CEO Jack Dorsey over the ban on his accounts after the January 6 riot  —  Musk's platform becomes second social-media company to settle with Trump after Jan. 6, 2021 riot triggered bans
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Google plans to begin testing an ML-based model in the US in 2025 that estimates whether a user is under 18 to help provide more “age-appropriate experiences”  —  Google says the technology will help it provide ‘age-appropriate experiences.’  —  Google says the technology …
New York Times:
Sources: the Trump administration is releasing cybercriminal Alexander Vinnik to Russia in exchange for the US retrieving the American schoolteacher Marc Fogel  —  The release is part of a swap with the Kremlin that freed an American schoolteacher being held in a Russian prison.
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple releases an Apple TV app for Android phones and tablets, limited to TV+, MLS Season Pass, and MLB Friday Night Baseball; the app doesn't support casting  —  The Apple TV app is finally making its way to Android users.  The app is now available in the Google Play Store for Android phones and tablets.
CJ Haddad / CNBC:
AppLovin reports Q4 revenue up 44% YoY to $1.37B, vs. $1.26B est., net income up 248%, ad revenue up 73%, and Q1 guidance above est.; APP jumps 27%+  —  AppLovin shares soared almost 30% in extended trading on Wednesday after the company reported earnings and revenue that sailed past analysts' estimates …
Paige Smith / Bloomberg:
Robinhood reports Q4 revenue up 115% YoY to $1.01B, vs. $940.8M est., crypto transaction revenue up 700%+ to $358M, above est.; HOOD jumps 15%+  —  Revenue grew to $1.01 billion in the quarter, beating Wall Street analyst estimates of $940.8 million for the three-month period.
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Reddit reports Q4 revenue up 71% YoY to $428M, vs. $405M est., and daily active uniques up 39% YoY to 101.7M, vs. 103.1M est.; RDDT drops 13%+  —  Reddit shares fell more than 15% on Wednesday after the company reported weaker-than-expected user numbers in its fourth-quarter earnings.
Bailey Lipschultz / Bloomberg:
Sources: Thoma Bravo-backed enterprise security software company SailPoint raised $1.38B in an upsized IPO at $23 per share, giving it a $12.8B market cap  —  The Austin-based company and the sellers sold 60 million shares Thursday for $23 each after marketing 50 million for $21 to $23 apiece …
More: Bloomberg
Jordan Novet / CNBC:
Cisco reports Q2 revenue up 9% YoY to $13.99B, vs. $13.87B est., net income down 8% YoY to $2.43B, and FY 2025 guidance above est.; CSCO jumps 5%+  —  Cisco shares climbed about 6% in extended trading on Wednesday after the networking hardware maker reported fiscal second-quarter results …
Milana Vinn / Reuters:
Sources: Bain Capital, Advent International, and EQT AB are among the private equity firms competing to acquire Trend Micro, which has an ~$8.54B market value  —  Bain Capital, Advent International and EQT AB are among the private equity firms competing to acquire Japanese cybersecurity firm Trend Micro …
More: Bloomberg
Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Microsoft details BadPilot, an “initial access operation” team in the Russian hacking group Sandworm that targeted the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia in 2024  —  A team Microsoft calls BadPilot is acting as Sandworm's “initial access operation,” the company says.
Norman Goh / Nikkei Asia:
Malaysia plans to roll out Google AI tools to 445,000 civil servants to help modernize public services and improve efficiency across government agencies  —  KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia's government plans to roll out Google AI tools to 445,000 civil servants, accelerating the Southeast Asian nation's push toward digital transformation.
Financial Times:
Sources: US PE firms have invested in data centers serving ByteDance as a tenant, some without knowing if ByteDance is using the sites to access Nvidia's chips  —  Global buyout groups often do not know whether ByteDance uses their facilities to exploit a legal loophole to access chips

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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
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From Mediagazer

Sara Fischer / Axios:
PBS and a public TV affiliate in Minnesota sue the Trump administration, saying his executive order to cut federal funding violated PBS' First Amendment rights

Max Tani / Semafor:
The California State Senate opens an inquiry into whether Paramount's reported $15M proposed settlement with Trump violated bribery and unfair competition laws

Chris Willman / Variety:
Taylor Swift acquires the rights to her first six albums from Shamrock Capital; sources say the deal was in the mid-$300M range

More News

Tim Starks / CyberScoop:
Google Threat Intelligence: US adversaries, especially Russia, are increasingly turning to cybercriminals and free or public malware to advance their goals

Earlier Picks

David Shepardson / Reuters:
Trump nominates Apple exec Jonathan Morrison to NHTSA; Morrison was NHTSA's chief counsel in Trump's first term and told Tesla it made inaccurate safety claims
Foreign Policy:
DOGE accessing Treasury systems and classified data breaks a fundamental security principle and could help US adversaries steal data and install backdoors
Caroline Igo / CNET:
Apple partners with Brigham and Women's Hospital to launch a voluntary, virtual five-year Apple Health Study in its Research app, open to iPhone users in the US
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Adobe launches Generate Video in public beta via its redesigned Firefly web app, alongside new image generation, translation, and AI credit subscription tiers
Euractiv:
After the AI Action Summit, the EU Commission says it will withdraw the AI Liability Directive, a strategic move to show goodwill to the Trump administration
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple now lets users migrate apps, music, books, shows, and movies between Apple accounts, but the feature isn't available to users in the EU, the UK, or India
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