Chinese esports companies, including Tencent and Huya, face growth challenges in China, the world's biggest esports market; the industry earned ~$3.8B in 2024 (Wataru Suzuki/Nikkei Asia)

Wataru Suzuki / Nikkei Asia:
Chinese esports companies, including Tencent and Huya, face growth challenges in China, the world's biggest esports market; the industry earned ~$3.8B in 2024  —  BEIJING — One chilly Saturday evening late last year, 33,000 people gathered at Beijing Workers' Stadium to watch …

Major Chinese social media apps have mastered the "shoppertainment" experience, blending social media with shopping, that Western competitors struggle to match (Rest of World)

Rest of World:
Major Chinese social media apps have mastered the “shoppertainment” experience, blending social media with shopping, that Western competitors struggle to match  —  Addictive algorithms fuse social networking with shopping and entertainment.  —  In the days leading …

Some crypto executives worry Trump's memecoin undercut the industry's credibility at the very moment crypto is seeking a prominent place in mainstream finance (New York Times)

New York Times:
Some crypto executives worry Trump's memecoin undercut the industry's credibility at the very moment crypto is seeking a prominent place in mainstream finance  —  The president's promotion of a speculative digital coin left some crypto investors feeling blindsided, while others saw it as a gimmick …

Sources: people affiliated with DOGE have met with representatives of various public blockchains as they explore using a blockchain to track federal spending (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Sources: people affiliated with DOGE have met with representatives of various public blockchains as they explore using a blockchain to track federal spending  —  - Conversations said to be held with multiple public blockchains  — The technology may be used to track government spending

Hands-on with the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses live translation feature: adept at translating a basic conversation, but struggles with slang and faster speech (Victoria Song/The Verge)

Victoria Song / The Verge:
Hands-on with the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses live translation feature: adept at translating a basic conversation, but struggles with slang and faster speech  —  I was in middle school the last time I took a Spanish class.  I remember enough for toddler talk — phrases like …

Supporters and skeptics of the TikTok ban in Congress say Trump's US ownership proposal bewilders them, claiming it doesn't comply with the divest-or-ban law (Politico)

Politico:
Supporters and skeptics of the TikTok ban in Congress say Trump's US ownership proposal bewilders them, claiming it doesn't comply with the divest-or-ban law  —  Members of Congress are declaring themselves bewildered by Donald Trump's latest proposal to save TikTok by brokering a joint-ownership deal.

On January 31, the EC will question Meta, X, Snap, Google, TikTok, and LinkedIn on their plans to counter disinformation ahead of elections in Germany (Gian Volpicelli/Bloomberg)

Gian Volpicelli / Bloomberg:
On January 31, the EC will question Meta, X, Snap, Google, TikTok, and LinkedIn on their plans to counter disinformation ahead of elections in Germany  —  - X, Google, Snap and LinkedIn to be tested on disinformation  — EU is working to combat false information around elections

The CMA says Google has agreed to curb UK businesses using fake reviews to boost ratings and must report to the CMA on its efforts for the next three years (Jess Weatherbed/The Verge)

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
The CMA says Google has agreed to curb UK businesses using fake reviews to boost ratings and must report to the CMA on its efforts for the next three years  —  Google will take firmer action against British businesses that use fake reviews to boost their star ratings on the search giant's reviews platform.

Instagram and Facebook removed posts from two abortion pill providers; Instagram also suspended accounts; Meta confirmed and restored some of the accounts (New York Times)

New York Times:
Instagram and Facebook removed posts from two abortion pill providers; Instagram also suspended accounts; Meta confirmed and restored some of the accounts  —  Some posts related to obtaining abortion pills were recently hidden on Instagram and Facebook and some accounts were suspended, before being later restored.

Tesla plans a software update for ~1.2M cars in China, around half its fleet in the country, to address power steering and rear-view camera issues (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Tesla plans a software update for ~1.2M cars in China, around half its fleet in the country, to address power steering and rear-view camera issues  —  A potential malfunction of the cars' rear-view cameras could meanwhile impair drivers' fields of vision when reversing, increasing the risk of collisions.

Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation back Etherealize, a NYC-based startup to market Ethereum to financial firms, as ether lags behind bitcoin's gains (Muyao Shen/Bloomberg)

Muyao Shen / Bloomberg:
Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation back Etherealize, a NYC-based startup to market Ethereum to financial firms, as ether lags behind bitcoin's gains  —  - Ethereum is facing heat for underperforming competitors  — Startup hopes to become Ether's sales team to Wall Street

China and Southeast Asian nations pledge to deal with cybercrime centers, extending efforts that China's Global Times says has led to the arrest of 70K+ people (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
China and Southeast Asian nations pledge to deal with cybercrime centers, extending efforts that China's Global Times says has led to the arrest of 70K+ people  —  China, Thailand and other nations have reached a deal to target cybercrime centers that have taken root in Southeast Asian nations …

A Texas District Court rules against Tornado Cash sanctions, ordering a previous decision to be reversed; the US sanctioned Tornado Cash in August 2022 (Danny Park/The Block)

Danny Park / The Block:
A Texas District Court rules against Tornado Cash sanctions, ordering a previous decision to be reversed; the US sanctioned Tornado Cash in August 2022  —  - A U.S. District Court has ordered the sanctions on Tornado Cash to be reversed.  — The price of TORN jumped over 140% following the news.

In 2024, Cloudflare's autonomous DDoS defense systems blocked 21.3M DDoS attacks, up 53% YoY, and 420 DDoS attacks in Q4 2024 exceeded 1 Tbps, up 1,885% QoQ (The Cloudflare Blog)

The Cloudflare Blog:
In 2024, Cloudflare's autonomous DDoS defense systems blocked 21.3M DDoS attacks, up 53% YoY, and 420 DDoS attacks in Q4 2024 exceeded 1 Tbps, up 1,885% QoQ  —  This post is also available in .體中文, Deutsch, 한국어, Español (Espaňa) and Français.

Sources: Elon Musk is set to get a West Wing office, putting him close to Trump, after Musk had for many days been asking about his level of access (New York Times)

New York Times:
Sources: Elon Musk is set to get a West Wing office, putting him close to 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.