US tech stocks fell sharply pre-market over DeepSeek concerns, with NVDA down 8%+ and META and MSFT down 3%; ASML fell 9%+; Japanese chip companies also dropped (Financial Times)

Financial Times:
US tech stocks fell sharply pre-market over DeepSeek concerns, with NVDA down 8%+ and META and MSFT down 3%; ASML fell 9%+; Japanese chip companies also dropped  —  Start-up's model raises questions about need for huge western hardware investment  —  Tech stocks fell sharply on Monday …

A look at the growing prevalence of LLM-written posts that have been backdated and attributed to human authors on Physics Forums, which was founded in 2001 (Hall of Impossible Dreams)

Hall of Impossible Dreams:
A look at the growing prevalence of LLM-written posts that have been backdated and attributed to human authors on Physics Forums, which was founded in 2001  —  What Internet Will Look Like in the Future  —  cripes does anybody remember Google People  —  Does anybody remember PhysicsForums?

Trump denies talks with Oracle about a TikTok deal, says "I have spoken to many people about TikTok" and expects a decision in the next 30 days (Reuters)

Reuters:
Trump denies talks with Oracle about a TikTok deal, says “I have spoken to many people about TikTok” and expects a decision in the next 30 days  —  U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was in talks with multiple people over buying TikTok and would likely have a decision …

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 …