Carly Page / TechCrunch:
The US sanctions Beijing-based cybersecurity company Integrity Technology over its alleged links to China-backed hacking group Flax Typhoon — The U.S. government has sanctioned a Beijing-based cybersecurity company over its alleged links to a China government-backed hacking group, tracked as Flax Typhoon.
Elon Musk fanboy Adrian Dittmann’s alleged 4Chan posts and Dittmann’s X Spaces appearances suggest he might be a fake online persona used by Musk himself (Jess Weatherbed/The Verge)
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Elon Musk fanboy Adrian Dittmann’s alleged 4Chan posts and Dittmann’s X Spaces appearances suggest he might be a fake online persona used by Musk himself — Rumors that viral Elon Musk fanboy Adrian Dittmann is actually a fake online persona used by Musk himself have been reignited following fresh evidence linking the pair.
Meta required a public statesman like Nick Clegg after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and now turns to the in-house Republican Joel Kaplan to appease Trump (Dave Lee/Bloomberg)
Dave Lee / Bloomberg:
Meta required a public statesman like Nick Clegg after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and now turns to the in-house Republican Joel Kaplan to appease Trump — The former UK politician was a public statesman when Meta required one. A different approach will be called for under Trump.
Apple and Strava partner to feature Strava athletes in Fitness+ programming, add more detailed Fitness+ workout summaries in the Strava app, and more (Victoria Song/The Verge)
Victoria Song / The Verge:
Apple and Strava partner to feature Strava athletes in Fitness+ programming, add more detailed Fitness+ workout summaries in the Strava app, and more — Apple Fitness Plus is getting a fresh makeover in the Strava app. The two companies just announced they’re collaborating to revamp …
Influencer marketing company Later acquires Mavely, which pays commissions to social-media creators for the sales they generate, for $250M in cash and stock (Katie Deighton/Wall Street Journal)
Katie Deighton / Wall Street Journal:
Influencer marketing company Later acquires Mavely, which pays commissions to social-media creators for the sales they generate, for $250M in cash and stock — Later, an influencer and social-media marketing company, acquired social commerce app Mavely for $250 million
Foreign smartphone shipments, including iPhones, to China fell 47.4% YoY in November, following a 44.25% YoY drop in October, marking four months of decline (Reuters)
Reuters:
Foreign smartphone shipments, including iPhones, to China fell 47.4% YoY in November, following a 44.25% YoY drop in October, marking four months of decline — Shipments to China of foreign-branded smartphones, including Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iPhone, fell by 47.4% in November from a year earlier …
Tass: a Russian court ordered Yandex to hide access to maps and photos of a Russian oil refinery from search results due to repeated attacks by Ukrainian drones (Alexander Marrow/Reuters)
Alexander Marrow / Reuters:
Tass: a Russian court ordered Yandex to hide access to maps and photos of a Russian oil refinery from search results due to repeated attacks by Ukrainian drones — A Russian court has ordered internet company Yandex to hide access to maps and photos of one of Russia’s largest oil refineries due …
A look at the Texas Responsible AI Governance Act, which was formally introduced in Texas legislature and has very broad negligence liability for developers (Dean W. Ball/Hyperdimensional)
Dean W. Ball / Hyperdimensional:
A look at the Texas Responsible AI Governance Act, which was formally introduced in Texas legislature and has very broad negligence liability for developers — Texas’ onerous AI regulation is formally introduced — Happy new year, everyone. — Introduction
China plans to extend its national consumer subsidies to smartphone, tablet, and smartwatch purchases to boost domestic spending as external headwinds pick up (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg:
China plans to extend its national consumer subsidies to smartphone, tablet, and smartwatch purchases to boost domestic spending as external headwinds pick up — – Expanded trade-in program to cover also tablets, smartwatches — Beijing last month made boosting domestic demand top priority
Sources: Apple and Google removed over six VPN apps, including Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1, from their Indian app stores after the government issued removal orders (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Sources: Apple and Google removed over six VPN apps, including Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1, from their Indian app stores after the government issued removal orders — More than half-a-dozen VPN apps, including Cloudflare’s widely-used 1.1.1.1, have been pulled from India’s Apple App Store …
