Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Google updates Wallet to let kids with Android smartphones tap to pay in stores in the US, the UK, Australia, Spain, and Poland under parental supervision — Google announced on Wednesday that kids with Android phones can now tap to pay at stores using Google Wallet in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, and Poland.
Allison Johnson / The Verge:
Google unveils the $499 Pixel 9a, with no camera bump, a 6.3″ display, a Tensor G4 processor, and IP68 water resistance, shipping sometime in April 2025 — Google is confirming what we learned from a slew of leaks. … Google just announced the Pixel 9A, surprising nobody because it’s been leaked to all heck.
Akash Sriram / Reuters:
BlackRock, Microsoft, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX say Nvidia and xAI joined a consortium to build AI infrastructure in the US; investors committed $100B for deployment — Nvidia and Elon Musk’s xAI have joined a consortium backed by Microsoft, investment fund MGX and BlackRock to expand AI infrastructure …
The Citizen Lab:
A look at Israeli spyware company Paragon, which makes Graphite: suspected deployments in Australia, Canada, Cyprus, and others, a WhatsApp zero-click, and more — Key Findings — Introducing Paragon Solutions. Paragon Solutions was founded in Israel in 2019 and sells spyware called Graphite.
Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:
Filing: Shopify says it is transitioning its US stock listing to the Nasdaq, nearly 10 years after filing to go public on the NYSE and Toronto Stock Exchange — Nearly 10 years after filing to go public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Toronto Stock Exchange, Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify …
Mark Niquette / Bloomberg:
Trump’s 20% tariffs on China, and a potential 25% tariffs on Mexico, the US’ two biggest computer equipment import sources, may pile costs on US data centers — President Donald Trump is all in on artificial intelligence and the data centers that power it — but his tariffs threaten to pile …
Kashmir Hill / New York Times:
How Reddit became a lifeline for US federal workers in recent months, as Trump cuts the workforce; r/fednews gained millions of visitors since January 2025 — David Carson is a moderator of the Veterans Affairs group on Reddit.William DeShazer for The New York Times
Michael Scott Moore / Bloomberg:
How Trump closing CBP One, an app launched in 2020 to let immigrants schedule CBP asylum appointments, is a gift to Mexican cartels’ smuggling operations — CBP One, the app that helped schedule asylum meetings, had critics on both sides of the immigration debate. But it provided a credible alternative to illegal smuggling.
Financial Times:
Annual meeting: Samsung co-CEO Han Jong-hee says the company will pursue “meaningful” M&A deals in 2025 and apologizes to investors for weak stock performance — South Korean tech giant apologises to shareholders after year of weak performance
Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
Tencent reports Q4 revenue up 11% YoY to ~$23.9B, vs. ~$23.4B est., profit up 90% YoY to ~$7B, vs. ~$6.3B est., and domestic game revenue up 23% YoY to ~$4.6B — Tencent on Wednesday posted a fourth-quarter beat on top and bottom line driven by a surge in gaming and advertising revenue.
