News

Joe Wilkins / Futurism: McDonald’s Netherlands pulls an AI-generated Christmas ad, made by TBWANEBOKO with film production company Sweetshop, after backlash that the ad is distasteful  —  There’s just one issue: pretty much everybody hates it.  —  This year, McDonald’s… Read More »McDonald’s Netherlands pulls an AI-generated Christmas ad, made by TBWANEBOKO with film production company Sweetshop, after backlash that the ad is distasteful (Joe Wilkins/Futurism)

Joseph Menn / Washington Post: TTP: Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store host dozens of apps linked to US-sanctioned foreign companies; Google removed 17 apps and Apple removed 35  —  Watchdog finds firms and organizations in Apple and Google… Read More »TTP: Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store host dozens of apps linked to US-sanctioned foreign companies; Google removed 17 apps and Apple removed 35 (Joseph Menn/Washington Post)

The Information: Sources: DeepSeek is developing its new AI model using several thousand Nvidia Blackwell chips, which were smuggled into China via third-party countries  —  DeepSeek, the Chinese AI startup, has been developing its next major model using several thousand… Read More »Sources: DeepSeek is developing its new AI model using several thousand Nvidia Blackwell chips, which were smuggled into China via third-party countries (The Information)

Bloomberg: How President Trump’s tariffs ended China’s monopoly on making US game consoles, boosting Vietnam, whose exports jumped from $30M/month in 2024 to $400M in May  —  Millions of holiday shoppers across America are filling their baskets with pricey video… Read More »How President Trump’s tariffs ended China’s monopoly on making US game consoles, boosting Vietnam, whose exports jumped from $30M/month in 2024 to $400M in May (Bloomberg)

Eli Tan / New York Times: Sources: this fall, Alexandr Wang told people that he disagreed with top Meta execs like Chris Cox and Andrew Bosworth, including on using Instagram data for AI  —  When Mark Zuckerberg revamped Meta’s artificial… Read More »Sources: this fall, Alexandr Wang told people that he disagreed with top Meta execs like Chris Cox and Andrew Bosworth, including on using Instagram data for AI (Eli Tan/New York Times)

Ofcom: A survey of UK adults in 2025: on average, they spend 4.5 hours per day online, up 10 minutes on 2024, and 50%+ of time is on Google- and Meta-owned services  —  Our latest Online Nation report explores how… Read More »A survey of UK adults in 2025: on average, they spend 4.5 hours per day online, up 10 minutes on 2024, and 50%+ of time is on Google- and Meta-owned services (Ofcom)

Nasteho Said / Bloomberg: As Australia bans under-16s from social media platforms, TikTok-powered video app Lemon8, friends-only photo app Yope, and others rise up the App Store charts  —  Alternative social media platforms have surged in popularity in Australia Wednesday,… Read More »As Australia bans under-16s from social media platforms, TikTok-powered video app Lemon8, friends-only photo app Yope, and others rise up the App Store charts (Nasteho Said/Bloomberg)

David E. Sanger / New York Times: President Trump letting Nvidia sell advanced AI chips to China reverses decades of US tech restrictions on its adversaries, giving China a boost in the AI race  —  President Trump’s decision to allow… Read More »President Trump letting Nvidia sell advanced AI chips to China reverses decades of US tech restrictions on its adversaries, giving China a boost in the AI race (David E. Sanger/New York Times)

Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg: The EU’s General Court reduces a 2023 EU antitrust fine on Intel to €237.1M, down from €376.36M; the EU fined Intel a record €1.06B in 2009, then overturned  —  Intel Corp. won a near-€140 million ($163… Read More »The EU’s General Court reduces a 2023 EU antitrust fine on Intel to €237.1M, down from €376.36M; the EU fined Intel a record €1.06B in 2009, then overturned (Samuel Stolton/Bloomberg)

Christine Chung / New York Times: The US CBP proposes vetting five years of social media history for travelers from the UK, France, Germany, and more; the current system only requires basic info  —  Even visitors from countries like Britain… Read More »The US CBP proposes vetting five years of social media history for travelers from the UK, France, Germany, and more; the current system only requires basic info (Christine Chung/New York Times)