<p>The Trump administration is negotiating a deal that would see Oracle take over TikTok alongside new U.S. investors, according to a report by NPR. Lawmakers passed a bill last year forcing Chinese parent company ByteDance to either sell TikTok or see it banned in the U.S. The app briefly went dark before the law took [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Last year was a busy time for lawmakers and lobbyists concerned about AI — most notably in California, where Gavin Newsom signed 18 new AI laws while also vetoing high-profile AI legislation. And 2025 could see just as much activity, especially on the state level, according to Mark Weatherford. Weatherford has, in his words, seen [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Legendary musician Paul McCartney is warning against proposed changes to U.K. copyright law that would allow tech companies to freely train their models on online content unless the copyright holders actively opt out. In excerpts of an interview with the BBC, McCartney said the government needs to do more to protect musicians and other artists. [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Companies spent significantly more lobbying AI issues at the U.S. federal level last year compared to 2023 amid regulatory uncertainty. According to data compiled by OpenSecrets, 648 companies spent on AI lobbying in 2024 versus 458 in 2023, representing a 141% year-over-year increase. Companies like Microsoft supported legislation such as the CREATE AI Act, which [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The European Union will give tech and social media companies a &#8220;stress test&#8221; to see how they handle misinformation ahead of Germany&#8217;s election next month. European Commission officials have invited tech companies, including X, Meta, Snap, TikTok, Google, Microsoft, and LinkedIn, to a meeting on January 31, according to multiple news outlets. During this meeting, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Stargate &#8212; the massive infrastructure project to build data centers for OpenAI in the U.S. &#8212; lacks a fully developed plan and hasn&#8217;t secured funding yet, according to a report from the Financial Times. Backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, Middle East AI fund MGX, and others, Stargate would funnel around $100 billion — and upward of [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The U.K.&#8217;s antitrust regulator has reached an agreement with Google to counter the scourge of fake online reviews. The internet giant has committed to several remedies. Bogus endorsements have blighted the web since the creation of user reviews, which is why regulators around the world have been upping the ante on tech companies to put [&hellip;]</p>

<p>President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the formation of a working group to propose federal regulations for &#8220;digital assets&#8221; &#8212; including cryptocurrencies, digital tokens, and stablecoins &#8212; and evaluate a national crypto stockpile. Ex-PayPal COO and founder of VC firm Craft Ventures David Sacks, Trump&#8217;s pick for crypto and AI &#8220;czar,&#8221; will lead the working [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Fitbit has settled with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) over a long-standing defect that caused some wearers to sustain burns. The deal finds the Google-owned fitness company paying a $12.25 million penalty for the issues surrounding its Ionic smartwatch. The issue dates back to 2018, continuing on into 2020. Fitbit agreed to recall [&hellip;]</p>

<p>President Donald Trump isn&#8217;t happy with how European Union regulators have treated U.S.-based tech companies, including Google, Meta, and Apple. Onstage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump put EU regulators on blast. He said that the EU&#8217;s cases against these U.S. tech companies are &#8220;a form of taxation,&#8221; according to Bloomberg reporting. Trump [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! We’re just a few days into a new Trump administration, and it’s already a firehose of executive orders, declarations, and even pardons. A few have crossed into [&hellip;]</p>

<p>VC investment into quantum computing declined by 50% last year according to the &#8220;State of Quantum 2024&#8221; report, dropping from $2.2 billion in 2022 to $1.2 billion, with funds switching in favor of generative AI. However, government spending on quantum was predicted to hit $40 billion over the next decade. Now a new VC European [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The U.K.&#8217;s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is launching &#8220;strategic market status&#8221; (SMS) investigations into the mobile ecosystems of Apple and Google. The investigations constitute part of the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act that passed last year and came into effect in January. The Act includes new powers for the CMA to [&hellip;]</p>

<p>President Donald Trump has said he would be open to Tesla CEO Elon Musk or Oracle chairman Larry Ellison buying TikTok as part of a joint venture with the U.S. government. Trump was asked at a press conference on Tuesday if he was open to &#8220;Elon buying TikTok.&#8221; He responded that he would be, and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>President Donald Trump has said he would be open to Tesla CEO Elon Musk or Oracle chairman Larry Ellison buying TikTok as part of a joint venture with the U.S. government. Trump was asked at a press conference on Tuesday if he was open to &#8220;Elon buying TikTok.&#8221; He responded that he would be, and [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Indonesia’s antitrust agency KPPU fined Google 202.5 billion Rupiahs, equivalent to $12.6 million, on Wednesday for antitrust violation related to its payment system services for the Google Play Store. The KPPU ordered the search giant to cease the mandatory use of Google Play Billing in the Google Play Store. It also asked Google to let [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Indonesia’s antitrust agency KPPU fined Google 202.5 billion Rupiahs, equivalent to $12.6 million, on Wednesday for antitrust violation related to its payment system services for the Google Play Store. The KPPU ordered the search giant to cease the mandatory use of Google Play Billing in the Google Play Store. It also asked Google to let [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The U.K.&#8217;s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has a new interim chairman: former Amazon executive Doug Gurr (pictured above). The announcement comes as the U.K. seeks to position itself as a pro-growth, pro-tech nation by cutting red tape and bureaucracy, with artificial intelligence (AI) taking center stage. The country is also nearing the end of [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The U.K.&#8217;s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has a new interim chairman: former Amazon executive Doug Gurr (pictured above). The announcement comes as the U.K. seeks to position itself as a pro-growth, pro-tech nation by cutting red tape and bureaucracy, with artificial intelligence (AI) taking center stage. The country is also nearing the end of [&hellip;]</p>

<p>President Trump on Tuesday pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the infamous dark web exchange Silk Road, which was best known as a once-thriving online marketplace for illegal drugs. Trump announced the news in a Truth Social post, saying the pardon was in honor of Ulbricht&#8217;s mother and the Libertarian movement. In 2015, a federal [&hellip;]</p>