Big tech companies tend to make a lot of enemies — but there are none more powerful than the US government. Apple, Google, Amazon, and Meta are regularly called in front of Congress to fend off monopoly accusations — and lawmakers bring up bills to rein in the companies just as often. The Federal Trade Commission has taken a particularly central role, leading a lawsuit to sever Facebook and Instagram while blocking new acquisitions for Oculus and the company’s virtual reality wing. Like it or not, these regulatory fights will play a huge role in deciding the future of tech — and neither side is playing nice.
That’s how many Australian social media accounts were removed in just the first few days after the country’s under-16 social media ban took effect in December, according to the Australian internet regulator. We already knew 550,000 of them were from Meta, but TikTok, Reddit, Snapchat and more were also covered by the ban.
[eSafety Commissioner]
”Did you decide in the middle of the hearing to officially abandon the FCC’s independence? Or had that decision already been made by you and President Trump prior to the hearing?” Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) asked. Carr said he’s “pleased that the FCC website reflects my views.”
In a highly unusual move, FBI agents executed a search warrant on Washington Post journalist Hannah Natanson’s Virginia home, the Post reports. Natanson has written about the Department of Government Efficiency’s federal workforce overhaul. Investigators are reportedly probing a system administrator with security clearance accused of removing classified information.
Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the search on X, saying it was requested by the Department of War after the reporter was allegedly “obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor.” Washington Post spokesperson Olivia Petersen confirmed the Post is monitoring the situation.
Update: Added comment from Bondi and The Washington Post.
[Washington Post]
A political comms professional breaks down Trump’s meme media strategy.
An unknown number of vervet monkeys are “at large” in St. Louis, the AP reports. They’ve been on the lam since Thursday. And multiple people have claimed to have caught them, even using AI image generators to post “proof,” which has complicated the search efforts.
Ofcom says the probe will establish whether X has failed to comply with Online Safety Act obligations, over concerns its Grok AI chatbot is generating sexualized deepfakes of adults and minors. The investigation is “a matter of the highest priority,” and may result in hefty fines or even X being banned in the UK.
Dina Powell McCormick, who previously worked as deputy national security advisor during Trump’s first administration, is joining Meta as president and vice chairman.
Mark Zuckerberg says she’ll “be involved in all of Meta’s work, with a particular focus on partnering with governments and sovereigns to build, deploy, invest in, and finance Meta’s AI and infrastructure.”
Powell’s statement says the Fed received grand jury subpoenas “threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June,” about historic building renovations. But, he said, it’s actually retaliation for setting interest rates based on “what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.”
Hundreds gathered to peacefully protest the killing of Renee Nicole Good.
Local news reports that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent has shot and wounded two people on the east side of the city. Portland has been an ongoing target of ire from the Trump administration.
An ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good yesterday in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
[opb: Oregon Public Broadcasting]
The European Commission extended an order requiring X to keep documents related to Grok through the end of the year so that it can evaluate compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA), Reuters reports. X is facing international scrutiny as its AI chatbot continues virtually undressing images without consent.
Real people died while Trump treated war like a meme stock.
Carr and fellow FCC commissioners Anna Gomez and Olivia Trusty are set to testify before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on January 14th for an agency oversight hearing. The trio testified before the Senate Commerce Committee last month, where Carr doubled down on his threats to broadcasters.
Biden’s national security adviser tells The Verge why the Trump-Nvidia chip deal could be catastrophic.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) board voted to wind down the 58-year-old organization after Congress slashed its funding. CPB president and CEO Patricia Harrison said shutting it down would “protect the integrity of the public media system ... rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks.”
[Corporation for Public Broadcasting]
The MAGA-friendly television network officially filed a complaint to the FCC asking them to halt the proposed merger between television broadcast companies Nexstar and Tegna, with Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy calling it a “dangerous consolidation” that would hand them “immense control over local news and political news coverage.” Unfortunately for them, Nexstar can curry favor with the Trump administration in ways that Newsmax cannot.
Early on Saturday morning, American forces struck multiple sites inside Venezuela, including a large-scale assault on Caracas, and arrested President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The two are expected to stand trial in New York for drug and weapons charges.
In a press conference later in the day, President Trump said that the US would “run” Venezuela for an indeterminate period of time, though no further detail was provided. He also suggested that American oil companies would be allowed to swoop in and take control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
You can get all the latest updates from The New York Times, NPR, and Reuters.
As we noted about Mamdani’s successful mayoral campaign, not everything can be done online, including his New Year’s Day public inauguration (following the private midnight swearing-in). Then the transition team, including former FTC boss Lina Khan, started work on the “sewer socialism” that Mamdani projects as part of “a new story” for the city.
The Verge senior photo editor, Amelia Holowaty Krales, took these photos at a block party during the event.
Political violence has become illegible, and increasingly, politics and language have too.
The Financial Times reporting on the delayed Trump Mobile phone that’s definitely not made in the USA:
Trump Mobile’s customer service team told the Financial Times that the recent US government shutdown had delayed deliveries of the phone.
Sure.
It added there was a “strong possibility” the device would not be shipped this month.
Duh.
A private swearing-in ceremony for New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will take place inside the original City Hall station at midnight on January 1st, ahead of a public ceremony at City Hall later that day. Mamdani’s subway PR continues to be a delightful vibe. In a statement to Streetsblog, he said:
“When Old City Hall Station first opened in 1904 — one of New York’s 28 original subway stations — it was a physical monument to a city that dared to be both beautiful and build great things that would transform working peoples’ lives.”
The proposed rules would be among the toughest global AI regulations if passed. Minors and elderly users would be required to register a guardian to use AI services, who’d be notified if topics like suicide come up, and chatbots would be banned from emotional manipulation and promoting violence, crime, or self-harm.
Several polls from Gallup and Pew reveal that voters overwhelmingly view the rise of AI as a net negative:
There is hardly any issue that polls lower than unchecked AI development among Americans. Gallup polling showed that 80 percent of American adults think the government should regulate AI, even if it means growing more slowly.
And much like their MAGA populist counterparts, Democrats are beginning to take notice.
Most of us have been rolling our eyes at the (likely illegally) renamed The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. But Toby Morton, a comedian who has written for Mad TV and South Park, saw the move coming and snatched up trumpkennedycenter.org and trumpkennedycenter.com a while back. Morton told the Washington Post:
“As soon as Trump began gutting the Kennedy Center board earlier this year, I thought, ‘Yep, that name’s going on the building.’”
