@Techmeme@techhub.socialApple, whose capital expenditure is just a fraction of its peers, is the only Big Tech company that saw capex decline YoY in Q4, decreasing 19% to $2.37B (Rani Molla/Sherwood News)
https://sherwood.news/tech/apple-is-the-only-big-tech-company-…
@cdarwin@c.imOver the past year, tech industry lobby groups have used their lavish budgets to aggressively push for the deregulation of the EU’s digital rulebook.
The intensity of this policy battle is also reflected in the fact that Big Tech companies have on average more than one lobby meeting per day with EU Commission officials.
This lobbying offensive appears to be paying off.
Recently, a string of policy-makers have called for a pause of the Artificial Intelligence Act,
a…
@Mediagazer@mstdn.socialAn independent journalist argues against using AI to help journalists write, saying "the process is the purpose" even if you don't always enjoy it (Marisa Kabas/The Handbasket)
https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/refusing-to-accept-big-t…
@heiseonline@social.heise.de
@der_raddler@dresden.networkGruselig! 😬
Hörsaal - Deutschlandfunk Nova: Digital-Oligarchie - Der Rechtsruck der Big-Tech-Bosse
Webseite der Episode: https://www.deutschlandfunknova.de/beitrag/digital-oligarchie-der-rechtsruck-der-big-tech-bosse
Medi…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialAmazon, Google, and Microsoft reported a collective $1.1T backlog of cloud computing revenue in their latest quarterly earnings, including Microsoft's $625B (Jon Keegan/Sherwood News)
https://sherwood.news/tech/big-techs-usd1-1-trillion-cloud-computing-backl…
@mia@hcommons.social'I am scared to live in a society whose members are incapable of having deep discussions and arguments'
From: @…
https://scholar.social/@gedan…
@Sustainable2050@mastodon.energyBy 2027, 2.5 million French civil servants will stop using video conference tools from U.S. providers — including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex and GoTo Meeting — and switch to Visio, a homegrown service.
https://apnews.com/article/europe-digital…
@holger_moller@bildung.socialIch bin auf einen Artikel gestoßen, den ich sehr inspirierend finde - auch und gerade im Zusammenhang mit dem #diday:
📌 Sichtbar ohne #BigTech. Warum echte #Verbindung rebellisch ist.
@digitalnaiv@mastodon.socialBig Tech verkauft uns Bequemlichkeit – und kauft sich politische Macht. Die Recherche von WECHANGE zeigt: Datenhandel, Sucht-Design und Empörungsalgorithmen sind kein Kollateralschaden, sondern Geschäftsmodell. Die Liaison mit Trump ist kein Zufall, sondern Kalkül.
https://wechange.coop/big-tech/
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.ioI thought that was a really interesting thing, when people rebelled against social media bullshit of big tech
@Techmeme@techhub.socialOpenAI buying TBPN makes little sense, par for the course for a company that, like Twitter, stumbled into a big market and may never build a functional business (Ben Thompson/Stratechery)
https://stratechery.com/2026/openai-buys-tbpn-tech-and-the-token-tsunami/
@kubikpixel@chaos.socialDigital-Oligarchie - Der Rechtsruck der Big-Tech-Bosse
Big-Tech-Bosse vertreten verstärkt rechte Ideen und nehmen vermehrt politischen Einfluss. In ihren ideologischen Konzepten und in der aktuellen US-Politik macht der Politikwissenschaftler Christopher Coenen faschistische Tendenzen aus.
📻 https:…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialThe US Senate passed COPPA 2.0 again, which would create new protections for young users; the bill now heads to the House, where it has struggled to pass (Anna Washenko/Engadget)
https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/coppa-20-passes-the-sen…
@ErikUden@mastodon.deDespite the hot air from government about protecting children, they've voted down our Bill to turn off the toxic algorithms.
These algorithms push toxic content promoting eating disorders, self harm, misogyny and hate.
Big Tech profits should not come before children's health.
— Paul Murphy, Member of the Irish Parliament for the party People before Profit.
@UlrikeHeiss@eldritch.cafeEmpfehlung für die ganze Verwandtschaft (von @… und @…:
"Genau hier setzt die Artikelserie an: Sie macht den Wechsel konkret, priorisiert und machbar – und zwar ausdrücklich für Einsteiger. Big Tech…
@nelson@tech.lgbtI really like Genoa! A big city, industrial and with an enormous port. But also a lovely city center very dense with tiny pedestrian streets. And of course lots of monumental Italian architecture.
@digitalnaiv@mastodon.social
@timbray@cosocial.caThe big Ticketmaster anti-monopoly trial is spinning up: https://www.bigtechontrial.com/p/the-ticketmaster-monopoly-trial-starts
@mia@hcommons.socialI'm with the auditors on this one! Companies deploying AI need more expert human auditing, not less, at least until fundamental flaws in 'AI' are addressed and it's reliably accurate
'KPMG gets money off its own audit by arguing AI makes accounting cheaper'
@haayman@todon.nlHear hear!
Universiteit Groningen probeert zich los te rukken van big tech: ‘Geen alternatief voor Microsoft’ | BNR Nieuwsradio
https://www.bnr.nl/nieuws/tech-innovatie/10593189/universite…
@marcel@waldvogel.family“Big Tech’s AI hype is distracting users from the rapid and dangerous expansion of giant, energy and water-intensive data centres […].
There is simply no evidence that AI will help the climate more than it will harm it.
Rather than relying on credible and substantiated data, Big Tech companies are writing themselves a blank cheque to pollute on the empty promise of future salvation. We cannot bet the climate on these baseless claims.”
@paul@social.van.buu.reBig Tech Should Pay for What It Has Done to Us
"The truth is, it’s hard for profit-motivated companies to decide to make less money. So we can raise the cost of bad behavior. It worked with smoking. You can still smoke, but it could cost $15 a pack and you often can’t find a place where it’s allowed these days."
@aral@mastodon.ar.al“A jury in LA has delivered a damning verdict for two of the world's most popular digital platforms, Instagram and YouTube.
It ruled those apps are addictive, and deliberately engineered that way – and that its owners have been negligent in their safeguarding of the children who have used them.
…
Some experts have described the verdict as big tech's "big tobacco" moment, and we know how that worked out - although it didn't stop people smoking altogether…
@trezzer@social.linux.pizzaWow. Finally a truly good article about moving away from big tech in the national news here in Denmark. And yes, Mastodon is in it. It’s not a perfect list, but it’s the first good one I’ve seen outside of personal blogs. https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/viden/teknolo…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialAs Trump and Big Tech aim to build SMRs to win the AI race, a look at the issues they face; none of the 50 SMRs under development have a US operating license (Jamie Smyth/Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/9f6c4db1-559f-48e1-8c21-ac0bc1a1237c
@ErikJonker@mastodon.social"Van het ministerie mag big tech de gesprekken over digitale autonomie zelf leiden"
https://www.
@ruth_mottram@fediscience.orgA common effort between 23 different local authorities* in Denmark to develop FOSS alternatives to big US tech in Danish schools.
I am here for this
Ja, tak 🙏
*But not apparently my local authority...
@… - @bettina alle kan læse mere om projektet her:
Https://www.os2.eu/OS2skole
@digitalnaiv@mastodon.social📢 Trump fordert, dass Big Tech eigene Kraftwerke für KI-Rechenzentren baut – angeblich, um Verbraucher vor steigenden Stromkosten zu schützen. Doch die Mehrheit dieser Anlagen soll mit Erdgas laufen, obwohl sich Konzerne zu sauberer Energie verpflichtet haben. 🇺🇸 Autor: Business Insider Deutschland
#Energiepolitik
@kurtsh@mastodon.social
@memeorandum@universeodon.comICE Asks Companies About 'Ad Tech and Big Data' Tools It Could Use in Investigations (Caroline Haskins/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/ice-asks-companies-about-ad-tech-and-big-data-tools/
http://www.memeorandum.com/260125/p35#a260125p35
@ubuntourist@mastodon.socialLeave big tech behind! How to replace Amazon, Google, X, Meta, Apple – and more;
A handful of companies monopolize the web, with unprecedented access to our data. But there are many more ethical – and often distinctively European – alternatives
https://www.theg…
@johnleonard@mastodon.socialComments by heads of Amazon, Microsoft, Anthropic, OpenAI and others, many delivered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, reveal a shift of narrative from optimistic inevitability towards recognition of geopolitical tensions, energy scarcity, economic bubbles and the race to make AI truly useful.
https://www.
@Techmeme@techhub.socialGoDaddy integrates Cloudflare's AI Crawl Control into its hosting platform, enabling site owners to block, permit, or possibly monetize automated crawler access (Alistair Barr/Business Insider)
https://www.businessinsider.com/cloudflare
@metacurity@infosec.exchangeExclusive: Big Tech companies band together to fight global scams
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/16/tech-companies-scam-accord-google-meta-amazon
@Techmeme@techhub.socialHow Anthropic's ruthless efficiency comes in part from its mission-obsessed culture, which eliminates the friction that tends to slow things down at Big Tech (Parmy Olson/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-0…
@emilis@social.linux.pizzaLet's stop calling them "big tech" and start calling them "tech oligarchs".
"Big tech" is too ambiguous. E.g. Linux could be called "big tech" too.
Also the problematic aspect is immediately revealed: the individuals at the top, their corruption and misuse of the power.
@heiseonline@social.heise.deheise | Tschüss, Big Tech: Acht sichere E-Mail-Alternativen aus Europa im Vergleich
Gmail, iCloud, Outlook – die größten E-Mail-Anbieter sitzen in den USA. Mit diesen europäischen Alternativen erklären Sie Ihre digitale Unabhängigkeit.
@ToneMilazzo@mastodon.cloudInteresting to see this big but not the biggest tech companies lean into privacy. I hope this works out for Motorola.
GrapheneOS is a de-Googled Android variant with an emphasis on security and privacy.
https://motorolanews.com/motorola-three-new-b2b-solutions-at-mwc-2…
@vosje62@mastodon.nl
@AprilTeachy@bildung.socialUi, digitale Unabhängigkeit nimmt auch woanders Fahrt auf!
Leave big tech behind! How to replace Amazon, Google, X, Meta, Apple – and more
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/26/how-to-replac…
@timbray@cosocial.caStrong, clear, and short write-up on the social-media-addiction case that Meta and YouTube just lost. I hadn’t appreciated how important this could be: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/opinion/big-tech-meta-youtube-lawsuit.html
[paywalled sorry]
@servelan@newsie.socialBig tech is failing domestic abuse victim-survivors
https://www.crikey.com.au/2026/02/19/big-tech-domestic-abuse-victim-survivors/
@cdarwin@c.imInvestors have grown accustomed to buying into major selloffs because stocks recover quickly
— not this time so far.
"This is a little bit of a more protracted, longer duration selloff than what investors have become used to,"
"Ironically, I think that's keeping people from feeling that they can buy the dip."
Big Tech firm's are spending at such a record rate to fund their AI ambitions, their capital expenditure is a bigger driver…
@nelson@tech.lgbtJust saw how various websites are using 50 GB total in Chrome. A big culprit is every site with an embedded YouTube video seems to have its own copy of 313MB of YouTube crap. It's partitioned for privacy purposes and I'm guessing nothing is de-duping that storage. I wonder if every site has to download it too?
@usul@piaille.fr« J’ai décidé de faire mes adieux Š Gmail » : ces initiatives pour se passer des Big Tech américaines
https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2026/03/14/j-ai-decide-de-faire-mes…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialA look at India's push to become a major provider of AI services, as US tech companies pledge tens of billions in Indian data center investments (Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/world/india/why-big-te…
@fgraver@hcommons.socialThe Guardian view on changes to copyright laws: authors should be protected over big tech
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/13/the-guardian-view-on…
@trezzer@social.linux.pizzaDet var på tide med en god artikel om alternativerne hos DR! https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/viden/teknologi/kan-man-klare-sig-uden-amerikansk-big-tech-her-er-nogle-af-alternativerne
@aral@mastodon.ar.alIf your stated goal is to make computing into a “utility” (aka subscription) you can only obtain from Big Tech and if your entire industry is comprised of rentiers, it makes perfect sense to also make actually owning a general computing device as expensive as possible.
As far as Big Tech is concerned, this is a feature, not a bug.
It’s capitalists acquiring capital and pricing it out of the reach of those they want to make dependent on them.
Also: fuck these people.
@Mediagazer@mstdn.socialFox, Sinclair, and NAB file FCC comments urging US regulators to address the trend of Big Tech companies buying sports rights, saying it could weaken local TV (David Shepardson/Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/sustaina…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialUS data center demand has driven stock surges of contractors and equipment makers like Corning, Sterling Infrastructure, Comfort Systems USA, and Carrier Global (Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/business/meet-the-non-
@life_is@no-pony.farm@alineblankertz@indieweb.social "We want ... hack and shut down ... Big Tech". Als Elon Musk 90% der Software Engineers bei Twitter entlassen hatte, dachte ich es seine Frage von Wochen, bis script kiddies Twitter irreparabel zerlegt hätten. Aber offenbar sind die leute, die das könnten, selbst zu abhängig von funktionierender Big Tech, dass sie es eben nicht machen.
@kubikpixel@chaos.socialDie gefährlichsten Firmen der Welt - Big Tech
Überwachung, Datenhandel, Manipulation - welche Macht haben globale Digitalkonzerne? Wie verändern Daten und Algorithmen Wirtschaft, Politik und Gesellschaft?
📺 https://www.zdf.de/dokus/zdfinfo-die-gefaehrl…
@crell@phpc.socialThis is the most depressing thing I've read in a long time.
https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening
Of particular note:
"The people building this technology are simultaneously more excited and more frightened than anyone else on the planet. They believe it…
@marcel@waldvogel.familyDer "Big Tech Tobacco Moment", analysiert von @… :
"Es geht um viel mehr. Das Urteil könnte die Big-Tech-Konzerne in ihrem Innersten treffen, weil es nicht auf die Inhalte, sondern die Plattformlogik zielt: Infinite Scroll, Autoplay, Benachrichtigungen, Filter Bubble und Echokammer."
und:
"Wenn die Plattform bei den Teenag…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialAlphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft forecast capital expenditures that reach a combined ~$650B in 2026, a 60% YoY increase driven by data center construction (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20
@anneroth@systemli.socialGemeinsam mit vielen anderen habe ich den Offenen Brief von @… gegen die "Chat-Kontrolle 1.0" an das Europäische Parliament unterschrieben.
Auch in der #ePrivacy Verordnung darf die Überwachung der Messenger nicht umgesetzt werden.
@heiseonline@social.heise.deVom AI-Hype zur AI-Angst: Warum Tech-Aktien 2026 so stark verlieren
Backlash: Big-Tech-Aktien notieren seit Jahresbeginn im Minus. Die Wall Street ist über das Disruptionspotenzial besorgt.
https://www.…
@hikingdude@mastodon.socialIt's kind of funny: at work I was called a "cloud native champion" for our work in cloud adoption. - And at home im getting rid of all big tech.
@Techmeme@techhub.socialGoogle unveils Home updates to fix a long list of annoyances and idiosyncrasies, and debuts Live Search to let Gemini analyze and describe live camera feeds (Thomas Ricker/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/tech/888008/big-google-home-updat…
@cdarwin@c.imTrump has effectively turned the White House into a slush fund,
running the federal government like a personal ATM.
Public money, political favors and government power are funneled to his friends and family businesses,
while regulatory agencies and enforcement mechanisms are hollowed out or weaponized for profit.
His oligarch allies, from big tech executives to big oil barons, are already seeing massive returns on their political investments.
This is not demo…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialSome startups and researchers who can't access the most advanced chips are adopting a "frugal AI" approach, building smaller models on open-weight systems (Rina Chandran/Rest of World)
https://restofworld.org/2026/frugal-ai-big-tech/
@johnleonard@mastodon.socialThis is a good listen, investigating what many others have called out as fraudulent dealings by tech companies like #Coreweave, #nscale and #Microsoft and a
@aral@mastodon.ar.alHey @…, you want to incentivise small sustainable online organisations in the EU (e.g., small not-for-profits like Small Technology Foundation) as an alternative to Big Tech?
Raise the EU's €10,000 cross-border OSS threshold to €1M (or even €10M).
You’ll still stop Big Tech corporations from jurisdiction shopping and you’ll r…
@paul@social.van.buu.re @ErikJonker@mastodon.socialInteressant initiatief.
https://www.
@ruth_mottram@fediscience.orgThis whole thread is such a joy to read, about migrating away from big tech and taking back control of a digital life. #TechSovereignty #TechEmpowerment
#DanmarkSkifter
@heiseonline@social.heise.deDigital Networks Act: EU verzichtet angeblich auf Milliardenstrafen für Big Tech
Der Digital Networks Act sollte Big Tech zur Kasse bitten. Doch statt harter Regulierung erwarten Netflix, Google und Meta nun Dialog und Handreichungen.
@nelson@tech.lgbtRE: https://tech.lgbt/@somebitslinks/116058348297956373
I was suspicious of the etymology of molly-guard because it only dates to 1982, and the devices are much older. But Ed Krol from UIUC tells the story about his daughter Molly on page 14 of this PDF.
The only thing about it was that on one side was a big red switch—kid-sized, about 2 inches wide. ... I took my daughter Molly in to work with me. I said, ‘You play with your trucks on the floor while I work,’ and she saw this amazing big red thing and gave it a yank and turned it off.
/cc @…
@ErikJonker@mastodon.socialIs this the disturbed view of AI / BigTech optimists, or does he have a point?
"Something Big Is Happening"
#ai
@kubikpixel@chaos.social»USA und China rüsten bei KI massiv auf – diese Szenarien drohen Europa:
Digitale Souveränität statt Abhängigkeit von Big-Tech-Konzernen - Dieses für das demokratische Europa erstrebenswerte Ziel wird durch die KI-Offensiven der Amerikaner und Chinesen infrage gestellt. Eine aktuelle Studie zeigt vier Zukunftsszenarien auf.«
Ich frage mich wann die KI-Lücke real wird und in welchem Ausmaß für wen?
🤖
@paul@social.van.buu.reFTM heeft een nuttig artikel (nuttig als in: lastig, anti-autoritair) over BZK en NLdigital.
"BZK wees branchevereniging NLdigital aan als ‘poortwachter’ voor het organiseren van de gesprekken van het aanjaagteam Cloud. En die keuze is opmerkelijk. Anders dan de naam doet vermoeden, maakt de belangenbehartiger met ruim 500 leden zich namelijk ook hard voor Amerikaanse belangen van leden als Microsoft, Google, Amazon, IBM en Oracle.”
@Techmeme@techhub.socialRecon: the US market share of Copilot as paid users' first choice fell from 18.8% in July 2025 to 11.5% in January 2026, while Gemini's rose from 12.8% to 15.7% (Sebastian Herrera/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/microsofts-piv
@aral@mastodon.ar.alIf I have one more fucking techbro explain to me that actually, I’m the problem for criticising Big Tech (and, yes, fucking Linux distributions and components tied to trillion-dollar corporations is also Big Tech) I am going to scream.
(Actually, I’m just going to block and move on and not give you another thought this lifetime. And maybe also scream.)
@Techmeme@techhub.socialSource: Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle, and OpenAI will sign White House's initiative to build their own electricity supply for AI data centers (Emma Colton/Fox News)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/scoop-trump-brings-…
@kubikpixel@chaos.social«Studie—Big Techs KI-Klimaversprechen entpuppen sich als leeres Greenwashing:
Nur 26 Prozent der KI-Versprechen zum Klimaschutz verweisen auf Fachstudien; 36 Prozent kommen ganz ohne Belege aus, so die deutsche NGO Beyond Fossil Fuels»
Dies erinnert mich sicherlich nicht um sonst an die Crypto-Currency Marketing-Verspreche(r)n. Weshalb aber plapern so gut wie alle Medien deren Marketing blind hinterher?
🧐
@cdarwin@c.imA healthy (in body and mind),
active, frugal, sociable, mostly offline citizen
who is highly educated and informed, in full control of their data, avoiding Big Tech’s platforms and algorithms,
with a positive self-esteem and self-image,
is probably persona non grata for the tech billionaires.
But a small, insignificant nuisance, like a fly
– they don’t care about ONE.
But imagine having thousands,
then hundreds of thousands,
then millio…
@heiseonline@social.heise.deFrankreich nimmt die digitale Souveränität selbst in die Hand. Mit der flächendeckenden Einführung der Videokonferenzplattform Visio verabschiedet sich der Staat von US-Diensten wie Microsoft Teams und Zoom.
Zum Artikel: https://heise.de/-11155120?wt_mc=sm.re<…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialTech stocks suffer their worst week in almost a year, driven by the Iran war and Meta's legal defeats; Meta fell 11%, Alphabet fell ~9%, and Microsoft fell ~7% (Ari Levy/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/27/tech-stocks-iran-war-meta-verdict.html
@Techmeme@techhub.socialCourt docs: Zuckerberg texted Musk approvingly about his work with DOGE in February 2025, offering to "take down content doxxing or threatening" DOGE staffers (Karissa Bell/Engadget)
https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/mark-zuc
@Techmeme@techhub.socialSources: in the EU, US criticism over censorship has been met with disbelief and anger, and some Big Tech lobbyists acknowledge US accusations are overstated (Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/37d47387-7e31-484a-8c8a-f01efbeb4151
@Techmeme@techhub.socialUS Big Tech companies have been on an energy-related hiring spree; Workforce.AI says Microsoft has hired 570 people with energy-related expertise since 2022 (Tasmin Lockwood/CNBC)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/14/big-tech-google-microsoft-energy-hiring-ai.html…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialOpenAI fired an employee for insider trading on prediction markets like Polymarket; Unusual Whales has flagged 77 suspected insider trades around OpenAI events (Kate Knibbs/Wired)
https://www.wired.com/story/openai-fires-employee-insider-trading-polymarke…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialA look at the fundamental questions facing OpenAI: its models have a very large user base but very narrow engagement, incumbents are matching its tech, and more (Benedict Evans)
https://www.ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2026/2/19/how-will-openai-compete-nkg2x
@Techmeme@techhub.socialMistral and Accenture sign a multi-year deal to let Accenture deploy Mistral's models for its clients; Mistral has deals with IBM, Cisco, SAP, ASML, and others (Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/mistral-ai-lan
@Techmeme@techhub.socialSOTU: Trump says he told tech companies they must build their own power plants for their data centers; sources: the WH expects to formalize the effort in March (Richard Valdmanis/Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/tr
@Techmeme@techhub.socialArizona sues Kalshi for allegedly operating an illegal gambling business and unlawfully facilitating betting on elections; Kalshi faces a similar suit in Nevada (Anna Washenko/Engadget)
https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/arizona-
@Techmeme@techhub.socialQ&A with New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez about the New Mexico and LA social media trials, Big Tech's "Big Tobacco" moment, what it means for Congress, and more (Tyler Katzenberger/Politico)
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/digit
@Techmeme@techhub.socialGoogle, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Meta, Amazon, OpenAI, Adobe, and Match sign a voluntary pledge to share threat intelligence on scammers abusing their services (Sam Sabin/Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2026/03/16/tech-companies-scam-accord-google-meta-amazon…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialRuling in the LA bellwether case could impact Meta and other platforms, opening up a flood of litigation challenging product design and bypassing Section 230 (Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/do-back-to-back-courtroom-losses-her…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialQ&A with Skild AI CEO Deepak Pathak on building a general-purpose brain for robots, standing out among big tech's robotics efforts, the path to AGI, and more (Alex Heath/Sources)
https://sources.news/p/skild-ai-ceo-robotics-brain-davos
@Techmeme@techhub.socialA look at the US tech industry's effort to influence Californian politics: fighting the 5% billionaire tax, super PACs, and seeking a new tech-friendly governor (Dara Kerr/The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/15/californ…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialPoland's President Karol Nawrocki vetoes legislation meant to enforce the EU's DSA in Poland, arguing it would grant excessive powers to government officials (Wojciech Kość/Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/polish-pre
@Techmeme@techhub.socialGPT-5.3-Codex and Claude Opus 4.6 can handle the full app development lifecycle on their own, a sign of what's coming for most knowledge work within five years (Matt Shumer)
https://shumer.dev/something-big-is-happening
@Techmeme@techhub.socialAnalysis: the top US tech companies spent $109M on DC lobbying in 2025, topping $100M for the first time; Meta spent $26.29M, Amazon $17.78M, and Google $13.1M (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-…
@Techmeme@techhub.socialFTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson says the agency is examining Big Tech's acqui-hires to make sure "they are not an attempt to get around" its merger review process (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20
@Techmeme@techhub.socialThe World Economic Forum in Davos is now dominated by tech giants, whose interests shunt aside topics like climate change, as Trump and AI take center stage (Peter S. Goodman/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/business/davos-trump.html
