Meta has launched a new, unified support hub for Facebook and Instagram, X was fined 120 million euros by EU regulators, and Meta has established new licensing partnerships with various news organizations.
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Show Notes
Netflix Acquiring Warner Bros. for $82.7B
Netflix is acquiring Warner Bros., including HBO Max and the HBO studio, for a groundbreaking $82.7 billion to cement its position as the top streamer and gain major franchises like DC Comics and Harry Potter. The deal, valued at a mix of cash and stock and expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, was prompted by Warner Bros. Discovery’s debt and streaming performance and is anticipated to face significant antitrust review.
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Meta Launches Unified Support Hub
Meta has launched a new, unified support hub for Facebook and Instagram on iOS and Android globally to streamline issue reporting and account recovery, recognizing previous support challenges. The company is also developing an AI assistant to provide instant, personalized help and is using AI to improve account recovery by better identifying past usage devices and locations for more effective options. While the hub is in-app, potentially limiting its use for locked-out users, the underlying recovery improvements are meant to address this.
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EU Fines X €120 Million Under the DSA
X was fined 120 million euros ($140 million) by EU regulators under the Digital Services Act (DSA) for violations related to illegal content, deceptive design of its blue checkmark, poor ad transparency, and denying data access to researchers. This penalty, which is the first of its kind, has drawn criticism from U.S. officials who’ve called it an “attack” on American companies. While rival platforms like TikTok and Meta are also facing scrutiny, EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen defended the action as proportionate, not censorship, and stated that future investigations are expected to be faster.
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Meta Signs New Licensing Deals for Its AI Chatbot
Meta has established new licensing partnerships with various news organizations, including CNN, Fox News, USA Today, The Daily Caller, and Le Monde, to provide content for its AI chatbot. This strategy, which follows Meta’s termination of previous publishing deals and the closure of the Facebook News tab, aims to enhance the AI’s content diversity and timeliness. This move comes amid ongoing lawsuits by publishers, such as The New York Times, against AI companies for unauthorized content use, and mirrors similar licensing approaches taken by competitors like OpenAI.
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PhonePe Shutting Down Pincode App
Walmart-backed PhonePe is shutting down its Pincode quick-commerce app, which launched less than two years ago on the ONDC network, after the app failed to compete with rivals. The company is redirecting its focus and resources from the challenging consumer-facing market to its core objective of offering B2B services, such as inventory and order management tools, to offline merchants to improve their efficiency and margins, ahead of its target mid-2026 public listing.
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NHTSA Investigating Waymo Robotaxis
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Waymo’s robotaxis, primarily in Austin, Texas, for repeatedly and illegally passing stopped school buses. The federal regulator is concerned about the fifth-generation self-driving system’s “unexpected or illegal behavior.” Despite Waymo’s claimed software update after a Georgia incident, the Austin Independent School District reported 19 incidents, including five post-update, and requested Waymo halt operations during school hours—a request the company denied. A December 1st incident highlights ongoing safety issues.
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The New York Times Sues Perplexity
The New York Times has sued the AI startup Perplexity for copyright infringement in the Southern District of New York, alleging the company illegally copied and distributed its content (stories, videos, podcasts) to generate similar or identical user query responses. This lawsuit is part of a broader effort by The Times to protect its intellectual property from AI misuse, as it is already suing Microsoft and OpenAI, and follows Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement with authors over illegally downloaded books.
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Apple Faces Major Talent Exodus
Apple is facing a significant “brain drain” as high-profile executives and innovators depart for rivals like Meta and OpenAI, including the general counsel, policy head, top designer, and head of AI strategy. This puts CEO Tim Cook under pressure to define a clear AI strategy. Rivals like Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman are actively recruiting this talent to develop AI-centric products that threaten the iPhone’s dominance. While the iPhone is currently secure, Apple’s perceived slow movement in AI creates a long-term risk to the company’s legacy if successful AI products aren’t delivered before Cook’s departure.
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Russia Blocks Snapchat and FaceTime
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media monitoring agency, has blocked Snapchat and FaceTime, claiming they were used for terrorist acts and fraud. This action continues Russia’s post-2022 invasion crackdown on foreign communication platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram, and Signal. Restricting these services allows the Russian government to control public conversation and information, potentially steering citizens toward “MAX,” a state-run super app, as part of a push for technological self-reliance, which also facilitates government surveillance.
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Meta Platforms Inc. is planning significant budget cuts as high as 30%, for its metaverse initiative. Why has Netflix killed the ability to cast content from your phone to most TVs and streaming devices? YouTube said it will take steps to comply with Australia’s ban on allowing users of its service who are younger than 16, but doesn’t believe it should be considered a social media platform. TikTok introduced a “Nearby Feed” in the U.K., France, Italy, and Germany, giving users a location-based stream of local posts.
Apple Interface Chief Alan Dye just got poached by Meta, and Andy Beach tells us about AI assisted diner tags on Open Table.
Microsoft’s Surface Go, a 2-in-1 detachable tablet laptop, was a marvel of power and portability but it doesn’t meet the system requirements needed to run Windows 11. But what about the latest Ubuntu release? Rich shares his experience buying a used Surface Go cheap and getting it work with Ubuntu Linux including support for the Surface Go’s stylus pen and eraser. Can Linux make an old machine new again?