Tech Brew Ride Home

Did you even notice that new TikTok privacy policy over the weekend? AirTags finally have a second generation. Microsoft confirms it will give out your BitLocker recovery keys if you’re silly enough to store them with them. And let me introduce you to Clawdbot. Since you can’t see the spelling, you won’t understand how this is different until I explain.


TikTok Is Now Collecting Even More Data About Its Users. Here Are the 3 Biggest Changes (Wired)


Apple launches AirTag 2 with improved range, louder speaker, more (9to5Mac)


EU opens formal probe into Musk’s xAI over Grok deepfakes (FT)


Latest ChatGPT model uses Elon Musk’s Grokipedia as source, tests reveal (The Guardian)


Microsoft Gave FBI Keys To Unlock Encrypted Data, Exposing Major Privacy Flaw (Forbes)


Clawdbot Showed Me What the Future of Personal AI Assistants Looks Like (MacStories)

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Ok, ok, maybe the whole TikTok thing is a done deal at long last? Amazon is planning another major round of layoffs. Are Epic Games and Google doing an end-run around the judge? Capital One acquires Brex. And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions.


Trump’s TikTok deal is a gift to China (FT)


Exclusive: Amazon plans thousands more corporate job cuts next week, sources say (Reuters)


Epic and Google have a secret $800 million Unreal Engine and services deal (The Verge)


Apple Expands Hardware Chief's Role (Bloomberg)


Capital One Strikes $5.15 Billion Deal for Fintech Brex (WSJ)

Weekend Longreads Suggestion:


Russia, Ukraine and the race for Chinese drone components (FT)

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Apple is developing their own AI wearable, the size of an AirTag. Anthropic overhauls Claude’s constitution. South Korea is the latest place to ride the AI rocket ship. And I think I know why your boss thinks AI is the solution to everything: it’s the solution to all of the work THEY have to do.


Apple Developing AI Wearable Pin (The Information)


Anthropic rewrites Claude’s guiding principles—and entertains the idea that its AI might have ‘some kind of consciousness or moral status’ (Fortune)


Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launches satellite internet service to rival SpaceX, Amazon (CNBC)


South Korean leader celebrates ‘Kospi 5,000’ moment as stock market soars (FT)


CEOs Say AI Is Making Work More Efficient. Employees Tell a Different Story. (WSJ)

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Anthropic continues to project strength in the AI race. How OpenAI is rolling out ads on ChatGPT. Netflix wants to become TikTok faster than TikTok can become them. YouTube wants to have it both ways when it comes to AI. And Elon wants SpaceX to win the great IPO race of 2026.


Anthropic’s CEO stuns Davos with Nvidia criticism (TechCrunch)


OpenAI rolls out age prediction on ChatGPT (Reuters)


OpenAI Lines Up Advertisers, Reveals Key Details Ahead of Ads Launch (The Information)


Netflix Is Testing Vertical Video Features For Mobile (THR)


YouTubers will be able to make Shorts with their own AI likenesses (The Verge)


YouTube CEO Neal Mohan’s Big Ideas for 2026: More Superstar Creators and Transparency, Less AI Slop (THR)


Why Elon Musk Is Racing to Take SpaceX Public (WSJ)

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Netflix ups its bid with all cash. Sony is spinning off its legendary TV business with TCL. One of the biggest seed rounds I’ve ever heard of. Reels continues to win for Zuck. And let me introduce you to the “Assistant Axis” and what it might mean for AI.


Netflix revises its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery. Now, it’s all cash (CNN)


Sony’s TV business is being taken over by TCL (The Verge)


An A.I. Start-Up Says It Wants to Empower Workers, Not Replace Them (NYTimes)


Most of Instagram’s ads ran on Reels in 2025, data shows (CNBC)


Anthropic Uncovers AI Personality Crisis as Models Secretly Switch Identities (eWeek)

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