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Europe is increasingly cautious about Elon Musk's 'X' platform, triggering expanded investigations by the European Union. The city of Paris has decided to cease its use of the service, reflecting growing apprehensions regarding its impact and safety.

This scrutiny emerges amidst broader concerns over digital privacy, misinformation, and the regulation of social media platforms. The EU’s initiative represents a significant step towards holding tech giants accountable for their role in societal issues, while also highlighting the ongoing tension between innovation and regulation.

The Supreme Court upheld a law mandating ByteDance divest its ownership of TikTok by January 19th, or face a US ban. ByteDance's refusal to sell leaves millions of US users potentially without access. The court cited national security concerns regarding data collection and ties to a foreign adversary, despite acknowledging TikTok's popularity and role in expression and community.

However, President-elect Trump, who initially favored a ban but later softened his stance, now holds the power to intervene. He has indicated a review of the situation is needed before making a decision. Meanwhile, TikTok CEO Shou Chew is seeking a solution to keep the app available, highlighting its economic impact and users' First Amendment rights. Competitors are preparing for a potential influx of users, and alternative apps are gaining popularity. A sale of TikTok could fetch $40-50 billion.

MiniCPM-o 2.6 is the latest multimodal large language model (MLLM) that supports real-time multimodal live streaming on mobile devices. With 8 billion parameters, it excels in vision, speech, and audio processing, rivaling established models like GPT-4o. Key features include advanced real-time bilingual speech capability, strong optical character recognition (OCR), and efficient token usage for faster processing. This model can accept and understand multiple input formats, including text, audio, images, and video, making it highly versatile for various applications.

Subsequent iterations, such as MiniCPM-V 2.6, offer significant advancements in single and multi-image and video understanding. MiniCPM series supports easy deployment through local and online demos, appealing to researchers and developers alike.

The US Treasury Department sanctioned two individuals and four entities for facilitating North Korea's illicit revenue generation. North Korean IT workers, operating under false identities, secure freelance contracts globally, generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually for the regime's weapons and ballistic missile programs. The sanctioned entities include front companies and individuals managing these workers, primarily in Laos and China. This scheme, active since at least 2018, has been linked to various cybersecurity groups and is increasingly targeting cryptocurrency and Web3 companies, leading to intellectual property theft and extortion attempts. The US aims to disrupt these networks funding North Korea's destabilizing activities, including support for Russia's war in Ukraine.

MiniMax-01, a newly released open-source large language model, boasts a radical architecture and an impressive 4 million context window. This significant advancement in the field of AI potentially marks a turning point, similar to the impact of the original Transformer model. The model's open-source nature fosters collaboration and further development within the AI community.

The large context window allows for processing significantly more information than previous models, leading to improved performance in various tasks. While details on specific applications and benchmarks are limited in the provided text, the sheer scale and open-source nature of MiniMax-01 suggest a potentially impactful contribution to the field of large language models.

LG CNS, a South Korean IT services company, has successfully completed its initial public offering (IPO). The IPO was well-received, indicating strong domestic investor confidence. However, the company's long-term success hinges on attracting significant foreign investment. Securing this overseas capital is identified as the final, critical hurdle to achieving sustained growth and solidifying its position in the global market.

Facing post-pandemic reduced passenger traffic and the closure of Russian airspace, Finland's government is considering selling unprofitable regional airports. The Finnish transport ministry and airport operators are classifying strategically important airports to remain under Finavia, the state-owned company. Loss-making airports, particularly those near the Russian border (Joensuu, Savonlinna, Jyväskylä, Kajaani, Kokkola-Pietarsaari, Kemi-Tornio, and Pori), are candidates for privatization. These airports currently receive substantial government subsidies and incur significant annual losses for Finavia. Potential buyers include private businesses and municipalities, with some municipalities already managing airports. The reduced passenger flow is attributed to the closure of Russian airspace, altered passenger habits, and fewer business trips post-COVID-19.

Binance Pay is implementing changes that will impact merchants. Existing merchants may need to create new accounts as direct merchants or channel partners, as their current accounts cannot be updated. The updates aim to streamline the platform, but could create challenges for some users. Merchants are advised to review the changes and take necessary steps to ensure continued access to Binance Pay services.

The US has placed a Chinese company on its blacklist for allegedly supplying a TSMC-made chip that was illegally used in a Huawei AI processor. The move is the latest in the ongoing tech war between the US and China, with the US seeking to limit China's access to advanced semiconductor technology.

Nvidia's latest announcement during CES showcases the GeForce RTX 5000 series, highlighting a significant performance leap in ray tracing capabilities. The flagship RTX 5090 outperforms the RTX 4090 by 30% in native ray tracing scenarios, while the RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti see up to a 20% improvement compared to their predecessors.

The introduction of DLSS 4 technology further enhances performance, potentially doubling frame rates in certain games when combined with full ray tracing. However, caution is advised as Nvidia's performance figures have yet to be validated by independent reviews. The new GPUs launch on January 30, with the RTX 5090 priced at 27,999 SEK.

Donald Trump's 2025 inauguration as the 47th US President has sparked significant cryptocurrency market volatility and debate. His pro-crypto stance and potential SEC leadership changes could reshape the industry. Key anticipated changes include a SEC review of existing regulations, potentially freezing or revising lawsuits, and fostering public-private dialogue for new crypto-specific rules. A pro-crypto Congressman, Tom Emmer, will lead a digital assets subcommittee, furthering pro-crypto legislation. David Sacks, PayPal co-founder, will be the White House's "crypto czar," overseeing AI and a January 17th "Crypto Ball."

Potential, but unconfirmed, executive orders include creating a more favorable crypto environment and potentially repealing SAB 121, easing banking restrictions for crypto firms. While initial optimism led to Bitcoin reaching $100,000 in late 2024, recent economic data (low unemployment) and slower-than-expected implementation have caused a market downturn. Risks remain, including potential legal challenges to SEC decisions and the time needed to implement new regulations. Despite short-term challenges, some analysts remain bullish on Bitcoin's long-term prospects under Trump, citing potential economic policies that could benefit risky assets. However, others predict a post-inauguration market crash due to investor disappointment, citing concerns about cryptocurrency's use in crime and high energy consumption.

In a remarkable week for the startup ecosystem, companies have raised a total of $216 million, marking a 100% increase compared to the same time last year. This surge reflects a growing investor confidence in innovative ventures, even amid economic uncertainties. The funding spans various sectors, indicating broad interest and investment in emerging technologies and ideas.

As this trend continues, it highlights not only the resilience of startups but also the evolving landscape of investment priorities. With the potential for substantial returns, investors are increasingly attracted to novel solutions offered by these companies, paving the way for future growth and innovation.

A team of international engineers has successfully recreated Sega's unreleased console, the Sega Neptune, a device combining the Genesis and Super 32X. The project, documented online, involved designing a functional circuit board and a 3D-printed casing based on original schematics. The resulting console plays Genesis, Super 32X, and Master System cartridges.

Originally planned for release around 1995, the Sega Neptune was cancelled due to the emergence of the Sega Saturn and PlayStation, and its high projected cost. This recreation highlights the dedication of retro gaming enthusiasts and the accessibility of modern tools like 3D printing and open-source collaboration. The project follows similar fan efforts to recreate other unreleased consoles, demonstrating a growing trend in the retro gaming community.