CES 2025: Top Highlights & Biggest Announcements

A Recap of the Week's Top Tech Stories

Welcome to this week’s technology news summary. We’ll be covering the highlights from CES 2025, changes to Meta’s content moderation practices, TikTok’s response to the California wildfires, and several other important developments. Let’s begin.

CES 2025 has concluded. The event showcased presentations from leading technology companies, including Nvidia, Samsung, and Toyota. Alongside these keynotes, the show floor was filled with innovative gadgets, intriguing devices, and ambitious claims regarding artificial intelligence. Our reporting team was present, and a comprehensive overview of the most noteworthy items can be found here.

Meta is revising its content moderation policies, initially established in response to concerns about the spread of misinformation related to politics and health. The company is discontinuing its reliance on third-party fact-checkers and adopting a model similar to X’s Community Notes system. This shift has drawn criticism, with some suggesting it’s a concession to the incoming administration. Consequently, searches for information on deleting Meta accounts have significantly increased.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, revealed that the company is incurring losses on its $200 monthly ChatGPT Pro subscription. This is due to users exceeding the anticipated level of usage. Launched late last year, ChatGPT Pro provides access to OpenAI’s advanced o1 “reasoning” AI model and removes usage limitations on tools like the Sora video generator.

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Top News Stories

The impact of wildfires on employees: TikTok instructed its Los Angeles-based employees affected by wildfires to utilize personal or sick time if they were unable to work remotely. The company’s LA office remains closed due to the ongoing devastation caused by wildfires in the region. Further details are available here.

Introducing Project Digits: Nvidia unveiled Project Digits at CES 2025, a compact “personal AI supercomputer” intended for AI researchers, data scientists, and students. It offers access to the company’s Grace Blackwell hardware platform. More information can be found here.

Further copyright challenges for Meta: New allegations suggest that Mark Zuckerberg authorized the use of a dataset containing pirated e-books and articles to train Meta’s Llama AI models. This dataset reportedly included works by authors such as Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates. Read the full story here.

A robotic cat for beverage cooling: Yukai Engineering’s latest creation, the Nékojita FuFu, is a small robotic cat designed to attach to mugs or bowls and cool down beverages like coffee or soup. Learn more about this unique gadget here.

X clarifies its parody account policy: X announced that it will begin labeling parody accounts on its platform. This change comes after users mistakenly identified posts from parody accounts as genuine statements following the removal of traditional verification badges in favor of paid verification. Read more here.

Google’s new AI simulation team: Google is establishing a new team dedicated to developing AI models capable of simulating the physical world. Tim Brooks, formerly a co-lead on OpenAI’s Sora, will lead the team, having joined Google DeepMind in October. Details are available here.

Cyberattack impacts cannabis brand: Stiiizy, a popular Los Angeles-based cannabis brand, confirmed a cyberattack in November that resulted in the compromise of sensitive customer data, including government-issued identification and medical cannabis cards. Read the full report here.

An electric spoon to enhance flavor: Kirin Holdings showcased an electronic spoon that uses a weak electric current to intensify the taste of food by concentrating sodium ions. The spoon is priced at $127. More information can be found here.

Significant settlement for Tesla: A Delaware judge has approved a settlement requiring Tesla directors to return up to $919 million to the automaker, resolving allegations of excessive compensation. Read the full story here.

The most unusual gadgets at CES 2025: CES is known for its innovative and sometimes outlandish products. We’ve compiled a list of the most surprising and attention-grabbing items from this year’s show floor. See the roundup here.