Meta Horizon expands to 18 countries with $50M creator fund boost 🌐
- Meta announced the expansion of its Horizon economy to 18 new countries starting February 24, 2025, alongside a $50M fund for mobile and mixed-reality creators.
- The initiative includes monthly bonuses tied to user engagement and in-world purchases, with a $1M competition launching March 11 to spur mobile-focused MR content.
- This aligns with Meta’s push to bridge headset and mobile audiences, leveraging its 3.3B app users to expand the XR ecosystem.
Bybit suffers what may be world’s largest crypto heist 🥷
- Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit has suffered a historic $1.5B Ethereum heist, with hackers allegedly linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group appearing to have exploited a smart contract vulnerability during a cold-to-warm wallet transfer.
- The breach, involving 401,000 ETH, triggered temporary market volatility before stabilization.
- Bybit CEO Ben Zhou assured users of solvency, processed 350K+ withdrawals, and launched a 10% recovery bounty, while blockchain analysts alegedly traced funds to Lazarus’ laundering networks.
Xbox trains AI on failed game 🎮
- Microsoft using defunct Ninja Theory title Bleeding Edge to develop generative AI game prototypes.
- Critics question practicality of using AI for game preservation claims.
- There are potential PS5 implications as Microsoft expands third-party publishing.
Netflix’s Top Show Gets Dark 🎥
- American Murder: Gabby Petito dethrones Love Is Blind as top current Netflix show.
- True crime series dominates despite graphic content warnings, reflecting enduring appetite for real-life mystery formats.
Pup Cup Now Available on Playdate Catalog 🐶
- Pup Cup, a new game on the Playdate Catalog, lets players serve whipped treats to a variety of dogs, similar to the popular game Root Bear but with a canine twist.
- With its adorable graphics, varied dog characters, and upcoming features like leaderboards and holiday-themed updates, Pup Cup is set to delight both kids and adults, enhancing the Playdate gaming experience.
Intuitive Machines Set to Launch Second Lunar Lander, Athena, This Week 🚀
- Intuitive Machines is preparing to launch its second lunar lander, Athena, as part of the IM-2 mission, with a targeted launch window opening no earlier than February 26 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
- This launch marks a significant milestone in lunar exploration, as it will be one of three lunar landers en route to the Moon simultaneously, contributing to the foundation for future human missions and a long-term human presence on the lunar surface.
Apple Removes Key Privacy Feature in UK, Allowing Government Access to iCloud Data 🚨
- Apple has removed its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature in the UK, which provided end-to-end encryption for iCloud data, following a “secret order” from the UK government that demanded “backdoor” access to user data.
- The removal means that new UK users cannot enable ADP, and existing users will have to disable it, allowing Apple and the UK government to access their iCloud data, including photos, notes, and other files, with a warrant.
- Apple expressed disappointment in the decision, emphasizing its commitment to user privacy and stating that it has never built a backdoor into its products and will not do so in the future, but had to comply with the UK government’s directive under the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA).
Generative AI’s Unexpected Impact: Disrupting High-Skilled Tech Jobs Too 💻
- Generative AI has been found to have a broader impact on the job market than previously anticipated, affecting not only low-skilled jobs but also high-skilled tech positions, including roles requiring creativity and complex cognitive skills.
- Research indicates that over 30% of all workers could see at least 50% of their occupation’s tasks disrupted by generative AI, with higher-paying fields like STEM, business, finance, architecture, engineering, and law being particularly exposed.
- The introduction of generative AI tools like ChatGPT has led to significant decreases in job posts for online gig workers, especially in automation-prone sectors such as writing, software development, and engineering.
US Intensifies Scrutiny of EU’s Digital Markets Act 🚨
- The US government has stepped up its scrutiny of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), with President Donald Trump signing a memorandum announcing heightened scrutiny of the DMA and the Digital Services Act (DSA), citing concerns about potential discrimination against American companies.
- The DMA aims to ensure fair competition and expanded consumer choice in digital markets, but US officials argue that certain requirements, such as mandatory data-sharing and interoperability mandates, could expose sensitive intellectual property to foreign entities and undermine US economic security.
Last Chance to Download Kindle Books: What You Need to Know 📚
- Amazon will discontinue the “Download & Transfer via USB” option for Kindle books on February 26, 2025, meaning users will no longer be able to download their e-books to computers for offline storage or conversion to other formats.
- This change may limit the flexibility and accessibility of Kindle books, particularly for users who prefer to read on non-Kindle devices or wish to maintain a backup of their purchased e-books, highlighting the importance of backing up digital libraries before the deadline.
