The FTC is appealing a court decision, continuing its case that Meta illegally maintains a social networking monopoly through its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, potentially risking forced divestitures. This legal challenge, initiated during the Trump administration amid the former president's criticism of Meta, underscores ongoing scrutiny of Big Tech's market dominance and acquisition strategies.
A correction has been issued for a *Nature* article on oestradiol's role in inhibiting ferroptosis and acute kidney injury, addressing minor typesetting errors that occurred post-peer review. The errors, including incorrect chemical structures in figures and inaccurate sample sizes, have been corrected without impacting the study's scientific conclusions regarding oestradiol's functions. Researchers and clinicians can now reference the corrected version for accurate data on oestradiol's potential therapeutic applications in kidney injury.
Meta is globally launching advertisements on Threads, its X competitor with over 400 million monthly active users, enabling businesses to leverage existing ad tools for streamlined cross-platform campaigns. The rollout, featuring image, video, and carousel ad formats, simplifies ad management across Meta's platforms and aims to monetize Threads' rapidly growing user base. This move could significantly impact social media advertising strategies and revenue streams.
A correction has been issued for a 2018 Nature article concerning the impact of human activities on major tropical cyclones. The correction addresses a misspelling of author Christina M. Patricola-DiRosario's name, ensuring accurate attribution in future research and citations related to climate and Earth system modeling.
Nandan Nilekani, the architect of India's digital identity system Aadhaar, continues to develop interoperable online tools for government, banking, and healthcare, aiming to further revolutionize India's digital infrastructure. Meanwhile, embryo screening for non-medical traits is gaining traction, particularly in Silicon Valley, sparking ethical debates about the acceptable boundaries of genetic testing and its potential impact on reproductive choices.
NYT Games has released Crossplay, a Scrabble-like multiplayer game for iOS and Android, offering a streamlined, ad-free experience for subscribers. While not a direct clone, Crossplay provides a similar word-building gameplay with slight rule and board variations, aiming to attract casual players seeking a less intrusive alternative to existing social word games.
The Supreme Court is questioning the legality of a presidential firing of a Federal Reserve Board member, specifically regarding Trump's attempt to dismiss Lisa Cook. This case centers on whether a president's decision to fire a Fed governor "for cause" is subject to judicial review, a point of contention that could significantly impact the Fed's operational independence. Cook denies the accusations of falsifying documents, which were initially brought forth by Trump administration officials.
Meta is globally launching ads on Threads, its X competitor with over 400 million monthly active users, enabling businesses to leverage image, video, and carousel formats through existing Meta advertising tools. This expansion, rolling out gradually, allows advertisers to easily extend their reach across Meta's platforms, potentially impacting social media marketing strategies and revenue generation for the rapidly growing Threads platform.
Coinbase has established an advisory board of experts in quantum computing, cryptography, and blockchain to proactively address the potential threat that quantum computers pose to current encryption methods used to secure cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. This initiative reflects a forward-looking approach to safeguard digital assets against future technological advancements that could compromise existing security infrastructure.
Ethos Technologies, a life insurance software provider backed by prominent venture firms, is set to be one of the first tech IPOs of the year, potentially valued at $1.26 billion. The company's IPO marks a significant moment for the insurtech industry, offering a profitable business model with $278 million in revenue and $46.6 million in net income reported for the nine months ending September 30.
X has open-sourced its algorithm, aiming for greater transparency in content recommendation, though past releases faced criticism for incompleteness. The current release details how user engagement and network analysis influence feed generation, utilizing machine learning to analyze both in-network and out-of-network posts. This move occurs amidst ongoing scrutiny, including a transparency fine and controversies surrounding its Grok AI model, highlighting the challenges of balancing openness with accountability.
Anthropic's Claude Code, an AI coding assistant, faces competition from Goose, an open-source alternative developed by Block, due to Claude's subscription costs of up to $200 monthly. Goose offers similar coding, debugging, and deployment capabilities while running locally, providing developers with data control, offline functionality, and a rapidly evolving platform without subscription fees.
Multiple news sources confirm that Snap has settled a social media addiction lawsuit just before trial, where the plaintiff alleged the platform's design led to addiction and mental health issues, but the terms remain undisclosed. While Meta, TikTok, and Alphabet are still involved in the suit and expected to proceed to trial, this case and others like it challenge the legal protections social media companies have used regarding liability for content and platform design.
Ray Dalio warns of a looming monetary order breakdown driven by unsustainable debt levels, forcing a choice between inflationary money printing and a potential debt crisis. This situation, exacerbated by political paralysis, poses a significant risk to future generations and could trigger a sudden economic collapse, according to the Bridgewater Associates founder.
A correction has been issued for a *Nature* article on oestradiol's role in inhibiting ferroptosis and acute kidney injury, addressing errors introduced during typesetting. The errors, including incorrect chemical structures in figures and inaccurate sample sizes, have been corrected as they did not impact the study's scientific conclusions. Researchers and readers should refer to the updated version for accurate data representation.
Adobe Acrobat is integrating new AI features, enabling users to generate podcast summaries of files and create presentations from existing documents and notes using simple text prompts. This update allows for efficient content repurposing and leverages AI to streamline workflows, positioning Acrobat to compete with tools like Canva and NotebookLM in the AI-powered content creation space.
The FTC is appealing a court loss in its antitrust case against Meta, arguing that Meta's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were anticompetitive moves to eliminate emerging rivals. This appeal underscores the government's broader effort to curb the market dominance of major tech firms, following successful antitrust actions against Google and ongoing litigation against Amazon.
Anthropic's Claude Code, an AI coding assistant, faces competition from Goose, an open-source alternative developed by Block, due to its subscription costs reaching up to $200 monthly. Goose offers similar code generation and debugging capabilities, operating locally without fees or cloud dependency, giving developers greater control and privacy, which has driven significant community adoption.
Bolna, an India-focused voice orchestration platform, secured $6.3M in seed funding led by General Catalyst to capitalize on the growing demand for voice AI solutions in the Indian market. Bolna's platform enables businesses to efficiently implement voice AI for customer support, sales, and training, addressing a key need as voice becomes a dominant communication medium. This investment signals confidence in the revenue potential of voice AI in India, despite initial skepticism.
A correction has been issued for a Nature article published on January 14, 2026, concerning polyamine-dependent metabolic shielding's role in alternative splicing regulation. Specifically, Figure 1g contained incorrect labels ("24 h" instead of "SAT1, SMARCA1, and ACTB"), which has been rectified in the HTML and PDF versions, ensuring accurate representation of the research findings.
