The U.S. government has extended the deadline for TikTok’s potential ban for a fourth time. The new date for ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations is now January 23, 2026. This follows a reported $14 billion sale plan involving Oracle, but major obstacles remain.
In a move to counter a legal challenge, X has updated its Terms of Service to explicitly state it still owns the Twitter trademark. This comes days after a startup petitioned the USPTO to cancel the mark, claiming abandonment.
Apple is already planning its 2026 fitness kickoff with a new Apple Watch challenge. The “Ring in the New Year” award requires users to close all three Activity rings for seven consecutive days. The challenge window runs from January 7 through January 31.
OpenAI is bringing former UK Chancellor George Osborne on board to head its international “OpenAI for Countries” initiative. This is part of the massive $500bn “Stargate” project to build AI data centers. The move follows rival Anthropic’s hiring of another ex-UK PM, Rishi Sunak.
Apple has pushed out a new firmware update for the Powerbeats Pro 2 wireless earbuds. The update, version 8A359, replaces the previous 8A353 firmware from September.
A new report alleges Meta generated about $3 billion in 2024 from Chinese ads tied to scams and illegal activity. Internal documents show the company prioritized this revenue over enforcement, treating potential fines as a cost of doing business.
Unitree has launched what it calls the world’s first app store for a humanoid robot. The store, currently in beta, offers a few entertainment apps for its $13,500 G1 robot. It’s a clear play to attract developers for a future where robots could do real work.
Apple has seeded the first beta of macOS Tahoe 26.3 to developers just three days after the public launch of version 26.2. The update’s contents are currently unknown, with a public beta expected later this week.
Luminar Technologies is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and selling its chip subsidiary, Luminar Semiconductor, to Quantum Computing Inc. for $110 million. This comes after the loss of its largest client, Volvo, and a quarterly net loss exceeding $189 million.
Ford is pivoting hard into the energy storage game, targeting data centers as a key customer. The automaker plans to invest $2 billion and start shipping systems from retooled plants in 2027. It’s a direct response to slowing EV sales and booming data center power demand.
