Senate Approves Legislation Supported by Cryptocurrency Industry

The Senate passed legislation to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins, putting the cryptocurrency industry, which had long been viewed with suspicion by lawmakers in Washington, on the brink of a major policy breakthrough. Bipartisan approval of the bill, known as the GENIUS Act, followed an aggressive lobbying campaign aimed at transforming the cryptocurrency industry’s image from scandal-plagued experiment to legitimate financial sector.

DOJ Seizes $225.3 Million in Cryptocurrency in Pig-Butchering Scam

The Department of Justice announced the largest-ever seizure of cryptocurrency funds linked to so-called pig-butchering scams. The U.S. attorney’s office filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the District Court for the District of Columbia to seize more than $225.3 million in cryptocurrency that federal prosecutors say was part of a sophisticated blockchain-based money laundering network meant to conceal the source of funds obtained through illegal scams.

Iran Accuses WhatsApp of Sending Users' Information to Israel

Iranian state television urged people to remove WhatsApp from their smartphones, alleging without specific evidence that the messaging app gathered user information to send to Israel. In a statement, WhatsApp said it was “concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most.”

Israeli-Linked Hackers Claim Responsibility for Cyberattack on Iran Bank

Iran’s semi-official Fars news reports that customers are experiencing issues with Bank Sepah due to a cyberattack, after a group of hackers linked to Israel claimed to have broken into the institution and interrupted its operations. The report from Fars says the problems with Sepah may ripple to gas stations that rely on the bank to process transactions.

Microsoft Vows to Store European Users' Data in Europe

Microsoft said data stored by its European cloud customers would stay in Europe, under European Law, with operations controlled by its local personnel, and under full control of customers. European companies and governments have been increasingly worrying about their data being moved outside the continent into the hands of other countries such as the U.S., pushing the American companies such as Microsoft to announce safeguards.

Washington Post Resets Accounts After Cyber Attack on Journalists

The Washington Post is investigating a cyber attack on the email accounts of some journalists, prompting the newspaper to beef up its online security. The company carried out a forced reset of login credentials for all staff, according to a memo sent by Executive Editor Matt Murray to affected employees, which said the attack affected a limited number of email accounts of journalists and a forensic team had been brought in to investigate.

Brazil's Supreme Court Holds Platforms Responsible for Third-Party Content

Brazil's Supreme Court formed a majority to hold social media companies accountable for some types of content published by users on their platforms in the country. Six of the 11 judges from the Supreme Court voted to hold platforms responsible for third-party content seen as illegal, in a decision that could facilitate potential fines against social media companies for not removing some users' posts in the country.

Disney, Universal Sue Midjourney for Copyright Infringement

Disney and Universal sued a prominent artificial intelligence start-up for copyright infringement, bringing Hollywood belatedly into the increasingly intense battle over generative A.I. The movie companies sued Midjourney, an A.I. image generator that has tens of millions of registered users, contending that Midjourney “helped itself to countless” copyrighted works to train its software, which allows people to create images (and soon videos) that “blatantly incorporate and copy Disney’s and Universal’s famous characters.”

OpenAI Fights Court Order Requiring Preservation of ChatGPT Logs

OpenAI is now fighting a court order to preserve all ChatGPT user logs — including deleted chats and sensitive chats logged through its API business offering — after news organizations suing over copyright claims accused the AI company of destroying evidence. "Before OpenAI had an opportunity to respond to those unfounded accusations, the court ordered OpenAI to 'preserve and segregate all output log data that would otherwise be deleted on a going forward basis until further order of the Court (in essence, the output log data that OpenAI has been destroying)," OpenAI explained in a court filing demanding oral arguments in a bid to block the controversial order.

Judge Refuses to Pause Order Opening Apple App Store to Competition

Apple has failed to persuade a U.S. appeals court to pause key parts of a federal judge's order requiring the iPhone maker to immediately open its lucrative App Store to more competition. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Apple's request to put the provisions on hold as the tech giant appeals the judge's order, which came in a long-running antitrust lawsuit brought by “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.

Reddit Sues Anthropic for Using Data Without Licensing Agreement

Reddit is suing AI startup Anthropic for using the online discussion site’s data without a licensing agreement, a new front in the battle over how artificial-intelligence companies train their models. Reddit said the AI company unlawfully used Reddit’s data for commercial purposes without paying for it and without abiding by the company’s user data policy, according to the complaint, which was filed in California.

Departures at Cybersecurity Agency Raise Concerns About Threats

Roughly 1,000 people have already left the nation's top cybersecurity agency during the second Trump administration, a former government official tells Axios — cutting the agency's total workforce by nearly a third. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is also facing a potential 17% budget cut under the president's proposed budget — raising fears that power grids, water utilities, and election systems could be left without a well-equipped federal partner as cyber threats mount.

Bipartisan State Lawmakers Asks Congress to Ban Local AI Regulations

As the Senate takes up President Donald Trump’s massive tax and immigration bill, state lawmakers from both parties are calling on Congress to remove a provision that would place a 10-year moratorium on state-level AI regulations. The letter bears the signatures of 260 lawmakers — half of them Republicans, almost half Democrats and one independent — from all 50 states.

Alphabet Agrees to Spend $500 Million to Settle Antitrust Suit

Alphabet Inc. has agreed to spend $500 million to improve its global regulatory compliance structure as a proposed resolution to a shareholder suit stemming from U.S. antitrust allegations, according to a federal court filing. The “comprehensive” reforms at Google LLC and its parent company won’t be limited to the antitrust arena and could “set a benchmark for other major American corporations,” shareholders who sued company leaders said.

Pornhub Owner Plans to Stop Adult Content in France, Protesting Law

The owner of Pornhub, Redtube and YouPorn plans to stop serving adult content to French users as soon as Wednesday afternoon, in protest of government measures forcing it to verify the age of its visitors. Aylo Freesites' platforms will display a message that will explain its decision to its French audience, including that it doesn't want to jeopardize the privacy of its users, company officials told reporters.

U.S. Sanctions Funnull, Says Company Linked to Crypto Scams

The U.S. government imposed sanctions on Funnull, a company accused of providing infrastructure for cybercriminals running “pig butchering” crypto scams that have led to $200 million in losses for American victims. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the sanctions, saying Funnull is “linked to the majority of virtual currency investment scam websites reported to the FBI.”

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