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President-elect Donald Trump this week said Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added that the move would shock government systems. It’s not clear how the organization will operate. It could come under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which dictates how external groups that advise the government must operate…

After a tumultuous year filled with anxiety and a legal battle about its future in the U.S., TikTok may have just been thrown a lifeline by the man who was once its biggest foe: Donald Trump. President-elect Trump, who tried to ban the social media platform the last time he was in the White House, has repeatedly pledged during his most recent campaign to oppose a ban on the short-form video app, which could happen as soon as mid-January if the company loses a court case that’s currently underway in Washington. For months, TikTok, and its China-based parent company ByteDance, have been embroiled in a legal battle with the U.S. over a federal law that forces them to cut ties for national security reasons or stop operating in one of…

As money continues to pour into crypto following Donald Trump’s victory last week, bitcoin has climbed to yet another record high. The world’s largest cryptocurrency topped $93,000 for the first time on Wednesday. As of around 11:30 a.m. ET, bitcoin’s price stood at $93,376, per CoinDesk, up over 30% in the last week alone. That’s part of a rally across cryptocurrencies and crypto-related investments since Trump won the U.S. presidential election last week. Analysts credit much of the recent gains to an anticipated “crypto-friendly” nature of the incoming administration, which could translate into more regulatory clarity but also leeway. Still, as with everything in the volatile cryptoverse, the future is hard to predict. And while some are bullish, others continue to warn of investment risks. Here’s what you need to…

The first “Saturday Night Live” since Donald Trump’s election victory began with the most somber of tones as a group of plainly dressed cast members, primarily women and minorities, described their new reality. “To many people, including many people watching right now, the results were shocking and even horrifying,” Ego Nwodim soberly said. “Donald Trump, who forcibly tried to overturn the results of the last election, was returned to office,” Heidi Gardner said. “And now,” Bowen Yang added, “thanks to the Supreme Court, there are no guardrails.” Then came the swerve from the liberal-leaning show. “That is why we at ‘SNL’ would like to say to Donald Trump, we have been with you all along,” Keenan Thompson said. Yang chimed in, “We have never wavered in our support for you,…

It’s no surprise that students are pushing back on cellphone bans in classrooms. But school administrators in one South Florida county working to pull students’ eyes away from their screens are facing some resistance from another group as well – parents. Since the beginning of the 2024 school year in August, students in Broward County Public Schools, the country’s sixth largest district, have been barred from using cellphones during the school day, including during lunch and breaks, unless given special permission. The schools are some of the many across the country wrestling with how to crack down on cellphones, at a time when experts say social media use among young people is nearly universal – and that screen time is linked to higher rates of anxiety and depression among kids.…

The Vatican and Microsoft this week unveiled a digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica that uses artificial intelligence to explore one of the world’s most important monument’s while helping the Holy See manage visitor flows and identify conservation problems. Using 400,000 high-resolution digital photographs, taken with drones, cameras and lasers over four weeks when no one was in the basilica, the digital replica is going online alongside two new on-site exhibits to provide visitors -- real and virtual -- with an interactive experience. “It is literally one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated projects of its kind that has ever been pursued,” Microsoft’s president Brad Smith told a Vatican press conference. The project has been launched ahead of the Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee, a holy year in which more than…

The new Mac mini with the M4 and M4 Pro chips offers unparalleled computing power in a sleek, tiny frame of just five by five inches. It’s a boon for small businesses, creatives, and students alike. It’s Apple’s first carbon-neutral Mac and can easily handle the demands of the most intensive workflows and power the very best of Apple Intelligence. A MINIATURE MARVEL The new Mac mini’s drastic size reduction showcases Apple’s engineering prowess. This iteration is smaller than previous models and boasts remarkable energy efficiency, thanks to the all-new M4 and M4 Pro chips. Compared to the M1 model, the M4 offers up to 1.8x faster CPU performance and 2.2x faster GPU performance. The M4 Pro, on the other hand, delivers double the performance of the M4, scaling up…

Waymo this week opened its robotaxi service to anyone who wants a ride around Los Angeles, marking another milestone in the evolution of self-driving car technology since the company began as a secret project at Google 15 years ago. The expansion comes eight months after Waymo began offering rides in Los Angeles to a limited group of passengers chosen from a waiting list that had ballooned to more than 300,000 people. Now, anyone with the Waymo One smartphone app will be able to request a ride around an 80-square-mile (129-square-kilometer) territory spanning the second largest U.S. city. After Waymo received approval from California regulators to charge for rides 15 months ago, the company initially chose to launch its operations in San Francisco before offering a limited service in Los Angeles.…

For the late James Bond producer Albert “Cuddy” Broccoli, receiving the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award was a true high point in his career. He said as much accepting the prize, a non-competitive honorary Oscar, at the Academy Awards in 1982. Roger Moore presented it to him that night while his family in the audience looked on, including his daughter, Barbara Broccoli, who was reduced to a puddle of tears, and her brother, Michael G. Wilson. “He always treasured it,” Barbara Broccoli said in a recent interview. “It was the most important physical possession he had.” The award, then a bust of the inimitable “boy wonder” producer of Hollywood’s early years, sat on his mantlepiece for many years. Now, Broccoli, 64, and Wilson, 82, are following in “Cubby’s” footsteps as…

Facebook and Instagram users in Europe will get the option to see less personalized ads if they don’t want to pay for an ad-free subscription, social media company Meta said Tuesday, bowing to pressure from Brussels over privacy and digital competition concerns. Meta Platforms has been offering European Union an ad-free subscription option for about a year to comply with the continent’s strict data privacy rules, but regulators had accused the company of giving people a false choice. The company said in a blog post that while people will still be able to choose between the subscription and existing free versions, it would also start giving free users an extra option over the coming weeks to see digital ads that are less personalized. This means ads will be targeted at…

Stellantis is recalling about 207,000 Jeep and Dodge SUVs in the U.S. to fix a computer problem that can disable the anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control safety features. The recall covers certain 2018 and 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs. Stellantis says in government recall documents posted on Wednesday that the SUVs may have a brake control computer that falsely reads brake pressure. The computer can disable the safety features, illuminate the brake lights and let a driver shift out of park without putting a foot on the brake pedal. That can cause unintended movement. The documents say the company is still developing a repair. Owners will be notified by letter. People with questions can call Stellantis customer service at (800) 853-1403. The same models were recalled…

Amazon has launched a low-cost online storefront featuring electronics, apparel and other products priced at under $20, an effort to compete with discount retailers that have increasingly encroached on the e-commerce giant’s turf. In a blog post this week, the company said the new Amazon Haul storefront will mostly feature products that cost less than $10 and offer free delivery on orders over $25. Amazon plans to ship the products to U.S. customers from a warehouse it operates in China, according to documentation the company provided to sellers. Amazon said Haul orders could arrive within one to two weeks. Many of the available products on the storefront resembled the types of items typically found on Shein and Temu, the China-founded e-commerce platforms that have grown in popularity in recent years.…

The U.S. government’s highway safety agency says Tesla is telling drivers in public statements that its vehicles can drive themselves, conflicting with owners manuals and briefings with the agency saying the electric vehicles need human supervision. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is asking the company to “revisit its communications” to make sure messages are consistent with user instructions. The request came in a May email to the company from Gregory Magno, a division chief with the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation. It was attached to a letter seeking information on a probe into crashes involving Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system in low-visibility conditions. The letter was posted on the agency’s website. The agency began the investigation in October after getting reports of four crashes involving “Full Self-Driving” when Teslas encountered…

Australia’s states and territories unanimously backed a national plan to require most forms of social media to bar children younger than 16. Leaders of the eight provinces held a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss what he calls a world-first national approach that would make platforms including X, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook responsible for enforcing the age limit. “Social media is doing social harm to our young Australians,” Albanese told reporters. “The safety and mental health of our young people has to be a priority.” The government leaders had been discussing for months setting a limit, considering options from 14 to 16 years of age. While Tasmania would have preferred 14, the state was prepared to support 16 in the interests of achieving national uniformity, Albanese said.…