Activity

Universal Music Corp., ABKCO Music Inc., Concord Music Group, and other music publishers sued Anthropic in federal court, alleging Claude reproduces copyrighted song lyrics without proper licensing. On December 30, 2024, Anthropic agreed to a partial injunction while continuing to fight the copyright infringement claims. The case is ongoing in the Northern District of California.

A data breach occurred December 26, 2024 but wasn't detected until May 11, 2025. Overseas support personnel were bribed to access internal systems and steal customer information including names, Social Security numbers, bank details, and transaction histories. The breach affected 69,461 customers. Coinbase recorded $355 million in costs across Q2-Q3 2025. TaskUs, which provided customer service personnel since 2017, laid off 226 staff in India connected to the breach.

More than 200,000 delivery workers across Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto, Amazon, Blinkit, and Flipkart struck on December 25, 2024 and December 31, 2025 (New Year's Eve). Workers demanded: (1) restoration of old payout system, (2) removal of 10-minute delivery model forcing unsafe speeds, (3) stopping ID deactivation without reason, (4) fixing algorithms that reduce incentives, and (5) social security including health insurance. Base pay as low as 5 rupees (10 cents) per order. Workers forced to complete 35-40 orders daily, working 16-hour days for 700 rupees ($7.70) after expenses. One delivery rider became accident victim every three days in Hyderabad; 17,000+ traffic violations recorded in single week as riders forced to run red lights. Strike caused 50-60% order delays on December 25. Union leader Shaik Salauddin: 'Delivery workers are being pushed to the breaking point by unsafe work models, falling incomes, and total absence of social protection.'

In December 2024, investigations revealed that PayPal's Honey browser extension (acquired for $4 billion in 2020) had been secretly re-attributing affiliate marketing sales by modifying affiliate links at checkout, crediting Honey even when no coupon was applied. The extension also collected extensive user data including full URLs visited, timestamps, and device IDs. Honey lost 3 million of 20 million users within two weeks. PayPal faces over 20 class-action lawsuits alleging wiretapping, unfair competition, and unjust enrichment.

BBC data analysis in December 2024 showed Palestinian news outlets saw 77% decline in engagement after October 7, 2023, while Israeli outlets saw 37% increase. Leaked internal documents revealed Instagram's algorithm was adjusted within a week of October 7th, lowering the moderation confidence threshold for Palestinian content from 80% to 25%, causing significantly more removals.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi personally donated $1 million to Trump's 2025 inauguration fund. This represents a dramatic reversal from 2017-2018 when he was a vocal Trump critic, opposing the travel ban, deleting the Uber app from his phone in solidarity with protesters, and publicly criticizing Trump on Twitter. Khosrowshahi is an Iranian immigrant.

Uber contributed $1 million to Trump's 2025 Presidential Inaugural Committee. This is notable as CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was a vocal Trump critic in 2017-2018, having opposed the travel ban and publicly criticized Trump on Twitter.

Masayoshi Son appeared at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence on December 16, 2024 to announce a $100 billion investment in the US over four years, promising 100,000 jobs focused on AI. Son stated 'My confidence level to the economy of the United States has tremendously increased with his victory.' This doubled his 2016 pledge of $50 billion after Trump's first election.

Amazon announced it was 'winding down outdated programs and materials' as part of a broader review of hundreds of DEI initiatives. VP of Inclusive Experiences Candi Castleberry stated the company would focus on 'programs with proven outcomes' rather than individual group programs. Amazon also streamlined its public policy webpage, consolidating separate sections for 'Equity for Black people,' 'Diversity, equity and inclusion,' and 'LGBTQ+ rights' into a single paragraph.

In December 2024, Amazon began winding down DEI programs under an internal memo from VP Candi Castleberry. By February 2025, Amazon removed all references to diversity and inclusion from its annual report and consolidated separate DEI policy sections on its website into a single paragraph, removing mentions of 'transgender.' Jassy characterized the cuts as part of cost-cutting efforts. This reversed years of investment in DEI initiatives including HBCU partnerships and representation targets.

Amnesty International documented Serbian authorities using Cellebrite tools alongside spyware to target journalists and activists. A student activist's phone was hacked using a Cellebrite zero-day exploit (CVE-2024-53104) affecting millions of Android devices. Cellebrite only suspended sales to Serbia's security services in February 2025 after the public Amnesty report—despite ongoing abuse documented since 2024.

An 18-month Senate HELP Committee investigation led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, reviewing 7 years of data and interviewing 130+ workers, found Amazon warehouse workers suffered 6.6 serious injuries per 100 workers — more than double the 3.2 rate at non-Amazon warehouses. Internal 'Project Soteria' studies found speed caused injuries, but Amazon chose not to implement recommendations to protect its bottom line. OSHA cited Amazon at multiple facilities for ergonomic hazards and inadequate medical care. Amazon settled with OSHA in December 2024 for $145,000 and agreed to corporate-wide ergonomic measures.

On December 16, 2024, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son appeared with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago to announce a $100 billion US investment pledge over Trump's term, promising 100,000 AI and infrastructure jobs. This doubled Son's 2016 pledge of $50 billion and 50,000 jobs made after Trump's first election - commitments where the money was eventually spent but it remains unclear whether the jobs were created. Analysts described this as 'SoftBank's version of an inaugural donation, in pursuit of a lighter regulatory touch for the firm and its portfolio companies' including its stake in TikTok parent ByteDance. SoftBank spent $2.68 million on US lobbying in 2024.

McKinsey agreed to pay $650 million to resolve federal criminal and civil investigations into its consulting work advising Purdue Pharma on strategies to turbocharge OxyContin sales between 2004-2019. The firm advised on targeting high-volume prescribers and communities already hard-hit by opioids, and recommended cash prizes to boost sales. This marked the first time a management consulting firm was held criminally responsible for advice resulting in client crime. McKinsey also paid $573M to 47 states in a separate 2021 settlement.

In December 2024, Sony disclosed that its audit of Kawaguchi Manufacturing, a Malaysian supplier of plastic components, found violations of Sony's supply chain code of conduct. The violations involved 251 Bangladeshi workers who were denied pay for seven months. Sony stated it implemented remedial measures in collaboration with the Responsible Business Alliance.

On December 12, 2024, Sundar Pichai and Google co-founder Sergey Brin dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. This marked 'a noteworthy departure from Google's approach to the first Trump administration' - in 2017, Pichai and Brin had joined protests against Trump's immigration policies. Pichai later attended Trump's inauguration in the front row.

Amazon donated $1 million to Trump's 2025 presidential inauguration fund. Additionally, Amazon provided an in-kind donation by streaming the inauguration ceremony on Prime Video, valued at approximately $1 million.

In November 2024, Zuckerberg met with Trump at a Mar-a-Lago dinner where he demonstrated Meta's Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and gifted a pair to Trump. In December 2024, Meta donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee. The dinner and donation preceded a series of policy shifts at Meta aligning with Trump administration preferences, including ending fact-checking and rolling back DEI programs. This marked a sharp political realignment for Zuckerberg, who had previously been more associated with Democratic causes.

Sweden's Financial Supervisory Authority fined Klarna $50 million for violations of anti-money laundering regulations between April 2021 and March 2022. The investigation found Klarna had not followed requirements on general risk assessment and procedures for due diligence measures.

Since Trump's November 2024 election, Marc Andreessen has been spending approximately half his time at Mar-a-Lago as an unpaid adviser, helping shape tech, business, and economic policy. He confirmed involvement in recruiting talent for Elon Musk's DOGE initiative and vetting administration candidates.

Meta announced it would donate $1 million to Donald Trump's 2025 presidential inauguration fund. The donation came as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sought to improve relations with the incoming administration after years of tension over content moderation decisions.

On December 10, 2024, General Motors announced it would stop funding Cruise's robotaxi development, citing the competitive market, capital allocation priorities, and resources required. GM had invested over $10 billion in Cruise since acquiring a controlling stake in 2016 for $581 million. About 1,000 positions (roughly half the workforce) were eliminated in February 2025. GM pivoted to personal vehicle autonomous driving features instead.

Dutch investigation by Nieuwsuur uncovered that ASML sold parts to a subsidiary of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), a state-owned company supplying technology to the Chinese military. Also sold a DUV lithography machine to Shenzhen International Quantum Academy, which conducts research with potential military uses. ASML said the equipment was 'old technology that can't be used to produce state-of-the-art chips.'

Thousands of child sexual abuse material victims filed lawsuit against Apple for dropping its announced CSAM detection plans. Plaintiffs argue Apple's reversal forces victims to repeatedly relive trauma as their images continue circulating on Apple platforms.

In December 2024, Apple announced plans to launch an online store in Saudi Arabia in summer 2025 and open flagship retail stores starting 2026, including an 'iconic' store in Diriyah. Apple disclosed spending over $2.66 billion with Saudi suppliers over five years. The expansion proceeds despite Saudi Arabia's documented record of censorship, surveillance, and human rights abuses.

In December 2024, India's Central Consumer Protection Authority fined Zepto ₹7 lakh for deploying dark patterns. The CCPA found Zepto's checkout-stage pricing caused consumers to pay more than MRP through hidden packaging charges. Zepto also added paid Zepto Pass membership to carts by default without explicit consent (basket sneaking) and used 'confirm shaming' by displaying 'No, I don't want to save' when users declined. CEO Aadit Palicha acknowledged the mistake publicly.

In December 2024, Trump announced David Sacks as his 'White House AI & Crypto Czar,' tasked with developing a legal framework for cryptocurrency and shaping AI policy. The appointment raised conflict of interest concerns given Sacks' extensive investments in AI and crypto companies through Craft Ventures.

In December 2024, President Trump appointed Craft Ventures co-founder David Sacks as White House AI and Crypto Czar as a special government employee, allowing him to continue working at Craft Ventures. A November 2025 NYT investigation found Sacks held 449 AI company investments that could benefit from his policy decisions. Ethics experts called his broad waivers 'sham ethics waivers' lacking rigorous analysis. Craft Ventures invested in BitGo, a crypto company that benefited from the GENIUS Act stablecoin regulation Sacks backed. He also played a role in removing Nvidia chip export restrictions while having grown close to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Senator Elizabeth Warren launched an ethics investigation in September 2025.

In December 2024, Anduril announced a partnership with OpenAI to develop military artificial intelligence systems for the US Pentagon, focused on defending against weaponized drone attacks. OpenAI will provide GPT-4o and o1 models integrated with Anduril's Lattice defense software platform. The partnership raised ethical concerns among OpenAI employees about AI technology being applied to military use. This marked a significant step in the militarization of frontier AI models.

In December 2024, over 140 content moderators working for Meta through contractor Samasource Kenya were diagnosed with severe PTSD by Dr. Ian Kanyanya at Kenyatta National Hospital. Moderators reported reviewing extreme content including child sexual abuse, torture, murder, and bestiality with only ~1 minute per piece, under close monitoring with threat of termination. Workers reported self-harm, vomiting, and severe psychological symptoms. Meta outsources content moderation to contractors in developing countries including Kenya and Ghana. A second wave of lawsuits emerged from Ghana moderators in April 2025.