Tech News - February 19, 2025: Microsoft Quantum Processor, Apple iPhone 16e

Microsoft unveils the Majorana 1, its first quantum processor that uses Majorana particles instead of electrons, with the potential to fit a million qubits.

Microsoft has spent 17 years researching a new material and architecture for quantum computing.

Microsoft says it has harnessed a new state of matter using particles called Majorana fermions, a significant breakthrough to create workable topological qubits.

US tech giant says it has harnessed a new state of matter to create the basic building blocks of a quantum machine.

Q&A with Satya Nadella on Microsoft's AGI plan, the quantum breakthrough with Majorana 1, how Muse will change gaming, AI's legal barriers, AI safety, and more.

AGI is not the real benchmark: 10% economic growth is.

Apple unveils the $599+ iPhone 16e with a 6.1" display, A18, 48MP camera, Apple Intelligence, the C1 cellular modem, USB-C, and no MagSafe, shipping February 28.

Apple has officially taken the wraps off of the all-new iPhone 16e. The device features an all-new design paired with the A18 chip inside.

Apple unveils its first in-house cellular modem, the C1, with 5G support, to replace Qualcomm modems, saying it's the most power-efficient iPhone modem ever.

After years of development, Apple has unveiled what it calls C1, its first-ever in-house cellular modem.

Apple discontinues the iPhone SE, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Plus; the iPhone 16e starts at $599, significantly higher than the iPhone SE's $429 starting price.

Apple now only sells iPhone models with big screens, in 6.1-inch, 6.3-inch, 6.7-inch, and 6.9-inch sizes, after discontinuing the 4.7-inch iPhone SE.

Microsoft announces Muse AI, a first-of-its-kind generative AI model that can generate a game environment based on visuals, players' controller actions, or both.

Microsoft Research and Xbox game studio Ninja Theory have partnered to create a new AI model for gaming.

Google is removing Gemini support from the main Google app on iOS, pushing users to download the standalone Gemini app, which it launched in November 2024.

Google is bringing Circle to Search-like visual searches to its Chrome and Google iOS apps, without the Circle to Search branding, as a Google Lens feature.

Valve releases a Team Fortress 2 SDK with the game's client and server code, letting users build new Team Fortress 2-based games licensed for non-commercial use.

Valve has also released major updates to all Source-engine multiplayer games adding 64-bit support, scalable HUDS, “and a lot of other improvements.”

Trump Media and Rumble sue a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, alleging he tried to illegally suppress the US social media activity of conservative Brazilians.

Perplexity open sources R1 1776, a version of the DeepSeek R1 model that Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas says was “post-trained to remove the China censorship”.

But shortly after its release, attention turned to how compliant the model was with Chinese censorship laws.

Signal updates its app with phishing protections after Google says Russia-linked hackers are duping Ukrainian soldiers via malicious QR codes for group invites.

Google warns that hackers tied to Russia are tricking Ukrainian soldiers with fake QR codes for Signal group invites that let spies steal their messages.

Sources: NIST plans to cut 497 people, including 74 postdocs and most staff at its Chips for America program; the AI Safety Institute faces an uncertain future.

The cuts come at a time when the U.S. is looking to lead in AI development and stave off competition from China.

Twitch rolls out changes to its violation enforcement system, including letting minor infractions expire after 90 days and serious ones in one or two years.

Depending on severity, this will take 90 days to two years.

Filings: US Army soldier Cameron John Wagenius pleads guilty to hacking AT&T and Verizon and stealing a massive trove of phone records from the telcos in 2024.

Cameron John Wagenius pleaded guilty to hacking AT&T and Verizon and stealing a massive trove of phone records from the companies.

Sources: Chinese game publisher NetEase has been directed to divest its overseas holdings, starting with hit game Marvel Rivals, which laid off its Seattle team.

Chinese game publisher NetEase raised fears with recent moves that it is unloading as much as all of its overseas holdings.

Lambda, which offers cloud services and computers to train AI, raised a $480M Series D, sources say at a $2.5B post-money valuation, taking its funding to $863M.

Instagram updates direct messages with translation across 99 languages, scheduling and pinning tools, music-sharing features, and more, on iOS and Android first.

Instagram is upgrading its direct messages, also known as DMs, with a handful of new features that make its messaging system.

Sources: top X executives hinted to Interpublic and other ad firms that not spending on X could lead to legal woes, due to X's lawsuit against some advertisers.

Interpublic recently signed an advertising agreement with the platform; other agencies are also in negotiations.

Twitch rolls out changes to its violation enforcement system, including letting minor infractions expire after 90 days and serious ones in one or two years

Depending on severity, this will take 90 days to two years - Twitch has rolled out a number of changes to its violation enforcement system.