WSJ Tech News Briefing

Plus, the SEC agrees to drop a lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase. And BE Semiconductor Industries Q4 results miss expectations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and billionaire Elon Musk were once friends and partners. Now they’re the major players in one of the meanest and highest-stakes fights in recent business history. WSJ reporter Berber Jin tells the inside story of their bromance to brawl and what it all means for the future of artificial intelligence. Charlotte Gartenberg hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus, Alibaba Group beats analyst expectations with fastest revenue growth since 2023. And Lenovo plans to leverage DeepSeek breakthrough to fuel PC sales. Charlotte Gartenberg hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has deep-space ambitions, but the company’s Starship vehicle exploded on a recent test flight. WSJ reporter Micah Maidenberg tells us what’s next for the company as the Federal Aviation Administration grounds its next test flight until SpaceX completes an investigation and receives regulatory clearance. Plus, social media creators are suing over browser extensions designed to find discounts for online shoppers at checkout. Charlotte Gartenberg hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus, electric vehicle maker Nikola files for bankruptcy. And Alphabet tells U.K. regulator that its pre-installs on Android devices are good for competition. Charlotte Gartenberg hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As U.S.-China tensions heat up, Western tech companies are migrating their supply chains away from China. Producer Julie Chang talks with China tech reporter and editor Liza Lin about what that means for everything from artificial intelligence servers to consumer electronics. Plus, why Meta’s AI-powered Ray-Ban glasses are gaining traction with visually impaired users. Charlotte Gartenberg hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus, Chinese internet company Baidu reports lower revenue but doubles its profit. And truck maker Scania agrees to buy Northvolt’s heavy industry business. Charlotte Gartenberg hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are miles and miles of undersea pipelines and cables running atop the ocean floor that are used to carry fuel and transmit data. WSJ contributor William Boston tells host Julie Chang about one company using artificial intelligence to protect this critical infrastructure. Plus, columnists Tim Higgins and Christopher Mims tell us what they learned from talking with Bilt CEO Ankur Jain for the latest season of WSJ’s Bold Names podcast. You can listen to the first episode here. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus, shares of sports-betting platform DraftKings hit a three-year high. And, Chinese e-commerce companies like Shein and Temu try to bypass Trump to keep selling to Americans. Julie Chang hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been roughly four weeks since Elon Musk took the helm of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which was tasked with slashing government spending. And a lot has happened since. WSJ columnist Tim Higgins joins host Julie Chang to discuss the latest as part of our series looking at Musk’s first 100 Days in the Trump White House. Plus, a look at Amazon’s push to bring employees back to the office five days a week. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus, publishers sue AI startup Cohere for copyright and trademark infringement. And, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin plans to lay off 10% of its workforce. Julie Chang hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chinese AI app DeepSeek is more vulnerable to jailbreaks compared to other AIs, making it more likely to offer potentially dangerous information. WSJ reporter Sam Schechner joins host Julie Chang with more on what he found when The Wall Street Journal and AI safety experts tested the chatbot. Plus, OpenAI has released its newest reasoning model. We hear from its VP of engineering on what a reasoning model can do and how companies are using its artificial intelligence agents. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus, SoftBank reports a quarterly loss. And Baidu is in talks to operate robotaxis in U.A.E. Julie Chang hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk is leading a group of investors in a $97.4 billion dollar bid to buy OpenAI’s assets. WSJ reporter Berber Jin tells host Julie Chang what that could mean for the ChatGPT-maker as it looks to transform to a for-profit company, and why it puts pressure on its CEO Sam Altman. Plus, the U.S. Department of Defense’s former chief digital and AI officer talks about what DeepSeek and DOGE could mean for the future of war. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus, the EU plans to spend about $206 billion to catch up with the U.S. and China in the AI race. And, BuzzFeed says it’s designing an AI-driven social-media platform. Julie Chang hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s next for TikTok? WSJ deputy media editor Jessica Toonkel joins host Julie Chang with the latest in the negotiations over the social-media app’s fate in the U.S. and what role President Trump is taking in the dealmaking. Plus, the pros and cons of using Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 as hearing aids. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus, Intel’s AI chief steps down. And European startups Helsing and Mistral join forces to develop AI systems for military use. Julie Chang hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Phishing scams are growing increasingly sophisticated, and IT departments seeking to help people outfox them are throwing sensational test traps at their employees and students. But as WSJ reporter Robert McMillan says, some of those who fall for them say the tests have gone too far (“free football tickets, anyone?”). Plus, AI reporter Belle Lin on how big tech wants to solve AI’s hallucinations using hard math. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus, the president backs Vice President JD Vance in calling to rehire a DOGE staffer who resigned over racist posts on the social-media site X. And Amazon plans a massive capex investment on generative AI. Pierre Bienaimé hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wall Street Journal senior personal tech columnist Joanna Stern is basically a pro when it comes to getting the most out of artificial intelligence—whether for organizing a list of contacts, doing research for a book or even ordering flowers online. She tells host Pierre Bienaimé which chatbot excels at what tasks, and whether there’s a clear winner among them. And WSJ contributor Heidi Mitchell recounts her experience with a different kind of AI platform: Future You introduces users to virtual versions of their older selves, for a chance at reflection in the present. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices