Sources: Reddit, Politico, and others mull cutting Google's access to their content for AI as traffic drops; Reddit signed a $60M/year deal with Google in 2024
THE SO WHAT
Publishers reconsidering $60M+/year AI licensing deals as search traffic erodes shows the bargain is no longer just about cash—it’s about distribution control. If your product depends on third-party content, assume access terms will tighten and build for content scarcity, not abundance.
READ THE SOURCE
MORE FROM THE WIRE
Tech & InnovationUK defence tech has ‘high hopes’ for new finance minister John Healey
If UK defence tech gets a friendlier Treasury, expect more dual-use AI and autonomy startups to anchor in London rather than Delaware. Operators in adjacent sectors — cyber, space, sensing — should watch for procurement reforms that quietly expand their TAM.
Tech & InnovationMemo: the White House OSTP plans to redirect federal research funding from universities to individual scientists and AI use, reshaping ~$200B in annual spending
A ~$200 billion annual federal research reallocation toward individual PIs and AI-heavy work would rewrite the incentives for how labs are staffed, tooled, and partnered. If you sell into research or depend on academic collaboration, expect shorter grant cycles, more compute-heavy proposals, and a more fragmented set of decision-makers.
Tech & InnovationTrump nominates FCC general counsel Adam Candeub to lead the DOJ's antitrust unit; Candeub, a longtime Big Tech critic, has long sought to challenge Section 230
Putting a Section 230 skeptic in charge of DOJ antitrust would merge content liability debates with competition enforcement. Platform and marketplace operators should scenario-plan for remedies that hit both business model (immunity) and structure (breakup/behavioral rules) at the same time.
Tech & InnovationSocial Media Ban For Kids Approved in France in First For an EU Country
France’s underage social media ban is an early test of hard regulatory ceilings on engagement, not just nudges. Global platforms need to assume more jurisdictions will follow—and start designing age-gating, data minimization, and youth-specific product lines as core infrastructure, not bolt-ons.