- Lawmakers questioned TikTok's chief executive Shou Zi Chew about the platform's ties to China in a roughly five-hour hearing on Thursday.
- China's commerce ministry on Thursday said it would oppose efforts by the United States to force a sale of TikTok, in a public rebuke of the Biden administration that leaves the app's Chinese ownership stuck between orders from governments of the world's two largest economies.
- Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox signed a sweeping social media bill on Thursday afternoon that could dramatically limit youth access to apps like TikTok and Instagram, potentially upending how many minors in the state use the internet.
- The cryptocurrency entrepreneur Do Kwon was charged with fraud by federal prosecutors in New York on Thursday, hours after the authorities in Montenegro arrested him as he prepared to board a flight.
- Character.AI, a 16-month-old start-up that builds online chatbots, said on Thursday that it had raised $150 million in a recent funding round that valued the company at $1 billion.
- Hindenburg Research published a 17,600-word report on Thursday accusing Block Inc of overstating its user base and failing to stamp out fraud and illegal activity on its platforms — particularly Cash App, its mobile payment service. (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)
