Wired:
Apple removes two of the most popular gay dating apps, Blued and Finka, from its App Store in China, citing orders from the country's Cyberspace Administration  —  The removal of Blued and Finka marks another setback for China's marginalized LGBTQ+ community.

Ellen O'Regan / Politico:
Draft documents show the European Commission plans to relax some privacy laws, including the GDPR, to boost AI growth and cut red tape for businesses in Europe  —  Draft proposals obtained by POLITICO show EU is breaking sacred privacy regime to placate industry.

Zeyi Yang / Wired:
EchoTik: TikTok Shop sold an estimated $19B worth of products globally in Q3, nearing eBay's $20.1B, with US sales accounting for $4B to $4.5B, up 125% QoQ  —  TikTok's ecommerce arm has kept growing steadily, despite tariffs and never-ending debates over whether the platform should be banned.

Fast Company:
Financial stress from AI infrastructure spending, overhiring, and recession fears, rather than AI adoption, is likely driving layoffs in the tech sector  —  Big spending on artificial intelligence puts pressure on jobs, as gloomy narratives about the future of work are ironically making new graduates less employable.

Wall Street Journal:
Selloff in bitcoin and ether is tanking shares of crypto‑treasury companies like Strategy and BitMine; Strategy's valuation is down from ~$128B in July to ~$70B  —  Selloff in bitcoin and other digital tokens hits crypto-treasury companies  —  The hottest crypto trade has turned cold.