WSJ Tech News Briefing

More than half of Americans are on TikTok. But for the first time in the app’s history, its user growth is stagnating—just as TikTok finds itself mired in battles with U.S. lawmakers and the world’s biggest music company. Stalling growth could be bad news for the company, which relies on advertising for its revenue. WSJ technology reporter Meghan Bobrowsky tells host Alex Ossola what this means for TikTok’s business. Listening on Google Podcasts? Here's our guide for switching to a different podcast player. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus: EV maker Fisker pauses production for six weeks. And Don Lemon releases his interview with Elon Musk. Alex Ossola hosts.  Listening on Google Podcasts? Here's our guide for switching to a different podcast player. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta may be in legal hot water again. U.S. prosecutors in Virginia have been serving subpoenas and asking questions in a criminal grand jury probe. The probe is looking into whether Meta’s social media platforms are facilitating and profiting from the illicit sale of drugs, according to documents and people familiar with the matter. WSJ reporter Salvador Rodriguez tells host Alex Ossola what might result from the probe, and what it could mean for Meta and its users.  Listening on Google Podcasts? Here's our guide for switching to a different podcast player. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus: Apple pays nearly $500 million to settle a lawsuit with investors. And India cuts import tariffs in an effort to woo Tesla. Alex Ossola hosts.  Listening on Google Podcasts? Here's our guide for switching to a different podcast player. WSJ.com/tech/Google-Podcasts  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many conditions, such as sickle cell and heart disease, are caused by genetic mutations. Over the past few years, scientists have learned how to treat some of those conditions by introducing cells that have been edited with bioengineering tools like CRISPR. But in the future, doctors could treat those conditions by editing patients’ cells while they’re still in their bodies—an approach called in vivo gene editing. Cordilia James spoke with WSJ senior writer Betsy McKay about how the approach works and its potential risks. Alex Ossola hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus: Meta plans to shut down a longstanding data tool. And SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft completed its longest test flight yet. Alex Ossola hosts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sora, OpenAI’s new text-to-video artificial intelligence model, can create highly realistic, detailed scenes. When its AI-generated video clips hit social media last month, people were blown away by the quality, though OpenAI won’t publicly release Sora until later this year. In an exclusive conversation, WSJ senior personal tech columnist Joanna Stern sat down with OpenAI’s CTO Mira Murati to better understand how Sora works, and how it might change in the future. You can watch Joanna’s full video here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus: European lawmakers pass sweeping rules for artificial intelligence. And Don Lemon says Elon Musk canceled Lemon’s show on X. Alex Ossola hosts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amid an unstable economy, many Nigerians have turned to cryptocurrency. The country has the second-highest adoption of crypto in the world, after India, according to data provider Chainalysis. Now, in Nigeria’s current financial crisis—the inflation rate for its local currency, the naira, hit 30% in January—the government is blaming Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange. WSJ reporter Caitlin Ostroff tells host Alex Ossola about the situation, and what it could mean for the future of crypto in the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus: OpenAI says Elon Musk’s claims are “often incoherent” in a legal filing. And Tesla and Ford receive “poor” grades in a study of their driver-assist technology. Alex Ossola hosts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in 2017, Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, was critical of cryptocurrency. Now, just seven years later, the former skeptic is helping to take bitcoin mainstream as BlackRock rakes in billions of dollars selling bitcoin in a low-cost ETF. WSJ reporter Vicky Ge Huang tells host Alex Ossola about what BlackRock’s reversal means for the company, investors and crypto writ large.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus: Reddit seeks up to $6.4 billion valuation in its upcoming IPO. And a group of authors is suing Nvidia for copyright infringement in AI training data. Danny Lewis hosts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A House committee voted unanimously last week to pass a bill that would require TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to either sell the app to an American owner or effectively face a ban in the U.S. President Biden has also backed the effort, and said he would sign the bill into law, accelerating the latest push to block the app’s Chinese owners from accessing U.S. users’ data. The House could vote on the legislation as soon as this week. WSJ reporter Stu Woo tells host Cordilia James what that could mean for TikTok and why it’s the most serious attempt to separate the app from its Chinese owner yet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plus: Sam Altman’s Worldcoin appeals ban in Spain. And Microsoft says Russian state-sponsored hackers are using stolen information to access internal systems. Danny Lewis hosts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2022, the Chinese government issued a top secret directive called Document 79 that expanded the drive to push U.S. tech out of the country's state-owned companies. Some have referred to the effort as "Delete A" for "Delete America." WSJ China tech editor Liza Lin tells host Cordilia James what’s behind Beijing's push to sever the country’s relationship with American technology, and what it means for tech companies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices