AP Technology SummaryBrief at 12:06 a.m. EST

Apple's iPhone sales during the holiday season slipped despite a highly anticipated AI rollout

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple on Thursday disclosed its iPhone sales dipped slightly during the holiday-season quarter, signaling a sluggish start to the trendsetting company’s effort to catch up to the rest of Big Tech in the race to bring artificial intelligence to the masses. The iPhone’s roughly 1% drop in revenue from the previous year’s October-December period wasn’t entirely unexpected, given the first software update enabling the device’s AI features didn’t arrive until just before Halloween, and the technology still isn’t available in many markets outside the U.S. Despite the iPhone's weakening sales, Apple's stock price climbed in extended trading after Apple CEO Tim Cook made a series of encouraging remarks about the future.

Meta agrees to pay $25 million to settle lawsuit from Trump after Jan. 6 suspension

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against the company after it suspended his accounts following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. That's according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the settlement. It’s the latest instance of a large corporation settling litigation with the president, who has threatened retribution on his critics and rivals. And it comes as Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have joined other large technology companies in trying to ingratiate themselves with the new administration. Two people said that terms of the agreement include $22 million going to Trump’s future presidential library.

Texas governor orders ban on DeepSeek, RedNote for government devices

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas ordered a ban on the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek on government devices days after the popular chatbot has shook investors and the tech community in recent weeks for its ability to compete with OpenAI. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott also issued a ban on Chinese-owned social media apps RedNote and Lemon8, a subsidiary of ByteDance. Both platforms had gained traction leading up to the short-lived TikTok shutdown on Jan. 19 as U.S. users sought a replacement for video sharing content.

NFL officials spotting the football isn't going away despite several technological advances

The NFL will engage its Competition Committee on technology to take virtual line-to-gain measurements next season, but officials will continue to spot the football. There’s no current technology being considered that would help determine forward progress, which became a point of contention after Josh Allen was stopped short on a sneak early in the fourth quarter of Buffalo’s 32-29 loss to Kansas City in the AFC championship game. The league tested Sony’s Hawk-Eye tracking services for virtual line-to-gain measurements in the preseason and in the background during the regular season. The system notifies officiating instantly if a first down was gained after the ball is spotted by hand.

Justice Department sues to block $14 billion Juniper buyout by Hewlett Packard Enterprise

U.S. government regulators sued to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of rival Juniper Networks on Thursday, saying the combination would eliminate competition, raise prices and reduce innovation. The Justice Department’s complaint alleges that Hewlett Packer Enterprise, under increased competitive pressure from the fast-rising Juniper, was forced to discount products and services and invest more in its own innovation, eventually leading the company to simply buy its rival. The Justice Department’s intervention comes as somewhat of a surprise. Most experts predicted a second Trump administration to ease up on antitrust enforcement and be more receptive to mergers than the previous administration.

President Trump to meet with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the White House

President Donald Trump is meeting Friday with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, whose company designs and supplies the advanced computer chips that play an integral role in developing artificial intelligence. The meeting was confirmed by a person familiar who insisted on anonymity to discuss the conversation between Huang and Trump. The person said the meeting was set up weeks ago and would enable them to get acquainted and talk about AI policy.

Did DeepSeek copy ChatGPT to make new AI chatbot? Trump adviser thinks so

Did the upstart Chinese tech company DeepSeek copy ChatGPT to make the artificial intelligence technology that shook Wall Street this week? That’s what ChatGPT maker OpenAI is suggesting, along with U.S. President Donald Trump’s top AI adviser. Neither has disclosed specific evidence of intellectual property theft but the comments could fuel a reexamination of some of the assumptions that led to a panic in the U.S. over DeepSeek’s advancements. OpenAI said in a statement that China-based companies “are constantly trying to distill the models of leading U.S. AI companies” but didn’t call out DeepSeek specifically. DeepSeek didn't return a request for comment.

US cybersecurity agency's future role in elections remains murky under the Trump administration

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s cybersecurity agency has played a critical role in helping states shore up the defenses of their voting systems, but its election mission appears uncertain amid sustained criticism from Republicans and key figures in the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has yet to name anyone to lead the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. And for the first time since the agency was formed, there are no plans for anyone in its leadership to address the annual gathering of the nation’s secretaries of state, beginning Thursday in Washington. Trump’s allies remain angry over its efforts to counter misinformation about the 2020 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amazon sues state agency to block release of company records to Bezos-owned Washington Post

Amazon is suing an agency in Washington state to prevent the release of some company materials to The Washington Post. That's the newspaper owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Amazon asked a King County Superior Court judge this week to block the release of documents that include “trade secrets” about a company initiative to provide internet through satellites in space. The lawsuit says the records were collected by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries during four investigations of a company facility near Seattle. The lawsuit says The Post requested copies of the agency’s documents through a public records request, but does not say what state investigators found. A Post spokesperson declined to comment.

What to stream: Amy Schumer expecting, Kevin Costner celebrates a park and Pharrell is made of Lego

Amy Schumer leading the R-rated comedy “Kinda Pregnant” and “Yellowstone” star Kevin Costner narrating a docuseries celebrating Yosemite National Park are some of this week’s new streaming entertainment releases. Kaitlyn Dever stars in “Apple Cider Vinegar,” a limited-series about the underbelly of the wellness industry, and the estate of saxophonist John Coltrane offers an anniversary edition of his album “A Love Supreme.” Pharrell Williams’ life story is told using Legos in the unconventional documentary “Piece by Piece” and Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh star in the romantic drama “We Live In Time.”