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Daily Tech News Roundup - 2026-01-18

1. Why Silicon Valley is really talking about fleeing California (it’s not the 5%)
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/17/why-silicon-valley-is-really-talking-about-fleeing-california-its-not-the-5/
Summary: If you’ve been following the billionaire exodus from California with some confusion, here’s what’s actually driving the nervousness: it’s not the 5% rate. As highlighted Friday in the New York Post, the proposed wealth tax would hit founders on their voting shares rather than the actual equity they own. Take Larry Page, who about 3% […]

2. Who gets to inherit the stars? A space ethicist on what we’re not talking about
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/17/who-gets-to-inherit-the-stars-a-space-ethicist-on-what-were-not-talking-about/
Summary: While it's easy to romanticize space as an escape to a pristine frontier where people will float weightlessly among the stars, it’s worth remembering there are no oceans or mountains or chirpy birds in space. It's “not nice up there,” said Rubenstein. “It is not nice at all."

3. Disney deleted a Thread because people kept putting anti-fascist quotes from its movies in the replies
Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/863980/disney-deleted-anti-fascist-thread
Summary: "Share a Disney quote that sums up how you're feeling right now!" That's what Disney posted on Threads the other day, and people immediately replied with lines from Star Wars, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and even Mary Poppins. The throughline between all the quotes: they were pretty pointedly anti-fascist and clearly aimed at the […]

4. The Setapp Mobile iOS store is shutting down on February 16th
Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/863978/setapp-mobile-ios-store-shutdown
Summary: Setapp Mobile seemed like one of the many alternative app markets with promise that launched in the wake of the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA). While the law may have forced Apple to allow third-party app stores on its devices, it couldn't make users actually embrace them. MacPaw, the Ukrainian developer behind the subscription-based Setapp, […]

5. Trump administration’s legal setbacks are good news for offshore wind — and the grid
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/17/trump-administrations-legal-setbacks-are-good-news-for-offshore-wind-and-the-grid/
Summary: Three offshore wind projects under construction on the U.S. East Coast are back to building after judges rebuked the Department of the Interior's actions.

6. Oshen built the first ocean robot to collect data in a Category 5 hurricane
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/17/oshen-built-the-first-ocean-robot-to-collect-data-in-a-category-5-hurricane/
Summary: Oshen has signed contracts with multiple government agencies for its C-Star robots to collect ocean data autonomously.

7. The LG C5 and Apple’s M4 Mac Mini are both steeply discounted this weekend
Source: https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/863503/apple-mac-mini-m4-lg-c5-oled-tv-deal-sale
Summary: Happy Saturday, folks! This week, Best Buy kicked off its so-called “Winter Sale,” introducing a whole host of price cuts that range from not-so-good to legitimately great, at least for this time of year. We’ll be publishing many of the highlights in a dedicated news post tomorrow, though, per usual, not all of this week’s […]

8. All You Need Is Kill is a dazzling movie with the soul of a video game
Source: https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/862881/all-you-need-is-kill-review
Summary: While Hollywood has repeatedly tried adapting stories from Japanese manga, vanishingly few of them have been as good as Edge of Tomorrow - Warner Bros.' 2014 live-action film based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's sci-fi light novel All You Need Is Kill. Edge of Tomorrow wasn't a one-to-one translation of All You Need Is Kill's original story […]

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