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Pavel Durov accused French media of xenophobia, singling out Le Figaro for referring to him as “Le Russe” in its coverage → a label meaning “the Russian.”

@durovs_code

😆 Just one more scroll

The European Commission has told TikTok → to change what it calls the platform’s “addictive” design.

According to the EU’s preliminary findings, TikTok’s interface may breach the Digital Services Act.

@durovs_code

❤️ This weekend in #TECH

💘 A Chinese investor bought the Telegram username @danbao for $2.2 million, setting a new all-time record on Fragment.

💘 Apple updated its App Review Guidelines, adding “random or anonymous chat” to the list of app categories that can be removed from the App Store without prior notice.

💘 Apple is preparing a broader hardware refresh for early 2026, including a budget iPhone 17e, updated iPads, and a new lower-cost MacBook aimed at the education market.

@durovs_code

📱 Still on Android 12?

Google’s latest data shows over 40% of active Android phones → no longer receive critical security updates.

Only devices running Android 13 and newer, about 58% of the ecosystem, still receive full security patches, while the rest are effectively out of support.

@durovs_code

🤩 Next stop: Mars

Elon Musk says → SpaceX aims to build a “self-growing city” on the Moon within 10 years, while construction of a Mars base could begin in 5 to 7 years.

@durovs_code

⚡️ February drop

Telegram has officially rolled out its latest update, introducing a major redesign along with new features for groups and bots.

Here’s what changed:

↖️ https://durovscode.com/telegram-update-redesign-february

☕️ Can we skip this?

OpenAI has started testing ads → in ChatGPT for some US users. Ads are currently shown to logged-in adults on the free tier and the Go plan, while paid subscribers remain ad-free.

@durovs_code

🤔 Are you 18 though?

Discord says there will be no mass passport checks or face scans under its updated age policy.

The new system → will affect only a small portion of users, while most accounts remain unchanged thanks to automated age estimation.

@durovs_code

🤐 Telegram restrictions in Russia

Russian authorities have begun gradually restricting Telegram’s operations. The platform is not fully blocked, but phased technical measures are affecting performance.

What’s behind the move and how Durov responded:

↖️ https://durovscode.com/telegram-russia-restrictions-slowdown

🍏 Waiting a bit longer

Apple has once again delayed → the launch of its upgraded AI-powered Siri due to testing issues.

The features once planned for iOS 26.4 in March may now slip to iOS 26.5 in May or even iOS 27 in September.

@durovs_code

🧠 Borrowed brains?

OpenAI has accused → Chinese rival DeepSeek of using its technology to train the R1 model.

According to the company, DeepSeek relied on distillation, extracting outputs from U.S. AI systems to replicate similar capabilities.

@durovs_code

❤️ This weekend in #TECH

💘 Apple is preparing a budget MacBook under $1,000 powered by an iPhone-class chip instead of an M-series processor.

💘 Intel was fined $30 million in India over its restrictive warranty policy for imported processors.

💘 New coding models from OpenAI and Anthropic reignited the debate over whether traditional programming is becoming obsolete.

@durovs_code

🧠 Grok 4.20

Elon Musk has announced that Grok 4.20 will launch this week, describing → it as a “significant improvement” over version 4.1.

@durovs_code

🤐 Time to go sovereign?

UK banks will meet to discuss building a national alternative → to Visa and Mastercard, amid concerns that geopolitical tensions could put Britain’s reliance on US payment networks at risk.

@durovs_code

🎧 Nice try, AI

Sony Group has developed a new technology → capable of detecting music used in AI-generated compositions.

@durovs_code

🙂 Oman joins Telegram

Telegram’s chat services are now officially accessible → in Oman, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority confirmed.

@durovs_code