Axios

Dominion Voting Systems on Friday not only beat back Fox News' attempt to skip a defamation trial, it won a summary judgment for some of its claims.

Why it matters: This gives Dominion a head start in trial. A Delaware judge found that it's "CRYSTAL clear" (original emphasis) that Fox News' statements about Dominion are false — making it an issue that won't be disputed at trial.

Blue checks that we’ve come to associate with authenticity, trustworthiness and prominence on Twitter are set to disappear tomorrow from accounts that won’t pay for the badges.

Why it matters: How people interpret content on the platform will change dramatically.

The White House will not pay to have its staff's official Twitter profiles continue to be verified, according to guidance issued to staffers via an email obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: Official White House staffers rely on their verified accounts to inform the public on behalf of the administration. Verification, combined with the designated Twitter profiles, helped to ensure the public could trust those messages.

Thousands of companies using the same voice- and video-calling application are now at risk, as North Korean hackers carry out an ongoing supply chain attack, several cybersecurity companies warned earlier this week.

Driving the news: CrowdStrike warned Wednesday that North Korea-linked hackers are actively attaching malware to the Windows and MacOS versions of 3CX's video conferencing tool.

The Justice Department's second-in-command is readying her case for Capitol Hill on why a controversial surveillance tool is key in the fight against cyber threats.

Driving the news: Deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco said during this week's Verify Conference in Sausalito that the DOJ is prepared to share more with lawmakers about how Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act assists the department's cyber investigations.

Fidelity today disclosed that it marked down the value of its Twitter shares by 7.9% during the month of February, or a total of 63.46% since Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition closed last October.

Why it matters: One of the largest tech buyouts of all time continues to depreciate, according to a firm that helped to finance it.

The fire caused by a battery can be much more difficult to extinguish than a normal fire.Local, state and federal lawmakers have introduced a flurry of attempts to regulate lithium-ion batteries, following a spate of fires.

Why it matters: Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are the workhorse power source today for digital devices, and they're increasingly providing a backbone for the climate-inspired electrification of everything.

This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) video game showcase has been cancelled for 2023, according to the Entertainment Software Association and show organizer ReedPop.

Why it matters: An in-person E3 has not been held in since 2019. This year's event, scheduled to take place in early June in Los Angeles, was to mark a return of the conference, once central to the gaming world.

Undeterred by U.S. government threats of a ban, TikTok executives are angling the popular social media app as an essential part of the video game industry’s future.

Driving the news: TikTok’s top gaming executives took their pitch directly to game makers at last week’s Game Developers Conference, including a promotional panel held hours after the company’s CEO was grilled by Congress over privacy and security concerns.

A bestselling fantasy author has moved some of his recent projects off Audible, Amazon's industry-dominating audiobook platform, because, he charges, "they treat authors very poorly."

What's happening: Brandon Sanderson — an industry heavyweight with 15 New York Times bestsellers, including multiple #1 spots — is the first author of his stature to publicly challenge Audible. His book “Oathbringer” was the most pre-ordered book of all time on that service.

An open letter calling for a six-month "pause" in work on advanced artificial intelligence is dividing the tech industry — not just between AI boosters and skeptics, but also between different factions of AI's critics.

Driving the news: The letter — initially signed by Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and other industry luminaries — urged "a stepping back from the dangerous race to ever-larger unpredictable black-box models with emergent capabilities."