Top stories today:

1. Meta names Kaplan global affairs chief ahead of Trump’s inauguration
2. Net neutrality rules blocked by appeals court
3. Tesla’s annual EV sales drop for first time in over decade
4. FBI says New Orleans, Las Vegas attacks don’t appear coordinated
5. xAI ($12B), Databricks ($10B), OpenAI ($6.6B) lead in 2024 fundraising

0. Data and calendar

Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing today’s newsletter (beware of the few hallucinations):

1. Meta names Republican Joel Kaplan global affairs chief, replacing Clegg ahead of Trump’s inauguration

• Kaplan was George Bush’s Deputy Chief of Staff.

• Former deputy to Nick Clegg in leading Meta’s global policy.

• The shift may help Meta mend ties with Trump as he returns as the U.S. President.

• Meta had suspended Trump’s accounts following the U.S. Capitol incident.

• Trump also earlier threatened to jail Zuckerberg over election influence.

2. Appeals court blocks Biden admin effort to restore net-neutrality rules

• FCC lacked authority to reinstate the rules initially implemented in 2015, a 3-judge panel said.

• Cited: Supreme Court’s June decision (Loper Bright) to overturn the 1984 “Chevron deference”.

• 2021: President Joe Biden signed an executive order to restore the rules.

• 2017: Trump’s FCC repealed the rules.

4. Tesla’s annual EV sales -1% YoY to 1.79M in 2024, 1st drop since 2011