A fledgling social media platform has asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel trademarks for Twitter so it can take them for itself, contending that billionaire Elon Musk’s X Corp has abandoned them. The Virginia-based startup, Operation Bluebird, said in its December 2 petition that it wants to be allowed to use “Twitter” and “tweet” for a rival social media platform called “twitter.new.” It also filed an application to trademark “Twitter.”

The petition was filed by Stephen Coates, a former trademark lawyer at Twitter who now serves as Operation Bluebird’s general counsel and runs a small law firm. Musk bought Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and rebranded the site to X. Operation Bluebird’s filings contend that X has “eradicated” the Twitter brand from its products, services and marketing.

Musk in 2023 said in a post on X that the company would “bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.”

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Coates in a statement called the matter “straightforward” after X allegedly stopped using the Twitter trademark commercially.

“X legally abandoned the TWITTER mark,” Coates said. The rebranded X does not feature Twitter’s famous blue bird logo, and the platform has migrated from twitter.com to x.com. X Corp’s 2023 renewal registration for the Twitter trademark was approved last year.

Josh Gerben, an intellectual property lawyer who is not involved in the dispute, said X would face obstacles defending its ownership of the trademarks if the company no longer uses them. But he said X could try to block Operation Bluebird’s commercial use of the Twitter name even if the cancellation is successful. Gerben called Operation Bluebird’s challenge “an interesting test as to whether or not X will invest in protecting a brand that they no longer want to use.”

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he will attempt to strip states of the right to regulate the surging AI industry, arguing centralised rulemaking is vital to maintain U.S. dominance.

“There must be only One Rulebook if we are going to continue to lead in AI,” he posted on his Truth Social platform, announcing an executive order that would seek to prevent state-level regulation.

Trump has made a major play to position the United States at the head of the global race to build and control AI tools predicted to transform everything from the way the economy works to military technology.

However, the White House is running up against deep skepticism in Congress and within his own MAGA movement, where many voices are wary of the technology’s potential economic and social harms.

They point to polls that show increasing concern about AI, especially among young people who are nervous about getting or keeping a job.

Figures within his own MAGA movement, such as strategy guru Steve Bannon, complain of Trump’s closer ties to Big Tech that put the president out of touch with his political base.

The announcement that he will sign an executive order centralizing AI regulation comes after Congress has twice refused to vote for allowing the overriding of state-level laws on AI.

“We are beating ALL COUNTRIES at this point in the race, but that won’t last long if we are going to have 50 States, many of them bad actors, involved in RULES and the APPROVAL PROCESS,” Trump wrote in his post.

“THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT ABOUT THIS! AI WILL BE DESTROYED IN ITS INFANCY! I will be doing a ONE RULE Executive Order this week.”

The order is likely to stir more political opposition and legal challenges even if no details are yet known about what it would say.

A draft order seen by The Hill last month would have created a task force dedicated to challenging state AI laws and restricted certain broadband funding for states with AI laws deemed overly burdensome.

The idea to stop states going their own way has been advanced by Trump’s AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks, a Silicon Valley insider, with the support of AI’s biggest players, including OpenAI boss Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

“State by state AI regulation would drag this industry to a halt, and it would create a national security concern as we need to make sure that United States advances AI technology as quickly as possible,” Huang told reporters during a visit to US Congress last week.

Industry bosses complain that there are more than 1,000 AI-related bills currently moving through state legislatures.

“How do you cope with those varied regulations (and)compete with countries like China, which are moving fast in this technology?” Google CEO Sundar Pichai told “Fox News Sunday.”

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday (December 8, 2025) called a fine imposed on Elon Musk’s social media company X by European Union tech regulators “a nasty one” and said he did not understand how they could justify the move.

X was fined 120 million euros ($140 million) by EU tech regulators last week for breaching online content rules.

“Europe is going in some bad directions,” Mr. Trump told reporters at a White House event, saying he expected to get a full report on the EU fine later on Monday.

“I don’t see how they can do that,” Mr. Trump said. He said Mr. Musk had not called him to ask for help on the issue.

“Europe has to be very careful,” he added.

Last week, Mr. Musk dismissed the penalty on his platform, replying “Bullshit” under a European Commission post announcing the fine and reposting messages criticizing the decision.

“Freedom of speech is the bedrock of democracy. The only way to know what you are voting for,” he wrote.

U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, denounced the move as an attack on American companies.

EU regulators said X violated transparency obligations, including failing to provide researchers access to public data, maintaining an incomplete advertising repository, and using deceptive design for its blue checkmark verification system.

EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen defended the fine as proportionate and stressed the DSA “has nothing to do with censorship”. The European Commision said its laws do not target any nationality and it is merely defending its digital and democratic standards.

TikTok, charged in May for failing to maintain a public ad repository to help detect scam ads, avoided a fine by pledging improvements to its ad library and urged regulators to enforce the rules consistently across platforms.

Paramount Skydance on Monday (December 8, 2025) launched a hostile bid worth $108.4 billion for Warner Bros Discovery, throwing a wrench into the deal with Netflix in a last-ditch effort to create a media powerhouse that would challenge the dominance of the streaming giant.

The streaming giant had emerged victorious on Friday from a weeks-long bidding war with Paramount and Comcast, securing a $72 billion equity deal for Warner Bros Discovery’s TV, film studios and streaming assets.

The offer, which is worth $82.7 billion including debt and comes with a $5.8 billion break-up fee from Netflix, is likely to face strong antitrust scrutiny.

Paramount submitted multiple offers starting in September to forge an entertainment powerhouse capable of challenging Netflix and tech giants such as Apple that have expanded into media but faced rejections.

It has offered to buy the whole company at $30 per share, compared with Netflix’s nearly $28 per share offer for its assets.

Paramount remains one of Hollywood’s major studios, but its box office record has been uneven, with occasional franchise wins offset by periods in which its slate has trailed Disney, Universal and Warner Bros in U.S. market share.

Paramount alleges unfair bidding process

It had sent a letter to Warner Bros, questioning the sale process and alleging the company has abandoned a fair bidding process and predetermined Netflix as the winner.

That followed reports that Warner Bros’ management called the Netflix deal a “slam dunk” while speaking negatively about Paramount’s offer.

Analysts and industry experts see Paramount as the best candidate for acquiring Warner Bros Discovery, given Ellison’s deep pockets – backed by his father, Oracle co-founder and the world’s second-richest person Larry Ellison and the close ties with the Trump administration.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday the Netflix-Warner Bros combo could raise market share concerns and he would have a say on the deal.

Bloomberg News has reported Mr. Trump met Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos in mid-November, telling the executive Warner Bros should sell to the highest bidder.

Netflix’s bid has already drawn sharp criticism from bipartisan lawmakers and Hollywood unions on concerns that it could lead to job cuts as well as higher prices for consumers.

The combined company will have substantial overlap and its combined streaming revenue would decline unless Netflix doubles its prices or runs separate platforms, neither of which the brokerage expects, Morningstar analysts have said.

Looking to allay antitrust fears, Sarandos had said the deal would drive value for consumers, shareholders and talent, saying Netflix is “highly confident” in the regulatory process.

Analysts said Netflix’s motivation would stem from securing exclusive, long-term control over premium IP and reducing reliance on external studios as it expands into gaming, live entertainment and broader consumer ecosystems.

Access to WBD’s vast IP trove would provide immediate credibility, audience reach and merchandising potential for its gaming ambitions, an area where Netflix is still building original content and brand recognition.

Starlink has shared the pricing for residential satellite internet service in India on their official website. The Rs. 8,600 per month fee will include unlimited data, a 30-day trial and weather resilient service that guarantees “higher than 99.9% uptime.”

There’s also a hardware cost of Rs. 34,000 during installation. 

The website hasn’t yet revealed the price for its business plan in the country. 

Earlier in July this year, India’s space regulator granted Starlink the license to launch commercial operations. The Elon Musk-led firm had been waiting since 2022 for complete permissions. 

The firm will now be competing with Jio-SES and Eutelsat’s OneWeb here.

The government still hasn’t announced whether the satellite spectrum will be allocated to these companies or if there will be an auction. 

Once it has secured spectrum, Starlink has to set up ground infrastructure and conduct security tests and trials. The company reportedly started running technical demos and security tests in October.

YouTube on Monday (December 8, 2025) revealed the topics dominated the streaming platform during 2025 in India. It noted that the language barrier is vanishing and Indians are accepting global content in their regional dialects while AI is helping creators generate meme character like Tung Tung Tung Sahur.

According to YouTube, “76% of Gen Z says they come to YouTube to understand world events and trends, making the platform as a cultural common ground.”

During 2025, Squid Game, Saiyaara, Coolie, Kumbh Mela, IPL 2025, Sanam Teri Kasam, Labubu, Asia Cup, and Kpopdemonhunters were among the trending topics on YouTube.

Saiyaara remained the number one song in 2025 on YouTube in India. Ranu Bombai Ki Ranu, Shaky, Raanjhan and Teri Ramjhol Bole Gi featured too in top songs of 2025.

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Passo Bem Solto (Slowed), a song by Atlax, was the most used on Shorts during 2025 in India. It was followed by Shaky and Saiyaara.

Yeda Yung sung by Year Down, Yung DSA appeared on the list along with D Hell: Mafia, Audiocrackerr, Khushi TDT: Victory Anthem, Knockwell, Lata Mangeshkar: Tune O Rangeele (Brazilian Funk Mix), Neha Bhasin: Jutti Meri (Live), Kajal Hathrasi, Anil Rawat: Payal Ki Khanak, Sonu Nigam ft Raju Kalakar, Anjali Arora, Rajan, Rishabh and Deepak: Dil Pe Chalai Churiya (Trending Version).

MrBeast with a gain of 47 million+ subscribers from India as he uses 7 different audio tracks and Sejal Gaba were the top creators in India on YouTube during 2025. KL BRO Biju Rithvik from Kerala, has a 79 million+ subscriber community by sharing simple, visual, family adventures.

YouTube says that creators are using tools like the Inspiration Tab, Edit with AI, and Auto Dubbing to simplify complex edits, and reach new audiences.