Mid-year recap: The big tech news and trends so far in 2025
It’s been a fascinating few months in the tech sector, with innovation, the US government, and the social platforms all making waves. Here, we take a look back at some of the major tech news headlines – including major stories and trends – in the first half of 2025.
Social update: Meta ends fact-checking and TikTok is banned (and then isn’t)
As always the big tech platforms dominated the news, with Meta, TikTok and Google in the spotlight.
Meta: Mark Zuckerberg announced in January that Meta would be replacing independent fact checkers with X-style “community notes”. He said the decision to remove third-party moderators from Facebook and Instagram had been taken because they had become “too politically biased”.
The tech giant also hit the headlines in March when it was reported that it may offer UK users the chance to pay to remove ads on its platforms. This would allow them to subscribe rather than have their data tracked for advertising purposes.
Then in April, Meta, along with fellow digital giant Apple, was issued with a hefty fine by the European Commission under the new Digital Markets Act – regulations designed to curb the dominance of Big Tech companies. Meta was fined €200m for breaching the terms of the DMA, while Apple faced a €500 fine.
TikTok: TikTok users in the US were briefly in mourning for the video platform after a ban came into force. The popular site went dark for 12 hours, before receiving a 75-day reprieve from President Donald Trump, giving Chinese owner ByteDance more time to find a US co-owner. The reprieve has since been extended further while a buyer is found. Prospective buyers named in the media include Amazon and AppLovin.
Google: After years of uncertainty over the fate of third-party cookies, Google announced that it was backing down on plans to offer a standalone opt-out for the trackers, allowing adtech companies to continue using them to target consumers.
Google was also in the news when a federal judge pronounced it guilty of violating antitrust laws in the US. In the case launched by the Department of Justice, the platform was found to have monopolised the digital advertising technology market that allows for the buying and selling of ads. The industry is still waiting to find out if the verdict means Google will break up its adtech empire.
AI revolution continues
In other tech news – AI investment and innovation have been major topics of conversation in the early part of 2025.
Stargate: In January, President Trump announced up to $500 billion investment in AI projects linked to The Stargate Project – formed by OpenAI, Oracle, Softbank, and MGX. The initiative will fund the AI infrastructure in the US, with reports suggesting that expansion into European markets is also being considered.
DeepSeek: The sudden arrival of Chinese AI disruptor DeepSeek as a low-cost competitor to OpenAI saw the US stock market plummet. Concerns were then raised over the new tech, with researchers finding vulnerabilities in the system’s infrastructure that could lead to user data being exposed, and with US Congress declaring it a national security threat. Despite other nations’ concerns, in China the rise of DeepSeek has been the catalyst for the increased adoption of AI, as the country aims to become more self-sufficient in the tech space.
Agentic AI: The next development in artificial intelligence has become a real buzzword in 2025 – agentic AI. Rather than waiting for human input, AI systems – or agents – are able to act autonomously when it comes to making decisions and performing tasks. This ‘reasoning AI’ could be used to personalise customer service, content discovery, and even healthcare.
Google ‘AI Mode’: In May, Google announced that it would be introducing ‘AI Mode’ into its search engine. The Gemini chatbot has been added to its search functions, so users can ask for its help and cut down on manual searches. The big tech giant also announced plans to develop AI-powered glasses at its annual Google I/O conference in California.
Political and cultural shifts: Tariffs and the DE&I backlash
The impact of the new US government and a raft of policy changes have been felt across the globe, particularly in the tech sector.
Tariffs: The US government announced sweeping import taxes in early April, in a bid to boost its economy. With the majority of the world’s electronic goods produced in China – which was originally facing the heaviest tariffs and which responded by imposing its own tax hike – there were fears that prices of anything from a laptop to a cable could be expected to rise. And any increased costs would likely be felt globally, not just in the US.
With the situation changing on almost a daily basis, and with trade deals being struck between the US and various other countries, it has been a volatile economic period globally. This has been keenly felt by the adtech industry, with fears over rising costs having a direct impact on advertising budgets.
The most recent IPA Bellwether Report found that UK companies were being cautious and revising short-term marketing budgets down in the face of the continued uncertainty. However, overall forecasts for 2025/26 remained positive, with more than a third of IPA respondents expecting marketing budgets to increase – suggesting there is still optimism in an industry well used to weathering financial storms.
DE&I backlash: President Trump signed an executive order in January, announcing that all US government diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) staff would be put on paid leave with immediate effect, and scrapping any DE&I policies and initiatives. The big tech platforms have mirrored this decision, with Google, Meta, Amazon, and Apple all scaling back on DE&I initiatives.
Opinion has been divided over the impact this will have globally; with some UK-based companies and brands reasserting their commitment to DE&I, while others have amended their policies when working in the US. Car maker Jaguar, for example, which faced a major backlash for a new campaign aimed at a younger, more diverse audience, has said it is sticking to its plan of reaching a new demographic. Some UK business leaders, such as the Co-op’s CEO, have warned against rolling back DE&I initiatives because of the “real world consequences” this will have.
Ecommerce expansion continues, but hackers still a major threat for retailers
In May, EMARKETER forecast that ecommerce would account for more than 20% of retail sales in 2025, reaching $6.4 trillion – despite the general economic slowdown.
Shoppable ads: The expansion of ‘shoppable experiences’ has continued this year, with YouTube announcing an interactive product feed as part of its connected TV offering, while platforms like TikTok and Roblox have become popular with brands wanting to reach a specific audience or demographic directly. Developments in AI such as shopping ‘agents’ also promise to create a more seamless experience for consumers.
Data privacy: One challenge that the sector must still overcome, however, was highlighted by recent high-profile hacking cases involving some of the UK’s best-known retailers. With major players like M&S and Co-op being aggressively hacked, leading to the shutting down of IT systems, and putting customer data at risk, questions have once again been raised about how well consumers are protected when they shop online.