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| 1 | | Apple is expected to reveal its high-end mixed-reality headset, new operating systems, and new Macs during today's Worldwide Developers Conference. The WWDC keynote will stream online starting at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. The headset: - The rumored Apple Reality Pro is a premium standalone headset with both AR and VR capabilities.
- Priced at around $3,000, it's said to include high-resolution displays, color passthrough cameras, a powerful processor similar to the M2, and a sleek lightweight design powered by an external battery pack.
- It may have its own app store and a separate xrOS operating system, which could allow users to create AR apps using Siri without coding knowledge.
- A late-year launch is anticipated.
What else: - Apple could also announce the 15-inch M2-powered Air — bigger than previous models — and the Apple M-Series Mac Pro.
- On the software side, viewers can expect the latest updates to iOS, iPadOS, WatchOS, and TVOS platforms.
- iOS 17, the iPhone software update, could include the addition of an Apple-branded journaling app for logging thoughts and activities.
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| 2 | | The news: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has cautioned consumers against storing money in payment apps such as Venmo, Cash App, and PayPal. Why it matters: The watchdog warns that these funds are not automatically insured by the federal government and could be lost if the companies fail. It's advising users to transfer funds from payment apps to bank accounts, such as high-yield savings accounts insured by the FDIC, as a more secure option for storing money. What the numbers say: An estimated 75% of Americans, and 85% of adults aged 18 to 29, have used popular peer-to-peer apps like PayPal, Cash App, and Zelle. The apps handled $89B in transactions last year, an amount expected to rise to $1.6 trillion by 2027, according to a CFPB report. The warning comes as the digital payments market expands rapidly, reaching an estimated $375B by 2030. 
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| 3 | | The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Binance and its co-founder CEO Changpeng Zhao, accusing the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange of commingling customer funds, misleading investors, and engaging in manipulative trading. The SEC's wide-ranging lawsuit, filed in federal court on Monday, accuses Binance of blatantly disregarding federal securities laws. More: - Following an investigation by U.S. regulators, the SEC has brought a total of 13 charges against Binance, Binance.US., and Zhao, also known as "CZ."
- In the lawsuit, the agency claims that Binance mixed customer funds and covertly transferred them to a company controlled by Zhao.
- The suit also accuses the exchange of misleading investors about the effectiveness of its surveillance for detecting and controlling manipulative trading on Binance.US.
- It claims Binance failed to adequately prevent U.S. investors from accessing its unregulated exchange and sold unregistered crypto asset securities, including its tokens (BNB and BUSD).
Zoom out: - In March, the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission also sued Binance and Zhao, claiming that they operated an "illegal" exchange with a "sham" compliance program.
- The moves come after criminal charges were filed against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, a significant competitor to Binance in the crypto trading industry until it collapsed and filed for bankruptcy in November.
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| 4 | | Spotify announced on Monday that it will lay off 200 employees in its podcast division as part of a "strategic realignment." The reduction, which affects about 2% of the company's staff, comes after Spotify cut 6% of its global workforce in January, citing a slowdown in ad spending. More: - Sahar Elhabashi, Spotify's VP and head of podcast business, conveyed the news in a memo to the employees, assuring them of generous severance packages.
- Elhabashi said the company's strategy shift would allow for better support and monetization for its creator community
- In addition to the layoffs, Spotify plans to merge its Parcast and Gimlet podcasting studios into a single Spotify Studios division, focusing on producing original podcasts.
- The company will adopt a more tailored approach for each show and creator, as well as expand analytics in Spotify for Podcasters and focus on enhancing its advertising offerings, according to Elhabash.
Zoom out: - As of 2020, Spotify employed 8,359 people worldwide, with 4,332 of them based in the U.S.
- Over the past three years, Spotify has made substantial investments in its podcast division, totaling $526M through four acquisitions. Additionally, the company has nabbed significant sponsorship deals with notable personalities, including Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Joe Rogan.
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| A message from our sponsor, Linqto. |  | | Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the forefront of technological innovation, transforming industries and the way we live and work. The potential of AI is enormous, ranging from enhancing business operations to tackling global challenges like climate change and healthcare. AI's growing impact on various sectors indicates a promising investment opportunity. - Market Growth: The AI market was projected to grow from $58.3 billion in 2021 to $309.6 billion by 2026, representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 39.7% during the forecast period, according to MarketsandMarkets.
- Business Adoption: A 2020 survey from Gartner found that 59% of businesses have already implemented AI in some form, reflecting the broad adoption and trust in AI technologies.
- Impact on Economy: PwC estimated that AI could contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, a testament to the enormous economic potential of AI.
Investment Inflow: According to Statista, global investments in AI startups rose to a record high of nearly $40 billion in 2019, indicating a strong and growing interest in the sector. Invest in AI | |
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| 5 | | Microsoft will end support for Cortana, its virtual voice assistant, on Windows in late 2023. The company has been gradually pulling back plans for Cortana after it discontinued its iOS and Android apps in 2021. More: - Now, Microsoft has announced that it will stop supporting the standalone Cortana app installed on Windows PCs.
- Cortana remains active in Microsoft Outlook mobile, Teams mobile, Teams display, and Teams rooms.
- A support document mentions that AI experiences will still be available in Windows 11.
- It highlights Windows Copilot, the new Bing, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the new voice access for controlling the PC with your voice in Windows 11.
Zoom out: - The move underscores Microsoft's newfound focus on GPT-4 AI technology over the more basic voice assistant.
- Cortana launched in 2014 for Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows in 2015 but never gained the market traction of Apple's Siri or Amazon Alexa.
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| 6 | | Google announced an AI update for the Gmail mobile app that aims to make it easier to find specific emails. The machine learning-powered feature displays "top results" when conducting an inbox search. More: - To curate the most relevant emails, the AI tool considers search terms, recent emails, and other factors.
- According to Google, the results are sorted by recency and should be more relevant to better match the user's query.
- The company said the "high-requested feature" has opened up to some users on the Gmail app for Android and iOS as of last week.
- It will gradually expand to all users over the next few weeks.
Zoom out: - In May, Google announced "Help Me Write," a generative AI tool in Gmail that can write entire emails. The tool for Gmail on mobile is described as a "supercharged extension" of Smart Compose and can draw from previous messages for context.
- It's also bringing generative AI technology across its Workspace products, starting with other AI-enabled writing features in Gmail and Google Docs. The AI tools are dubbed "Duet AI."
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| 7 | | Community Corner Last week, we asked our tech community, "Do you believe that society's dependence on technology could ever reverse or plateau?" Here are some highlighted responses we received: - William Badke (p/7billbadke), Associate Librarian at William Badke, answered: "There is no sense, other than through some catastrophe, that our dependency on technology will reverse, any more than our dependency on published information reversed some time after the printing press. When a new information door opens, people rarely abandon it. Tech is our new and future reality. That said, it could plateau. For example, the quest for faster speeds and more storage has already plateaued due to the inception of the cloud. We are in early days in tech, so innovation may well level off as technology becomes more mature."
- Michael Oliver (p/mcoliver), Manager at Netflix, answered, "Short of a global emp or asteroid that destroys all electronics, no way. Too much leverage and compound interest with technology."
Join the conversations at Inside.com, and we may shout out your name and business, or contact you for more! ⭐️ | | | |
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. She has written the Inside AI newsletter since 2019. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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