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| Hi Insiders, Welcome to the Inside Tech newsletter! Here are today's top stories: - Gannett sues Google and Alphabet, alleging ad tech monopoly.
- Apple expands self-service repair program to include iPhone 14 lineup.
- Nintendo to unveil news about upcoming Switch games at tomorrow's Direct event.
- Only human creators are now eligible for Grammy Awards.
Scroll down for some "Quick Hits" and our "Question of the Week," and hit reply to let us know of any topics you'd like covered in future issues. Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | The news: Gannett, the owner of major newspapers like USA Today, has filed a lawsuit against Google and Alphabet, accusing them of having anti-competitive monopolies in advertising technology tools. The details: Gannett alleges that Google dominates the ad sales system used on publisher websites. The suit claims that Google controls ad sales, forcing publishers to sell more ad space at lower prices, reducing publisher revenue while increasing Google's profits. Gannett said it's seeking "substantial damages" and to restore fair competition. Response: Google's Ads VP, Dan Taylor, countered by highlighting the variety of ad tech choices available to publishers, including Google Ad Manager, which he said allows them to retain the majority of their revenue. What the numbers say: According to Gannett, Google earned over $30B in revenue last year from selling ad space on publishers' websites, or around six times the combined digital advertising revenue of all U.S. news publications. Google has around 25% share of the U.S. digital ad market. News publishers and other websites account for roughly 40%. Although Big Tech's market share is slightly declining, Google remains the dominant player. Publishers heavily depend on Google's ad technology, as it controls 90% of the publisher ad market, according to Gannett. The bigger picture: The lawsuit is part of a broader trend of legal actions targeting Google's digital advertising business, including antitrust lawsuits by the U.S. Justice Department and a recent call for the breakup of Google's advertising business by EU officials. 
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| 2 | | Apple will expand its self-service repair program to cover the latest iPhones and MacBooks. Starting on June 21, customers can gain access to parts, tools, and manuals to repair their iPhone 14, 13-inch M2 MacBook Air, and M2 Pro/M2 Max MacBook Pro models. More: - Apple first launched self-service repair in the U.S. in April 2022, initially covering the iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPhone SE.
- In December, it expanded the program to a number of European countries.
- Starting June 21, the program will encompass the newer models. Additionally, repair services for the iPhone 12 and 13's camera and top speaker module will be available in several European countries.
- Apple also eliminated the requirement for customers to call the repair support team to complete the System Configuration step.
- Customers can now complete this post-repair process themselves by following on-screen instructions in Diagnostics Mode.
Zoom out: - Samsung and Google also offer self-repair programs, while smaller companies like FairPhone and Framework prioritize repairability in their hardware.
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| 3 | | Alibaba Group has announced a surprise management shakeup, with long-time veteran Daniel Zhang stepping down as chairman and CEO. Joseph Tsai, the executive vice chairman, will become the new chairman, while Eddie Wu, the chairman of Taobao and Tmall, will take over as CEO. More: - The leadership shakeup aims to help revitalize the Chinese e-commerce giant amid tough competition and sluggish growth.
- The appointment of Tsai, the owner of the Brooklyn Nets and a close ally of Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, brings rare U.S. ties to the Chinese industry.
- Tsai, who co-founded Alibaba with Ma and has a background in law and private equity, is also expected to support Alibaba's plans to reorganize into independent companies.
- Alibaba is dividing itself into six units that can pursue independent financing and IPOs.
- Its cloud intelligence group, to be led by Zhang, plans to spin off and list in the coming year
- Zhang succeeded Ma as Alibaba's CEO and chairman in 2015 and 2019, respectively.
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| 4 | | Rivian is the latest automaker to adopt Tesla's electric-vehicle charging standard. Starting in spring 2024, Rivian R1T and R1S customers will have access to 12,000 Tesla Superchargers in the U.S. and Canada. More: - Additionally, Rivian's upcoming trucks and SUVs will incorporate Tesla's charging ports starting in 2025.
- Rivian said its adoption of Tesla's standard won't impact its plans to install thousands of its own charging stations.
- The move comes after Tesla opened its Supercharger network to non-Tesla EVs, prompting other manufacturers like Ford and General Motors to adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS).
- There is now a shift away from the Combined Charging System (CCS) and toward the NACS, which Tesla has been advocating as a true standard for EV charging in North America.
Zoom out: - Tesla's Superchargers currently account for around 60% of the fast chargers in the U.S.
- The company claims its Superchargers have the highest reliability, reaching 99.95% uptime in 2022.
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| 5 | | Nintendo has announced a Direct event for Wednesday showcasing Switch titles launching this year, including "Pikmin 4." The Direct, the third of 2023, will stream starting at 10 a.m. ET June 21 on Nintendo's YouTube channel. More: - The livestream will last approximately 40 minutes. Nintendo hasn't shared further details about what it could reveal.
- Its previously announced release schedule for the remainder of 2023 includes "Everybody 1-2 Switch!" in June, "Pikmin 4" in July, and "Pokémon Scarlet" and Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet DLC titled "The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero" in the fall or winter.
- This will be the third Nintendo Direct of the year, with the previous one in February providing information about games launching in the first half of the year and the March Direct focusing on the "Super Mario Bros." movie.
Zoom out: - In February, Nintendo announced the launch of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to its Switch Online subscription service.
- It also revealed a trailer for "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom," which launched for the Switch in May and is the first $69.99 game from the company.
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| 6 | | The Recording Academy has announced that only human creators and not technology are eligible for Grammy Awards. However, music created with the help of artificial intelligence can still qualify in certain categories, according to the academy. More: - While AI-assisted songs can be considered for awards, fully AI-generated tracks are disqualified, according to the academy.
- To be eligible, the updated rulebook emphasizes the need for a "meaningful" human contribution to the music.
- The academy has yet to disclose the specifics of determining AI usage or the threshold for human involvement.
- The decision comes amid intense discussions about the ethical implications of AI in creative fields.
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- The Apple Watch's heart-monitoring feature may have saved the life of a woman, Kimmie Watkins, by alerting her to a high heart rate, which turned out to be a life-threatening saddle pulmonary embolism.
- Self-driving car firm Cruise has introduced an Android app for ride-hailing, which includes all the upgrades found in its iOS app.
- Parallel Domain, a San Francisco-based startup, has introduced its Data Lab API for customers to create synthetic datasets.
- Emerging technologies like the metaverse, conversational AI, and deepfakes could be used by terrorists for radicalization and recruitment, warns Europol in its latest report.
- Byju's, India's most valuable startup, plans to cut up to 1,000 jobs. The edtech company eliminated 3,000 jobs last year.
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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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