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| Welcome to today's Inside Tech newsletter! Here are the latest headlines: - Apple supplier TSMC is delaying production at its Arizona plant.
- Google raised the price of YouTube Premium
- Apple is testing its own chatbot called "Apple GPT."
- Amazon is rolling out its palm payment scanner to all Whole Foods.
Keep scrolling to find our Quick Hits of other noteworthy news, and stay tuned for more updates and tech-related stories! Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | TSMC, a major Apple supplier and the world's largest contract chipmaker, is facing challenges in finding skilled workers for its Arizona plant, causing a delay in mass chip production from 2024 to 2025. The facility is TSMC's first U.S. chip plant in over two decades. More: - In a Q2 earnings call, Chairman Mark Liu revealed that the shortage of skilled workers has caused delays in installing advanced equipment.
- Liu said the company is working on sending skilled technicians from Taiwan to train local workers and ramp up equipment installation.
- Operating costs in Arizona are higher compared to chip production in Taiwan, he noted.
- Apple, a major customer of TSMC, plans to use chips produced at the Arizona plant, as do Nvidia and AMD.
- It's the first time in nearly a decade that Apple will source chips in the U.S. as it seeks to shift away from Asia-based manufacturing.
Zoom out: - TSMC previously said it would start producing 4-nanometer chips at the Arizona factory in 2024.
- A second fab, slated to come online in 2026, is set to produce the smallest and most advanced 3-nanometer chips.
- Apple is expected to use the 4nm and 3nm processes for certain future M-series and A-series chips for iPhones, Macs, iPads, and more.
- Overall, TSMC plans to invest at least $40B in its U.S. capacity. It's aiming for 600,000 wafers a year by 2026, enough to meet all U.S. demand for advanced microchips.
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| 2 | | The news: Google has quietly raised the price of YouTube Premium for both existing and new subscribers in the U.S. from $12 to $14 per month. The company has also hiked the annual plan price from $120 to $140. Details: Users will begin paying the updated prices from their next billing cycle. It's the first price increase since the ad-free service was rebranded from YouTube Red in 2018. YouTube is offering three extra months of subscription at the old price to members who joined five years ago, including those who signed up through Google Play. Why it matters: YouTube is making efforts to grow its subscriber base, including restricting ad-blockers and briefly testing a premium paywall for 4K streaming. Other services like HBO Max, Apple TV+, Paramount+, and Peacock have also raised prices in recent months, which could lead to more cancellations as consumers struggle to accommodate the additional expenses. 
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| 3 | | Apple is developing its own chatbot and AI tools to compete with OpenAI and Google, according to Bloomberg. The company has created a framework called "Ajax" to build language models, similar to ChatGPT and Bard. More: - Apple has used Ajax to build a chatbot referred to as "Apple GPT" by some engineers.
- Multiple teams within Apple have been collaborating on the project, led by John Giannandrea and Craig Federighi.
- The chatbot is currently being used internally for product prototyping.
- According to Bloomberg, Apple may be planning a significant AI-related announcement next year, though it currently lacks a clear consumer release strategy.
Zoom out: - Apple's AI employee count still lags behind other tech giants, with Amazon leading the way, followed by Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Apple.
- Meta has the highest concentration of AI employees relative to its total workforce, surpassing Google and Microsoft.
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| 4 | | Microsoft confirmed plans to deliver an improved version of its HoloLens-based combat goggles to the U.S. Army this month. After prior headsets caused issues like nausea and dizziness, the Army will test 20 prototype goggles in August to re-evaluate them for comfort, reliability, and low-light performance. More: - The IVAS (Integrated Visual Augmentation System) 1.2 devices, which are augmented reality goggles, offer enhanced battlefield awareness, including night vision, access to health stats, and tracking infantry positions.
- According to Microsoft, the new models are "slimmer, lighter, and more balanced," potentially making them easier to wear.
- If the upcoming test is successful, the Army could award a contract for a second field study in 2024 and potentially deploy IVAS shortly after operational combat testing in 2025.
Zoom out: - The upcoming test is crucial for Microsoft as it could determine the Army's potential $21.9B investment for up to 121,000 IVAS units over 10 years.
- Failure to address issues could lead to program cancellation, impacting Microsoft's contract and casting doubt on HoloLens.
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| 6 | | Amazon plans to expand its palm-scanning payment system, Amazon One, to all 500+ Whole Foods stores by the end of the year. Amazon One, which now claims over 3 million users, enables people to link their Amazon accounts and payment cards with their palm prints. More: - Once a palm print is stored in Amazon's system, a user can hover their hand over the scanner and the system auto-deducts the payment from the linked Amazon account.
- The palm scanner technology was first introduced in Amazon's Go stores in 2020 and later expanded to over 200 Whole Foods locations, as well as restaurants like Panera and travel retailers such as Hudson, CREWS, and OHM.
- In May, Amazon added an identification feature allowing users to purchase alcohol by scanning their hands. That feature launched at the Coors Field baseball stadium in Denver and is coming to other large venues.
Zoom out: - The scanner has raised security and privacy concerns as Amazon stores a user's biometric data in the cloud rather than on the device.
- Amazon said it secures palm recognition data through multi-layered security controls, including storing data in a separate cloud storage environment.
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- Google has pitched an AI tool that can write news stories to media outlets, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. The "Genesis" tool analyzes information and automatically generates news copy.
- Unity Technologies has announced a new beta program that enables developers to create games and applications specifically designed for Apple's Vision Pro headset.
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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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