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| Welcome to the Inside Tech newsletter! Here are today's other top stories: - Meta's Threads app is exploding in popularity as Twitter threatens legal action.
- China's central bank has fined Ant Group nearly $1B, signaling the end of its tech crackdown.
- Apple's Vision Pro headset will require users to demo and try on the headset at Apple Stores.
- Shazam on iOS can now identify songs playing in other apps.
And more... We hope you enjoy your reading experience and, as always, feel free to share what future content you'd like to see by replying to this email! Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Twitter is threatening to sue Meta over alleged trade secret theft related to Meta's new rival app, Threads. Twitter's lawyer, Alex Spiro, accused Meta of unlawfully misappropriating Twitter's trade secrets and intellectual property by hiring "dozens" of former employees. More: - In a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Spiro claims that Meta hired ex-Twitter employees specifically to develop Threads, an app built by the Instagram team to share text updates.
- He claims Meta tasked the employees with building a "copycat" app and used IP in the process.
- Spiro has demanded that Meta cease using any Twitter confidential information and also refrain from scraping Twitter's data.
Zoom out: - Meta has denied the claims, saying that no former Twitter employees are on the Threads engineering team.
- The move comes as Instagram's Threads skyrockets in popularity, soaring to over 70 million sign-ups since it launched late Wednesday.
- According to The New York Times, Threads became the most rapidly downloaded app ever, surpassing ChatGPT's record of 1 million downloads in five days.
- Threads users have now generated over 95 million posts and 190 million likes, based on internal company data.
- The app is tied to Instagram accounts, so users can create an account by logging in with their Instagram credentials.
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| 2 | | The news: China's central bank has fined Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba, nearly $1B, ending a probe into the fintech company after its IPO was canceled nearly three years ago. Details: Ant Group, owner of digital-payment platform Alipay, along with its subsidiaries, were fined a total of 7.123 billion yuan, or roughly $999M. The penalty, one of the largest imposed on a Chinese internet company, was for violations of rules related to financial consumer protection, anti-money laundering, and more. Why it matters: The fine could signal the end of the scrutiny and restructuring of Ant, which was set to launch the world's largest IPO in 2020 before it was halted by regulators. As a result of China's crackdown, the tech giant has undergone a major revamp, including transforming into a financial holding company under the supervision of the People's Bank of China. The bigger picture: Alibaba holds approximately a 33% stake in Ant Group. Both companies were founded by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who recently made a reappearance in mainland China. The fine, along with new penalties imposed on Ant Group's Alipay and Tencent Holdings Tenpay, suggests that Chinese regulators are closing in on the end of their tech crackdown, allowing Ma's companies and others to resume business growth. 
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| 3 | | Uber, DoorDash, and Grubhub have filed lawsuits to try and block NYC's new $18 minimum wage law for food delivery app workers. The companies are seeking a temporary restraining order against the rule, which is scheduled to go into effect on July 12. More: - In their jointly filed lawsuit, DoorDash and Grubhub claim the law unfairly targets meal-delivery services while excluding grocery-delivery services.
- They argue that the rule would require them to pay workers for hours of availability on the delivery apps, even if they don't make deliveries.
- This could disadvantage delivery workers as the companies will need to closely monitor their time on the apps to control costs, they said.
- Uber claimed in a separate suit that the higher minimum wage would inflate food order prices, hurting local restaurants as well as consumers.
- In response, the city and labor advocates say the companies prioritize business interests over the well-being of struggling workers, who face extreme weather to make deliveries while dealing with an affordable housing crisis.
Zoom out: - NYC is the first U.S. city to require a minimum wage for food delivery workers, aiming for $17.96 per hour before tips.
- It has over 60,000 food delivery workers earning an average of $7.09 per hour, as estimated by the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
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| 4 | Apple plans to introduce its Vision Pro headset through appointment-based sales. The mixed-reality headset, priced at $3,500, will be available for customers to try on and demo at dedicated sections within Apple Stores, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. More: - The launch of the headset is scheduled for early 2024, starting in major cities across the U.S. and eventually expanding to other locations nationwide and internationally in late 2024.
- Bloomberg reports that customers will be able to schedule appointments to ensure a proper fit for the headset and even have prescription lens inserts fitted if necessary
- The company is also developing an iPhone app and physical scanning machine to help size the correct light seal for each customer.
- The Vision Pro will be sold through the online U.S. Apple Store in early 2024, though it will prompt customers to upload their lens prescriptions and head scan data.
- Third-party retailers are not expected to sell the device until at least 2025.
Zoom out: - Apple aims to reach more consumers by developing a cheaper model and a second-generation Pro version slated for release by 2026.
- For the initial headset, the company is facing manufacturing challenges and has trimmed its sales target for the first year from 1 million units to 400,000 units, mostly due to design challenges and high costs associated with the device's tiny OLED displays.
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| 5 | Apple has updated its Shazam app on iOS to recognize songs while they are playing in other apps like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Users can also enable the Auto Shazam feature, which listens and identifies songs as the user scrolls through other apps. More: - Users can now open Shazam, tap the blue button, and return to the third-party app to identify the song.
- Switching back to Shazam will display the song name and information.
- Shazam uses the iPhone's microphone to listen to the song while the other app is in use.
- The app's Android users already have a similar feature, albeit with a permission request to access other platforms.
- Shazam, which was acquired by Apple for $400M in 2018, is integrated directly into iOS, while it exists as a separate app on Android devices.
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| 6 | | OpenAI has made GPT-4, its latest text-generating model, available through its API. Developers can now integrate the chatbot technology into their applications and services using the cloud-based API. More: - Since GPT-4's announcement in March, OpenAI has received "millions" of API access requests from developers.
- Existing OpenAI developers with paid API access can now immediately access GPT-4, while new developers will gain access later this month.
- GPT-4 outperforms its predecessor, GPT-3.5, with improved text generation, reasoning, code interpretation, and image support.
- Although currently being tested with a partner called Be My Eyes, the model has the capability to analyze image content and answer related questions.
Zoom out: - Some platforms taking advantage of GPT-4 include Duolingo for role-playing conversations, Khan Academy for exam prep and story writing, and ChatSonic to serve as a personal assistant for businesses, writing content and automating customer inquiries.
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- Samsung forecasts a 96% decline in Q2 profit amid weak demand for memory chips. The company estimates an operating profit of 600 billion Korean won ($459M) during April to June, a sharp drop from 14.1 trillion Korean won in the same period last year. If realized, it would be Samsung's lowest quarterly profit since Q1 2009.
- Scientists from the University of Southern California have developed an AI-powered technology called the Greek Room to aid in the translation of the Bible into rare languages.
- G/O Media, the company behind websites like Deadspin, Gizmodo, and The A.V. Club, is using AI to create news content.
- Investigators in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission determined that bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network and former CEO Alex Mashinsky violated U.S. laws before the firm's collapse. The allegations include misleading investors and operating without registration with the regulator.
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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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