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Welcome to the Inside Tech newsletter! Here are our top stories: - Disney will raise streaming prices and crack down on account sharing.
- President Biden signed an order to restrict U.S. investment in Chinese tech.
- The Supreme Court has allowed Apple to keep its App Store payment rules for now.
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Disney will raise the prices of its streaming services and crack down on account sharing as it deals with subscriber and streaming losses. Starting October 12, the company will hike the costs of its ad-free subscription plans of Disney+ and Hulu by at least 20%. More: - Disney+ Premium will increase from $10.99 to $13.99 a month, or double the cost of when it launched in 2019.
- Hulu's ad-free plan is also rising from $14.99 to $17.99 monthly.
- The ad-supported tiers for both will remain at $7.99.
- A discounted ad-free Disney+ and Hulu bundle will be available for $19.99/month.
Zoom out: - Taking after Netflix's approach, CEO Bob Iger also mentioned plans to crack down on password sharing.
- Disney is actively exploring solutions for streaming subscribers who share accounts, with the changes expected in 2024, he said.
- The moves could boost revenue after Disney reported fiscal Q3 streaming losses of $512B, about half the $1.1B loss from a year earlier.
- It ended the quarter with 146.1 million Disney+ subscribers, a 7.4% drop from the prior quarter.
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| 2 | | President Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order restricting U.S. venture capital and private equity firms from investing in certain Chinese technologies. The move comes as American investments in China dropped significantly in 2022 amid ongoing geopolitical tensions between the superpowers, which could escalate further under the new restrictions. 
What happened: Biden's order, which goes into effect in 2024, will make it harder for Americans to invest in Chinese efforts to develop semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum computing, and some artificial intelligence capabilities. According to the administration, the goal is to limit China's military tech upgrades through U.S. investments while keeping vital trade intact for both economies. Quotable: The White House described the move as "narrowly targeted," saying it was meant to limit funding toward technologies "that pose the most acute national security risks." In response, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated that it has "serious concern" about the order and "reserves the right to take measures." Why it matters: In recent decades, the U.S. has encouraged American investors to strengthen ties with China and integrate Beijing into the Western economy. However, rocky trade relations, ongoing geopolitical tensions, and lockdowns contributed to an exodus of U.S. private equity capital last year. In the final quarter of 2022, M&A and fresh funding rounds involving U.S. private equity firms fell to $530M, their lowest quarterly tally in two years. | | | |
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| 3 | On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Apple can keep its current App Store payment rules during its ongoing legal dispute with Epic Games. The court, represented by Justice Elena Kagan, rejected Epic's appeal against Apple, allowing the rules to stand for now. Background: - Under the rules, Apple takes an up to 30% cut from App Store and in-app transactions.
- Epic Games, known for "Fortnite," had accused Apple of monopolistic practices in a 2020 antitrust lawsuit.
- While the antitrust claims were dismissed, a judge ruled Apple can't prevent app developers from guiding users to alternative payment methods beyond the App Store.
Ruling: - The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals found Apple violated a California competition law by restricting developer communication about alternative payment options, like those through the Epic Games Store
- The court, however, temporarily halted the ruling in July, giving Apple time to appeal to the Supreme Court.
- Epic urged the High Court to overturn this decision, saying a delay would harm the company and developers.
- Kagan rejected that request, offering no explanation. The appeals court ruling against Apple will still kick in if the Supreme Court refuses to hear the case.
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| 4 | X, formerly Twitter, will soon feature video chat, according to CEO Linda Yaccarino. She told CNBC that X users will be able to make video chat calls without providing a phone number as part of its ongoing transformation. More: - During the interview, Yaccarino described the rebrand from Twitter to X as "a liberation that allowed us to evolve past a legacy mindset and thinking..."
- Yaccarino, who became CEO in early June, said she joined the company believing she would partner with Elon Musk and "transform Twitter into X, the everything app."
- "Elon has been talking about X, the everything app, for a very long time," she said.
Zoom out: - Her update comes after Musk said in May that Twitter would offer voice and video chats, allowing users to communicate with each other using their handles without sharing phone numbers.
- The plans are part of Musk's vision for "Twitter 2.0 The Everything App," including long-form tweets, payments, and other features.
- Twitter, now X, has also rolled out encrypted direct messaging.
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| 5 | Bots significantly outperform humans in online CAPTCHA tests, according to research from the University of California, Irvine. Computer science professor Gene Tsudik and colleagues found that automated bots are faster and more accurate at completing the distorted text tests, casting doubt on their usefulness as a security measure. More: - The team reviewed 200 of the most popular websites and found 120 that still used CAPTCHA tests.
- They recruited 1,000 human participants to take 10 tests each on the site.
- The humans showed 50 to 85% accuracy and took, on average, nine to 15 seconds to complete the tests.
- Meanwhile, the bots were able to complete the CAPTCHAs at 85% to 100% accuracy in less than a second.
- The yet-to-be peer-reviewed research was posted on arXiv.
Zoom out: - Shujun Li at the University of Kent told New Scientist that "new approaches are needed" to thwart bots from accessing websites, such as "more dynamic approaches using behavioral analysis."
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| 6 | | Financial Times reported that Google and Universal Music Group (UMG) are in early talks to create an AI-generated music tool that would compensate artists and songwriters for their music. Fans could use AI to legally create tracks based on participating artists' voices, lyrics, and sounds. More: - While a deal hasn't been confirmed, the tool could compensate copyright holders for music rights, with artists having the choice to join.
- The goal is to ensure tracks are produced legally with the proper copyright attribution.
- The talks come after unauthorized AI-generated tracks have spread on platforms like TikTok.
Zoom out: - Earlier this year, UMG started issuing takedown requests for AI-generated songs, saying it's a breach of copyright.
- The music industry remains divided on AI, with supporters like Grimes and David Guetta endorsing the technology and others like Sting defending human artistic work.
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is the curator and writer of the AI and Tech newsletters at Inside. With a career in journalism and editing that began in 2007, she has written for publications including USA Today, The Arizona Republic, Arizona Business Gazette, and more. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Christopher Hachey | |
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