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Welcome to the Inside Tech newsletter! Here are our top stories: - Twitter was fined $350K for delay in handing over Trump records.
- U.S. government funding for semiconductor projects has yet to be allocated.
- Verizon is shutting down its Zoom competitor.
- iOS 17 will relocate the "end call" button.
- Gizmodo's editor-in-chief is suing Apple, claiming it plagiarized his "Tetris" book.
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Twitter, now X, was fined $350,000 for missing a court-ordered deadline to supply records related to ex-President Donald Trump's account, according to a newly unsealed court opinion. Special counsel Jack Smith's team acquired the search warrant this past January as part of the investigation into Trump's post-2020 election actions leading up to Jan. 6, 2021. Background: - The warrant directed Twitter to supply data from Trump's account after a court determined "probable cause to search the Twitter account for evidence of criminal offenses."
- Newly revealed court records highlight a dispute stemming from a nondisclosure agreement, which prevented Twitter from informing Trump about the warrant.
- In its argument, Twitter claimed it had a First Amendment right to inform Trump, leading to a lengthy legal battle.
Ruling: - Eventually, a court ruled in favor of the government, and the social media firm handed over the information to Smith days after the deadline.
- As a result, Twitter was fined $350,000 after being held in contempt.
- An appeals court dismissed Twitter's claim that it shouldn't have faced contempt or sanctions.
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| 2 | | A year after President Biden signed the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, over 460 companies from 42 states have expressed interest in government backing for semiconductor projects, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. But the boost to the U.S. chip industry is still on hold. While the plan was to award $52.7B toward chip production, the federal dollars have yet to be distributed. 
Background: The CHIPS Act, signed on August 9, 2022, aims to enhance U.S. competitiveness, innovation, and security by boosting domestic chip manufacturing and cutting-edge technologies. It provides $52.7B in subsidies for U.S. semiconductor production, research, and workforce development, along with $200B for R&D and commercialization, $24B in chip production tax credits, and $3B for technology and wireless supply chains. What's new: In June, the Commerce Department started accepting applications for its $39B direct subsidy program, which covers chip-making projects in the areas of semiconductor manufacturing, equipment, and materials. The agency has assembled a team of more than 140 people to review applications and has been actively talking with companies, including companies like Integra, Intel, and SkyWater, many of which are relying heavily on the funding. After choosing projects, the Commerce Department will decide whether to award grants, government loans, or loan guarantees, though not all applicants will receive aid. | | | |
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| 3 | | Verizon is shutting down its Zoom competitor BlueJeans, which it acquired for $500M in April 2020. Verizon said it will sunset BlueJeans products due to "changing market conditions in a post-pandemic landscape." More: - The company's recently-added free basic plan will be discontinued on August 31.
- Users are advised to download their recordings before then, as content will be deleted after that based on the BlueJeans privacy policy.
- The service will operate for other paid users until at least December.
Zoom out: - Video conferencing demand surged during the pandemic, with Zoom and Microsoft Teams leading.
- However, "Zoom fatigue" and the shift back to physical offices have led to lower demand for videoconferencing tools.
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| 4 | | Apple's next iPhone software update includes a design shift that relocates the red "end call" button to the bottom right of the screen. The change in iOS 17 has sparked reactions on social media, as users are concerned that it will disrupt their muscle memory when ending calls. More: - As part of the update, the red "end call" button will no longer appear alone at the bottom of the screen.
- On the new screen, it will be at the lower right of the screen, along with the buttons for mute, keypad, speaker, add call, and FaceTime.
- Users who struggle to adjust could accidentally hit the FaceTime or dial pad buttons.
Zoom out: - Apple's approach, as per developers, involves consolidating and relocating controls for better accessibility on larger iPhones.
- The update is expected to launch to the public in September, following Apple's yearly iPhone event.
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| 5 | | Dan Ackerman, Gizmodo's editor-in-chief, has sued Apple, the Tetris Company, and others, claiming they turned his book about the video game "Tetris" into a movie without permission. The lawsuit seeks over $4.8M in damages from Apple and other parties, citing copyright infringement and unfair competition. More: - In the complaint, Ackerman accuses the parties of plagiarizing his 2016 book "The Tetris Effect" for the 2023 Apple TV Plus film "Tetris."
- The suit claims the film closely mimics his book's tone, scenes, and approach, especially the portrayal of Tetris' release in a Cold War spy thriller context.
- Ackerman claims he sent a pre-publication copy to the Tetris Company in 2016 but received a strong cease-and-desist letter and no deal.
- He claims CEO Maya Rogers and screenwriter Noah Pink collaborated without his permission for a film screenplay based on his book.
- Apple and the Tetris Company have yet to comment.
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| 6 | Web traffic to OpenAI's ChatGPT site has been slowing down since its peak in May, according to Similarweb estimates. The popular chatbot is facing competition from alternatives like Microsoft's Bing and Google's Bard. More: - July marked the second straight month of a drop in ChatGPT's monthly visits, which fell by 9.6% to nearly 1.5 billion.
- June's 1.6 billion visits reflected a 9.7% decrease from May's 1.8 billion.
- In the U.S. only, traffic to chat.openai.com fell 15% in June and another 4% in July.
- Meanwhile, Google's competing Bard chatbot experienced a 34.5% spike in July visits to 189 million, although it remains significantly below ChatGPT's numbers.
- ChatGPT also outperformed Microsoft's AI-enabled Bing search engine with 1.47 million visits in July, compared to 1.2 million for bing.com.
- It's uncertain if ChatGPT's traffic dip is also a seasonal pattern tied to school breaks, as college-age individuals make up over a quarter of ChatGPT's adult audience.
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- Slack is undergoing its first major redesign in years, reorganizing the left sidebar into buttons for channels ("Home"), direct messages ("DMs"), and notifications ("Activity").
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Term of the Day Internal rate of return: VC firms use internal rate of return (IRR) to analyze a fund’s performance and give the annualized percentage returns earned by the fund. Question of the Week Do you think the 9-to-5 workday still relevant in today's modern workplace? Join the conversation |
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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 NO ACCOUNT ASSOCIATED WITH THE EDITOR | |
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