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| Here's a rundown of today's Tech briefing: - Jury finds Tesla's Autopilot not to blame for fatal crash.
- The 2024 Apple Watch will come with a blood pressure sensor.
- Netflix's ad tier grows to 15 million users.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | Tesla is not to blame for a 2019 fatal crash reportedly involving its Autopilot system, a California jury ruled on Tuesday. The lawsuit had claimed Tesla knowingly delivered cars with a faulty Autopilot system, resulting in a fatal crash that took the life of a Model 3 owner and left two passengers seriously injured. More: - According to the lawsuit, Micah Lee, 37, was driving his Tesla Model 3 at 65 mph on a Los Angeles highway when it suddenly veered off, hit a palm tree, and caught fire, leading to his death.
- Lee's estate and the two survivors filed a $400M lawsuit against Tesla, alleging that the company sold Lee flawed "experimental" software in his 2019 Model 3, which was advertised as having full self-driving capabilities.
- Tesla attributed the crash to human error and argued there was no definite proof Autopilot was active during the accident.
- The jury, in a 9-3 decision, ruled in favor of Tesla, stating there was no software defect.
Zoom out: - It is Tesla's first Autopilot lawsuit involving a fatality. The outcome is expected to set a precedent for future trials involving its semi-autonomous driving technology.
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| 2 | | Apple is planning new health-related features for the 2024 Apple Watch, including a blood pressure sensor and sleep apnea detection, Bloomberg reports. The company will also launch a paid health coaching service that could recommend meal plans and workouts, according to the report. More: - The new blood pressure sensor will detect elevated blood pressure without displaying precise measurements.
- A future watch could display specific diastolic and systolic metrics, according to Bloomberg.
- The 2024 watch will also monitor breathing and sleep patterns to predict possible sleep apnea and suggest consulting a doctor.
Zoom out: - The health coaching service could add to Apple's already-growing Services business, which saw revenue of $19.6B in Q3, a 12% YoY increase.
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| 3 | | Netflix announced that its ad-supported tier now has 15 million monthly active users, up from 5 million last May. Netflix has been raising prices on its ad-free options to encourage more subscribers to switch to the tier with commercials, which is expected to boost Netflix's ad revenue to nearly $4B by 2030. 
Details: In its Q3 results, Netflix reported that its $6.99 per month ad plan in the U.S. saw nearly 70% sequential growth in membership. In countries offering the ad tier, 30% of new signups chose the ad option, it said. Why it matters: In April 2022, Netflix announced its ad-free plan after losing subscribers in Q1 of that year. Other streaming services like Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, and Peacock, which have also introduced ad-supported versions. The shift toward ad-supported models has largely been successful, and it's projected that the ad subscription plans could generate $20B by 2029, according to a Digital TV Research report. | | | |
| 4 | | Google and Match Group, the owner of Tinder, have reached a settlement that resolves allegations of Google's anti-competitive behavior through its app store. The settlement allows Match Group to offer alternative in-app payment options, bypassing Google's payment channels. More: - With Match withdrawing its lawsuit, Epic Games becomes the sole plaintiff in an antitrust trial against Google, which starts on Nov. 6.
- Epic accuses Google of unlawfully monopolizing Android app distribution, stifling innovation, and extracting billions in monopoly profits.
- The "Fortnite" maker is pursuing an injunction to prevent what it claims are U.S. antitrust law violations.
- Google has denied wrongdoing and notes that it competes against Apple for app sales.
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| 5 | Splunk, the cybersecurity company, will lay off 7% of its global team, affecting an estimated 560 employees. The move comes months ahead of its big merger with Cisco Systems Inc. More: - In a letter to employees, CEO Gary Steele said the layoffs aren't linked to its Cisco deal.
- The cuts "are the continuation of the important initiatives we've undertaken across Splunk for more than a year to align our resources and operating structure," Steele wrote.
- He noted that the market has shrunk, and the company expects ongoing unpredictability in the macro environment.
- Most of the affected employees are in the U.S., according to Splunk.
Zoom out: | | | |
| 6 | | A federal judge has dismissed the majority of copyright claims filed by several artists against Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt. Reports described it as an early victory for the generative AI firms, which are accused of copyright infringement by using the artists' works to train AI. More: - The three artists alleged that the companies used their copyrighted images to train Stability AI's text-to-image AI generator, Stable Diffusion, without gaining consent.
- Judge William H. Orrick said he could not find enough evidence of direct infringements by the AI image companies.
- Orrick noted that two of the plaintiff artists did not actually copyright their works.
- While dismissing the suits against Midjourney and DeviantArt, Orrick permitted one infringement complaint against Stability AI to move forward.
- He said the artists could still file an amended complaint against Midjourney and DeviantArt, which both use Stability's technology.
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- Apple Arcade is set to release eight new titles before the end of this year, starting with the Wordle-like crossword game "Knotwords" on Nov. 3. The game subscription service costs $6.99 per month in the U.S.
- Chinese giant Alibaba launched Tongyi Qianwen 2.0, its latest large language model, to compete against U.S. firms like OpenAI and Google.
- Atari is acquiring developer Digital Eclipse for up to $20M. Digital Eclipse, known for remastering older game titles into collections, will help Atari "further support its retro-focused growth strategy."
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Term of the Day Board of directors: A board of directors is a group of individuals elected by shareholders to govern and oversee a company’s strategy and management. Question of the Week What's one tool or app that has significantly made your life easier at work? Join the conversation |
INSIDE TECH LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is an editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters, with a career spanning journalism since 2007. She has written for publications including The Arizona Republic and USA Today and authored a book on the solar industry in 2016. Reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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