| Here's a look at today's tech briefing: - EU probing Apple after it blocks Epic Games app store.
- Ex-Google engineer charged with stealing trade secrets.
- FCC investigating AT&T's nationwide outage.
- Nikon is acquiring Red cinema camera maker.
- Rivian to announce cheaper midsize SUV.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | The European Union is looking into Apple's decision to cancel the developer account of rival Epic Games. The move has effectively blocked Epic's plans to launch an iOS games store and bring back Fortnite for iPhones in the EU. More: - The European Commission is now investigating whether Apple violated the bloc's newly enforced Digital Markets Act (DMA) and other laws.
- Under the DMA, Apple is forced to open up its iOS ecosystem to third-party app stores.
- After a years-long feud, Apple initially restored Epic Games' developer account last month after suspending it in 2020, when Epic launched its own payment system in Fortnite's iOS version.
- However, Apple banned the account for a second time on Wednesday, claiming Epic is "verifiably untrustworthy" and expressing doubt that it would comply with contractual obligations in its developer agreement.
- Epic CEO Tim Sweeney claims Apple is retaliating against its antitrust lobbying, lawsuit, and his own social media posts.
|     | |
| 2 | | A federal jury has charged an ex-Google engineer with stealing AI trade secrets for two Chinese companies he secretly worked for. Linwei Ding was arrested Wednesday and faces four counts of theft of trade secrets. More: - Ding is accused of stealing more than 500 secret files on Google's AI, mainly concerning its TPU chips used in AI operations.
- The files allegedly contained designs for Google's v4 and v6 TPU chips, specs for GPUs in its data centers, and machine learning workload designs.
- The government claims Ding began stealing files and was then offered a CTO position by the Chinese AI firm Rongshu.
- He later founded his AI startup Zhisuan, all while employed at Google.
- Ding stepped down from Google in December 2023 after the company asked about his file uploads.
- If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine per charge.
| | | |
| 3 | | The Federal Communications Commission has launched a formal investigation into the AT&T outage that disrupted mobile service for millions in the U.S. last month. The FCC has asked for "more in-depth information" about the cause and effect of the nationwide outage, as well as AT&T's response. More: - The outage disrupted cellphone service for around 12 hours, starting at around 3:30 a.m. ET on Feb. 22.
- AT&T says the incident was caused by "an incorrect process" while it was expanding its network, ruling out a cyberattack.
- FCC spokesman Jonathan Uriarte noted that the outage "disrupted access to lifesaving communications," including emergency services.
Zoom out: - AT&T, the third-largest U.S. retail wireless carrier, hasn't disclosed how many of its 71 million postpaid wireless customers were impacted.
- The company has since apologized and offered a $5 billing credit to those who lost service, which it says is equal to an average day's service cost.
| | | |
| 4 | | EV maker Rivian is set to announce a more budget-friendly midsize SUV today, hoping to widen its appeal beyond its premium electric vehicles. The "R2" vehicle could help Rivian gain more customers as it struggles to turn a profit amid a slowdown in EV demand. More: - The R2, a two-row compact SUV, is expected to have about 300 miles of range at a starting price of around $47,000.
- It should hit production sometime in 2026.
- Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe recently noted the untapped potential of the massive midsize SUV market beyond Tesla's offerings.
Zoom out: - Last month, Rivian said it would lay off 10% of its salaried employees and produce 57,000 vehicles in 2024, about the same as last year, below the 81,700 expected by analysts.
- Rivian reported a Q4 net loss of $1.5B, down from the prior year's $1.7B loss. The Amazon-backed EV maker reported a 10% drop in quarterly deliveries.
- Despite currently losing money on each vehicle, Rivian expects to turn a "modest gross profit" by the end of this year.
| | | |
| |
|
| 5 | | Nikon is acquiring Red Digital Cinema, the California company known for its high-res movie and TV cameras, for an undisclosed sum. Nikon says the deal will allow it to expand into the professional digital cinema camera market, drawing from Red's color science and image compression technologies. More: - The deal will see Red become a fully owned subsidiary of the Japanese photography giant.
- Billionaire James Jannard, the founder of Oakley, also founded Red in 2005.
- The company's cameras include the RED One 4K and V-Raptor X. It also specializes in RAW compression technology.
- Its cameras have been used to film major Marvel films, nature documentaries, and TV shows, including "Squid Game," "Peaky Blinders," and "The Queen's Gambit."
Zoom out: - The deal comes less than two years after Red sued Nikon, claiming it copied its video compression tech through Nikon's firmware update for its Z9 camera.
- The case was dismissed last April.
| | | |
| 6 | | Salesforce is launching an AI assistant that can automate some administrative tasks for healthcare workers. Doctors can use "Einstein Copilot: Health Actions" to help book appointments, summarize patient data, and send referrals using AI. More: - Salesforce says the AI software allows doctors to quickly generate patient summaries, including medications, diagnoses, and tests, to save time on manual data lookup.
- The tech giant is also launching "Assessment Generation" for medical offices to digitize health assessments without having to type or code them manually.
- The offerings are part of Salesforce's Einstein 1 Platform, which unifies medical data from sources like electronic health records and insurance companies into a single place.
Zoom out: - Administrative tasks are a major cause of doctor burnout, a recent Athenahealth survey revealed.
- Over 90% of doctors reported feeling burned out often, and 64% cited too much paperwork as a key stressor.
- That same survey also showed that 83% of doctors believe AI could help address some of these issues. Nearly 40% thought it could cut down on administrative burdens and streamline tasks.
| | | |
| 7 | | QUICK HITS - Sales teams at MongoDB, Warmly, and User Evidence are seeing 56% more pipeline from this simple framework.*
- While EU iPhone users can now access third-party app stores through iOS 17.4, some features will stop working after a "grace period" when users travel outside the bloc, according to Apple.
- Microsoft will hold a generative AI event at noon ET on March 21. The "Advancing the New Era of Work with Copilot" event will focus on its Copilot, Windows, and Surface products.
- Meta will delete original Oculus Quest accounts and their data, including purchases, on March 29 unless users switch to Meta accounts.
- IT services provider Accenture is acquiring online learning platform Udacity for an undisclosed amount.
*This is a sponsored post | | | |
| Upcoming Events | | MAR
7 | | Portfolio Diversification - Learn from knowledgable experts on the latest trends in alternative investment assets like private equity, crypto, real estate, and the art market. | | | | | | | MAR
27 | | Discover how generative AI can speed up your enterprise, expand your business model, and improve your value proposition. Network with hundreds of AI leaders.* | | | | | | * This is a sponsored event | | | |
 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a contributing editor and writer of Inside's AI and Tech newsletters. She has written for publications including USA Today, the Arizona Business Gazette, and The Arizona Republic, where she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for collaborative reporting on state pension cost increases. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
| |
| |
