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| Here's a look at today's tech briefing: - FTC investigating TikTok over security and privacy.
- Hulu content now available in the Disney+ app.
- Judge allows SEC lawsuit against Coinbase to proceed.
- Apple to unveil new AI features at WWDC.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is nearing the end of an investigation into TikTok's data and security practices, which could result in a lawsuit or fine against the company, according to Politico. It's the latest challenge for TikTok in the U.S., where lawmakers are considering a bill to ban the app unless TikTok cuts ties with its Chinese parent company ByteDance. More: - The FTC investigation centers on TikTok's handling of children's user data and potential violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA.
- COPPA requires kid-oriented apps and websites to gain parental consent before collecting data on children under 13.
- The FTC is also investigating allegations that TikTok violated federal law and misled users by claiming that individuals in China can't access U.S. user data.
- The agency believes TikTok may have breached the part of the FTC Act that outlaws "unfair or deceptive" business practices.
Zoom out: - After swift approval in the U.S. House, the Senate is now weighing the bill that would force ByteDance to sell the U.S. assets of TikTok or face a ban.
- Lawmakers are concerned the app poses a national security threat through its data collection and other practices, which ByteDance has denied.
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| 2 | | Disney+ and Hulu content is now available in a single streaming app. After a successful beta test of the feature, subscribers of both Disney+ and Hulu can now directly stream Hulu content within the Disney+ app. More: - Users can also subscribe to a bundle of the combined service, known as Hulu on Disney+.
- The plan starts at $9.99 a month with ads or $19.99 without ads.
- The service also incorporates Hulu titles into Disney+ recommendations, sets, and collections.
- Both Disney+ and Hulu are still available as standalone services. Disney+ subscribers can upgrade to the bundle for an extra $2 per month.
Zoom out: 
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| 3 | | A U.S. judge denied a request to dismiss the SEC's lawsuit against Coinbase, allowing the high-profile case to proceed to a jury trial. The SEC sued Coinbase last June, accusing the cryptocurrency giant of operating as an unregistered broker and securities exchange. More: - The SEC claims Coinbase illegally operates as a national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency because it hasn't registered with the regulator.
- In its lawsuit, the SEC claims Coinbase has facilitated trading of over a dozen crypto tokens that should be registered as securities.
- Coinbase filed to dismiss the suit, arguing that crypto assets, unlike stocks and bonds, are not securities.
- In her ruling today, U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla denied that argument, saying the SEC made credible claims that at least some of the digital assets listed on the exchange qualify as securities.
- While "crypto" may be a new term, Coinbase's "challenged transactions fall comfortably within the framework that courts have used to identify securities for nearly eighty years," she wrote.
Zoom out: - Failla did reject the FTC's claims that Coinbase's Wallet app functions as a broker under federal law.
- Paul Grewal, Coinbase's chief legal officer, said the firm remains confident in its legal arguments against the SEC's lawsuit as it proceeds.
- Elliott Stein from Bloomberg Intelligence predicts a prolonged discovery phase and potential appeals in the case, potentially setting it up to go before the Supreme Court.
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| 4 | | Apple is expected to unveil new generative AI features for iPhones during its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. WWDC kicks off on June 10 with a keynote announcing updates to Apple's operating systems, including iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. More: - Melius Research's Ben Reitzes claims Apple is expected to introduce plans for a new AI App Store at WWDC.
- While not confirmed, earlier reports have hinted at Apple's plans to incorporate more AI into iOS 18, potentially improving services like Siri and the Messaging app.
- Apple could incorporate auto-completion and auto-summarizing features into its core apps and productivity suite.
- The company is also updating its Xcode programming software with AI that can generate code.
Zoom out: - During a February earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said Apple has spent a "tremendous amount of time and effort" on AI and will "share the details of our ongoing work in that space later this year."
- Apple has already developed its own large language model framework, called Ajax, and an internal chatbot called Apple GPT, though they haven't been integrated into any consumer products yet.
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| 5 | | The U.S. government announced a $1.5B loan to restart a nuclear power plant in Michigan. The Energy Department's loan guarantee will allow owner Holtec International to restore the Palisades nuclear power plant after it was shut down in 2022. More: - Holtec, which acquired the 800-megawatt plant in 2022 with plans to dismantle it, now aims to restart it by late 2025.
- Once reopened, it will be the first successfully restarted nuclear power plant in U.S. history, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said.
- The Energy Department expects the plant to prevent around 4.47 million tons of CO2 emissions annually, or 111 million tons over its projected 25 years — equivalent to the emissions of 970,000 gas-powered cars.
- The project will also hire more than 600 workers, with nearly half coming from union labor, Holtec said.
Zoom out: - The loan, made available under 2022's Inflation Reduction Act, is conditional upon meeting technical, legal, environmental, and financial requirements.
- The plant's reopening also requires approval by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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| 6 | | Amazon said it will invest a further $2.75B into Anthropic, adding to its initial $1.25B investment from last September. The latest tranche completes Amazon's pledge to invest up to $4B in the artificial intelligence startup, a competitor to OpenAI and Google. More: - As part of the deal, Anthropic named Amazon Web Services its primary cloud provider.
- Additionally, Anthropic plans to use AWS data centers and chips for some of its operations and give AWS customers access to its future foundation AI models.
- Anthropic's latest AI models, known as the Claude 3 series, are now available through Amazon Bedrock, AWS's fully managed service.
- The models, which compete with OpenAI's GPT series, can both generate text and analyze images.
Zoom out: - Anthropic, founded in 2021 by ex-OpenAI employees Daniela and Dario Amodei, has raised over $10B in the last year from Amazon, Google, Salesforce, and others.
- Google agreed to invest $2B in Anthropic last October following an earlier $550M in funding that year.
- Anthropic also counts Google as a cloud computing partner.
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- A phishing attack is targeting some Apple users. The attack involves repeated password reset requests followed by fraudulent calls from people posing as Apple employees to solicit passwords.
- Adobe unveiled GenStudio, a new AI-driven platform for building marketing campaigns.
- Hello Games released its latest update for "No Man's Sky," adding both a ship editor and procedurally generated space stations to the 2016 game.
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 | 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 Beth Duckett | |
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