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| Hey Insiders, Welcome to Inside Tech! Here are today's top stories: - Tax credits help boost U.S. EV market sales
- U.K. watchdog clears Amazon's iRobot purchase
- Google's parent company warns employees about using AI chatbots
And more... Scroll down for some "Quick Hits" and our "Question of the Week," and please let us know of any topics you'd like to see covered in future issues. Happy weekend! Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | U.S. electric vehicle sales surged nearly 80% in Q1 2023, propelling the country ahead of Germany to become the second-largest EV market globally, trailing only China, according to Counterpoint's USA Passenger Electric Vehicle Model Sales Tracker. EV sales surged as combustion engine car sales remained flat. More: - Tesla dominated the market, capturing 62.7% of EV sales in Q1, followed by GM, Volkswagen, and other brands.
- Battery EVs accounted for 81% of passenger EV sales, while plug-in hybrid EVs made up the remainder.
- EV tax credits drove up EV sales this year, with around 20 models from Tesla, GM, Ford, Stellantis, Rivian, and Volkswagen now qualifying for the credits.
- The expected recovery of the U.S. economy, coupled with government policies and investments in the EV sector, is likely to support continued growth, with projected EV sales of around 1.5 million units in 2023, according to Counterpoint Research Director Jeff Fieldhack.
Credit: Counterpoint |     | |
| 2 | | The news: The U.K. competition regulator has approved Amazon's $1.7B acquisition of iRobot, the maker of Roomba vacuum cleaners, clearing one regulatory hurdle as others remain in the U.S. and Europe. Details: The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority concluded that the deal would not harm competition and chose not to escalate its investigation. In its decision, the watchdog determined that robot vacuum cleaners and the data they gather aren't a crucial gateway in the emerging smart home devices market. It also found no evidence of Amazon favoring iRobot's products over others on its online platform. By the numbers: The approval boosted iRobot's shares by 18% while Amazon's stock declined slightly. Pending approval from other jurisdictions, the acquisition would become Amazon's fourth largest, trailing Whole Foods, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), and One Medical. What's next: EU antitrust regulators are expected to decide on the iRobot deal by July 6, while the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating the iRobot acquisition and may file an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. 
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| 3 | | Prince Harry and Meghan's podcast production deal with Spotify has ended after producing only one series. Spotify and Archewell Audio, the production company of Harry and Meghan, have mutually terminated their podcast production deal, according to a joint statement. More: - Markle's podcast, "Archetypes," is the sole project she and her husband accomplished under the roughly $20M deal with Spotify, which was signed in late 2020.
- However, sources told the WSJ they did meet the productivity benchmarks necessary to receive the complete payout.
- Meghan's podcast, addressing female stereotypes with notable guests like Serena Williams and Mariah Carey, ran for 12 episodes on Spotify.
- Despite winning a People's Choice Award, Spotify has chosen not to renew the podcast.
- Meghan is reportedly developing more content for the "Archetypes" audience on another undisclosed platform.
- Harry and Meghan also have a deal with Netflix, which released a documentary series on the couple in 2022.
Zoom out: - The decision to end the partnership is not related to Spotify's recent layoffs in its podcast division, where 200 employees were affected.
- Spotify said it plans to adopt a more personalized approach for each show and creator.
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| 4 | | Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is exiting the Dutch market after its application to register was turned down by authorities. The world's largest crypto exchange said it failed to meet local registration requirements as a virtual asset service provider. More: - Binance had been operating in the Netherlands without regulatory permission and was fined by the Dutch Central Bank last year for offering crypto services without proper registration.
- Binance is no longer accepting new users and will halt trading and deposits from July 17 in the country.
- However, users can still withdraw their assets as advised by Binance.
- The crypto exchange has successfully registered in several other European countries, including France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden, and Lithuania, to continue its operations.
- Binance said it also aims to comply with the upcoming Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), which will allow registered firms in one EU country to offer services across other member states.
Zoom out: - The decision comes amid a number of setbacks for Binance, including facing new charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly violating securities laws and mishandling customer funds.
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| 5 | | Intel plans to invest up to $4.6B in a new semiconductor assembly and testing plant in Poland. The facility in Wroclaw will join Intel's existing sites in Ireland and Germany, providing a boost to the European semiconductor supply chain. More: - The Polish facility, expected to create around 2,000 jobs, aims to meet the growing demand for assembly and test capacity in the region.
- It aligns with Intel's plans for a "semiconductor fab mega-site" in Germany, with both facilities set to be operational by 2027.
- On Friday, sources said Germany was close to reaching a €10B ($10.9B) subsidy agreement with Intel for the construction of the mega site in Magdeburg.
Other projects: - Intel is also expanding with a new R&D hub in France and investments in Ireland, Italy, Poland, and Spain.
- In total, Intel will invest over €33B ($36B) in European R&D and manufacturing, contributing to a €80B ($87B) commitment in the EU over the next decade.
Zoom out: - The EU is targeting a 20% share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity by 2030, which is twice its current level.
- The move aligns with global efforts to subsidize domestic chip manufacturing and address the global chip shortage while enhancing U.S. national security.
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| 6 | | Alphabet, Google's parent company, is cautioning employees against sharing confidential information with AI chatbots, including its own Bard. AI language models often train on user data, potentially leading to the leakage of confidential information if the bots reproduce the data in future chats. More: - Alphabet expressed concerns about the potential risk of data leakage and the fact that human reviewers could have access to chat entries.
- In addition, Alphabet has alerted its engineers to avoid using computer code generated by chatbots directly.
- The company acknowledged Bard's unwanted code suggestions but still sees its benefits for programmers and aims to be transparent about its limitations.
Zoom out: - In May, Samsung temporarily barred employees from using generative AI tools after an engineer unintentionally uploaded internal source code to ChatGPT.
- A January survey by Fishbowl revealed that 43% of professionals use AI tools like ChatGPT at work, with almost 70% keeping it undisclosed to their bosses.
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Term of the Day Data-driven attribution: Data-driven attribution is an attribution model used in marketing to measure the impact of touchpoints throughout the customer journey. Question of the Week How do you feel about the phrase "The customer is always right"? Join the conversation |
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 | AI and technology writer | | Beth is a writer and editor at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily technology news. She has written the Inside AI newsletter since 2019. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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