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| Here's a look at today's tech briefing: - Meta asks judge to dismiss FTC's anti-monopoly lawsuit.
- Apple cuts 600+ jobs after canceling car project.
- Report claims Tesla canceled its $25,000 'Model 2' sedan.
- Disney+ to crack down on password sharing starting in June.
- Samsung to expand semiconductor hub in Texas.
Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | Meta has asked a court to dismiss the FTC's lawsuit seeking to unwind its Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions. In 2020, the FTC sued Meta, claiming it holds an unlawful monopoly of the U.S. social networking market after buying up the competitors. More: - Meta, then Facebook, acquired Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.
- While the FTC initially approved the deals, it's now seeking to undo the acquisitions, arguing they were illegal anti-competitive moves to eliminate rival companies.
- In a motion filed today, Meta asked a judge to reject the FTC's lawsuit and award it summary judgment.
- The company argues the FTC "has no evidence" that the deals have harmed competition or consumers.
- "Through billions of dollars and millions of hours of investment, we've made the apps better, more reliable, and more secure," the company stated.
- A trial in the case has yet to be scheduled.
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| 2 | | Apple has laid off over 600 employees in California, including those developing smartwatch screens and its now-canceled car project. The cuts were disclosed in Apple's reports to the state under the WARN program, which requires companies to file reports for each California address affected by a layoff. More: - According to the reports, Apple laid off hundreds of employees working on the Apple Car project and nearly 100 employees at a secret facility dedicated to smartwatch screens.
- Specifically, Apple laid off 371 employees from its main car office in Santa Clara, California, along with those at different satellite offices.
- The autonomous electric car, known as Project Titan, had reportedly been in development for 10 years.
- However, Apple began to wind down the project earlier this year amid concerns about its cost and direction.
- Apple reassigned some employees working on the car to its artificial intelligence division.
Zoom out: - Last May, CEO Tim Cook said Apple had no plans for mass layoffs and would only consider them as a "last resort."
- Apple's recent job reductions are modest in comparison to the larger layoffs conducted by SAP, Dell, and Cisco this year.
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| 3 | | Elon Musk denied a report that Tesla is scrapping its $25,000 "Model 2" sedan. Reuters first reported that Tesla has canceled its long-awaited affordable model, citing sources and internal company messages. More: - The Tesla Model 2 was expected to start at $25,000, below the current cheapest Model 3, which is priced at around $39,000 in the U.S.
- Instead, Tesla is shifting its focus to self-driving robotaxis using the same small-vehicle platform, Reuters reported.
- Two sources said the decision to scrap the cheaper Tesla was made in a meeting attended by "scores of employees."
- However, Musk dismissed the report as untrue, stating "Reuters is lying (again)" on his social media platform X.
Zoom out: - Musk has long promised a more affordable electric vehicle. In January, he said Tesla would start production on a cheaper compact crossover at its Austin Gigafactory by late 2025.
- The move comes amid competition from Chinese automakers producing affordable EVs. Musk has warned that allowing cheap EV imports to the U.S. could threaten domestic automakers.
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| 4 | | Disney's streaming service will begin restricting password sharing in some countries in June before expanding to all subscribers by September, CEO Bob Iger told CNBC. It's unclear when the password-sharing crackdown could take effect in the U.S. More: - Disney+ already bans account impersonation through shared logins but has not strictly enforced the policy.
- Last year, Iger said the company was actively exploring solutions to tackle account-sharing among Disney Plus subscribers.
- The move is expected to boost Disney+ revenue as it moves toward profitability.
Zoom out: - Hulu, also owned by Disney, began cracking down on account login sharing outside households last month.
- Meanwhile, Netflix experienced 100,000 new sign-ups in two days after its password-sharing crackdown last May. The streamer went on to add almost 22 million subscribers in the second half of 2023.
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| 5 | | Samsung will double its investment to $44B to build a semiconductor hub in Texas, the Wall Street Journal reports. The South Korean electronics giant will build a second chipmaking plant and an advanced packaging hub in Taylor, Texas, outside of Austin. More: - The upgrades will be at Samsung's base in Taylor, where it's already been building a new chip-making factory and related facilities.
- Construction on that first plant began in 2022. Initially estimated at $17B, its costs have gone up due to inflation and other factors.
- Samsung now plans to build a second chipmaking plant and an advanced packaging hub at the site, expected to cost over $20B and $4B respectively.
- The expansion will be partially funded by billions of dollars in subsidies under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, aimed at boosting domestic chip production.
- The U.S. government is expected to award Samsung with one of the largest payouts for a single company, according to the WSJ.
Zoom out: - Intel recently secured the largest CHIPS grant yet, receiving up to $8.5B in direct funding and another $11B in loans to expand its chip-making in the U.S.
- In February, GlobalFoundries was awarded a $1.5B grant and a $1.6B loan for its major U.S. expansion.
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| 6 | | Meta's AI image creator is facing criticism for its inability to generate mixed-race couples and people from diverse racial backgrounds. The Verge reported that the AI system consistently failed to generate images of White and Asian couples together. More: - The Verge tried dozens of prompts such as "Asian man and white wife," "Asian woman and Caucasian husband," and "Asian man and Caucasian friend," but Meta's image generator only created one accurate image.
- The generator also frequently depicted Asian women as young and light-skinned, with men alongside the women often shown as older.
- The system has a disclaimer that its images "may be inaccurate or inappropriate."
Zoom out: - Other media outlets reported the same or similar issues. Engadget found that Meta's image generator shows bias in favor of generating images of people from the same racial background.
- When prompted to create an image of a Black woman with a White husband, Meta's AI primarily produced images of only Black couples, CNN found.
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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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