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| Here's a look at today's tech briefing: - U.S. DOJ could file an antitrust case against Apple.
- Twilio co-founder resigns as CEO.
- Apple will start shipping its mixed-reality headset on Feb. 2.
Thanks for reading! Beth
p/beth-duckett | |
| 1 | | The U.S. Department of Justice is nearing the end of an antitrust investigation into Apple, potentially leading to a lawsuit over its ecosystem's restrictive practices, The New York Times reports. The DOJ is looking into Apple's practices involving iMessage, smartwatches, cloud gaming apps, and more. More: - Apple is under investigation for locking rivals out of iMessage, blocking cloud gaming apps from the App Store, and favoring its own apps and services over third-party developers.
- The DOJ is also examining Apple's preferential integration of the Apple Watch with iPhones and how it excludes other financial firms from offering similar tap-to-pay services on the iPhone.
- Apple has met with the DoJ several times during the investigation but a final meeting in which the company would defend its practices has yet to take place.
- The investigation into Apple is still ongoing and awaiting final review. If it decides to move forward, the DOJ could file a lawsuit against Apple as early as the first half of 2024, reports The Times.
Zoom out: - The Times notes that the DOJ's investigation into Apple could be impacted by similar antitrust scrutiny in the EU, focusing on the App Store and the Tap to Pay feature.
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| 2 | | Pre-orders for Apple's $3,500 mixed-reality headset will open in the U.S. on Jan. 19, with shipping scheduled to begin on Feb. 2. Apple has finally announced the release date for the Vision Pro headset, its first "spatial computing" device, with plans to ship 350,000 units in its first year. 
Background: Apple unveiled the Vision Pro headset at WWDC 2023, marking its first new product category since the Apple Watch in 2015. Powered by Apple's M2 and R1 chips, the Vision Pro is Apple's pricier response to Meta's Quest VR headsets. Pre-orders for the Apple Vision Pro in the U.S. will open at 5 a.m. PST on Friday, January 19, and the device will be available in all U.S. Apple Store locations and its website on Feb. 2. Details: The Vision Pro headset features dual 4K displays, allowing users to switch between augmented reality and virtual reality with a side dial. Running on visionOS, the headset allows users to control it through their eye movements, hand gestures, and voice commands, eliminating the need for a controller. It is compatible with apps such as Microsoft Office and Salesforce's Slack and allows users to view content like Apple TV+ on a virtual screen. The device also offers prescription lens inserts for $149 and has 256 GB of storage. | | | |
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| 3 | | Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson is resigning as CEO amid slowing sales and pressure from activist investors. His replacement is Khozema Shipchandler, a veteran Twilio executive, who will also join the software company's board. More: - Before leading Twilio's communications division, Shipchandler was the company's CFO and COO, joining in 2018.
- In a news release, Shipchandler suggested that Twilio will scrutinize its "underperforming" businesses, aligning with activist investors' demands.
- Anson Funds and Legion Partners have been advocating for Twilio's sale, or the divestment of its data and applications unit.
- The company has collaborated with Qatalyst Partners to counteract the activist pressures.
Zoom out: - Meanwhile, Lawson will also step down as chairman of Twilio's board, succeeded by Bessemer Venture Partners' Jeff Epstein.
- His resignation comes after Twilio said it would cut 5% of its workforce, or nearly 300 jobs, mainly from its data and applications business.
- The company, known for its businesses-to-consumer communication services, will release its Q4 and full-year financial results on Feb. 14.
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| 4 | | Audacy, the U.S.'s second-largest radio broadcaster, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing "macroeconomic challenges" and a significant decline in advertising revenue. The radio and podcast company, based in Philadelphia, owns hundreds of stations, including New York's WFAN and LA's KRTH. More: - Audacy's CEO David Field announced the company's bankruptcy filing on Sunday, noting that it has a restructuring support agreement with a supermajority of its debtholders.
- Through the restructuring, the company plans to reduce its debt from $1.9B to $350M.
- Audacy said it doesn't expect any operational impacts, and employee wages and benefits will remain unaffected.
- Founded in 1968, Entercom merged with CBS Radio in 2017, grew into a major radio network, and expanded into podcasts and digital audio, rebranding as "Audacy" in 2021.
Zoom out: - iHeartMedia, the parent company of iHeartRadio Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 and returned to the public markets in 2019.
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| 5 | | Waymo will begin testing its self-driving vehicles on highways in Phoenix, Arizona. Starting this month, Waymo employees will have the option to drive on highways exclusively in "rider-only" mode. More: - Waymo, previously the Google self-driving car project, has offered its ride-hailing service exclusively on surface streets at low speeds in metro Phoenix.
- Expanding the driverless cars to highways could halve travel times, which has been a major drawback of Waymo over traditional ride-sharing services.
- At first, only company employees and their guests will have access to the autonomous highway tests, though that's expected to expand as the vehicles demonstrate a safe track record.
Zoom out: - As Waymo advances, its rival Cruise has faced setbacks after an accident in which a company car unintentionally dragged a pedestrian, causing serious injuries.
- General Motors recently said it will slash spending on Cruise after California's DMV suspended its permits and GM issued a recall for Cruise's entire 950-robotaxi fleet.
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| 6 | | AI models like Google DeepMind's GraphCast are supplementing traditional weather prediction tools and will soon be tested in winter storms across North America and Europe, according to Axios. The publication notes that the public will soon see how AI computer models can predict complex winter storms, offering a comparison to tools like the GFS and the European model. More: - AI models learn from past data to predict complex systems, while numerical models use physics equations and observations for simulations.
- Companies venturing into weather and climate AI include Google, Nvidia, IBM, and Tomorrow.io, as well as government agencies such as NASA and NOAA.
Zoom out: - Google DeepMind recently detailed GraphCast, an advanced AI weather prediction model that delivers 10-day forecasts in under a minute.
- The AI model, trained on almost 40 years of historical data, can generate 10-day forecasts at six-hour intervals for global locations.
- In September, GraphCast predicted Hurricane Lee's Nova Scotia landfall nine days ahead, surpassing traditional forecasts by three days, according to Rémi Lam, a Google DeepMind research scientist.
- GraphCast also outperformed the gold-standard "European model" by around 10% on over 90% of assessed weather variables.
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| 7 | | QUICK HITS - Apple iPhone sales in China plummeted by 30% in the first week of 2024, primarily due to competition from local rivals such as Huawei, according to Jefferies analysts.
- The U.S. IT sector added only 700 jobs in 2023, a significant drop from the 267,000 jobs added in 2022. This was mostly attributed to layoffs in tech firms during the first half of the year.
- Samsung unveiled the world's first transparent MicroLED display during CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, which runs through Friday, Jan. 12.
- Dee Templeton, Microsoft's VP for technology and research partnerships and operations, has joined OpenAI's board as a non-voting observer.
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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 notable publications like USA Today and the Arizona Business Gazette. During her time as a public policy reporter at The Arizona Republic, she received recognition with a Pulitzer Prize nomination and a First Amendment Award for her collaborative reporting on pension cost increases. Beth also authored a book on the solar photovoltaic industry in 2016. You can reach her at Beth.Duckett@yahoo.com. | | This newsletter was edited by Eduardo Garcia | |
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