WhatsApp’s massive 500 million users in India have supercharged Meta’s AI ambitions.Meta CFO Susan Li said Wednesday that India is the largest market in terms of Meta AI usage, a notable milestone considering the product launched in India just a few months ago. Li said during Meta’s second-quarter earnings call that people have used Meta AI for billions of queries since its launch.“We’re seeing particularly promising signs on WhatsApp in terms of retention and engagement, which has coincided with India bec ...

Meta reached a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday to settle a 2-year-old lawsuit related to the company’s use of facial recognition software.“After vigorously pursuing justice for our citizens whose privacy rights were violated by Meta’s use of facial recognition software, I’m proud to announce that we have reached the largest settlement ever obtained from an action brought by a single state,” said Attorney General Paxton in a press release. The massive settlement ste ...

Meta said Monday that it is rolling out its AI studio to all creators in the U.S. to let them create personalized AI-powered chatbots. The company first announced the AI Studio last year, and started testing it with select creators in June this year. Meta is making the tool available to all creators, who can use their own prompts or suggested templates to build a chatbot. Users can build the bot for caption creation, post formatting, or generate memes. You can use the chatbot just for yourself or share it ...

Apple has published a technical paper detailing the models that it developed to power Apple Intelligence, the range of generative AI features headed to iOS, macOS and iPadOS over the next few months. In the paper, Apple pushes back against accusations that it took an ethically questionable approach to training some of its models, reiterating that it didn’t use private user data and drew on a combination of publicly available and licensed data for Apple Intelligence. “[The] pre-training data set consists of ...

Core Points - Workers at the Towson, Maryland Apple Store have reached a tentative contract agreement, marking a significant milestone as the first unionized Apple retail store in the U.S. to do so [1] - The three-year agreement includes scheduling improvements, average raises of 10% over the contract's duration, a severance clause, limits on contracted employees, and a transparent disciplinary process [1] - The union's negotiating committee emphasized that this agreement provides members with a voice in their futures and is a strong first step toward further gains [1] Union Vote and Negotiations - A vote on the tentative agreement is scheduled for August 6 [2] - During negotiations, workers authorized a strike to demonstrate solidarity and send a clear message to Apple [2] - While there have been efforts to unionize other Apple retail stores in the U.S., only two have been successful so far, with ongoing contract negotiations at an Oklahoma City store [2]

Apple signed the White House’s voluntary commitment to developing safe, secure and trustworthy AI, according to a press release on Friday. The company will soon launch its generative AI offering, Apple Intelligence, into its core products, putting generative AI in front of Apple’s 2 billion users.Apple joins 15 other technology companies — including Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI — that committed to the White House’s ground rules for developing generative AI in July 2023. ...

Apple has reduced prices of its iPhone models in India by 3-4% following a cut in import duties in the South Asian market. The price cuts range from 300 rupees ($3.6) for models like the iPhone 13, 14 and 15, and to up to 6,000 rupees ($71.7) for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max units.This marks the first time Apple has lowered the prices on the current-generation Pro models in India. The move follows India reducing basic customs duty on mobile phones to 15% from 20% in its annual budget earlier this week. The ...

Following investigations into how Meta handles AI-generated explicit images, the company’s semi-independent observer body, the Oversight Board, is now urging the company to refine its policies around such images. The Board wants Meta to change the terminology it uses from “derogatory” to “non-consensual,” and move its policies on such images to the “Sexual Exploitation Community Standards” section from the “Bullying and Harassment” section.Right now, Meta’s policies around explicit images generated by AI-ge ...

Core Viewpoint - Apple is facing an antitrust investigation in Spain regarding its App Store practices, with concerns about unfair trading conditions imposed on developers [1] Group 1: Investigation Details - The CNMC has opened an investigation into Apple's App Store, which may take up to two years to complete [1] - If found in breach of competition rules, Apple could face penalties of up to 10% of its global annual turnover, potentially amounting to billions of euros [1] - Developer complaints about Apple's App Store operations have been ongoing, particularly regarding fees for in-app sales and the app review process [2] Group 2: Apple's Response and Claims - Apple asserts that it applies clear and consistent rules to ensure a safe and high-quality experience for users, claiming that over 90% of app store revenues go to developers without collecting any commission [2] - In response to the CNMC investigation, Apple stated it would cooperate with the Spanish Competition Authority [2] Group 3: Broader Regulatory Context - The European Commission is also investigating Apple for suspected non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which includes significant penalties for violations [3] - Preliminary findings from the Commission suggest that Apple's anti-steering rules may breach the DMA [3] - The EU is examining Apple's compliance with DMA requirements to allow third-party app stores, with developers arguing that Apple complicates access to these alternatives [4] Group 4: Future Implications - Additional regulatory scrutiny is anticipated as the U.K. prepares to implement its own competition reforms targeting Big Tech [4] - The ongoing antitrust actions against Apple may attract litigation funders looking to capitalize on the situation [4]

Elon Musk says he will show off Tesla’s purpose-built “robotaxi” prototype during an event October 10, after scrapping a previous plan to reveal it August 8. Musk said Tesla will also show off “a couple of other things,” but didn’t explain what that meant.The comments, made on Tesla’s second-quarter earnings call Tuesday, largely confirms Bloomberg’s original report about the delay, including that it was driven by Musk’s desire to redesign certain elements of the prototype. Musk confirmed earlier this month ...