Chinese tech companies are gathering all sorts of resources and talent to narrow their gap with OpenAI, and experiences for researchers on both sides of the Pacific Ocean can be surprisingly similar. A recent X post from an Alibaba researcher offers a rare glimpse into the life of developing large language models at the ecommerce firm, which is amongst a raft of Chinese internet giants striving to match the capabilities of ChatGPT.Binyuan Hui, a natural language processing researcher at Alibaba’s large lang ...

On the heels of Microsoft’s investment and partnership with French Large Language Model startup Mistral AI, the company continues to work hard to try to dispel the image that it’s blocking competition through its deep partnership (and financial stake) in OpenAI. Today the company launched a new framework it’s calling “AI Access Principles” — an eleven-point plan that Microsoft said will “govern how we will operate our AI datacenter infrastructure and other important AI assets around the world.”The points co ...

We’ve already started to see big M&A, as in multi-billion deals, finally pick up this year after a slow period last year. Today, KKR added to that growing total when it announced it was going to acquire Broadcom’s end user computing business for $4 billion.These pieces include VMware Workspace One and VMware Horizon, two remote desktop applications that had been part of the VMware family of products. You may recall that Broadcom spent $61 billion to buy VMware last year and has been looking to recoup some o ...

Stellantis, the automaker that owns 14 brands including Chrysler, Jeep and Ram, and autonomous vehicle technology company Waymo are not only still working together, the companies are deepening the partnership, CEO Carlos Tavares told TechCrunch in a recent interview.This “deepened” partnership will focus on commercial self-driving Ram delivery vans, a target that was first announced in 2020 and promptly faded from public view. Discussions on this “improved” deal have focused, in part, on a crux around drive ...

Apple’s long-term bet on India is beginning to pay dividends. The company’s iPhone revenue in India jumped 42% year-on-year in 2023 to $8.7 billion, Morgan Stanley wrote in a note on Friday.The iPhone shipments in India grew 39% year-on-year in 2023 to 9.2 million units, making it iPhone’s fifth largest smartphone market. India’s iPhone business is now larger than any standalone country in the European Union, Morgan Stanley added.“This means that in CY23, India represented 4% of iPhones shipments and revenu ...

As possible EC fine nears, Apple claims Spotify is trying to get ‘limitless access’ to its tools without payingWith the European Commission set to rule on Spotify’s complaint focused on competition in the streaming music market, there are hints that the ruling will not be in Apple’s favor. This week, the Financial Times reported the EC will issue its first-ever fine against the tech giant for allegedly breaking EU law over competition in the streaming music market. The fine is expected to be around €500 mil ...

Amazon is preparing to make another attempt to break into India’s fast-growing fashion and lifestyle e-commerce sector, setting up a battle with rival Flipkart, owned by Walmart, Reliance’s Ajio and SoftBank-backed upstart Meesho.The e-commerce giant plans to launch a “special store,” called Bazaar, where it will not levy any “extra charges” to sellers offering unbranded and “trendy” fashion and lifestyle products, according to a communication the firm has sent to its partners.The items sold through Bazaar ...

Amazon alleged in a legal filing published Friday morning that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is unconstitutional. SpaceX and Trader Joe’s — companies that, like Amazon, have repeatedly faced labor law violations from the federal agency — have recently made similar attacks that threaten national worker protections.This is just Amazon’s latest attempt to block union organizing in its fulfillment centers. But this time, these companies aren’t just limiting the rights of their own workers. If these ...

After Apple confirmed yesterday it’s breaking web apps for customers in the EU due to its compliance with the EU regulation the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney suggests in post on X there’s another reason behind Apple’s decision: iPhone web apps don’t make Apple money. Sweeney, whose company sued Apple over antitrust concerns related to App Store fees, is obviously a biased source on the matter, but he raises a question that’s on everyone’s minds. Did Apple break iPhone web apps becaus ...

Meta is looking to leverage advertiser outrage in its battle with Apple over in-app purchase fees by announcing that it will soon pass on Apple’s 30% service charge to its customers. In an announcement, the social networking giant explains that starting later this month, advertisers who want to pay to boost a post in the Facebook or Instagram iOS app will now be billed through Apple, where this additional charge will now be levied.Meta had apparently been skirting Apple’s rules with the pay-to-boost option, ...