Apple’s Triple Challenge: Tariffs, AI Issues, and Fortnite Setbacks

Greetings and welcome to TechScape. In this week’s edition: Apple faces challenges on several fronts, OpenAI is ramping up its ambitions, and Trump is alienating some of his supporters through cryptocurrency ventures.

Apple Grasped in Three Challenges: Tariffs, AI, and Fortnite

Once unassailable, Apple has begun to reveal vulnerabilities. CEO Tim Cook struggles to address the tariff threats that could inflate iPhone prices. The AI capabilities offered by Apple lag behind those of its competitors. Moreover, the company continues to face legal difficulties with Fortnite, losing ground in a high-stakes battle that has significant implications.

On Friday, the President issued a warning regarding a 25% tariff on iPhones not produced in the U.S. Trump stated: “I have informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect iPhones sold in the U.S. to be manufactured and assembled domestically, not in India.”

A significant majority of iPhones are assembled in China, with Trump enforcing a 145% tariff on exports. Cook, enjoying an exemption from these tariffs, mentioned in a recent earnings call that most iPhones sold in the U.S. next quarter will originate from India, presumably aiming to ease political tensions between China and the U.S.; however, it seems his strategy is falling short.

Cook opted not to join Trump on a recent trip to the Middle East, a decision that reportedly irritated the president. New York Times. Trump notably remarked that Cook was conspicuously absent among high-tech executives during his speech in Riyadh, indicating that Cook’s absence could have costly ramifications for Apple.

Domestically, Apple faces scrutiny over its prolonged efforts to weave generative artificial intelligence into its products. Currently, Apple holds over half the market share for smartphones in the U.S., yet its AI offerings fall short of the competition. For instance, Apple’s struggles with Siri remain evident as it frequently fails to play the desired song, rendering Google’s Assistant far more appealing. Create a podcast that captures intriguing aspects from Wikipedia, easily overshadowing Apple’s efforts.

Discover more about Trump’s tariff threats.

At its 2024 annual developer conference, Apple unveiled plans for its Apple Intelligence features. Summary of failed notifications. An insider spoke to the media regarding internal disarray within Apple’s AI division; this is striking for a company that prides itself on its confidentiality. Competing firms are ecstatic with their new flagship phones, leveraging AI capabilities that Apple cannot match. Siri remains nearly as incompetent as it was 15 years ago, and while the Vision Pro isn’t an AI solution, its poor performance tarnishes Apple’s reputation.

Legally, Apple continues to face setbacks in its litigation against Epic Games, the developer behind Fortnite, portraying itself as a beleaguered player in the tech industry. In late April, a U.S. federal judge revealed that Apple, despite circumventing orders, was infringing on regulations by failing to allow developers to link to alternative payment methods. The judge accused Apple’s top executive of “lying under oath.”




Photo: DadoRuvić/Reuters

Fortnite has made a comeback on the App Store five years after its ban, with Epic allowed to sidestep Apple’s 15% to 30% commission. While Fortnite is a popular title, it does not represent the majority of Apple’s overall App Store revenue. This legal outcome may weaken Apple’s once-tight control over its software ecosystem, allowing developers to better navigate payment options outside of the app, posing a significant threat to Apple’s digital services revenue.

Learn more about Fortnite’s responses.

Bloomberg released a report on Monday, revealing that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is questioning whether his early support of Trump was beneficial. While this is a valid inquiry, it appears that Zuckerberg has maintained control over his digital empire without yielding to the second-term president. He has neglected his company’s diversity and equity initiatives, potentially paying the price for Trump’s volatility. The chef should ponder the return on his $1 million donation to Trump’s inauguration, as he seems to be dancing on a razor’s edge while avoiding bullets aimed at his feet.

OpenAI’s Expansive Week Beyond ChatGPT




Jony Ive and Sam Altman. Composite: Getty Images

This week, OpenAI secured two multi-billion dollar deals as it strives to expand beyond ChatGPT. Comparatively, its major rivals were preoccupied with launching a new version of their flagship model, Claude. While some may find this lack of product releases concerning, I’d argue it’s crucial for staying competitive against behemoths like Google, valued at $2 trillion, and Microsoft, worth $3.3 trillion. If you’re not innovating but instead planning to acquire a startup founded by an iPhone designer for billions, you’re not truly in the game.

On Wednesday, OpenAI confirmed its intention to buy IO, an unproven hardware startup co-founded by Jony Ive, for $6.4 billion. Sam Altman and Ive released a blog post announcing that the IO team would integrate with OpenAI to “collaborate more closely with the San Francisco research, engineering, and product teams.” Although Ive will not be employed by OpenAI, his company is set to oversee the design aspects for OpenAI, including software. Bloomberg.

The merger’s objective appears to be clear: to develop AI-infused hardware that achieves the same iconic status as the iMac and iPhone. However, the market for devices focused solely on democratizing AI remains ambiguous. The Human Pin— a product reminiscent of what Ive creates and backed by Altman and Apple alumni—did not gain traction.

Read more about this ambitious acquisition.

On Thursday, OpenAI announced plans for a massive data center investment in Abu Dhabi, projected to reach hundreds of billions of dollars. This project is part of Stargate, a $500 million initiative in AI led by Nvidia, Oracle, OpenAI, SoftBank, among others. Initially envisioned as a domestic initiative, Stargate has evolved into a global venture through its collaboration with the UAE, following Trump’s AI announcement.

As these startups initiate major advancements, OpenAI’s CEO has garnered considerable public attention this week. Two newly published books—one complimentary and one critical—chronicle the rise of OpenAI. “Optimists” by Keach Hagey in the Wall Street Journal presents a biography of Altman, while “The Atlantic Empire” by Karen Hao delineates the timeline from the company’s founding through Altman’s recent suspension and reinstatement in 2023. Together, they provide a dual narrative exploring the complexities of Sam Altman’s character. The underlying question remains: is he a visionary or a ruthless figure with a relentless pursuit of progress?

Regardless, armed with billions and having recruited Apple’s second-most recognizable figure, Altman seems determined to fill the void left by Steve Jobs.

Stay Updated on This Week’s AI News

Trump Hosts Crypto Investors at a Private Dinner




Photo: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Trump hosted a dinner for prominent crypto investors at a private golf club in Virginia on Thursday night. According to an analysis by The Guardian, nearly half of Trump’s top investors have incurred losses on their investments. Niamh Rowe reports:

Among the 220 winners, 95—approximately 43%—have collectively lost $8.95 million since the token’s launch in January, based on trading histories and portfolios as of May 21.

The user “Gant” has reportedly faced the most significant loss, racking up a $1.06 million deficit despite ranking fourth on the leaderboard, while “Meow” has lost $621,000 despite attaining VIP status.

$Trump has become part of the “Meme Coin” movement, referring to cryptocurrencies inspired by internet phenomena. Although Trump is a significant figure in the online culture surrounding cryptocurrency, he doesn’t equate to a meme like Dogecoin’s Shiba Inu mascot.

The definition of a Memecoin provided by Coinbase aligns $Trump with other tokens. Coinbase notes that a Memecoin is “often backed by an enthusiastic online community” and “associated with entertainment rather than practical utility.” Trump’s coin lacks any tangible financial or physical backing, representing a volatile speculative asset.

Learn more about Trump’s cryptocurrency escapades.

Expansive Tech Landscape

Source: www.theguardian.com

The COP16 biodiversity summit resulted in significant setbacks for conservation efforts

Police stand guard in front of a hotel ahead of the United Nations biodiversity conference COP16 to be held in Cali, Colombia on October 19th.

Fernando Vergara/AP/Alamy

Biodiversity loss is a crisis. And it's clearer than ever that the world isn't moving fast enough to solve it. Last weekend's COP16 summit in Cali, Colombia, collapsed in overtime, with too few countries present to agree on a global plan to halt the decline of nature.

“Unfortunately, too many countries and UN officials are working to address our species’ most pressing existential issues without the level of urgency and ambition needed to secure an outcome at COP16. “I came to Cali,” he says. Brian O'Donnell At the environmental advocacy group “Campaign for Nature.”

Signs of the lack of progress were evident from the start of the meeting, with nearly all countries demonstrating how far they have reached ambitious biodiversity targets set at COP15 two years ago, including protecting 30 percent of the planet's land. The deadline to submit a formal plan on how to achieve this was missed. Several more plans were brought forward during the two weeks of the summit, including plans from big countries like India and Argentina, but strategies for most countries have yet to be developed.

As COP16 began, it was clear that the world was not on track to achieve these goals. Since 2020, the area of ​​Earth's land and oceans under formal protection has increased by just 0.5%, according to a UN report released during the summit. This is too slow a rate to protect 30 percent of the planet by the end of the decade.

And their protection is desperately needed. a report A report by the Zoological Society of London and the World Wildlife Fund released ahead of the summit found that vertebrate populations have declined by an average of 73 percent since 1970, and have increased by 4 percentage points since 2022. reportA report presented at a conference by the International Union for Conservation of Nature found that 38 percent of the world's tree species are at risk of extinction.

Many low-income countries said a lack of financial resources prevented them from developing and submitting plans on time, let alone starting implementation. At COP16, high-income countries pledged a total of around $400 million to support these efforts, but funding remains billions of dollars short of the annual target of $20 billion pledged by 2025. .

Negotiations went into overtime early Saturday morning, with no clear plan to close the funding gap and monitor progress toward the goal left unresolved. As delegates left, the number of countries present fell below the minimum required for decision-making, and the meeting was adjourned without reaching a resolution. The topic will be taken up at an interim meeting to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2025.

“Nature is on life support and here in Cali, unless we reach a strong financial compromise, we risk collapse,” he says. Patricia Zurita At Conservation International, a nonprofit environmental organization.

Although COP16's failure to change the direction of fiscal issues disappointed observers, one important agreement was reached at the meeting. It's an agreement on how to collect revenue from products developed using Earth's genetic data. Before the conference is adjourned, each country will require pharmaceutical and other biotech companies that use such “digital sequence information” to donate 0.1% of their revenue or 1% of their profits to the “Kali Fund” We agreed to ask. This fund will be used to protect the biodiversity that is the source of such genetic data.

The fact that the agreement, which took nearly a decade of negotiations and is voluntary and less comprehensive than the African Union and some low-income countries had hoped, means that individual countries and companies This means that it depends greatly on how you respond to the situation. But the United Nations estimates that the fund could raise up to $1 billion a year for biodiversity. “We may be able to get some, but it's nowhere near the scale and speed that is required,” said Pierre du Plessis, a longtime African Union negotiator. Ahead of the meeting, he claimed: new scientist The fund should be bigger.

Indigenous peoples also see a victory ahead of the conference's suspension, with the establishment of formal institutions that will give them a stronger voice in biodiversity negotiations.

However, the overall atmosphere was heavy. “The really disappointing thing about COP16 is that [debates on] “Digital sequence information sucks every last drop of energy and time,” he says. Amber Scholz At the Leibniz Institute DSMZ in Germany.

One reason for the apparent lack of urgency is that the world treats climate change and biodiversity loss as two separate problems. The annual global climate summit attracts more participants and far more attention than the biodiversity negotiations. While 154 people attended last year's climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, only six leaders attended COP16. This is a problem when the two issues are intertwined. Climate change is one of the main threats to biodiversity, and the ecosystems with the highest biodiversity often also have the greatest ability to store carbon.

“I think the most important thing we need is to change the persistent neglect of biodiversity, especially when compared to climate change,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the summit. mentioned in. “They are all interconnected and cannot be divided.”

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Hyperloop One to shut down operations amidst setbacks and sexual harassment accusations

Hyperloop One, the high-speed rail startup backed by Elon Musk whose plans were derailed by project delays and bizarre sexual harassment allegations against some executives and backers, plans to shut down.

The company has ordered its remaining employees, about 100, down from 200 at the beginning of this year, to oversee the sale of assets before their employment ends on Dec. 31, according to reports. bloomberg.

Hyperloop, which has raised more than $450 million since its founding in 2014, has gained public attention with its promise to modernize transportation technology with trains that travel at airplane-like speeds through major U.S. cities, according to Pitchbook. Collected.

The company is based in Las Vegas, where it has a small test track to develop a “vacuum tube” transportation system in which pods travel at 1,260 miles per hour.

In 2019, the company announced that Hyperloop technology could transport passengers from New York City to Washington, D.C., in just 30 minutes. By contrast, Acela trains typically take three and a half hours to travel between the two hubs.

Hyperloop One, the Richard Branson-backed ultra-high-speed train startup, is shutting down and selling assets after abandoning its “vacuum tube” transportation system in which pods travel at 1,260 miles per hour. James Messerschmitt

At the time, the company touted a deal in the works to install a hyperloop system between Mumbai and Pune in India, but that ambitious plan was abandoned last year.

The startup’s remaining intellectual property will now be transferred to DP World, which will also serve as title partner for the DP World Tour, part of a new golf entity between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf.

It’s unclear whether the shell company deal was an attempt to take Hyperloop public, with the futuristic company having acquired the backing of a Shaquille O’Neal-backed special purpose acquisition company just a few months ago. I was trying that.

Hyperloop has struggled to make any progress for years, despite backing from Richard Branson (who briefly led the company to adopt the name Virgin Hyperloop One) and Elon Musk. Not yet.

According to Bloomberg, in the early days of Hyperloop, co-founder Brogan Bambrogan would arrive at work to find a rope tied to a chair.

And in 2017, co-executive chairman Shervin Pishevar came under fire after at least six allegations of sexual harassment and assault by women, including rape at a luxury London hotel, all of which he claimed I’m denying it.

Pishevar’s brother, Afshin Pishevar, was the one who left the rope that Bambrogan found on his office chair. Mr. Bambrogan was visiting from his home in Washington to join the company as general counsel, and he overstayed his welcome as a guest. bloomberg report.

Hyperloop has been having problems for years. In 2017, co-executive chairman Shervin Pishevar resigned amid six allegations of sexual harassment and assault. Getty Images

Branson took the job in 2017 after Shervin Pishevar resigned from the company to recuse himself from the charges, shortly after his own sexual misconduct allegations became questionable.

Singer Antonia Ienae claims the British millionaire stuck his face between her breasts and “motorboated” her while she was attending a party on Necker Island in the Caribbean in 2010. did.

“We were by the bar and he was saying goodbye to everyone. He came up to me and shoved his face into my chest,” she told the London Sun at the time. Ta. “He said, ‘Brrrrrrrr,’ and walked away. It was surreal and completely out of the blue.”

According to Bloomberg, in the early days of Hyperloop, co-founder Brogan Bambrogan (left, with Sharvin Pishevar) arrived at work to find a rope tied to his chair. AFP (via Getty Images)

Jenna also claimed that her shaggy-haired boss at Virgin begged her to go topless at a party, according to The Sun, which is owned by the Post’s parent company News Corp.

A year after allegations of sexual misconduct, Russian billionaire Ziyavudin Magomedov, one of Hyperloop’s directors, has been arrested in Moscow on charges of fraud and embezzlement unrelated to his work with Hyperloop, according to Bloomberg. was arrested.

At the time, Magomedov’s lawyer said he was appealing his arrest.

The Hyperloop had grand plans to transport passengers from New York City to Washington, D.C., in just 30 minutes instead of the usual 3 hours and 30 minutes. Ali Haider/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Hyperloop originally promised a 300-mile subway system connecting Chicago, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. AFP (via Getty Images)

Dubai-based logistics company DP World has been backing Hyperloop since 2016 and orchestrated Hyperloop’s merger with a shell company in April, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg.

At the time, the value of most types of stock was valued at zero, making the shell company’s shareholders the sole owners of Hyperloop, the media reported.

The Post has reached out to Hyperloop and DP World for comment.

O’Neal’s deal with Forest Road Acquisition Corp. II would have listed Hyperloop on the New York Stock Exchange at a valuation of $600 million, but the deal fell through and tied it to Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Serious doubts arose as to whether a 300-mile freight system would become a reality. It was a realistic goal.

Source: nypost.com

The Successes and Setbacks of Fintech in 2023

As 2023 draws to a close, we’re here to look back at the year’s biggest fintech stories.

Silicon Valley Bank Collapse

It felt like a fintech story in that many startups in the space (e.g. Brex, Arc, Mercury) jumped in to fill the void left by its collapse. But this was truly a story that affects every industry and founders and investors alike. And it continues to unfold.

Apple launches savings account for Apple Card customers

Ironically, one of the biggest news stories of 2023 involved a tech giant rather than a startup. During April, apple shared it Apple Card customers in the U.S. Open a savings account and earn interest As Romain Dillet reported, through Apple’s savings account. At the time, Apple was offering him a competitive APY of 4.15%. The company partnered with Goldman Sachs to provide this feature, but that partnership fell apart by the end of the year (Event) we saw it coming) and it was not yet clear who would replace Goldman Sachs.

Mastercard CFO says India’s UPI is an ‘incredibly painful experience’ for ecosystem participants

Another of this year’s most-read articles is about financial services giants rather than startups. Manish Singh writes about the following facts: Mastercard CFO declares India’s UPI is ‘great on many levels’ However, it remained an “incredibly painful experience” for ecosystem participants who ended up losing money. The comments highlighted tensions surrounding the mobile payment rail, which facilitates more than 10 billion transactions each month in a country with low card penetration.

Foreign WeChat Pay and Alipay users can go cashless at Chinese retail stores

In July, Rita Liao reported that China’s two major mobile payment solutions wechat pay and alipayHe announced. Foreign users can now pay at Chinese retail stores By linking foreign credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. This was a big deal because it has historically been difficult for travelers to go cashless like locals. Previously, using WeChat Pay and Alipay in China required a local bank account, making it difficult for short-term residents to use these payment methods.

Visa acquires Brazilian fintech startup Pismo for $1 billion

In late June, I announced news for the credit card giant. visa Plans to acquire Brazilian payment infrastructure startup Pismo It is expected to be one of the largest fintech M&A deals of the year, with $1 billion in cash. The deal was completed later this year. Visa was just one of several companies that made bids for the startup, and was not seeking acquisition or financing, according to reports. Pismo What was scooped by Visa was a kind of coup for the entire Latin American region; Global investors are pouring capital into the region 2021 and a little bit more Withdrawal after just one year.

Image credits: Pismo

Slope closes $30 million venture round with ‘major participation’ from Sam Altman

When Sam Altman gets involved in a venture, people pay attention. Christine Hall reported in late September: slopeis a B2B payment platform for businesses. Completed $30 million venture round To expand your business. The round “included key participation from OpenAI’s Sam Altman.” At the core of Slope’s technology is order-to-cash workflow automation with artificial intelligence-driven tools for checkout, customer and vendor risk assessment, payment reconciliation, and cash management.

Carta CEO contacts customers about bad press and warns them about bad press

People love reading about other people’s failures. In an attempt at damage control, CEO of stock management startup KarutaHenry Ward, October Customer who sent email, told him that if he was worried about “negative press” related to his outfit, he should read his Medium post. The move seemed only to draw attention to a number of issues reportedly plaguing the 11-year-old company, as covered by me and TechCrunch Editor-in-Chief Connie Loizos. Investors in Carta, which had been assigned a post-money valuation of $7.4 billion in 2021, when Carta last raised institutional funding, even called Ward’s decision “bizarre.”

Robinhood acquires credit card startup X1 for $95 million

In a somewhat surprising move, robin hood Announced in late June Acquires no-fee credit card startup X1 for $95 million in cash. X1offers a credit card with benefits based on income, and had raised a total of $62 million in venture-backed funding.Why did we choose X1 in particular over many other credit card startups? We believe it’s because X1 had a plan. To launch a new trading platform This allows cardholders to use earned reward points to purchase stocks. The company’s CEO even named Robinhood as a company he wants to compete with.

Vesey Ventures closes $78 million debut fund

A new venture company was born. VC Ventureswas founded by three women who are former managing directors of Amex Ventures. $78 million debut fund closed In early April. During their time at AmEx, the firm’s three founding partners invested in companies such as Plaid, Stripe, Melio, and Trulioo. The fact that early-stage fintech startups had more funding caught our readers’ attention.

Bonus: Once again, we dig a little deeper into Apple’s fintech aspirations (mentioned above).

Image credits: Vesey Ventures / Founding Partners Lindsay Fitzgerald, Dana Eli Roach, Julia Huang

Better.com officially goes public via long-delayed SPAC

We never thought that day would come. August, Digital Mortgage Provider Better.com Published via a long-delayed SPAC. No one expected him to do so well in his public debut. And it wasn’t. The company’s management probably knew it wasn’t doing well, but moved forward anyway for a variety of reasons that Alex Wilhelm and I have detailed. here. As of December 20th, the stock price was Only 63 cents.

ZestMoney is closed

In mid-May, Manish zest money quit the startup. Indian fintechs can take out small ticket loans for first-time internet customers and once attracted the backing of many prominent investors. Including Goldman Sachs. By December, Manish said ZestMoney shut down After efforts to find a buyer failed. The Bangalore-headquartered startup, which also counts PayU, Quona, Zip, Omidyar Network and Ribbit Capital as backers, employs around 150 people and has raised more than $130 million in eight years of work. has been procured.

Want more fintech news in your inbox? Sign up for Interchange here. Have a news tip or inside scoop on a topic we’ve covered? We’d love to hear from you. Contact us at maryann@techcrunch.com. Or send us a note at tips@techcrunch.com. We will be happy to honor your request for anonymity.

Source: techcrunch.com

High-speed rail benefits from Hyperloop’s setbacks

In 2013, Elon Musk published the following paper: white paper It teased the idea of ​​traveling at high speed from Los Angeles to San Francisco in just 35 minutes through a vacuum-sealed tube (a system he called Hyperloop). The idea was “born out of his hatred of California’s proposed high-speed rail system.” according to to his biographer Ashley Vance.

A decade later, Hyperloop One, the most high-profile startup to try to follow in Musk’s footsteps, close the door. News of its demise came less than two weeks after the Biden administration took office. announced Provides $6 billion in funding for high-speed rail projects across California.

This is a huge victory for public transit advocates, many of whom have struggled for decades to improve not just high-speed rail, but rail service overall. (Biden’s announcement includes Numerous other railway projects across the country.) But it’s by no means a complete victory.

First, many cities and states were fooled by the hyperloop’s siren song and then left adrift. In 2018, I reported on a story about the collapse of Arrivo (another hyperloop startup founded by one of Hyperloop One’s co-founders), and when I called the Colorado Department of Transportation to ask about the company’s bankruptcy, I finally got a response over the phone. I still vividly remember what I noticed. they didn’t know it happened.

Colorado wasn’t alone.Hyperloop One once promised to be built in West Virginia $500 million testing and certification facility state. They also built a test track near Las Vegas, where they briefly took some people through tubes. Clearly, that was enough for then-CEO Jay Walder. Claim It was “the first new means of mass transportation in over 100 years.”

Other hyperloop projects and companies remain, but most are located outside the United States. Thankfully, the country was already regaining momentum in investing in its rail system with a focus on faster trains.

The most high-profile initiative is Brightline, a company that recently expanded its existing service in Florida. all the way to orlandopassengers can travel there from as far away as Miami.

Brightline is also building what it calls “the nation’s first true high-speed rail network” between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The project is supported by $3 billion in funding recently announced by the Biden administration and is expected to break ground in early 2024.

Building high-speed rail is about more than just money.There is deep-rooted problems Years of deregulation are getting in the way. With a project of this size, it’s difficult to stay on time and on budget.of other A big recipient of the newly announced federal funding (another $3 billion) is the high-speed rail project slated to run down the spine of California, a source of Mr. Musk’s ire.

Could the return of high-speed rail risk a rematch with the world’s richest man? Perhaps rail fans can take solace in seeing how distracted Musk has become since his 2013 white paper.

Moreover, aside from a few engineering competitions held by SpaceX, Musk has only enjoyed his Hyperloop project on a superficial level.

Musk once tweeted that he had received “verbal government approval.” build “New York-Phil-Balt-DC Underground Hyperloop” It was never built. In April 2022 he claimed His tunneling effort, The Boring Company, will “attempt to build a practical hyperloop.”The next day, the company tweeted “Full-scale testing of Hyperloop will begin later this year.” That also never happened.

Mr. Musk has spent the past decade with little involvement in Hyperloop, essentially outsourcing his efforts to abolish high-speed rail. The death of Hyperloop One casts a cloud over that premise, and the billionaire looks increasingly forced to make a decision: Will he be willing enough to find the time to finish the job himself?

Source: techcrunch.com