Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.
In today's Techpresso:
🇪🇺 Apple calls for changes to anti-monopoly laws
👀 Intel seeks an investment from Apple
🔎 Google launches real-time AI voice search
🤔 Apple responds to 'scratchgate' concerns
💥 Meta poaches OpenAI scientist to help lead its AI lab
🤝 Microsoft adds Anthropic AI models to Copilot
🎁 + 18 other news you might like
🔮 + 3 handpicked research papers and tools
🇪🇺 Apple calls for changes to anti-monopoly laws LINK
Apple is delaying features like live translation through AirPods and iPhone screen mirroring in Europe, blaming the Digital Markets Act’s rules on interoperability with products made by rival companies.
The live translation service is specifically blocked because the DMA would require giving other headphone brands access to conversation data, which the company claims creates a serious privacy problem.
The iPhone maker warns its list of delayed EU features will get longer and has threatened to stop shipping some products to the bloc entirely unless the legislation is repealed.
👀 Intel seeks an investment from Apple LINK
Intel is in early talks with Apple, seeking an investment in its chipmaking business just days after securing a $5 billion commitment from its AI chip industry rival Nvidia.
An agreement could revive Intel's struggling foundry by securing Apple as a top-tier customer, years after the iPhone maker dropped the company for its own custom-designed central processing units.
For Apple, the potential deal offers a way to diversify its chipmaking supplier base beyond Taiwan and bring more of its manufacturing operations back to America, offsetting geopolitical risks.
🔎 Google launches real-time AI voice search LINK
Google launched Search Live in the U.S., letting you ask questions aloud to an AI that uses your phone’s camera to understand and discuss what you are currently seeing.
The system uses a technique called “query fan-out” to also look for answers to related topics, giving you a more comprehensive response instead of answering one specific question.
You can now search by pointing your camera at an object and speaking, with the AI designed to back up its answers by providing links to other web resources.
🤔 Apple responds to 'scratchgate' concerns LINK
Apple says marks on in-store iPhones are not scratches but "material transfer" from MagSafe retail stands, explaining the residue can be wiped away without any damage to the phone.
For the camera plateau, Apple's defense is that its anodized aluminum edges are durable but will still show scratches from normal wear, similar to its other products.
A teardown expert pinpointed a "spalling" problem where layering the anodization layer causes it to easily flake away instead of deforming, explaining why the camera edges scratch.
💥 Meta poaches OpenAI scientist to help lead its AI lab LINK
Yang Song, a researcher who led OpenAI's strategic explorations team, is now the research principal at Meta Superintelligence Labs, reporting to another former OpenAI scientist, Shengjia Zhao.
Song’s new manager is Shengjia Zhao, an OpenAI alum who Meta appointed as chief scientist in July after he threatened to go back to his previous employer, WIRED reported.
The new hire’s past work includes a technique that helped inform OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 image generation model, while his recent research focused on processing large, complex datasets.
🤝 Microsoft adds Anthropic AI models to Copilot LINK
Microsoft is adding Anthropic's AI models as an alternative to OpenAI inside some Microsoft 365 Copilot services, marking a major shift away from its exclusive partnership for its tools.
The Researcher reasoning agent can now use Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.1, while Copilot Studio will allow customers to select both Claude Sonnet 4 and Opus 4.1 for agentic tasks.
While the main Microsoft 365 Copilot continues to run on OpenAI models, Frontier Program customers can already access Claude in Researcher, with more integrations planned for the future.
Other news you might like
- Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 with major AI and video upgradesLINK
- Trump expected to sign a TikTok deal on ThursdayLINK
- Germany is getting its own sovereign version of OpenAILINK
- Waymo's newest service caters to businessesLINK
- Instagram reaches 3 billion monthly usersLINK
- European banks are coming together to launch a euro-backed stablecoinLINK
- Neon, the No. 2 social app on the Apple App Store, pays users to record their phone calls and sells data to AI firmsLINK
- Spotify to label AI music, filter spam and more in AI policy changeLINK
- Elon Musk’s xAI wins federal AI contract as Grok undercuts ChatGPTLINK
- Microsoft forced to make Windows 10 extended security updates truly free in EuropeLINK
- Google takes 5.4% stake in Bitcoin mining company Cipher Mining in $3B dealLINK
- OpenAI may lease Nvidia GPUs instead of buying them — financial engineering deal could cut hardware costs in pursuit of 10GW buildoutLINK
- HSBC And IBM Put Quantum Computing To Work In Real Financial MarketsLINK
- Google just asked the Supreme Court to save it from the Epic rulingLINK
- If Tether has $105B in its reserves, why is it raising cash?LINK
- OpenAI seeks advertising lead to oversee monetization for ChatGPTLINK
- Y Combinator launches “Early Decision” for students who want to graduate first, build laterLINK
- Cloudflare says it has (once again) blocked the largest-ever DDoS attack in historyLINK
Latest research and tools
SonyShell: a Linux tool that connects to a Sony camera over a network to automatically download new photos and optionally run a script on each file.LINK
Rails Fork Proposal: an open letter calling for a new version of the web framework, to be developed independently from its creator due to his controversial public statements.LINK
Strategic Bluffing in Competitive Scrabble: a new analysis shows that playing a fake word is a viable high-risk, high-reward strategy that is most effective against opponents who are uncertain of the official dictionary.LINK
Want to get the latest news differently? Find us on:
See you tomorrow for a new dose of ☕️ Techpresso!
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}