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Microsoft Charged for EU Antitrust Violations Over Teams Bundling

5-minute Tech read.

TECH BRIEF

The European Union has charged Microsoft with antitrust violations over the alleged illegal bundling of its Teams chat app with Office 365 and Microsoft 365 subscriptions. It marks the first time in 15 years that Microsoft faces EU antitrust charges. Despite unbundling Teams to address regulator concerns, the EU maintains concerns Microsoft is giving Teams undue competitive advantage. If found guilty, Microsoft may face a fine of up to 10% of its annual worldwide turnover.

đź’ˇ Insight: Microsoft's ongoing bundling issue marks a significant test for the tech giant's compliance strategy in the EU. Despite unbundling Teams from Office, EU regulators remain concerned about competitive fairness. Microsoft faces substantial financial and operational repercussions if found guilty, emphasizing the critical importance of open market practices.

Tech investor Sean Parker and ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt are among the groups that have committed $80 million to take over the struggling AI startup Stability AI. The group negotiated for Stability to be released from $300 million in future obligations in a recapitalization move. Despite facing difficulties developing a business model around its open-source image-generation tool, Stability AI, Parker believes in the firm's potential for financial success. Stability co-founder Emad Mostaque resigned in March, making way for new CEO Prem Akkaraju.

OpenAI has postponed the launch of a voice assistant feature for ChatGPT to enhance its safety and efficiency. The AI startup had planned to debut this feature in June but stated it requires additional time to make it detect and refuse certain content and to offer smoother user experience. The delay could indicate a hurdle for OpenAI amidst increasing competition in the AI sector. The feature is expected to be available to all paid subscribers in the forthcoming fall.

OpenAI is allegedly planning to halt API access in China, which could provide an opportunity for Chinese AI companies to step in. This move follows recent investigations by OpenAI into covert influence operations, including a network using OpenAI models for posts targeting critics of the government. As a response, Chinese companies like Baidu, Alibaba Cloud, and Zhipu AI are extending incentives to attract OpenAI users to their platforms.

Google is implementing its Gemini AI in a new side panel in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive, available to paying Google Workspace customers. The AI will assist users with drafting, summarizing information, brainstorming ideas, data organization, and creating tables among other tasks. Google's development follows a trend among tech giants of integrating AI features into apps and services.

Meta has announced deeper integration of Threads with federated social media platforms. In the new upgrade, users will be able to view and like replies to their Threads posts syndicated on platforms like Mastodon, without having to switch platforms. However, to respond to replies, users still need to be on the corresponding platform. The integration will be available in over 100 countries, expanding from the initial rollout in the US, Canada, and Japan.

OpenAI's first-ever ChatGPT app for Mac is now accessible to all users. The app, constructed natively for Mac, allows seamless integration for easy access, with added features to attach files, photos, and screenshots, and interact through voice mode. OpenAI also announced an enhanced voice mode with GPT-4o capabilities launching soon.

QUICK

Reddit Clamps Down on Unauthorized AI Data Crawling - Reddit is escalating efforts to prevent unauthorized data access by AI companies and scrapers, planning to update its Robots Exclusion Protocol. The move advances Reddit's recently announced Public Content Policy, aiming to ensure third-party data access aligns with company agreements and collaborations.

Formic Secures $27.4M to Boost Robotics Fleet and Support Scope Globally - Formic Technologies secured an additional $27.4 million in series A funding, bolstering its total to $52 million. The robotics solutions provider plans to use these funds to expand its global operations and further enhance its automated systems.

Google Rolls Out Gemini AI to Gmail and Drive for Email Summarization - Google is integrating its Gemini AI into Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive, assisting with tasks like drafting emails and organizing data. Access is limited to paying Google Workspace users.

Google To End Infinite Scroll on Desktop, Mobile Search Results - Google is discontinuing its continuous scrolling feature on search results, returning to classic pagination bar. The desktop version changes immediately, mobile will follow soon.

BUSINESS QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." - Bill Gates

Main takeaway: Learn from criticism to improve.

Explanation: Gates used customer feedback to continuously improve Microsoft’s products, leading to the dominance of Windows OS.

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