🍏 Apple's AR/VR Vision, Words by Tim Cook

Update 2023-04-04

News

• Discover the Apple CEO's Vision for AR and VR Technology

• UK CMA's Attempt To Investigate Mobile Duopoly Fails After Court Ruling

• Big Tech Companies Cutting Costs: Google, Tesla, and More

• Spotify Shuts Down Live-Audio App, Spotify Live

• Klaviyo Seeks IPO Ahead of Expansion Plans

• Microsoft Improves Bing AI Chatbot with Local Knowledge, Extended Chats, and Updated Personality

• AI Index Report 2023: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Road Ahead

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Big Tech

Discover the Apple CEO's Vision for AR and VR Technology

In a recent interview with GQ, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared his vision for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology. Cook believes that AR and VR are for "connection" and "communication". He has been promoting AR and VR for almost a decade, stating that AR "gives the capability for both of us to sit and be very present". Cook also believes that AR will be used in health, education, retail, and gaming.

Apple has been moving towards an AR future, with the company hiring people with AR and VR expertise, listing dozens of AR and VR job postings, and acquiring companies like Metaio and SensoMotoric.

UK CMA's Attempt To Investigate Mobile Duopoly Fails After Court Ruling

Apple has won an appeal over a UK mobile market competition probe. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced a formal investigation, known as a Market Investigation Reference (MIR), last fall, which was focused on both Apple's iOS and Google's Android mobile platforms.

The MIR decision followed a market study of the mobile duopoly that the CMA kicked off in June 2021, resulting in a preliminary finding of competition concerns in December 2021. However, at that time, the regulator decided against taking any action, apparently anticipating new powers to tackle Big Tech.

The regulator then attempted to re-visit an earlier decision not to refer. Still, the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) ruled that the regulator failed to stick to established statutory timeframes for such investigations. The CAT found material constraints on the CMA's general ability to refer markets for in-depth investigations.

Big Tech Companies Cutting Costs: Google, Tesla and More

According to recent reports, big tech companies are continuing to cut costs. Google, for example, is reducing the hours of some office cafes and consolidating some of its microkitchens. It is also looking to improve its data centers and servers and find efficient ways to train its AI models. In addition, Google is expected to spend $500 million to reduce office space and up to $2.3 billion in severance packages. Meta has also stopped offering remote work as an option in its new job posting. On the other hand, Tesla is behind on its solar roof goal, having installed only around 3,000 solar roof systems since launching the program in 2016.

🥇 PRO According to the layoff tracking site layoffs.fyi the total amount of tech workers that have been laid off in 2023 now amounts to 167 004.

In the near-term, this is obviously hard for people. In but long-term, I hope it will lead to new start-ups created as the talent that has been “stuck” in the FANG companies comes into the market and either joins a promising startup or start a new company on their own.

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Startups

Spotify Shuts Down Live-Audio App, Spotify Live

Spotify is shutting down its live-audio app, Spotify Live, which was previously called Spotify Greenroom and Locker Room. Spotify acquired Betty Labs, the creator of Locker Room, in March 2021. Spotify Live was integrated into the primary Spotify streaming app in April 2022, allowing creators to interact with their audience in real time. However, Spotify has now canceled several of Spotify Live's original shows and is shutting down the app.
 

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SaaS and Cloud

Klaviyo Seeks IPO Ahead of Expansion Plans

According to reports from TechCrunch, Klaviyo, a Boston-based marketing automation startup that has raised over $775 million, is planning to go public later this year. The company has hired bankers to prepare for the IPO, which could help end a long drought of tech startup IPOs. Klaviyo's IPO could also help open the gates for other companies that have held back from going public in the current market.

Klaviyo's potential decision to go public comes after the company laid off 140 employees last month, which could be part of an effort to streamline costs ahead of the possible IPO to make the company more attractive to investors. The company's IPO debut could also help it raise more capital to fund its growth and expansion plans.

Klaviyo provides a platform for businesses to manage their email marketing campaigns, automate their sales processes, and analyze customer data to improve their marketing strategies. The company has over 70,000 customers, including major brands like Unilever, Peloton, and Huckberry. Klaviyo's revenue has grown rapidly in recent years, reaching $200 million in 2022, up from $113 million in 2021.

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AI

Microsoft Improves Bing AI Chatbot with Local Knowledge, Extended Chats, and Updated Personality

Microsoft has been improving its Bing AI chatbot, which ChatGPT powers, to make it smarter and more personable. The AI chatbot has been given more local knowledge, and Microsoft has promised to make further improvements based on user feedback. The chatbot's personality has also been updated, and chat limits have been extended to allow up to 15 chats.

AI Index Report 2023: Opportunities, Challenges and the Road Ahead

The AI Index Report provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of AI and its future prospects. Stanford recently released the 2023 report, which is 386 pages long, so we created a summary of some of the key points.

• AI research and development is becoming increasingly geographically dispersed, with countries such as India, Canada, and Germany making significant contributions.

• The number of AI-related patent applications has increased rapidly in recent years, indicating a growing interest in commercializing AI technologies.

• Large language models have made significant progress in recent years, with models such as GPT-3 achieving impressive results on a range of natural language processing tasks.

• Multimodal models that can process multiple types of data (such as text, images, and audio) are also advancing rapidly, with promising applications in fields such as healthcare and autonomous vehicles.

• However, there are also concerns about the potential negative impacts of AI on society, including issues related to bias, privacy, and job displacement.

• Overall, the report suggests that AI will continue to develop at a rapid pace in the coming years, with both opportunities and challenges for society.

🥇 PRO We just published a more in-depth summary of each chapter in the 2023 report. See the PRO article here.

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