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➡️ Apple's AI Chatbot - Apple is reportedly building its own AI tools, creating a chatbot referred to as "Apple GPT"
Today: Apple's AI Chatbot | ChatGPT Plus Gets Doubled Message Cap | Netflix Axes Basic Ad-Free Plan
Kristoffer Lindström
July 20, 2023
Hey there, welcome to today's update!
Can you believe it's already Thursday, July 20? Let's jump right into the exciting world of tech and check out the top headlines for today:
Apple Develops In-House AI Chatbot
Netflix Axes Basic Ad-Free Plan
OpenAI Doubles ChatGPT Plus Message Cap
Netflix and Tesla Earnings Reports
Telegram's $210M Bond Boost
and more...
READ TIME: 4.4 MINUTES
🌐 Tech Companies
Tesla's board members, including Oracle's Larry Ellison and James Murdoch, are returning $735 million, comprised of $458.6 million in company shares and $276.6 million in cash, to settle a lawsuit alleging they were overcompensated. The agreement, pending approval from Delaware Chancery Court, excludes Elon Musk who is under a separate suit for his hefty compensation.
In Tesla's Q2 2023 investor call, CEO Elon Musk announced plans to license its Full Self-Driving system to other automakers, with discussions already underway with a major OEM.
Netflix has terminated its $9.99/month basic ad-free plan for new and rejoining members in the US and UK, as it had previously done in Canada. Existing subscribers can maintain their plan unless they cancel or change it. Now, the streaming service only offers a $6.99/month ad-supported tier and two ad-free plans at $15.49 and $19.99 per month.
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have prolonged their merger discussions until October 18th in the wake of negotiations with UK regulators. The agreement includes higher termination fees, rising to $3.5 billion by August 29th and $4.5 billion by September 15th if the deal is not finalized. The delay correlates to Microsoft's ongoing talks with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority following initial concerns about cloud gaming.
🚀 Startup Scene
Messaging giant Telegram secured $210M through bond sales involving investors such as founder Pavel Durov. The capital infusion aims to bring the currently unprofitable app closer to break-even.
AI and metaverse tech company Futureverse secured $54M in funding to develop proprietary AI content generation tools for the metaverse.
Figure, a Bay Area-based robotics company, secures a $9 million equity investment from Intel Capital, backing its multipurpose humanoid robot development.
🤖 AI Corner
Apple is reportedly building its own AI tools, creating a chatbot referred to as "Apple GPT". Utilizing a proprietary framework, "Ajax", Apple's focus is on large language models akin to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard. Security concerns temporarily paused the project, but it's now accessible to more Apple employees for product prototyping.
OpenAI has increased the message limit for GPT-4 ChatGPT Plus users from 25 to 50 every three hours, allowing for more extensive conversations, deeper dives into subjects, and broader experimentation with third-party plugins. The change should benefit users, businesses, developers, and apps that utilize the GPT-4 model, with some users reportedly getting up to 200 messages every three hours.
OpenAI has reached a two-year, $5 million agreement with the American Journalism Project (AJP) to fund local outlets' AI technology experiments, offering up to $5 million in product credits.
Shopify has launched a generative AI chatbot, Sidekick, to help online store owners streamline operations by managing sales and providing valuable insights tailored to their specific business.
Meta Platforms, Facebook's parent company, has previewed Voicebox AI, a generative AI text-to-speech tool with unique capabilities like voice recreation and audio issue resolution.
💰´Markets & Money
The Dow Jones has registered its eighth consecutive session of gains, marking its longest winning streak since September 2019. Meanwhile, Netflix's shares have decreased after its Q2 revenue fell short of Wall Street's expectations. Carvana's stock surged 40% after reducing its debt by over $1.2 billion. Bond yields and oil prices have seen a slight decrease.
Despite gross margins falling short of predictions, Tesla's Q2 earnings exceeded expectations with revenues at $24.9 billion, and adjusted net income at $3.1 billion. The EV maker also reported working on Cybertruck equipment installation at its Texas gigafactory, and anticipates production to start later this year. Tesla shares have seen a 58% boost in the last three months.
Despite beating earnings estimates and gaining 5.9 million new subscribers in Q2, Netflix failed to meet revenue forecasts. The company, amid increasing streaming competition and a saturated US market, is seeking new monetization strategies, including a cheaper tier with advertising and charging password borrowers. However, despite the revenue shortfall, Netflix raised its 2023 free cash flow estimate to $5 billion.
⚡ Quick links
Roblox is developing tools allowing developers to offer subscriptions within their experiences. This could offer developers increased earnings predictability and establishes a recurring economic relationship with users.
Google's Workspace Labs is testing AI-generated backgrounds for Google Meet, enhancing virtual meeting environments based on user prompts.
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