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🏛️ Google's Monopoly Trial Sparks Major-Tech Industry Shake-Up
Today: Google Monopoly Trial | Stability AI Launches Text-to-Audio Tech | WhatsApp Channels Global: Private Chat in 150+ Countries
Kristoffer Lindström
September 14, 2023
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Hello!
Welcome to your Thursday tech briefing for September 14!
Today, we've curated a list of major headlines shaping the industry—from Google's monopoly trial causing ripples to Unity's new revenue model sparking concerns among indie developers. Top headlines for today:
Google Monopoly Trial Shakes Tech Industry
Unity Revenue Model Alarms Devs, Risks Indie Games
8 Tech Giants Back White House Safe AI Plan
Stability AI Launches Text-to-Audio Tech
EY's $1.4B AI Platform & LLM: Game-Changer?
CEOs Foresee Job Cuts in Slowing Economy
WhatsApp Channels Global: Private Chat in 150+ Countries
and more...
READ TIME: 7.0 MINUTES
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Tech Companies
The U.S. Justice Department and 38 states and territories have opened a 10-week trial against Google, accusing the tech giant of systematically wielding its power in online search to stifle competition. The outcome could extensively influence the tech industry's balance of power.
💡 Why does this matter?
The Google antitrust trial could reshape the technology industry, potentially limiting Google's practices and setting precedents for other tech giants. It's a crucial test for the adaptability of antitrust laws, with implications for tech investors, workers, and entrepreneurs.
Unity's new runtime fee, starting in 2024, could negatively impact indie games and Xbox Game Pass by increasing costs for developers. Developers are expressing concerns and calling for Unity to reverse its decision.
💡 Why does this matter?
Unity's decision to implement per-install fees could significantly impact indie developers, particularly those utilizing Xbox Game Pass, potentially leading to disruptions in game development and business operations. This could present opportunities for rival engines to attract dissatisfied Unity users.
Google parent Alphabet is laying off its global recruiting team employees as the tech giant slows hiring. The layoffs are not part of a wide-scale layoff, and most of the team will be retained for critical roles. Alphabet is the first Big Tech company to lay off employees this quarter.
💡 The numbers tells us what?
When looking at recruitment data, the downward trend for Google is rather apparent. This aligns with other tech companies. Given the move of laying off recruitment people, one should likely not expect any hiring spike form Google. Th number of job openings is down 76% compared to 1 year ago.
AI Corner
The White House has enlisted eight more US-based AI developers, including NVIDIA, Scale AI, and Cohere, to its pledge to develop safe and ethical AI tools. This initiative, part of a larger Biden administration effort, aims to establish safety, security, and trust as the fundamental principles of AI development.
💡 Why does this matter?
This signifies a growing recognition among tech giants of the need for ethical AI development. It affects AI companies, investors, and users, potentially leading to more trustworthy and secure AI products, fostering innovation while mitigating risks.
Regulatory capture is known to stop new market entrants most often, while established players benefit from it.
Stability AI has announced the public release of its Stable Audio technology, which uses text prompts to generate audio clips. This follows the company's earlier launch of StableCode and Stable Diffusion, which uses AI for code and image generation respectively. Stable Audio has been trained on over 800,000 licensed music pieces.
💡 Why does this matter?
Stability AI's new Stable Audio technology democratizes audio generation, offering both established and budding musicians a novel tool to experiment with. This could encourage creativity and disrupt traditional music production methods, potentially creating investment opportunities within the music tech industry.
EY has launched EY.ai, an AI platform aimed at helping clients enhance AI adoption. The platform combines AI capabilities and partners with companies like Microsoft, Dell Technologies, and IBM. EY has invested $1.4 billion in the forum, including integrating AI into its proprietary technologies. EY.ai EYQ, a secure language model, will also be released. EY's global CTO, Nicola Morini Bianzino, highlighted the potential of generative AI in knowledge management. The new AI offerings by EY aim to provide enterprise clients with a roadmap for successful AI deployment.
Adobe's Firefly AI is now commercially available in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Express. Users can generate images and vectors from text-based prompts using "generative credits" as a form of currency. The AI includes Content Credentials to ensure transparency and ethical development.
Markets & Money
Few top CEOs in the US expect to add jobs in the next six months, with many planning to cut positions. This indicates a slowdown in the labor market's rapid growth. The Business Roundtable's survey shows that only 27% of CEOs anticipate increasing US employment, compared to 33% in June and 47% a year ago. Additionally, 32% of CEOs expect a decrease in employee headcount, up from 27% in June. While sales and capital spending outlooks remain flat, overall business conditions are holding up. Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten suggests that the economy is slowing but not stalling.
💡 Why does this matter?
The anticipated job cuts by top US CEOs could impact the tech sector, potentially reducing hiring and limiting growth. However, it may also create opportunities for tech entrepreneurs to leverage technologies like automation and AI to maintain productivity.
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Apps & Gadgets
Apple has shared the new features in iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma. iOS 17 includes a new StandBy feature and other updates, iPadOS 17 adds widgets and a Health app for iPad, and macOS Sonoma brings interactive widgets and enhancements to apps. The updates will be released later this month.
WhatsApp is launching its Channels feature globally, allowing users to receive updates from people and organizations they follow in a private way. The feature will be available in over 150 countries and includes the ability to react with emojis and see reaction counts. WhatsApp also introduces an improved directory and the ability to edit messages for admins. While the ability to create a channel is currently limited, the company plans to allow everyone to create one eventually. Notable channels include Olivia Rodrigo, David Guetta, Billboard, MLB, and Mark Zuckerberg's own channel.
💡 Why does this matter?
The global launch of WhatsApp's Channels feature could reshape how businesses communicate with customers, offering new opportunities for customer engagement.
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