What's New In the Consumer Tech World Last Week? News That You Should Know (June 9-June 15, 2024)

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban thinks that efforts by the U.S. government and investors in proprietary large-language models to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) will end up giving the lead in this critical field to Chinese companies.

Also Read: LinkedIn VP Aneesh Raman Stresses Importance Of Soft Skills In AI Era: ‘…Engaging With AI Is Not A Digital Skill Set. It’s A Communication Skill Set’

A series of data breaches at a $20 billion internet company co-owned by Japan’s SoftBank Corp SFTBY and South Korea’s Naver NHNCF is causing diplomatic tensions between the two nations.

Read: FromSoftware’s Miyazaki Admits ‘Room For Improvement’ If Players Rely On Guides In Elden Ring

The launch of a new gossip app, Fizz, at a Vermont high school has reportedly led to widespread bullying and controversy, reigniting concerns about the impact of social media on teen mental health.

Vrio Corporation, the parent company of DIRECTV Latin America and Sky Brasil, has partnered with Amazon.com, Inc’s. AMZN Project Kuiper to offer satellite broadband in seven South American countries.

Gaming

Microsoft Corp’s MSFT revealed during Xbox Games Showcase and the Call of Duty Direct event that “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” will require a constant internet connection for all game modes on consoles, marking a first for the series.

Related: Activision Confirms Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Won’t Require Massive 300 GB Download

Electronic Arts Inc’s EA EA Sports unveiled San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey as the cover athlete for Madden NFL 25.

Read: Resident Evil Village Hits 10M Sales: Fastest-Selling Game In Series History

Smartphones

Apple Inc. AAPL announced the first major update to visionOS at the WWDC 2024, bringing some important usability improvements to Apple Vision Pro users. Among these changes are memories, immersive experiences and productivity improvements.

Apple announced its new artificial intelligence initiative, Apple Intelligence, at the WWDC 2024. Also, the company highlighted new features for iPads and iPhones and a deeper push to integrate artificial intelligence on products.

Related: Apple Analyst Says ‘You Don’t Wanna Be Anywhere Near The Stock’ In 4 Years, Feels WWDC Was Like A ‘Snap CEO Talking Like We’re Gonna Target 22-Year Olds’

Apple kicked off the iOS 18 update with some important quality-of-life improvements, including customization, smarter email organization, a better messaging experience and more.

Apple revealed that it is partnering with Microsoft-backed OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS 15 Sequoia.

Related: Tesla Ex-AI Chief Andrej Karpathy ‘Really Liked’ WWDC 2024 Announcements But Grok-Investor Pierre Ferragu Skeptical On Execution: ‘Can Apple Make It Work?’

Apple’s Tim Cook has expressed uncertainty about the company’s ability to completely prevent AI hallucinations.

CEO Tim Cook said that the company’s objective is not to increase device usage but to enable users to achieve things they couldn’t without their devices, after unveiling Apple Intelligence earlier this week.

Apple has revealed its plans to integrate Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG Google Gemini AI model into its Apple Intelligence feature set.

Apple has rejected the submission of UTM, a generic PC system emulator, from the iOS App Store and third-party app stores, despite the European Union’s recent efforts to loosen its control using the Digital Markets Act, or DMA.

Also Read: Ming-Chi Kuo Says iPhone 16 Shipments To Fall 5% YoY: iOS18’s Unveiling At Apple’s WWDC 2024 Will Have Limited Impact On Replacement Demand

Tech

The Turkish Competition Board has fined Google approximately $14.85 million (482 million Turkish Lira) for non-compliance with local competition regulations.

Alphabet has been hit with a privacy complaint by Austrian advocacy group NOYB. The complaint alleges that Google tracks users of its Chrome browser without proper consent.

The new head of search of GoogleLiz Reid, has conveyed that the company will not always be able to detect errors in AI searches. This statement was made at a recent all-hands meeting

Dexcom Inc. DXCM, a leading glucose monitor manufacturer, has enabled direct Apple’s AAPL Watch connectivity for its G7 model in the United States.

Samsung Electronics Co. SSNLF has reportedly combined its two North American AI research centers and appointed a former Apple Inc. AAPL executive to head the newly formed division.

The chairman of Samsung Electronics, Jay Y. Lee, has been in discussions with the heads of Meta Platforms METAAmazon.com and Qualcomm QCOM. The discussions revolved around potential areas of cooperation, including artificial intelligence, cloud services and semiconductors.

Meta Platforms has been hit with a complaint in Norway for using user images and posts from Facebook and Instagram to train AI models.

Elon Musk

Tesla Inc. TSLA and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Sunday put an end to the speculation about a potential Tesla smartphone.

Also Read: Elon Musk Thinks Humanoid Robots Will One Day Exceed Human Population: From Nvidia’s Project GR00T To Tesla’s Optimus, Here Are Top 7 Projects Currently Underway

Presumptive Republican candidate Donald Trump’s niece Mary Trump has once again criticized Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for allegedly destroying Twitter, now rebranded as X.

Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, is set to roll out a new feature that will allow users to keep their likes private. This move is aimed at protecting users from potential backlash for their online activity.

Read: As Elon Musk Blasts Apple’s Partnership With ChatGPT-Parent OpenAI, Analysts Say There’s Definitely ‘An Unanswered Question’

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Elon Musk withdrew his lawsuit against OpenAI and its co-founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. His decision came a day after he went on a tirade and criticized Apple for partnering with the ChatGPT parent.

Read: AI Is Helping Cat Owners In Tokyo Keep Their Feline Friends Healthier: App Can Reportedly Detect Pain With More Than 95% Accuracy

Apple’s Craig Federighi has revealed that users will be able to opt out of the integration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, a move that could alleviate mounting concerns about AI privacy.

Also Read: Google Engineer Says Sam Altman-Led OpenAI Set Back AI Research Progress By 5-10 Years: ‘LLMs Have Sucked The Oxygen Out Of The Room’

OpenAI’s Mira Murati responded to Elon Musk’s criticism of the company’s partnership with Apple’s emphasizing OpenAI’s commitment to user privacy.

Related: Craig Federighi Explains How Apple Intelligence Maintains User Privacy Amid Concerns Over ChatGPT Integration

Photo: Shutterstock

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!