That delayed action from the European Commission finally came down on Apple and Meta. Would OpenAI be a logical home for the Chrome web browser? Massive layoffs coming to Intel. Anysphere turned down an acquisition offer from OpenAI. And are the tariff wars coming for Elon Musk’s robots?

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Links:

• Apple, Meta Fined by EU, Ordered to Comply With Tech Competition Rules (WSJ)
• OpenAI Would Buy Google’s Chrome Browser, ChatGPT Chief Says (Bloomberg)
• Intel to Announce Plans This Week to Cut Over 20% of Staff (Bloomberg)
• A new, open source text-to-speech model called Dia has arrived to challenge ElevenLabs, OpenAI and more (VentureBeat)
• Why OpenAI wanted to buy Cursor but opted for the fast-growing Windsurf (TechCrunch)
• Ex-OpenAI staff and top AI experts seek to block proposed for-profit restructure (FT)
• Tesla Humanoid Robot Plan Hampered by China Rare Earth Curbs (Bloomberg)

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As the US v. Google remedy trial begins, the FTC also sues Uber and makes Airbnb disclose all fees. Looks like tech regulation is still very much a thing. Bluesky begins rolling out verification. Meta is using AI to find if kids are lying about their age on Instagram. And Microsoft is forging ahead with that Recall feature.

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Links:

• Justice Dept. asks judge to ‘thaw’ Google’s search monopoly by forcing Chrome sale (Washington Post)
• FTC sues Uber, says company charged for Uber One without consent (CNBC)
• Airbnb to Show Fees in Price Display to Comply With FTC Rule (Bloomberg)
• Bluesky Is Rolling Out Official Verification (Wired)
• Google Messages Sensitive Content Warnings for nudity rolling out (9to5Google)
• Meta is ramping up its AI-driven age detection (The Verge)
• Microsoft Is Dedicated To Building A Dodgy New Database Of Every Windows 11 User’s Online Behaviors (TechDirt)

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Meta and Apple were about to go to the woodshed in Europe, but it looks like Trump’s tariffs have run interference for them. Everyone wants in on stablecoins, example number 23. Beware of phishing emails from Google.com. And are OpenAI’s latest models good, bad, or just “jagged”?

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Links:

• EU Delayed Punishing Apple, Meta Just Before Trade Talks Started (WSJ)
• Crypto Knocks on the Door of a Banking World That Shut It Out (WSJ)
• Phishers abuse Google OAuth to spoof Google in DKIM replay attack (Bleeping Computer)
• Coinbase in hot water over $12 million ‘content coin’—but exec tells haters to lean in (Fortune Crypto)
• OpenAI’s new reasoning AI models hallucinate more (TechCrunch)
• On Jagged AGI: o3, Gemini 2.5, and everything after (Ethan Mollick)

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Google is ruled an illegal monopoly. Again. But for a different reason this time. Switch 2 pre-orders are back on. Americans are flocking to Temu and Shein alternatives. And in the Weekend Longreads Suggestions, what if I told you 25 percent of community college applicants are now AI bots? And not only that, the bots are now “attending classes” in quotes.

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Links:

• Google Broke the Law to Keep Its Advertising Monopoly, a Judge Rules (NYTimes)
• Google loses online advertising monopoly case (Axios)
• Google Found GUILTY of Monopolization Again (The Big Newsletter)
• Nintendo Switch 2 preorders start April 24th and the price is still $449.99 (The Verge)
• The latest viral ChatGPT trend is doing ‘reverse location search’ from photos (TechCrunch)
• Chinese shopping app Taobao joins DHgate in Top 5 on US App Store (TechCrunch)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• As ‘Bot’ Students Continue to Flood In, Community Colleges Struggle to Respond (Voice Of San Diego)
• Astronomers Detect a Possible Signature of Life on a Distant Planet (NYTimes)

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OpenAI has a new reasoning model, and more lower cost models as well. Is OpenAI about to acquire a coding startup? Is Perplexity turning to Samsung for distribution and branding? A Neuralink rival gets FDA approval. And why is Jensen Huang on a code-red mission to China at the moment?

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Links:

• OpenAI's new o3 and o4-mini models are all about 'thinking with images' (Engadget)
• OpenAI debuts Codex CLI, an open source coding tool for terminals (TechCrunch)
• Vibe Check: o3 Is Here—And It’s Great (Every)
• OpenAI In Talks to Buy Windsurf for About $3 Billion (Bloomberg)
• Perplexity AI in Talks to Integrate Assistant Into Samsung, Motorola Phones (Bloomberg)
• Neuralink Rival Gets FDA Clearance in Path to Less Invasive Brain Implants (Bloomberg)
• Nvidia chief Jensen Huang flies to Beijing for talks (FT)

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Well, it looks like DOGE has finally come for cybersecurity. It sounds like the tariff stuff is already biting Nvidia to the tune of $5 billion. Why is OpenAI building a social network? The government would have settled the antitrust case with Meta to the tune of $30 billion. And why did Mark Zuckerberg consider spinning off Instagram voluntarily?

Sponsors:

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Links:

• Uncle Sam abruptly turns off funding for CVE program. Yes, that CVE program (The Register)
• Nvidia says it will record $5.5 billion charge tied to H20 processors exported to China (CNBC)
• OpenAI is building a social network (The Verge)
• Figma confidentially files for IPO more than a year after ditching Adobe deal (CNBC)
• Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Failed Negotiations to End Antitrust Case (WSJ)
• Zuckerberg Says He Considered Spinning Off Instagram in 2018 (Bloomberg)

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OpenAI releases its latest next gen models but you wouldn’t know it by the nomenclature because the numbers are going backwards. What’s up with that? Apple is tying itself in a pretzel to train on user data but still stick to privacy. And a big rundown of the first day of the big Meta antitrust trial.

Sponsors:

• MackWeldon.com promocode BRIAN

Links:

• OpenAI’s new GPT-4.1 AI models focus on coding (TechCrunch)
• OpenAI launches another model before GPT 5 — here’s what this one can do (Tom's Guide)
• Nvidia says it plans to manufacture some AI chips in the US (TechCrunch)
• Apple to Analyze User Data on Devices to Bolster AI Technology (Bloomberg)
• Zuckerberg testifies as FTC, Meta trade opening salvos in antitrust trial (Politico)
• Mark Zuckerberg Takes Stand to Defend Meta Against Antitrust Suit (NYTimes)

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You know that meme of Ebenezer Scrooge shouting out the window? “Hey boy, what tariff regime is it today?” Sam Altman again implies ChatGPT usage has exploded. If you’re coding with AI, a big new vulnerability you need to know about. And is Apple pivoting the Vision Pro to the type of product I thought they should have done all along?

Sponsor:

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Links:

• Apple, Nvidia Score Relief From US Tariffs With Exemptions (Bloomberg)
• Sony raises PlayStation 5 prices in Europe citing ‘challenging’ economic environment (CNBC)
• ChatGPT Hits 1 Billion Users? ‘Doubled In Just Weeks’ Says OpenAI CEO (Forbes)
• LLMs can't stop making up software dependencies and sabotaging everything (The Register)
• AI-hallucinated code dependencies become new supply chain risk (Bleeping Computer)
• Apple Readies Pair of Headsets While Still Looking Ahead to Glasses (Bloomberg)

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