Tech Roundup: OpenAI ChatGPT Plus, Twitter API Changes & More

[A recurring feature on the latest in Science & Technology.]

• Microsoft announces the general availability of Teams Premium for US$ 10 a month per user, with support for AI-generated notes powered by OpenAI's GPT-3.5; reportedly plans to update Bing with OpenAI's GPT-4, a faster and richer version of ChatGPT, in the coming weeks, as OpenAI gears up to launch a dedicated mobile app.
• In a related move, Google is said to be working on an update to its desktop search page that "could be used in a question-and-answer form" to compete with ChatGPT. The company also said it will make LLMs like LaMDA available "in the coming weeks and months" so as to allow users to use them "as a companion to search."
• ChatGPT maker OpenAI debuts a free web-based tool to help determine if a piece of text was written by a machine, rated as "very unlikely", "unlikely", "unclear", "possible", or "likely," as concerns are raised about a rise in AI-generated misinformation as well as the potential for bots to pose as humans; launches ChatGPT Plus, a pilot plan with access in peak times, faster response times, and priority access to new features, in the U.S. for US$ 20 per month.
• The development comes as ChatGPT reaches an estimated 100 million active monthly users as of January 2023, a mere two months from launch, making it the "fastest-growing consumer application in history."
• Twitter to end free access to its API starting February 9 and make available instead a paid version as part of its latest monetisation push; move follows the company's decision to abruptly change the terms of its API in recent weeks to prohibit third-party clients.
• Apple reports Q1 2023 revenue of US$ 117.2 billion, down 5% YoY (its largest quarterly revenue decline since 2016), and net quarterly profit of US$ 30.0 billion, down 13% YoY, with iPhones and Services accounting for 56.1% and 17.7% of revenues; Services revenue jumps 6% YoY to US$ 20.8 billion, as the company says it has more than two billion active devices worldwide, up from 1.8 billion devices in Q1 2022.
• That said, hardware sales are falling, with iPhone revenue going down 8% YoY to US$ 65.8 billion, Mac revenue dropping 29% YoY to US$ 7.7 billion, and Wearables, Home, and Accessories revenue decreasing 8% YoY to US$ 13.5 billion. iPad revenue, on the other hand, are up 30% YoY to US$ 9.4 billion.
• Alphabet reports Q4 2022 revenues of US$ 76 billion, up 1% YoY, and net income of US$ 13 billion, down 34% YoY; posts Google advertising revenue of US$ 59 billion, down 4% YoY, Search revenue of US$ 42.6 billion, down 2% YoY, Google Cloud revenue of US$ 7.3 billion, up 32% YoY and YouTube ad revenue of US$ 7.96 billion, down 7.8% YoY.
• Amazon reports Q4 2022 of US$ 149.2 billion, up 9% YoY, net income of US$ 278 million, down 98% YoY, and AWS revenue of US$ 21.4 billion, up 20% YoY; advertising services revenue grows 19% YoY to US$ 11.56 billion and subscription services revenue rises 13% YoY to US$ 9.19 billion. (In total, Amazon posted a total loss of US$ 2.7 billion in 2022, its first unprofitable year since 2014.)
• Meta reports Q4 2022 revenue of US$ 32.2 billion, down 4% YoY, net income of US$ 4.7 billion, down 55% YoY, with its Reality Labs metaverse division posting revenues of US$ 727 million Reality Labs, a US$ 4.28 billion operating loss, and a total US$ 13.72 billion loss in 2022; family daily active people jumps 5% YoY to 2.96 billion and Facebook daily active users hit two billion, up 4% YoY. (It's worth noting that WhatsApp crossed two billion daily active users in October 2022.)
• AMD reports Q4 2022 revenue of US$ 5.6 billion, up 16% YoY, net income of US$ 21 million, down 98% YoY; Client segment revenue declines 51% YoY due to weak PC chip sales.
• Qualcomm reports Q1 2023 revenue of $9.46B, down 12% YoY, and net income of $2.24B, down 34% YoY.