Tech Roundup: Microsoft's Recall Revamp, Nvidia Surge & More

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

• Nvidia surpasses Apple in market cap as second-most valuable public U.S. company, as it shows off G-Assist AI chatbot that could guide users through PC games based on voice queries and help configure optimal settings; announces plans to upgrade its AI accelerators annually with a Blackwell Ultra chip for 2025 and Blackwell's successor, Rubin, for 2026.
• AMD intros Ryzen 9000 desktop chips and Ryzen AI 300 laptop processors with Zen 5 architecture and improved GPU; Ryzen AI 300 processors come with a neural processing unit (NPU) that claims to meet and exceed Microsoft's performance requirements for Copilot+ PCs.
• Intel unveils its Lunar Lake laptop chips with a new SoC design and compatibility with Copilot+ PCs; showcases Xeon 6 processors with better performance and power efficiency for high-intensity data centre workloads.
• Music streamer Spotify announces yet another price hike for U.S. customers within a year, raising Premium from US$ 10.99 to US$ 11.99 per month, Duo from US$ 14.99 to US$ 16.99, and Family from US$ 16.99 to US$ 19.99, as it tries to push toward profitability by raising prices and adding new endeavors.
• Meta-owned Instagram confirms it's testing an unskippable ad format with a countdown timer that briefly prevents users from scrolling through their feed.
• Amazon details a new AI-powered solution called Project P.I. (short for "private investigator") that uses computer vision to detect if products are damaged or don't meet buyers' criteria.
• Apple officially marks iPhone 5s as an "obsolete" product worldwide; classifies the sixth-generation iPod touch as vintage product.
• X updates its adult content policies, formally letting users post consensual NSFW and AI content "provided it's properly labeled and not prominently displayed."
• Google tests new setting in the Play Store app for Android called "Open app reminder" that alerts users of unused apps.
• AI company Anthropic attempts to "open the black box" to offer a detailed look at the inner workings of one of its latest LLMs called Claude Sonnet in an effort to better understand how general-purpose AI systems operate.
• A coalition of current and former employees of OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind push for a "Right to Warn" AI leadership and the public about AI safety concerns, citing fears over accountability and company overreach.
• Amazon-owned game streaming company Twitch raises subscription prices for the first time in the U.S., increasing it from US$ 4.99 to US$ 5.99 effective July 11, 2024, following similar hikes in Australia, Canada, Turkey, and the U.K.
• Aptoide, a popular Google Play alternative for Android devices, launches an iOS game marketplace in the E.U. with a selection of approximately 30 titles; to come with an Apple-approved in-app purchases (IAP) solution.
• Microcomputer company Raspberry Pi announces plans to sell an AI Kit for US$ 70 that's integrated with Raspberry Pi's camera software and can run AI-based applications like chatbots natively on the tiny computer.
• Apple reveals that the iPhone 15 Pro Max will receive security updates for a minimum of five years from September 2023, less than the seven years guaranteed by Samsung and Google; says it will address a long-standing Screen Time bug that lets kids visit X-rated websites by pasting a string of characters in the address bar in Safari, more than three years after it was reported in early 2021.
• Stability AI releases Stable Audio Open, a text-to-audio model that generates up to 47 seconds of samples and sound effects; prohibits it for commercial use.
• Google's YouTube plans to restrict some content pertaining to the real use of guns from viewers under 18 starting on June 18, 2024; comes more than a year after the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) called out the platform for recommending gun-related content to several child accounts.
• Humane tells Ai Pin owners that they should "immediately" stop using the charging case, citing issues with a battery cell that "may pose a fire safety risk"; offers two free months of its subscription service as compensation.
• Language learning platform Duolingo deletes LGBTQ+ references in Russia after being warned by Roskomnadzor, the country's communications regulator, that the content is classed as "extremism."
• Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase launches its smart wallet, which uses passkeys instead of seed phrases in a bid to simplify onboarding.
• Wix unveils an AI-powered app builder that creates Android and iOS apps from descriptions provided by users as part of its US$ 99 per month Branded App plan.
• Google acquires software virtualization company Cameyo to deeply integrate virtualised Windows app support into ChromeOS.
• Project management service Asana announces AI teammates to help customers by surfacing insights around potential risks to achieving goals, triaging requests, assigning work, and identifying where workflows are broken or could be improved based on organizational best practices.
• Google faces new legal setback after the U.K.'s Competition Appeal Tribunal rules that a class action lawsuit against Google over claims the company abused its digital ad dominance can proceed.
• eBay debuts AI-powered background tool to enhance product images; to stop accepting American Express payments globally effective August 17, 2024, due to the unacceptably high fees charged by the company for processing credit card transactions.
• Microsoft launches Beta Channel for Windows Insiders on Windows 10 to try out new features; to make Recall an opt-in feature, encrypt its search index database, and require Windows Hello authentication and proof of presence to view timeline following privacy and security pushback.
• Google says it will update its service and repair Terms and Conditions following the discovery of a controversial clause that allows the company to keep a device sent in for repair if that device has non-OEM parts; notes that "we would not keep it regardless of whether it has non-OEM parts or not."

• Microsoft-owned LinkedIn announces plans to discontinue its resume builder tool as of June 12, 2024; to replace it with a Premium AI resume builder tool in the coming months; to no longer allow advertisers to target E.U. users based on data obtained from their participation in LinkedIn Groups, more than three months following a complaint to the E.U. accusing the company of violating ad targeting restrictions under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
• Telegram launches Stars, a new in-app currency for the purchase of digital goods and services in Telegram mini apps, and adds new message effects and the ability to search hashtags across all public channels by tapping a hashtag in any chat; says "Stars can be acquired through in-app purchases via Apple and Google or PremiumBot, then spent on digital products offered by bots – from e-books and online courses to items in Telegram games."
• Adobe faces a backlash over its terms of service that includes a clause that the company may access user content via "automated and manual methods" to improve its services and software; company says the "policy has been in place for many years" and that it accesses user content to deliver new features as well as take action against prohibited content, but notes that it does not access, view or listen to content that is stored locally on any user's device. (The company has also emphasised that it does not train Firefly Gen AI models and that it will never assume ownership of a customer's work.)
• Meta begins rolling out its Meta Verified program for WhatsApp Business users in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Colombia for US$ 14 a month; integrates AI tools to help businesses respond to customer questions and create ads.
• Cara, an artist-run, anti-AI social platform, witnesses a surge in users, as many creators flee Instagram following revelations that the social media giant is using public posts to train its generative AI systems (and only E.U. users can opt out, because of GDPR laws).
• Amazon-owned game streaming company Twitch announces a new DJ Program that lets DJs use copyrighted music in their streams by paying a fee after it signed deals major record labels like Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony Music and others.
• Google partners with RapidSOS, a platform for emergency first responders, to let users in the U.S. contact 911 via RCS; expands its AI-powered research and writing assistant NotebookLM to more than 200 countries, and adds Google Slides and web URLs as sources, along with Google Docs, PDFs and text files.
• Discord adds new monetisation features for developers and plans to halve the 30% platform fee to 15% for their first $1M in cumulative gross sales.
• Amazon acquires Indian video streaming service MX Player's key assets from Times Internet in a deal valued at below US$ 100 million.
• Workplace communications platform Slack debuts Slack Lists to assist teams track projects, triage routine tasks and manage to-do items.
• Ikea plans to hire 10 people to run its virtual Roblox store, including to help pick out furniture and serve meatballs in the Bistro; to pay them £13.50 per hour.
• DuckDuckGo becomes the latest search engine after Google, Bing, Ecosia and Brave to add AI chat features that it says are anonymised and not used for any AI model training.
• Meta faces new complaint in the E.U. over its decision to use publicly available information across its products to improve AI features; says the approach violates GDPR laws in the region.
• Swiss-based privacy startup Proton brings its Proton Pass password manager to Mac and Linux, making it a cross-platform solution to save passwords.
• Movie streamer Netflix announces a redesign for its TV app with a focus on helping subscribers "have an easier time figuring out if a title is right for them."
• Google urges third-party Android app developers to build apps with generative AI features in a responsible way, ensure they are rigorously tested, and give users an option to flag offensive content.
• The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which has faced criticism for letting Meta acquire Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, accuses the tech company of withholding pertinent information from regulators during the initial merger reviews.
• Microsoft faces new regulatory scrutiny in the E.U. for violating children's data protection laws via its 365 Education service by collecting their data without consent and for evading its responsibilities as a data controller by passing on the compliance requirements to schools using the software; gets accused of providing "vague information" and making it difficult for "children or their parents to uncover the extent of Microsoft's data collection."
• The British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) files a £1.1 billion lawsuit against Amazon for allegedly misusing members' proprietary data for competitive purposes and "manipulating the Amazon Buy Box to benefit its own commercial operation."
• Meta quietly rolls out a new Communities feature on Messenger to all users globally, allowing up to 5,000 people to join a Community through shareable invites.
• Google avoids a jury trial in connection with a lawsuit filed against the company in January 2023 by the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations that it violated federal antitrust laws by building a monopoly on the technology that powers online advertising; comes after tech giant took the step of of writing the government a check for more than US$ 2 million to cover any claim of monetary damages.
• Shopify acquires Slack alternative Threads.com (not Meta's Threads) for an undisclosed sum.
• ByteDance-owned TikTok test a Snapchat-like streaks feature with select users in limited markets in order to increase engagement.