A Better SIRI is Coming

It would be easy to think that Apple is late to the game on AI. Since late 2022, when ChatGPT took the world by storm, most of Apple’s competitors have fallen over themselves to catch up. While Apple has certainly talked about AI and even released some products with AI in mind, it seemed to be dipping a toe in rather than diving in headfirst.


But over the last few months, rumors and reports have suggested that Apple has, in fact, just been biding its time, waiting to make its move. There have been reports in recent weeks that Apple is talking to both OpenAI and Google about powering some of its AI features, and the company has also been working on its own model, called Ajax.        READ MORE...

Apple & Telsa Suffer

Apple and Tesla stocks have tumbled over growing concerns about delays in their production lines in China.

Apple shares hit their lowest point since June 2021. Tesla's stock has dropped 73% from a record high in November 2021.

Companies have struggled to keep production going in China due to Covid restrictions and weeks of lockdowns.

Now they are facing a staffing crunch as China battles a Covid wave after lifting years of restrictions.

China announced that it will lift its strict quarantine rules for travellers on 8 January, a positive sign for many investors who are seeing an ease in supply chain movement in 2023.

But global investors are also being cautious ahead of additional interest rate hikes, a global economic slowdown and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Given the spike in Covid cases in key manufacturing hubs, analysts say production will take time to ramp up once again.

"Factories are going to experience labour shortages for at least 4-6 weeks as the wave passes through their production regions, and of course most migrant workers will go back to their home villages for the Lunar New Year at the end of January," says Simon Baptist, chief economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit.

"Production looks unlikely to be back to normal in China until late February."

Production delays hit Apple supplier Foxconn earlier this year following unrest at its Zhangzhou plant known as "iPhone City." The company said its revenue in November was down 11% compared with the same month in 2021.

This week, media reports said Tesla's Shanghai manufacturing plant had cut production as Covid infections rose in China. The company declined to comment.  READ MORE...

Apple Withholding Benefits

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Apple’s first unionized workers say the company is withholding new benefits

Organizers at Apple’s first unionized store in the US say the company is withholding details about the benefits it’s giving other workers and spreading ‘misinformation’

Organizers at Apple’s Towson Town Center store in Maryland claim that the company isn’t telling the whole truth when it comes to withholding benefits from workers at the location. As the company’s first retail location to unionize in the US pushes to negotiate a contract, workers say it’s making it difficult for them to bargain for their benefits.

In a letter addressed to Tim Cook, the negotiating committee says they’re disappointed to learn the company won’t be offering workers at the location some new health and education benefits that are rolling out to other retail employees. The union also says that Apple has been spreading “misinformation” by saying workers would have to bargain for those benefits to be included in their contract.  READ MORE...

Trump's Truth Social

Former US President Donald Trump's social media app Truth Social became available for download in Apple's App Store on Sunday night, but some people had trouble creating an account. Despite this, it hit No. 1 in the App Store's top charts early Monday.

People who downloaded the app reported seeing error messages when they tried entering a birthdate, e-mail or phone number to create an account. "Something went wrong. Please try again," the message read.

Others reported they were placed on a waitlist after signing up. "Due to massive demand, we have placed you on our waitlist," read the message, which included a waitlist number. People who preordered Truth Social had the app automatically downloaded to their iPhones.

The app's release underscores Trump's plans to return to social media after being booted from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube last year. The companies made the rare move to bar Trump, who was president at the time, from its platforms because of concerns that his remarks could spark violence following the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riots.

Truth Social, which looks similar to Twitter, is also another example of an alternative social media app like Parler, Gettr and Rumble that conservatives have flocked to because of censorship concerns. Facebook and Twitter have long denied that they intentionally suppress conservative content. The companies have rules against hate speech and inciting violence, but users don't always agree with how they interpret these policies.

The Trump Media and Technology Group first announced it was launching Truth Social in October as part of an effort "to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech."

CEO Devin Nunes, a former Republican congressman, told Fox News on Sunday that the app would roll out this week to more people in the Apple App Store. The company has a goal of making the app fully operational by the end of March at least within the US, he told Fox News.

On Feb. 15, Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. posted what he said was the former president's first post on Truth Social: "Get Ready! Your favorite President will see you soon!" About 500 people have reportedly started using an early version of Truth Social, Reuters reported last week.

Remote Working Employees

All across the United States, the leaders at large tech companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook are engaged in a delicate dance with thousands of employees who have recently become convinced that physically commuting to an office every day is an empty and unacceptable demand from their employers.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced these companies to operate with mostly remote workforces for months straight. 

And since many of them are based in areas with relatively high vaccination rates, the calls to return to the physical office began to sound over the summer.

But thousands of high-paid workers at these companies aren't having it. Many of them don't want to go back to the office full time, even if they're willing to do so a few days a week. 

Workers are even pointing to how effective they were when fully remote and using that to question why they have to keep living in the expensive cities where these offices are located.  READ MORE