tech

Apple to get 15% cut of purchases in Tencent’s WeChat mini games and apps

Apple has made a major inroad into China, the world’s largest smartphone market, by reaching a landmark agreement with Tencent to process payments within WeChat’s mini games and apps, Bloomberg reports.

Under the deal, Apple will take a 15% commission on digital purchases — half its usual 30% App Store cut. The arrangement ends a long-running dispute between the two over WeChat’s in-app payment system, which for years allowed users to bypass Apple’s infrastructure entirely, and gives the iPhone maker a lucrative new revenue stream inside the most dominant app ecosystem in China.

The agreement is expected to require developers to comply with Apple’s software policies and close payment loopholes that previously directed users to external systems.

Tencent posted earnings today that beat analysts revenue and earnings expectations.

Apple and Tencent Agree to 15% Fee on WeChat Mini Game Purchases

Apple and Tencent Agree to 15% Fee on WeChat Mini Game Purchases

Under the deal, Apple will take a 15% commission on digital purchases — half its usual 30% App Store cut. The arrangement ends a long-running dispute between the two over WeChat’s in-app payment system, which for years allowed users to bypass Apple’s infrastructure entirely, and gives the iPhone maker a lucrative new revenue stream inside the most dominant app ecosystem in China.

The agreement is expected to require developers to comply with Apple’s software policies and close payment loopholes that previously directed users to external systems.

Tencent posted earnings today that beat analysts revenue and earnings expectations.

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tech

Microsoft to use OpenAI’s chips to improve its own in-house chips

As part of Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI, the company is using OpenAI’s development of custom AI semiconductors to help improve its own in-house chips, which have lagged behind peers, according to an interview with CEO Satya Nadella by podcaster Dwarkesh Patel.

“As they innovate even at the system level, we get access to all of it,” Nadella said. “We first want to instantiate what they build for them, but then we’ll extend it.” Under their updated agreement, Microsoft has access to OpenAI’s models and products — excluding the Jony Ive-designed AI device — through 2032.

OpenAI releases GPT 5.1, which can be “Professional,” “Candid,” or “Quirky”

The new “more conversational” model follows instructions better, but backslides on some safety tests.

GPT-5.1 screenshot

tech

AI agent fatigue may be hitting enterprise customers

You may have noticed that recently, every piece of business or productivity software seems to have an “AI agent” feature that keeps getting pushed in front of you, whether you want it or not.

That’s leading to AI agent fatigue among enterprise customers, according to The Information.

Companies like Salesforce, Microsoft, and Oracle have been pushing their AI agent features to help with tasks such as customer service, IT support, and hiring. But many of those features are all powered by AI services from OpenAI and Anthropic, leading to a similar set of functions, according to the report.

As companies race to tack on AI agents to their legacy products, it remains to be seen which functions will become the “killer app” for enterprise AI.

From Snowflake to Sierra, Every Enterprise Software Firm Is Selling the Same AI Agents

From Snowflake to Sierra, Every Enterprise Software Firm Is Selling the Same AI Agents

Companies like Salesforce, Microsoft, and Oracle have been pushing their AI agent features to help with tasks such as customer service, IT support, and hiring. But many of those features are all powered by AI services from OpenAI and Anthropic, leading to a similar set of functions, according to the report.

As companies race to tack on AI agents to their legacy products, it remains to be seen which functions will become the “killer app” for enterprise AI.

Orange iPhones are the new black

The latest iPhone Pro doesn’t come in black, the preferred iPhone color, so people are picking... Cosmic Orange.

Streetstyle Vienna

tech

Google’s Waymo has started letting passengers take the freeway

Waymo’s approach to robotaxi expansion has been slow and steady — a practice that has meant the Google-owned autonomous ride-hailing service that launched to the public in 2020 is only just now taking riders on freeways.

On Wednesday, Waymo announced that “a growing number of public riders” in the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, and Los Angeles can take the highway and are no longer confined to local routes. The company said it will soon expand freeway capabilities to Austin and Atlanta. It also noted that its service in San Jose is now available, meaning Waymos can traverse the entire San Francisco Peninsula.

Waymo’s main competitor, Tesla, so far operates an autonomous service in Austin as well as a more traditional ride-hailing service across the Bay Area, where a driver uses Full Self-Driving (Supervised). On the company’s last earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla would expand its robotaxi service to 8 to 10 markets this year.

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