tech

8/16/24

Fortnite maker Epic Games is launching an app store! On iPhones! ... In Europe only

After years of battling Apple in court, Fortnite is back on iPhones where maker Epic Games has launched its own app store. The catch? The store is only available in Europe, and getting there requires jumping through some hoops. (Here’s a how-to guide for getting through all the steps.)

Epic Games CEO and founder Tim Sweeney, who has the lofty goal of getting 100 million app store downloads by year’s end, says it’s worth it.

“The fight is far from over, but this is tangible progress for developers and consumers who can begin to benefit from competition and choice,” he said in a press statement.

It’s definitely worth it for Epic, which can now avoid some of Apple 30% App Store fees.

This is Apple’s latest move to appease regulators. Earlier this week, Apple announced that iPhone users would soon be able to use payment apps besides Apple Pay in a handful of countries including the US.

Android users, on the other hand, can access the new app store worldwide.

The Epic Games Store Launches on Mobile

The Epic Games Store Launches on Mobile

Epic Games CEO and founder Tim Sweeney, who has the lofty goal of getting 100 million app store downloads by year’s end, says it’s worth it.

“The fight is far from over, but this is tangible progress for developers and consumers who can begin to benefit from competition and choice,” he said in a press statement.

It’s definitely worth it for Epic, which can now avoid some of Apple 30% App Store fees.

This is Apple’s latest move to appease regulators. Earlier this week, Apple announced that iPhone users would soon be able to use payment apps besides Apple Pay in a handful of countries including the US.

Android users, on the other hand, can access the new app store worldwide.

More Tech

This is bananas! Google’s Gemini has booted ChatGPT from the top of the iOS App Store

A surge of interest in Gemini’s popular Veo 3 video generator and Nano Banana image generator has rocketed the app to the top of the iOS App Store, dethroning ChatGPT from its long-standing perch atop the leaderboard.

Barb

tech

5h

Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz consortium to control US TikTok entity

Oracle is indeed part of an upcoming deal for a US spin-off of TikTok, The Wall Street Journal reports, as a member of a consortium that also includes Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz.

The US and China are finalizing the framework for a deal that would create a new US entity, with American investors holding a roughly 80% ownership stake. The remaining 20% would be owned by Chinese investors.

Under the current structure for a deal, US users would have to download and use a new app, which TikTok is now testing.

The entity would have a largely American board, including one member nominated by the US government, the WSJ reports.

CBS earlier today had reported that Oracle would be part of the deal.

Bloomberg is reporting that President Trump has extended the deadline for a deal until December 16.

Details Emerge on U.S.-China TikTok Deal

Details Emerge on U.S.-China TikTok Deal

Under the current structure for a deal, US users would have to download and use a new app, which TikTok is now testing.

The entity would have a largely American board, including one member nominated by the US government, the WSJ reports.

CBS earlier today had reported that Oracle would be part of the deal.

Bloomberg is reporting that President Trump has extended the deadline for a deal until December 16.

“Daddy is very much home”

6h

Tesla is up 2% today after CEO Elon Musk posted in a response to someone on X, “Daddy is very much home,” before detailing his packed Tesla schedule and involvement with various aspects of the company, including Optimus, where he’s said 80% of Tesla’s value will lie.

Tesla investors generally consider Musk’s involvement with the company to be a good thing, agreeing with Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives that “Musk is Tesla and Tesla is Musk.”

Additionally, new data from Cox Automotive showed that Tesla had more US EV sales in August than the next four top brands combined.

The stock soared yesterday after Musk purchased $1 billion in stock — a move that sent his personal wealth up by $17 billion. The stock also jumped earlier this month after Tesla proposed a mammoth $1 trillion pay package for Musk intended to keep him at the company.

The phrase “Daddy’s home” is most commonly associated with the 2010 Usher track “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home).”

tech

7h

OpenAI building a teen mode that will guess a user’s age and restrict flirtatious and self-harm-related chats

After a series of alarming safety failures in which ChatGPT encouraged self-harm, OpenAI has announced a 120-day plan to roll out new protections for young users and those that may be experiencing a mental health crisis.

In a blog post today, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman gave an update on the plan, saying that the company was building an “under-18 experience” for teens that won’t engage in “flirtatious talk” or engage in any discussions of self-harm.

The teen mode will also try to contact underage users’ parents if self-harm ideation is detected, and could reach out to law enforcement if the parents can’t be reached, according to Altman.

The plan calls for a new “age-prediction” system that will default to the under-18 safety mode. In a move that could frustrate many ChatGPT users, adults can exit only upon verifying their age by sharing their ID.

Altman acknowledged the trade-off in a post on X, but said the priority is protecting young users:

“I don’t expect that everyone will agree with these tradeoffs, but given the conflict it is important to explain our decisionmaking.”

Young adults make up a substantial portion of OpenAI’s end users. According to a large study of real-world ChatGPT users released yesterday, half of all adult users included in the study were under 26.

Teen safety, freedom, and privacy

Teen safety, freedom, and privacy

The teen mode will also try to contact underage users’ parents if self-harm ideation is detected, and could reach out to law enforcement if the parents can’t be reached, according to Altman.

The plan calls for a new “age-prediction” system that will default to the under-18 safety mode. In a move that could frustrate many ChatGPT users, adults can exit only upon verifying their age by sharing their ID.

Altman acknowledged the trade-off in a post on X, but said the priority is protecting young users:

“I don’t expect that everyone will agree with these tradeoffs, but given the conflict it is important to explain our decisionmaking.”

Young adults make up a substantial portion of OpenAI’s end users. According to a large study of real-world ChatGPT users released yesterday, half of all adult users included in the study were under 26.

tech

8h

Anthropic data: Businesses are using Claude to automate rather than collaborate

Fresh on the heels of a revealing ChatGPT usage research paper from OpenAI, rival AI startup Anthropic released its own detailed look at how consumers and businesses are using its Claude AI chatbot.

While OpenAI’s study analyzed only end users of its ChatGPT chatbot, the Anthropic Economic Index report includes how businesses are using Claude via its API (application programming interface).

In a worrying sign of how AI might replace whole categories of human labor, Anthropic found that 77% of businesses using Claude were automating whole jobs away rather than collaborating with humans while they do their jobs.

The number of Claude users overall is tiny compared to ChatGPT, but its users do way more coding with the tool than with OpenAI’s chatbot.

The report also breaks down Claude usage by geography, showing that in the US, Washington, DC, has the highest Claude usage per capita, where the top tasks were document editing, gathering information, and job applications.

Anthropic Finds Businesses Are Mainly Using AI to Automate Work

Anthropic Finds Businesses Are Mainly Using AI to Automate Work

In a worrying sign of how AI might replace whole categories of human labor, Anthropic found that 77% of businesses using Claude were automating whole jobs away rather than collaborating with humans while they do their jobs.

The number of Claude users overall is tiny compared to ChatGPT, but its users do way more coding with the tool than with OpenAI’s chatbot.

The report also breaks down Claude usage by geography, showing that in the US, Washington, DC, has the highest Claude usage per capita, where the top tasks were document editing, gathering information, and job applications.

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