Threading the needle: Meta's latest launch is losing steam

8/22/23 7:00PM

Raising brows(ers)

‍Threads users, fire up your desktops: Meta is launching a version of its text-based social media platform that can be used on web browsers. The new functionality will allow users to create, view, and interact with posts on their desktops — features that have been available on X, formerly Twitter, for years.

Threads is threatening X just as the company is going through its own upheaval. In July, Threads surpassed 70 million sign-ups in less than 48 hours, reaching 100 million users faster than any other app, while X owner Elon Musk initiated a company-wide rebrand just months after laying off ~80% of the company's workforce. But — despite stoking up a tech-billionaire rivalry that at one point looked like it would lead to a cage match — the initial hype surrounding Threads is waring thin.

‍Threadcount

‍A July report from data analytics company Similarweb showed that the number of daily active Android users on Threads dropped from 49 million to 23.6 million in a single week — equivalent to only 22% of X’s audience. It seems as though, even with Musk’s major changes often looking spontaneous, some good may have come from the chaos: X users have reportedly reached a ‘new high’ at over 540 million per month.

Maintaining the momentum behind a social media platform is hard (see Myspace, Friendster, Vine, Google+ and even BeReal) — behind-the-scenes posts from Mark Zuckerberg might not even be enough to keep Threads relevant.

Rani Molla1h

Google reaches record high and crosses $4 trillion market cap after major wins for Gemini

Google parent Alphabet closed yesterday at a record high stock price of $331.86, giving the company a market capitalization just above $4 trillion, as investors reward a string of wins for its Gemini AI model, including high-profile partnerships with Apple and Walmart.

After months of speculation, Apple announced a multi-year partnership to use Gemini to power its AI assistant Siri, a major endorsement of Google’s AI prowess. That same day, Walmart said it would partner with Google to let customers purchase products directly through the Gemini chatbot, a move that would put Gemini in front of millions of Walmart shoppers and test whether AI chatbots can drive real commerce at scale, rather than isolated queries. (Amazon, OpenAI, and Microsoft are experimenting with similar AI shopping tools.)

The stock is up nearly 1% again in premarket trading today. While Microsoft and Apple have both crossed $4 trillion in the past, they’ve since dipped below it, leaving Google and Nvidia as the only companies currently valued above the threshold.

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Meta reportedly plans to cut about 10% of employees in Reality Labs metaverse business

Meta is planning to cut roughly 10% of its Reality Labs employees, according to a report from The New York Times. The division is home to products related to the namesake of the company — the metaverse — which includes virtual and augmented reality glasses and headsets. Employees working on the metaverse are the target of the cuts, per the report.

Reality Labs has been bleeding cash and struggling to build significant revenue, racking up losses of around $70 billion since the company started reporting its numbers in 2020. Other than Meta Ray-Ban glasses, the group’s products have not been popular with consumers, and the idea of the metaverse that CEO Mark Zuckerberg evangelized never took off.

The company has since pivoted to a focus on building AI “superintelligence.”

Meta Plans to Cut 10% to 15% of Employees in Reality Labs Business

The company has since pivoted to a focus on building AI “superintelligence.”

Rani Molla18h

Tesla’s Elon Musk says AI deal with Apple gives Google “unreasonable concentration of power”

Apple has selected Google’s Gemini AI model to power the next generation of Siri — and Tesla and xAI CEO Elon Musk is not pleased. Responding on X to Google’s announcement, Musk wrote that the deal “seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google,” pointing to the company’s control of Android and Chrome.

This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that the also have Android and Chrome
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 12, 2026

Musk has previously sued Apple, accusing the company of unfairly favoring OpenAI’s ChatGPT — with which Apple also has a more limited AI partnership — in its App Store. Musk’s xAI, which works closely with Tesla, develops a competing AI model, Grok. Long considered the AI front-runner, OpenAI, which was also in the running to power Siri, has been facing increased competition from Google.

In a monopoly case last September, a judge ruled that agreements such as Apple’s deal to preload Google Search on Safari were permissible as long as they were not exclusive — a decision that may have helped clear the path for the companies’ new multiyear AI partnership.

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Apple selects Google’s Gemini to power Siri, CNBC reports

Apple has selected Google’s Gemini model as part of a multiyear partnership to power its revamped, AI-powered Siri, set to launch this year.

Per a statement seen by CNBC, Apple said: “After careful evaluation, we determined that Google’s technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and we’re excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for our users.”

Apple first announced a revamped AI Siri back in June 2024 but failed to execute on many of its promises of personalized features and deep system integration. The newest iteration of Siri was expected this spring. Bloomberg previously reported that Apple plans to pay Google $1 billion a year to use its AI model to power Siri.

With this news, the iPhone maker has ticked one of the four boxes that Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said would be integral to the stock’s success in 2026.

“This is what the Street has been waiting for with the elephant in the room for Cupertino revolving around its invisible AI strategy,” Ives wrote in a follow-up note, calling the move a “major validation moment for Google as a premier foundation model and for Apple as a stepping stone to accelerate its AI strategy into 2026 and beyond.”

Google, which has been riding high on the the stellar reception of its latest Gemini model, briefly notched a $4 trillion market cap on the news. Apple hit the notable milestone in 2025 but has since fallen and is currently worth $3.8 trillion.

Apple picks Google's Gemini to run AI-powered Siri coming this year

With this news, the iPhone maker has ticked one of the four boxes that Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said would be integral to the stock’s success in 2026.

850M

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Apple’s App Store saw an average of 850 million weekly active users at the end of 2025, up from 813 million last June, underscoring the sheer scale of its Services business even as hardware growth has slowed. The company highlighted the milestone in a year-end Services roundup, noting record App Store traffic across major markets including the US, China, India, and Japan.

Apple takes a cut of most digital transactions that run through its App Store payment system, making growth there a key driver of its increasingly important Services segment.

Apple also indicated record Apple TV viewership and Apple Music listenership, but did not disclose specific figures.