Wed. 05/28 – Apple Playing Games Again

welcome to the tech meme right home for wednesday may 28th 2025 i'm brian mccullough today apple is making noises in the gaming space once again but i feel like we've heard this all before Getty is still deadly serious about suing AI companies. Self-driving trucks seem to be just about to hit the roads. And a big piece about the enmity between Apple and Elon Musk. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech.

Apple has made an acquisition. Apple is acquiring Rack7, the two-person studio behind the popular Apple arcade game Sneaky Sasquatch, thereby marking its first-ever acquisition of a video game studio. quoting Digital Trends. Rack7 is a two-person studio whose previous credits include indie titles Dark Echo and Splitter Critters. In 2019, the team released Sneaky Sasquatch as an Apple Arcade exclusive.

the adventure game was a breakout hit among the services 71 launch titles according to apple and it has received regular updates since launch now the team will continue its partnership with apple as an internal studio so the partnership may come as a shock to those who haven't been following arcade closely since its launch it's less surprising in context

When I spoke to Apple Arcade Senior Director Alex Rothman about the service last year, he cited Sneaky Sasquatch as one of the service's major success stories. We hear from customers all over the world whose kids want Sneaky Sasquatch birthday parties, Rothman told Digital Trends at the time. Rack 7 is just one of a handful of indie studios who has consistently developed for the service since its launch.

alongside names like Likey Studios and Triband Games. The acquisition doesn't necessarily signal the beginning of a new gaming strategy for the tech giant. Apple notes that the move is a unique circumstance as it saw an opportunity to help the team grow its game more on Apple Arcade. It says that it will continue to work with third-party studios, big and small, to create games for the service, end quote.

It doesn't signal the beginning of a new gaming strategy for Apple? Probably not, because every time Apple signals they're going to get serious about gaming, it really never pans out, does it? Although, Mark Gurman says that Apple is planning a dedicated app for video games to replace Game Center that will come pre-installed on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV devices later this year.

So maybe a new strategy? Quote, the software will serve as a launcher for titles and centralized in-game achievements, leaderboards, communications, and other activities, said the people who asked not to be identified because the plans haven't been announced.

the move is meant to enhance the experience on apple devices at a time when gamers have plenty of alternatives including cloud services and consoles nintendo is preparing to roll out its much anticipated switch 2 device just days before apple's worldwide developers conference on june 9th when the new app will be introduced. The new app will feature editorial content from Apple about new titles, offer access to the App Store's game section, and promote arcade.

the company's $6.99 a month subscription offering, and it will replace Game Center, an existing social network dedicated to this category that debuted in 2010, but never gathered serious momentum. Apple is also planning a Mac version of the app that can tap into the games downloaded outside of the App Store. By market share, the iPhone remains one of the world's most used devices for gaming, a category that has been central to the App Store since 2008.

In recent years, developers have added high-end games like Resident Evil, Death Stranding, and Assassin's Creed. About two-thirds of Apple's App Store revenue currently comes from games and in-app purchases. That includes tokens, levels, and other upgrades bought within the titles themselves. But Apple isn't generally seen as a gaming giant, and many developers and players say that the Mac in particular leaves a lot to be desired compared with Windows computers.

While the new app will likely make Apple products easier to use for gaming and make the category more prominent, testers of the software say it probably won't change the perception among players and makers of high-end titles, end quote.

you Texas has enacted an online child safety bill requiring app stores to verify users' ages and secure parental approval before minors can get most apps or make in-app purchases. It'll be interesting to see if this is the beginning of a trend and if more states will follow suit. Quoting Bloomberg, the bill drew fire from App Store operators such as Alphabet's Google and Apple, which have argued that the legislation threatens the privacy of all users.

The bill was a big enough priority for Apple that Tim Cook called Texas' Governor Abbott to emphasize the company's opposition to it. said a person familiar with their discussion, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The measure was patterned off Utah's App Store Accountability Act, which took effect earlier this year and placed similar requirements on software markets. said Angela Paxton, a Texas state senator who authored the bill.

This puts tools in the hands of parents to make decisions for their own children, said Paxton, who, like Abbott, is a Republican. Abbott's office echoed her view, saying in a statement that the new law will enable Texas to, quote, empower parents to have more control over the online content their children can access. Alphabet said it was assessing next steps. Apple said it values child safety but expressed concern that the legislation would unnecessarily erode personal privacy.

We believe there are better proposals that help keep kids safe without requiring millions of people to turn over their personal information, the company said in a statement, end quote.

Reminder that with all the AI stuff, we are still waiting for major litigation to resolve the legality of a lot of things. Getty Images CEO Craig Peters says that Getty is spending millions and millions of dollars on its Stability AI lawsuit in the UK and the US, accusing Stability of copying 12 million Getty images.

Quoting CNBC, Peters told CNBC in an interview that both Stability AI, the UK-based startup best known for its text-to-image model stable diffusion, and other AI labs are stealing copyright-protected material to train their AI models for commercial gain. These firms, he said, are taking copyrighted material to develop their powerful AI models under the guise of innovation and then, quote, just turning those services right back on existing commercial market.

That's disruption under the notion of move fast and break things, and we believe that's unfair competition, Peter's added. We're not against competition. There's constant new competition coming in all the time from new technologies or just new companies, but that's just unfair competition. That's theft, end quote. Peter said the AI industry is making the argument that if developers are forced to pay for access to creative works, this will, quote, kill innovation.

We're battling a world of rhetoric, the CEO told CNBC. Getty is suing Stability AI in both the UK and US over allegations that the company copied 12 million images without permission or compensation, quote, to benefit Stability AI's commercial interests. and to the detriment of the content creators

Stability AI has contested the legal action saying it doesn't consider Getty's claims to have merit. The company acknowledges some images from Getty Images' websites were used to train its stable diffusion model. However, the firm denies it's liable in respect to any of the claims Getty has made. Sakanya Wadhwa, an associate at intellectual property law firm Brandsmiths, told CNBC that the Getty Images case against Stability AI is, quote, not a usual copyright infringement case.

The court will need to first consider how and where the AI training has been done. If it's outside the UK, do the UK courts have the right authority to decide on copyright infringement? She added, quote, Stability AI will be arguing that the output AI generated does not actually reproduce the original image at all, such that it cannot be copyright infringement.

Part of the reason Getty Images is pursuing legal action specifically against Stability AI and not other firms is because such legal pursuits are quote, extraordinarily expensive, Peters added. Even for a company like Getty Images, we can't pursue all the infringements that happen in one week. We can't pursue it because the courts are just prohibitively expensive, he said. We are spending millions and millions of dollars in one court case.

AI startups are being funded to the tune of several billions of dollars to develop their foundational models, with tech heavyweights like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon plowing cash into the field. Nevertheless, Peter acknowledges that it's not been an easy fight. I think our case is very strong, but I'm going to caveat that. We had to file in the U.S. and the U.K., and to be candid, we didn't know where this training took place, he said.

The case is set for an initial trial to determine liability from June 9th, end quote. It looks like self-driving trucking is also about to become a reality. The Times has a look at issues facing self-driving trucks generally in the US and specifically at Aurora.

whose new self-driving truck has logged more than 1,000 driverless miles on I-45 and is aiming for more than 20 trucks on real roads by the year and Quote, just about everybody agrees on one thing. The robo trucks are coming fast, like a freaking Corvette doing zero to 60, said Mr. Samuelson. The consulting firm McKinsey & Company has projected that 13% of the heavy-duty trucks on U.S. roads will drive themselves within a decade.

For now, Aurora, whose investors include Uber, has operated just two trucks without a driver, only in good weather and during the day. And last week, Aurora said it was temporarily returning an observer to the driver's seat at the request of the truck's manufacturer. But Aurora says it plans to expand its driverless runs

to at least 20 trucks by year's end and to push into more challenging conditions. The company is fine-tuning the technology for bad weather and said its robotruck would drive conservatively in the rain and use blasts of high-pressure air to clean the lenses of its sensors. runs in the snow appear more distant. At least three other companies are also developing driverless trucks. One of the companies Kodiak Robotics has started to use driverless trucks on dirt roads in Texas.

Experts spoke highly of Aurora describing the company as a leader in safety, but they also expressed concern about a lack of regulation. What Aurora is doing is being much more careful than most, said Philip Koopman, an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University who specializes in autonomous vehicles. But there's still no requirements for independent checks and balances, end quote.

Although there is no federal regulatory framework in place, a number of states have considered legislation to regulate self-driving trucks. Under normal circumstances, experts said robotrucks may prove much better at driving than humans. For our ordinary set of traffic crashes, automated trucking will be safer, predicted Bryant Walker-Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who focuses on driverless vehicles, citing existing research on vehicle automation.

but experts caution that it is impossible to predict how the trucks will react to circumstances their designers did not anticipate. A storm of tumbleweeds, perhaps, or a broad cyberattack that affects their system. This technology is really good at things. It's practiced and really bad at things it has never seen before, Professor Koopman said, adding, from a safety point of view, nobody knows how it's going to turn out, end quote.

you When you're starting off something new, it seems like your to-do list keeps growing every day with new tasks, and that list can easily begin to overrun your life. So finding the right tool that not only helps you out, but simplifies everything can be such a game changer. And for millions of businesses, that tool is Shopify. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S. from household names like Mattel and Gymshark.

to my own resume writers.com get started with your own design studio with hundreds of ready-to-use templates shopify helps you build a beautiful online store to match your brand style accelerate your content creation because shopify is packed with helpful ai tools

that write product descriptions, page headlines, and even enhance your product photography. Get the word out like you have a marketing team behind you. Easily create email and social media campaigns wherever your customers are scrolling or strolling. And best yet, Shopify is your commerce expert with world-class expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping to processing returns and beyond. Turn your big business idea into with Shopify on your side.

Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com slash ride. Go to Shopify.com slash ride. Shopify.com slash ride. Going to the gym can be discouraging, especially if you're putting in the work but barely seeing changes.

But with Tonal, you can actually see your progress with every workout. Tonal is the ultimate strength training system for a reason. Tonal provides the convenience of a full gym and the guidance of a personal trainer anytime at home with one sleek system. Designed to reduce your mental load, Tonal is the ultimate strength training system helping you focus less on workout planning and more on getting results.

No more second-guessing your form. Tonal gives you real-time coaching cues to dial in your form and help you lift safely and effectively. After a quick assessment, Tonal sets the optimal weight for every move and adjusts in one-pound increments as you get stronger so you're always challenged. Tunnel even lets you choose from a variety of expert-led workouts from strength to aero hit to yoga and mobility to keep you coming back for more.

For a limited time, go to Tonal.com and get $500 off your Tonal purchase plus a free four-year warranty. That's Tonal.com for $500 off plus a free four-year warranty. Tonal.com.

Finally today, big article from the information with lots of juicy details. We're heading back to Apple here, but also Elon with juicy things like, is Elon Musk about to make his own phone? Let me just quote the lead. Three years ago, Elon Musk approached Apple with an 11th hour offer. Musk had heard that Apple was about to announce a feature for the upcoming iPhone 14 in partnership with satellite firm Global Star.

that would allow iPhones to send text messages to emergency services in areas without cellular reception. He wanted Apple to instead use satellite internet service from Starlink, a global star rival operated by Musk's rocket company SpaceX. His pitch. SpaceX would agree to exclusively provide satellite connectivity to iPhones for 18 months if Apple would pay it $5 billion up front.

according to two people with direct knowledge of the deal. After that period of exclusivity ended, Musk proposed that Apple pay SpaceX $1 billion a year for Starlink service. The people said, Furthermore, if Apple couldn't come to terms with SpaceX, Musk threatened to announce a similar satellite feature on his own that could work with iPhones, the people added. He gave Apple 72 hours to decide.

Apple rejected the offer from Musk, who later made good on his threat. Two weeks before the iPhone 14 was announced, SpaceX in August 2022 announced a partnership with phone carrier T-Mobile. which allowed smartphone users to send and receive text messages in areas with no reception using Starlink, end quote. Tensions between Apple and Elon Musk

have apparently been simmering for years, according to the story fueled by disputes over App Store fees impacting Musk's X service and Musk's hints at launching a rival smartphone to bypass Apple's ecosystem. More on that in a second. But their rivalry has escalated most sharply in the satellite internet space, an arena that could define the future of mobile connectivity. Satellite internet represents the crown jewel of Musk's SpaceX, accounting for much of the company's $350 billion valuation.

SpaceX has even taken legal action to challenge the radio spectrum used by global star, Apple's satellite partner. If SpaceX succeeds, it could severely disrupt Apple's satellite features on the iPhone. In this space, SpaceX only thinks about Apple as a serious competitor, and Apple only thinks about SpaceX as a serious competitor, said satellite consultant Tim Ferrara.

While satellite service is still peripheral to Apple's core iPhone business, which generated 51% of its $391 billion in revenue last year, it's increasingly strategic to Apple. Apple's satellite features now span 17 countries. and go beyond emergency texting to support location sharing, roadside assistance and personal messaging in areas without cellular coverage.

Internally, however, Apple's satellite ambitions have stirred debate. Executives, according to this piece and sources quoted, fear that expanding into telecom territory could trigger tighter regulation and alienate carrier partners that drive iPhone sales. This tension traces back to 2015 when Apple explored a massive satellite internet project codenamed Project Eagle with Boeing.

aiming to beam internet directly to iPhones and homes. But CEO Tim Cook pulled the plug in 2016 due to regulatory risks and uncertain economics. Still, Apple kept plugging away at the idea. It held early talks with satellite providers like OneWeb and EchoStar. but either cost or financial instability halted progress. Eventually, Apple struck a deal with Globalstar investing $450 million in 2022 and another $1.7 billion in 2024 to expand satellite coverage.

Despite internal lobbying to launch broader satellite internet to remote areas, basically becoming an ISP, basically doing everything including video streaming, Apple has once again apparently retreated from the idea concerned about offending telecom partners. The company narrowed its ambitions.

Instead of becoming an internet provider, Apple opted to enhance iPhones with modest but distinctive satellite messaging capabilities, an approach that may keep its carrier relationships intact while quietly expanding the boundaries of what a smartphone can do. Meanwhile, Elon is still simmering.

In recent years, Musk has also plotted the ultimate challenge to Apple, said a person with direct knowledge of his thinking, building his own phone to get around Apple's gatekeeper position in the market. Musk has discussed Tesla building the phone and providing satellite connectivity through Starlink, the person said.

Musk hasn't kept his openness to making a smartphone a secret. He has publicly toyed with the idea on social media at times, but he has also made it clear that he doesn't want to deal with the headaches of such a monumental effort. The idea of making a phone makes me want to die, Musk said at a Trump rally in Philadelphia last October. If we have to make a phone, we will, but we will aspire not to make a phone, end quote.

Back to Apple toying with the idea of launching its own internet service. Some Apple executives have questioned the value of the iPhone satellite service calling the global star-powered network outdated and limited. The satellite's plan for launch won't meaningfully improve performance, and the company has yet to charge users, partly to avoid being regulated as a telecom provider, something that they're apparently extremely afraid of.

Apple is spending hundreds of millions annually on the effort and internal support is waning. Software chief Craig Federighi and others, according to sources, have suggested scrapping the project entirely, especially as rivals like SpaceX advanced faster alternatives. Why invest in satellite internet if Musk is going to do it anyway? Seems to be the conclusion.

Somebody asked online recently why I say quote and end quote all the time. Actually, they said it sounded like I'm saying and quote, but actually I'm usually saying end quote, sometimes un.

maybe? Anyway, since this hasn't come up in a while, a real quick reminder. The reason I do that, even if it's annoying, it's annoying to me, is because it's important I'm bringing you the news on the show I'm trying to tell you what people are saying not necessarily what I am saying So I try to make it clear by saying quote and end quote when I'm quoting other people

and saying what other people are saying versus what I'm saying. Sometimes I might even quote something someone is saying that I completely disagree with, but it's my job to tell you what is being said no matter what. So I think it's important to at least make the attempt to make it clear who is saying what.

If this was text you'd be able to see the quote marks or I could put stuff in italics or something like that. Anyway, I know it's repetitive and probably annoying but I think it's important to make the effort to delineate who's saying what. For years, I've threatened to put out a podcast t-shirt with the show logo on it and just, I don't know, end quote below it. Maybe I'll get around to doing that soon. Talk to you tomorrow.