Australia's regulator says Microsoft pushed 2.7 million subscribers toward pricier AI plans by hiding a cheaper option inside the cancellation flow. The case tests whether essential software providers must disclose alternatives as clearly as upgrades.
Microsoft buried OpenAI losses in a $4.7B catch-all line without disclosing stake size, fair value, or revenue mechanics—despite a partner now worth $500B. Investors can't map exposure or returns. The gaps are fixable and overdue.
AI adoption stalls for lack of trained workers, not technology. While businesses wait for a manual that never arrives, China teaches AI skills from elementary school onward. The real gap isn't algorithms—it's who learns to work alongside them.
Waymo just unleashed its self-driving cars on Silicon Valley. The company's robotaxis now operate 24/7 across a 27-square-mile zone including Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and parts of Sunnyvale.
It's a homecoming of sorts. Waymo began here as Google's quirky self-driving experiment in 2009. Back then, founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page dared their engineers to complete ten 100-mile autonomous routes. Those engineers delivered, probably fueled by a mix of caffeine and Silicon Valley optimism.
The rollout starts small. Only select locals with the right zip codes can summon these driverless chariots. Meanwhile, Waymo keeps expanding elsewhere - they've already partnered with Uber in Austin and plan to hit Atlanta next.
Chief Product Officer Saswat Panigrahi calls it a "special milestone." That's a modest way of saying they've come full circle: from testing secretive prototypes in Google's backyard to letting residents actually sleep through their commute.
Why this matters:
Silicon Valley finally gets to ride in the robots it created
The neighborhood that birthed self-driving cars now trusts them to drive its kids to soccer practice
Tech translator with German roots who fled to Silicon Valley chaos. Decodes startup noise from San Francisco. Launched implicator.ai to slice through AI's daily madness—crisp, clear, with Teutonic precision and sarcasm.
E-Mail: marcus@implicator.ai
Microsoft buried OpenAI losses in a $4.7B catch-all line without disclosing stake size, fair value, or revenue mechanics—despite a partner now worth $500B. Investors can't map exposure or returns. The gaps are fixable and overdue.
OpenAI's company knowledge mode connects workplace apps to ChatGPT—but the real test is whether enterprises will expose their entire institutional memory to AI. The feature points toward governed knowledge bases, yet arrives with manual toggles and gaps Microsoft solved months ago.
Anthropic secured Google's largest chip deal—up to 1M TPUs worth tens of billions—while keeping Amazon as primary partner. The rare multi-cloud strategy gives the startup leverage both clouds typically demand for themselves. Can neutrality scale?
OpenAI bought the team behind Sky, a Mac assistant that actually controls your apps. It's a move from answering questions to doing work—and puts pressure on Apple's automation story. Integration timing and privacy details will decide if it sticks.