OpenAI acquires io, Jony Ive's secretive AI startup, for nearly $6.5B in stock; Ive and LoveFrom will remain independent but take over design for all of OpenAI
OpenAI will acquire the AI device startup co-founded by Apple Inc. veteran Jony Ive in a nearly $6.5 billion all-stock deal …
Sources: OpenAI owned a 23% stake in io from a 2024 deal, so it is now paying ~$5B to fully acquire it; the OpenAI Startup Fund also invested in io in 2024
OpenAI buys Ive's “io” in San Francisco as Google holds their i/o conference down in mountain view right at this moment (also apple stock dropped ~2 percent this morning on the acq...
Filings: Google owns a 14% Anthropic stake but holds no voting rights, board seats, or board observer rights; Google aims to invest $750M more in September 2025
The internet giant owns 14% of the high-profile artificial intelligence company, according to legal filings obtained by The New York Times.
Q&A with Marissa Mayer about her app development startup Sunshine, its new photo-sharing app Shine, the AI landscape, internet business models, and more
Reed Albergotti / Semafor :
Game developer Scopely says Monopoly Go! crossed $2B in revenue in February 2024, just 10 months after launching and three months after hitting $1B in revenue
Scopely announced that Monopoly Go has generated $2 billion in revenue just 10 months after launch and three months after hitting $1 billion.
An interview with early Waze investors Yahal Zilka and Ehud Levy on why they invested, the impact of Google's acquisition on Israel's tech industry, and more
The disregard for map companies, the dilemma between BlackBerry and iPhone, the indifference on the part of Tim Cook …
How Meta could sidestep ATT's impairments by launching a mobile games store, as Apple reportedly prepares multiple app store support on iOS due to the EU's DMA
> download App Store —> download game Right? Or am I misreading the journey? Vivek Sharma / @pucknorris : @eric_seufert It is a great idea but a/ meta has thrown in the towel on Ga...
The iPhone, in its third year of a three-year design cycle, may be overhauled in 2023; Apple may delay Pay Later to 2023 and may not host an October 2022 event
I've spent the last week or so testing out the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and I believe it sets the stage for larger changes next year.
Counterpoint: the average selling price of iPhones could rise to $892 in Q3 2022 and $944 in Q4 2022, as buyers choose Pro models; the record is $873 in Q4 2021
Patrick McGee / Financial Times :
Snap's stock closes down 39.08% following its Q2 earnings report that missed expectations, and is down 78%+ year-to-date
Google will let non-gaming Android apps provide alternative billing systems for IAP, reducing Google's Play Store cut by 3%, in the European Economic Area
‘reduced by 3%’ — that both Apple and Google have colluded on, to fool news outlets Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : Congratulations to Google, fast-following Apple to introduce fak...
Google will let non-gaming Android apps provide alternative billing systems for IAP, reducing Google's Play Store cut by 3%, in the European Economic Area
‘reduced by 3%’ — that both Apple and Google have colluded on, to fool news outlets Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : Congratulations to Google, fast-following Apple to introduce fak...
An analysis of how Apple's ATT approach is blatantly anti-competitive and harms targeted advertising that is an essential ingredient to the new internet economy
Last week the German Bundeskartellamt ("Federal Cartel Office") announced in a press release:
Branch, whose tools help businesses measure marketing programs, raises $300M led by NEA at a $4B valuation; PitchBook: Branch had a $1B valuation in 2019
Mehnaz Yasmin / Reuters :
Apple clarifies it will still collect a commission from Dutch developers using third-party payments; Google will too in South Korea, just lowering its fee by 4%
Crypto tokens allow venture capitalists to dump their investments on an enthusiastic public without regulation, in the midst of a speculative mania
Google lowers Play Store subscription fees to 15% and fees for ebooks and on-demand music streaming services to “as low as 10%”; IAP cut seems to be unaffected
here are the details Sareena Dayaram / CNET : Google to cut Play Store fees for subscription-based apps next year Chris Wallace / MCV/DEVELOP : Google cuts the Play Store subscript...
Analysis: Apple Search Ads now account for 58% of iOS app installs from an ad click, up from 17% a year ago; Apple to earn $5B from its ads business in FY 2021
Patrick McGee / Financial Times :
Apple's ATT privacy policy is a commercial land grab dressed up as a moral crusade and it will ultimately subvert the open web and the freemium business model
Last week, Apple introduced a new ad unit to the App Store: a paid placement on its Search page. — Rumors of this new unit had circulated previously
Google Play will add an App Store-like safety section starting next year, requiring apps to show details about the data they collect and other privacy info
Jon Porter / The Verge :