Good morning. The markets were ready to hear Jerome Powell speak on Wednesday. But were they ready for Eddy?
Not far from where the Fed Chairman delivered comments about the economy and interest rates, Apple SVP of Services Eddy Cue spoke in a Washington, D.C. courtroom. And while Powell’s speech contained no big surprises, Cue’s testimony in the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet (more on that below) quickly made big waves—Alphabet’s stock was down as much as 9.4% at one point, its biggest intraday plunge since 2023, according to Bloomberg.
In a word, ouch. —Alexei Oreskovic
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Apple reminded Google of its existential problem
The ground shook under Google’s business empire on Wednesday, after an Apple exec raised doubts about the future of Google’s longstanding iPhone search deal.
Apple is “actively looking” at revamping the iPhone’s Safari browser to let people use AI instead of search, Eddy Cue said in court testimony Wednesday, according to Bloomberg. “Prior to AI, my feeling around this was, none of the others were valid choices,” he said, noting that internet searches in Safari declined last month for the first time ever because of AI.
The comments illustrate not only the long term existential risk AI poses to Google’s search business, but the near term prospect that Apple could replace Google as the default search engine on the Safari browser—a privilege for which Google pays an estimated $20 billion per year, and to judge by the plunge in Google’s stock, an arrangement that investors think is worth every penny.
Given that U.S. antitrust regulators are already trying to break apart parts of Google’s business, the loss of its default placement on iPhones would be a big blow.
That said, losing $20 billion a year in extremely high-margin revenue is not in Apple’s interest either, and shares of Apple fell 2% after Cue’s comments. So, unless the government forces the two companies to kill the partnership, Google and Apple may be stuck with each other, bound by a fear of mutually assured destruction. —AO
Meet your new Netflix
How do you update the main interface of a product that hundreds of millions of people use every day? Very cautiously.
To wit, Netflix’s streaming TV app revamp. Billed as the first major revamp since 2013, the changes are in fact fairly prosaic. The “shortcuts” nav bar now stretches horizontally across the top of the screen instead of being tucked away as a pop-out on the left side, there’s more information displayed about each show, including things that flag “live” programming, and the personalized recommendations will apparently be better.
All nice improvements to be sure, but not exactly groundbreaking changes of the sort that would seem to merit a media blitz (Netflix held a briefing with reporters to walk through the UI update, which was covered by dozens of outlets including the New York Times and CNN).
But Netflix has good reason to tread carefully. Abrupt changes to consumer habits can bring swift backlash. It’s a lesson that another streaming giant, Sonos, learned almost exactly one year ago, when it released its app update in May 2024. The app was so poorly designed and bug-ridden that it ultimately cost the CEO his job. —AO
OpenAI's Stargate goes global
OpenAI announced the AI for Countries initiative on Wednesday, promising to spread “democratic AI” across the globe in partnership with the U.S. government.
The announcement was long on rhetoric, casting both OpenAI and the U.S. as benevolent actors in the face of authoritarian regimes like China. More concretely, the blog post outlined a goal to build data centers overseas though a global version of the Stargate data center project, and to create versions of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbots that are customized for each country’s language and culture.
The ultimate goal is 10 projects with U.S. allies, though OpenAI did not say whether any countries have signed on yet.
The big question, of course, is will this Stargate charm offensive work?
Unlike typical corporate partnerships, this isn’t about business customers—it’s about national governments partnering with OpenAI to access cutting-edge AI technology. If OpenAI’s ecosystem becomes the only viable gateway for countries to obtain the most advanced AI capabilities, it could compromise their control over their data and technology.
It also raises questions about human rights including data privacy and state-level surveillance. —Sharon Goldman
More tech
—Amazon robot can feel. But “Vulcan” will not replace Amazon’s warehouse workers, insists robotics exec.
—Meta glasses could get facial recognition. Zuck sees privacy concerns through a new lens.
—CZ wants Trump pardon. The founder of crypto exchange Binance formally applied for POTUS clemency two weeks ago.
—Rivian warns. The EV maker and Tesla rival expects to sell fewer vehicles this year because of the trade war.
—PE wants a piece of Green Dot. A group of private equity firms are banding together to bid for the fintech giant.
—Crowdstrike job cuts. The cybersecurity firm is laying off 500 workers, or 5% of its staff.
—Uber bookings fall short. It seems there’s less travel to the U.S.
