The Apple vs. OpenAI legal showdown
Apple has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging the AI startup stole trade secrets. The iPhone maker claimed that former Apple employees were asked to bring proprietary hardware to job interviews with OpenAI, and that the company tricked manufacturers into sharing Apple design secrets.
Plus, New York state becomes the first to enact a data center moratorium, and Uber is lobbying to slow the roll of autonomous vehicles in Washington D.C. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Paresh Dave, senior writer at Wired, to learn more.
Here’s what we talked about:
“The 6 wildest claims in Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI” from The Verge
“OpenAI’s First Device Will Be Movable, Screenless Speaker Built as AI Companion” from Bloomberg
“New York becomes the first state to impose a data center moratorium” from Reuters
“Uber’s robotaxi lobbying effort puts it on a collision course with Waymo” from TechCrunch
“Robotaxi Riders Are Falling Asleep, Sparking Frantic 911 Calls” from Bloomberg
Snap's new smart glasses received mixed reactions — mainly on aesthetics
Meta responded to plummeting morale this week with a pledge to do better with company snacks. Plus, the new AI augmented reality smart glasses everyone's talking about, and not in a good way. But first, SpaceX is acquiring the AI coding startup Cursor a week after it's IPO took off like a rocket.
The company hit a $2.5 trillion valuation at one point, but has dropped since then. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Paresh Dace, senior writer at Wired, to learn more.
The great AI race to Wall Street
This week, rideshare drivers in Massachusetts unionize; plus, Robinhood lets AI agents trade on behalf its customers.
But first, there’ve been hints for a while that Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX are planning to go public in the near future. Last week, SpaceX filed its initial public offering prospectus, also known as an S1, which is meant to help investors understand the company’s business model, including the risks it faces. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Paresh Dave, senior writer at WIRED, to learn more.
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Everything we talked about today:
“Tech titans prepare for blockbuster IPOs in new front of AI race” from The Hill
“SpaceX Listed Grok’s ‘Spicy’ Mode as a Risk in Its IPO Filing” from Wired
“Your AI agent can now trade for you on Robinhood. And buy stuff with your credit card too” from CNBC
“Rideshare drivers union in Mass. says it's the 1st to be recognized in the U.S.” NBC Boston
Elon Musk is in court arguing that OpenAI abandoned its nonprofit model
Back in 2015, Elon Musk and Sam Altman got the idea to start a nonprofit AI lab to develop artificial general intelligence that benefits all humanity. The lab would also make its technology open source, calling it OpenAI.
All that is according to a complaint filed by Elon Musk, who has since parted ways with the organization. And now he is suing OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman and its president Greg Brockman, saying they have abandoned the founding principles of the organization in pursuit of profits.
They are currently facing off in federal court in the Northern District of California. Paresh Dave at Wired has been in the courtroom. He explains more on what the core of Musk's case is.
Bytes: Week in Review - SpaceX's IPO, Iran threatens U.S. tech firms and California's new AI executive order
On this week’s “Marketplace Tech Bytes: Week in Review,” Big Tech operations in the Middle East from companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft could be targeted by Iran. And California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a new AI executive order with a not-so-thinly veiled message to the Trump administration. But first, Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX reportedly took a first step towards a highly anticipated initial public offering this week. The company made a confidential filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that potentially puts it on track to go public at a more than $2 trillion valuation in June. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Paresh Dave, senior writer at WIRED, to learn more.
Bytes: Week in Review — Prediction markets reel amid Iran conflict, defense contractors to drop Anthropic, and Meta's AI deal with News Corp
Meta and News Corp reached a licensing deal this week. Plus, defense contractors untangle Claude from their workflows.
But first, the online prediction marketplace Kalshi lets users bet on the outcome of many things that can happen in the future. One bet that saw a lot of action was whether Ali Khamenei would be ousted as the supreme leader in Iran. Khamenei was killed over the weekend during a U.S. military strike.
Kalshi didn’t pay out the bets that were placed after Khamenei’s death. Instead, it reimbursed those traders. And this outraged some users on the site. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Paresh Dave, senior writer at Wired, about all these headlines from the week in tech.
Bytes: Week in Review - Anthropic and the Pentagon face off, OpenAI teams up with consulting firms and Mac Mini moves to the U.S.
This week, OpenAI turns to consultants to get more companies to integrate AI coworkers.
Plus, Apple will be making its Mac Mini in Texas.
But first, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei this week, reportedly asking for unfettered access to the company’s AI model. If not, Hegseth has threatened to cancel a $200 million dollar contract the Pentagon has with the company. This comes after Anthropic's AI model Claude was reportedly used as part of the operation to capture former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
Anthropic has said it doesn't want its technology used to develop weapons or for mass surveillance of Americans.
Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Axios tech policy reporter Maria Curi to learn more on this week’s “Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”
Bytes: Week in Review - SpaceX and xAI merge, Nvidia and OpenAI's funding relationship and U.S. TikTok's rough start
On this week’s “Marketplace Tech Bytes: Week in Review,” we take a look at Nvidia's changing investment relationship with OpenAI. Plus, a stormy start for the new U.S. version of TikTok. But first, SpaceX, one of the world’s largest rocket companies, announced this week that it’s buying xAI, a two-and-half-year-old artificial intelligence startup. Both companies are controlled by Elon Musk. The new company is reportedly valued at $1.25 trillion. It means the chatbot Grok, the satellite internet company Starlink, and the social media firm X are all going to co-exist under the same rocket hangar. Marketplace’s Stephanie Hughes spoke with Paresh Dave, senior writer at Wired, about what adding these companies together equals.
Bytes: Week in Review - SpaceX eyes an IPO, community members want legal commitments from Micron, and YouTube to ditch AI slop
A Micron memory chip factory in upstate New York is wrangling with local groups who want legal assurances the project will benefit the local community. Plus, YouTube plans to crack down on AI slop.
But first, it's shaping up to be a big year for very big initial public offerings. Elon Musk is reportedly preparing to take SpaceX public at an anticipated valuation of around $1.5 trillion. AI companies Anthropic and OpenAI are also expected to follow suit this year.
Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Paresh Dave, senior writer at Wired, to discuss all these topics on this week’s “Marketplace Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”
Bytes: Week in Review — Meta wins antitrust case
The holiday shopping season is here, and AI companies are pushing new chatbot retail partnerships. But, can these tools deliver on their promises to make shopping easier? Plus, the return of Vine, the beloved video app known for its ultra-short absurdist memes.
But first, Meta is not a monopoly, according to a federal judge’s ruling this week in the longstanding antitrust case against the social media giant, which claimed Meta had stifled competition by buying Instagram and WhatsApp.
Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Paresh Dave, senior writer at Wired, to discuss all of the above on this week’s “Marketplace Tech Bytes: Week in Review.”