Welcome back to review week! Today there’s a lot of news about Amazon revenue, Apple revenue, ChatGpt Sycophancy, Alibaba AI models and more. Let’s get to that!
good? During Apple’s revenue call yesterday, Tim Cook revealed that the company had paid $900 million in tariffs in the last quarter. But nonetheless, the CEO did not announce a price increase.
Big Budget: Mach Industries, a defense technology startup founded by 21-year-old Ethan Thornton, is about to close new funding, sources told TechCrunch. The new funding should bring total startup funds to around $185 million so far.
Other Models: Alibaba announced this week that it is releasing a family of AI models called QWEN3. According to Alibaba, the QWEN3 model is a “hybrid” model and is not yet available for download.
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Shoot for the Stars: Efforts to create Amazon’s space-based internet networks began in earnest this week. The first 27 internet satellites were fired on Tuesday. The first half of the network must be rolled out by mid-2026 to meet the FCC deadline.
AI in Pocket: Meta is rolling out its standalone AI app announced at the company’s first Llamacon event on Tuesday. This app allows users to access Meta AI in the app, just like the ChatGPT app and other AI assistant apps.
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Blocked: Indian judge blocked encrypted email provider Proton Mail nationwide. This responds to a legal complaint filed by New Delhi-based M Moser Design Associates, claiming that the employee received an email containing indecent and vulgar content sent via Proton Mail.
Scammers won’t win. I recently published word of mouth for a bold claim to help people cheat on everything. However, some startups claim they can catch Cluely users.
Alexa+: Amazon’s new digital assistant aims to have the agent ability to speak it in a more natural style and ultimately use third-party apps on behalf of the user. During Amazon’s revenue call this week, CEO Andy Jassy says 100,000 users have Alexa+.
That’s what matters: Airbnb seems to take a more measured approach with AI. Last month, we began deploying AI-powered customer service bots in the US. CEO Brian Chesky said in February that the company would use AI for customer service before beginning implementation for other uses such as travel planning and booking tickets.
Epic Rule: Epic Games won in an ongoing legal dispute with Apple. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said Apple was in a “willful violation” of its 2021 injunction, banning the company from imposing anti-competitive pricing. As a result, Fortnite could return to iPhone soon next week.
LOL: Following the domination of Epic Games, we shared a Stripe shared document showing iOS developers how to get around Apple Commission.
Check your settings: Meta will email the owners of the Ray-Ban Meta on Tuesday to notify them that the AI feature will be enabled by default on glasses. This means that Meta’s AI analyzes photos and videos taken with glasses, and certain AI features are turned on.
Eeks! Openai said it is “rolling back” the latest updates to the default AI model powered by the Default AI Model ChatGPT, GPT-4O after complaints about strange behavior. According to Openai, the update aimed at “feeling the default personality of models more intuitive and effective” was much more informed by “short-term feedback.” Currently, the company is committed to making changes to prevent this from happening in the future.
Before you go

Ah, drama: We read the 80-page epic vs. Apple decision to elicit the juicy and most intense comments of the judge. “Apple is engaged in tactics to delay the lawsuit. The court later concluded that delays equal profits.”