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- [00:04]
Brian McCullough
Welcome to the Techmeme write home for Friday, January 3rd, 2025. I'm Brian McCullough. Today Apple pays a fine because Siri was listening in on what you said. Strava does a tie in with Apple Fitness. Plus net neutrality is dead again and it looks like for good this time. The nuclear winter in the VC space. CES is coming for us all and a weekend long Read suggestion. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. You know that thing how people have this conspiracy theory that your phone is listening to you and so when you say something in real life, then you suddenly see ads for that thing you were discussing on your phone? Well, this is kind of like that though not exactly though I'm sure this will keep those conspiracy theories going. Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that it recorded private conversations after Siri was unint activated and shared that data with outside parties. Quoting Reuters, voice assistants typically react when people use hot words such as hey Siri. Two plaintiffs said that their mentions of Air Jordan sneakers and Olive Garden restaurants triggered ads for those products. Another said he got ads for a brand name surgical treatment. After discussing it, he thought privately with his doctor. The class period runs from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024. It began when C Siri incorporated the hey Siri feature that allegedly led to the unauthorized recordings. Class members estimated in the tens of millions may Receive up to $20 per Siri enabled device such as iPhones and Apple watches. Apple denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. The Cupertino, California based company and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On Thursday, lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to similar requests. They may seek up to $28.5 million in fees, plus $1.1 million for expenses from the settlement fund. The 95 million DOL is about nine hours of profit for Apple, whose net income was $93.74 billion in its latest fiscal year. A similar lawsuit on behalf of users of Google's Voice Assistant is pending in the San Jose, California federal court in the same district as the Oakland court. The plaintiffs are represented by the same law firms as in the Apple case, end quote. As the tech privacy activist Parker Higgins said on Blue Sky, I think probably 95% of speculation that your phone is secretly listening to you is overblo. But man, the tech industry really does not do itself any favors with that 5%, end quote. And Mike Masnik of Techdirt wrote, quote, exactly my reaction. Most of the claims about omg the phone was listening are bs, but apparently not all of them. End Quote A much kinder Apple headline here. Starting today, Strava subscribers can redeem two months in addition to the free one month trial already offered to new Apple Fitness users. So basically, Strava subscribers will now get three free months of Apple Fitness while Strava athletes will begin appearing in fitness programming. Quoting the Verge, Apple Fitness is getting a fresh makeover in the Strava app. The two companies announced they're collaborating to revamp how fitness integrates with the popular fitness community, which includes more detailed workout summaries, Strava athletes appearing in fitness content and and a free three month trial to the service for Strava subscribers. Starting today, you'll be able to see a thumbnail of the fitness workout and information like episode number, music genre, trainer metrics and achievements. While mostly a design update, this brings fitness more in line with other Strava integrations from services like Peloton and Ladder. Technically, Apple Watch users have been able to import their workouts into Strava from the get go. However, that integration has been limited with bare bones workout summaries. While you could see the activity type, calories burned and basic heart rate metrics, there wasn't any information about the class or instructor, end quote. To be clear, this is actually a two way partnership that breaks new ground for both platforms. For the first time, Strava subscribers can access fitness for a three month free trial period without needing an Apple Watch, though they'll still need an iPhone, iPad or Apple tv. The collaboration also brings fresh faces to fitness workouts, with notable Strava athletes stepping into guest roles. You'll see runner Hela Sedibe leading a strength session on January 13, while Kayla Jeter takes charge of a treadmill workout. This marks a shift in Apple's approach, as previously they'd only offered fitness trials alongside new hardware purchases. Moreover, while fitness has featured prominent athletes before, this represents the first time they are tapping into an external fitness community's talent pool. The timing of this partnership makes strategic sense for both sides. However, Strava recently faced user pushback after modifying their API terms for third party apps, leading some subscribers to question their membership value. The fitness trial offers a compelling new benefit that could help smooth over these tensions. Meanwhile, Strava's position as the Go to platform for serious athletes gives Fitness plus access to a dedicated fitness community, exactly the kind of users who tend to stick with their fitness commitments beyond the typical New Year's resolution window like Schrodinger's cat We open the box this morning and find that net neutrality seems dead once again. Again, though, maybe the blow is permanent and mortal. This time. A US Appeals court has ruled the Federal Communications Commission did not have legal authority to reinstate net neutrality rules, which is interesting timing because incoming FCC chair Brendan Carr opposed the 2024 reinstatement of net neutrality to begin with. So expect net neutrality to remain dead for the foreseeable future. Quoting Reuters Net neutrality rules require Internet service providers to treat Internet data and users equally, rather than restricting access, slowing speeds, or blocking content for certain users. The rules also forbid special arrangements in which ISPs give improved network speeds or access to favored users. The court cited the Supreme Court's June decision in a case known as Loper Bright to overturn a 1984 precedent that had given deference to government agencies in interpreting laws they administer. In the latest decision to curb the authority of federal agencies, applying Loper Bright means we can end the FCC's vacillations, the court ruled. The decision leaves in place state neutrality rules adopted by California and others, but may end more than 20 years of efforts to give federal regulators sweeping oversight over the Internet. Incoming FCC chair Brendan Carr voted against the reinstatement last year and praised the decision to invalidate what he called President Joe Biden's Internet power grab. He vowed to unwind additional regulations. Current FCC Chair Jessica Rosenwarcel called on Congress to act after the decision. Quote, consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an Internet that is fast, open and fair. With this decision, it is clear that Congress now needs to heed their call, take up the charge for Net neutrality and put open Internet principles in federal law, rosenworcel said in a statement. The FCC voted in April along party lines to reassume regulatory oversight of broadband Internet and reinstate open Internet rules. Industry groups filed suit and successfully convinced the court to temporarily block the rules as they consider the case. US Telecom, an industry group whose members include AT&T and Verizon, said in a joint statement with other groups that sued that the ruling is, quote, a victory for American consumers that will lead to more investment, innovation and competition in the dynamic digital marketplace. End quote. This is a warning to any professionals out there working in a white collar environment, but especially if you work in corporate America and a management capacity. Experts are warning of a rise in personalized phishing emails targeting corporate executives with personal details. What is the culprit behind this new wave of scamming? Well, most likely it's AI quoting the Financial Times. Corporate executives are being hit with an influx of hyper personalized phishing scams generated by artificial intelligence bots as the fast developing technology makes advanced cybercrime easier. Leading companies such as British insurer Beasley and e commerce group eBay have warned of the rise of fraudulent emails containing personal details, probably obtained through AI analysis of online profiles. This is getting worse and it's getting very personal, and this is why we suspect AI is behind a lot of it, said Beasley's chief information security officer Christy Kelly. We're starting to see very targeted attacks that have scraped an immense amount of information about a person. The availability of generative AI tools lowers the entry threshold for advanced cybercrime, said ebay cybercrime security researcher Nadezhda Demidova. We've witnessed a growth in the volume of all kinds of cyber attacks, particularly in polished and closely targeted phishing scams, she added. Kip Menitzer, an executive at security company Check Point Software Technologies, told a recent investor conference that AI had given hackers, quote, the ability to write a perfect phishing email. AI systems possess remarkable capabilities to analyze and mirror communication patterns, enabling them to craft highly personalized, deceptive messages. These AI tools excel at processing vast data sets of writing styles and organizational communication norms, then deploying this knowledge to execute sophisticated impersonation attacks. By methodically scanning targets digital footprints across social platforms, AI can identify the hooks most likely to trigger engagement, enabling attackers to automate the creation of tailored phishing campaigns. The stakes are significant. According to the U.S. cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, phishing emails serve as the entry point for over 90% of successful cyber incidents. The financial impact continues to grow as well, with IBM reporting that the worldwide average cost of data breaches increased nearly 10% to reach $4.9 million in 2024. And this shows no sign of slowing. Security researchers have identified AI as particularly effective in orchestrating business email compromise attacks, a form of phishing that doesn't rely on malware. Instead, these scams use social engineering to convince recipients to transfer funds or expose sensitive company data. The FBI reports these schemes have extracted more than $50 billion from victims globally since 2013. Traditional security measures seem to be unusually powerless in the face of these new threats. While standard email filters effectively block conventional mass phishing attempts, they struggle to detect AI generated campaigns that can produce thousands of uni variations of malicious messages in seconds.
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Unknown Speaker
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Brian McCullough
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Unknown Speaker
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Brian McCullough
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- [11:30]
Unknown Speaker
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Brian McCullough
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- [11:36]
Unknown Speaker
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- [11:48]
Brian McCullough
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- [11:50]
Unknown Speaker
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- [12:25]
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Brian McCullough
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Unknown Speaker
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- [13:02]
Brian McCullough
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Unknown Speaker
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- [13:28]
Brian McCullough
We all remember the hangover from the go go days of 2021 when post pandemic everything was going public and unicorns were being minte day. We're gradually coming out of those doldrums following that bubble bursting. But I've also been telling you about how that has led to an extensive extreme hangover in the VC world. Basically, a bunch of VC firms popped up around pandemic times and now well get these stats. According to Pitchbook, the number of VCs investing in US startups fell from a peak of 8,315 in the year 2021 to a mere 6,175 in 2024. So that's crazy. Over 2,000 VC firms have stopped operations in the last few years alone. But get this stat as well. Just nine firms were responsible for raising more than 50% of the $71 billion raised in total by VCs in 2024. So this is important if you're in startup land because because basically it's harder to get money. There are less people giving money out, number one. And number two, if you can't get in front of those big nine firms responsible for half of the money out there, you don't have access to fully half of the money out there for new startups. Quoting the Financial Times, this trend has concentrated power among a small group of mega firms and has left smaller VCs in a fight for survival. It has also skewed the Dynamics of the US venture market, enabling startups such as SpaceX, OpenAI, Databricks and Stripe to stay stay private for far longer while thinning out funding options for smaller companies. More than half of the $71 billion raised by US VCs in 2024 was pulled in by just nine firms, according to PitchBook general catalyst Andreessen Horowitz Iconic Growth and Thrive Capital raised more than $25 billion in 2024. Many firms threw in the towel in 2024. Countdown Capital, an early stage tech investor, announced it would wind down and return uninvested capital to its backers in January. Foundry Group, an 18 year old VC with about $3.5 billion in assets under management, said a $500 million fundraise in 2022 would be its last. There is absolutely a VC consolidation, said John Chambers, former chief executive of Cisco and the founder of startup investment firm JC2 Ventures. The big guys like Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Iconic Lightspeed Venture Partners and NEA will be fine and will continue, he said. But he added that those venture capitalists who failed to secure big returns and a low interest rate environment environment before 2021, we're going to struggle as this is going to be a tougher market. One factor is a dramatic slowdown in initial public offerings and takeovers. The typical milestones at which investors cash out of startups. That has staunched the flow of capital from VCs back to their limited partners investors such as pension funds, foundations and other institutions. The time to return capital has elongated a lot across the industry over the last 25 years, said an LP in a number of large US venture firms in the 1990s. It probably seven years to get your money back. Now it's probably more like 10 years. Some LPs have run out of patience. The $71 billion raised by US firms in 2024 is a seven year low and less than 2/5 the total haul in 2021. Smaller, younger venture firms have felt the squeeze Most acutely as LPs chose to allocate to those with a longer record and with whom they have pre existing relationships rather than take a risk on new managers or those who have never returned capital to their backers. Finally today, get ready because next week CES is happening, so the headlines will be coming fast and furious. A preview of this comes with word that Asus, Samsung and MSI have each separately unveiled the world's first 27 inch QD OLED gaming monitors offering 4K OLED at 240Hz, though without giving release dates or pricing. Quoting the Verge, 27 inch 4K OLED 240Hz monitors seem to be like buses. You wait ages for one and then three turn up at once. Asus, Samsung and MSI are all announcing the industry's next generation QD OLED gaming monitors that offer the benefits of 4K OLED 240Hz panels at the smaller 27 inch size instead of 32 inches. All three appear to be using the same 4th generation QD OLED panel from Samsung Display, which Asus says offers a longer lifespan over previous gen OLEDs. Both the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27UCDM and the MSI MPG272URXQD OLED. Who names these things include DisplayPort 2.1 A, which offers 80Gbps of bandwidth to support 4K at 240Hz without the need for display stream compression. Samsung's press release about its Odyssey OLED G8 doesn't mention DisplayPort 2.1 A compatibility, but it's reasonable to assume it's part of the spec list. MSI and Asus models both support Display HDR TRUE BLACK 400 and ASUS also supports Dolby Vision HDR. Both MSI and ASUS are offering a 3 year warranty that includes burn in protection, but Samsung hasn't confirmed its warranty situation for its latest G8 model. Samsung also hasn't fully detailed the specs of its latest G8 OLED model model, but it's reasonable to assume it will support display HDR True Black 400 at the minimum Happy New Year everybody. Let me squeeze in a quick long read for you though. As with all of the news being slow this week, there weren't many long reads to pick from. Actually, that's why I didn't give this its own segment. But last link in the show notes an in depth piece from Bloomberg looking at the concerning question of if you live too close to a data center, could the electricity in your house be getting pummeled by distortions to the grid caused by those data centers? Distortions of such severity, apparently it could blow your home appliances due to power surges. Scary stuff since more than half half of US households are apparently close enough to data centers to make this possible. Anyway, Happy New Year again. Talk to you on Monday. Gird your loins for Cesar.