"WWDC 2025: all the news from Apple’s annual developer conference"
-- Allison Johnson, The Verge, 6/10/25
WWDC 2025: Everything announced, including Liquid Glass, Apple Intelligence updates, and more
(Combined summary of TechCrunch and New York Times coverage)
🔹 1. Major Redesign with “Liquid Glass” Across Apple Platforms
Apple introduced iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and other OS versions with a unified design language called Liquid Glass.
This design uses transparent, reflective, and adaptive UI elements, reminiscent of real-world glass.
Navigation elements like context menus, alerts, and tab bars adapt fluidly based on content or environment (e.g., light/dark).
Safari tabs can now disappear while scrolling, with controls minimized into a circular interface.
The naming convention has shifted: Apple now labels OS versions by year (e.g., iOS 26 instead of iOS 19).
🔹 2. Mixed Progress on Apple Intelligence (AI) Integration
Apple is behind rivals like Google and Amazon in AI innovation and deployment.
Google unveiled Gemini-based tools and AI glasses; Amazon revamped Alexa with deeper AI support.
Apple showcased modest improvements:
Live Translation of FaceTime calls and messages.
Screenshot-based search similar to Google’s Circle to Search.
Contextual search integration (e.g., AllTrails using conversational queries).
However, key AI features announced in 2024—like the revamped Siri—remain delayed, raising concern among analysts.
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🔹 3. Expanded Features Across Ecosystem: Gaming, Wearables, and Media
A new Games app centralizes Apple’s gaming ecosystem:
Supports achievements, leaderboards, social play, and “Play Together” friend tracking.
Gaming is a massive revenue driver: $43.7B in app sales, with $13.1B retained by Apple.
Apple Watch gets a Workout Buddy AI feature, giving voice feedback through AirPods.
Apple TV introduces personalized profiles on wake, karaoke features, and Liquid Glass interface.
Vision Pro headset now supports PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers and Logitech Muse stylus.
AirPods gain studio-quality recording and act as camera remotes.
🔹 4. Strategic and Legal Headwinds Add Pressure
AI rollout delays (e.g., Siri update) and modest feature upgrades have left analysts wary.
Apple’s stock dropped 1% post-event, signaling investor disappointment.
Legal and geopolitical challenges include:
Epic Games antitrust case: Apple must allow alternative payment links, potentially cutting App Store profits by ~2%.
U.S.–China tariffs under Trump could dampen global iPhone sales by 2.3%.
"Meta is paying $14 billion to catch up in the AI race"
-- Alex Heath and Hayden Field, The Verge, 6/13/25
(Combined summary of The Verge and New York Times coverage)
🔹 1. Meta Invests $14.3B in Scale AI to Regain AI Momentum
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Meta is acquiring 49% of Scale AI for $14.3 billion and hiring Scale CEO Alexandr Wang to lead a new AI lab focused on developing “superintelligence.”
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Wang will report directly to Mark Zuckerberg and remain on Scale’s board.
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The structure of the deal—non-voting shares and partial ownership—appears crafted to minimize antitrust risk while maximizing talent acquisition.
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The investment includes transferring some Scale employees to Meta, and payouts to Scale’s vested equity holders, while still keeping them onboard with future equity.
🔹 2. The Goal: Build a Superintelligent System and Catch Up After Setbacks
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Meta’s ambition is to leapfrog rivals by focusing not just on AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), but “superintelligence”—systems more capable than the human brain.
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This aligns with Zuckerberg’s stated goal of making Meta AI the top personal assistant and ultimately achieving general intelligence.
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Meta’s prior AI roadmap suffered setbacks:
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Llama 4 faced delays, underwhelming results, and accusations of manipulating benchmark comparisons.
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Internal friction and employee churn plagued its AI divisions.
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The new lab is part of a broader reorganization of Meta’s AI leadership and strategic direction, with top researchers recruited aggressively from OpenAI and Google via 7- to 9-figure compensation offers.
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🔹 3. Scale AI’s Strategic Role in AI Infrastructure
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Scale AI is a key infrastructure player in AI development, providing data labeling and model training support to companies like Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, Anthropic, and Cohere.
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The company also supports public sector and defense applications, including a first-of-its-kind Pentagon contract and a deal with Qatar.
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By partnering rather than acquiring outright, Meta gains deep access to this infrastructure without triggering acquisition-related regulatory scrutiny.
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Wang’s political positioning (e.g., ad urging President Trump to boost AI investment) reflects his national security-oriented view of AI competition.
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🔹 4. Competitive Pressures and Meta’s High-Stakes Bet
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Meta trails rivals like Google, Microsoft (backing OpenAI), and Amazon (backing Anthropic), all of whom have made multi-billion dollar investments in AI startups and internal labs.
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The FTC lawsuit over past acquisitions (Instagram, WhatsApp) looms over Meta’s expansion, adding pressure to structure deals like the Scale partnership carefully.
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Despite setbacks, Meta AI has reached 1 billion users monthly, helped by deep integration across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook, though the quality and impact of its tools are still in question.
"Disney and Universal sue Midjourney for making AI ripoffs of their biggest characters"
-- Hayden Field, The Verge, 6/11/25
Disney and Universal sued Midjourney on Wednesday for generating Shrek, Darth Vader, Buzz Lightyear, and a host of other copyrighted characters
(Combined summary of TechCrunch and New York Times coverage)
🔹 1. Disney and Universal Launch Landmark Copyright Lawsuit Against Midjourney
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Disney and NBCUniversal filed a 110-page federal lawsuit against Midjourney, marking Hollywood’s first major legal action against a generative AI company for copyright infringement.
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The studios allege that Midjourney used copyrighted characters—including Darth Vader, Buzz Lightyear, Elsa, Spider-Man, and Shrek—to promote and power its AI tools without permission or compensation.
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The case is framed as a “textbook copyright infringement”, demanding a jury trial and injunctive relief, especially ahead of Midjourney’s planned video generation service.
🔹 2. Midjourney Accused of Being a “Copyright Free-Rider”
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Both lawsuits describe Midjourney as a “bottomless pit of plagiarism”, generating “endless unauthorized copies” of copyrighted material.
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Plaintiffs emphasize that Midjourney continues to ignore cease-and-desist letters:
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Disney sent notice in 2023, receiving only an acknowledgment.
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Universal followed in 2024 and received no reply.
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The studios cite Midjourney’s marketing practices and subscription revenue model—reportedly $300 million in 2023—as benefiting directly from misuse of IP.
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🔹 3. Lawsuit Signals Broader Industry Warning and Economic Stakes
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Although Midjourney is the named defendant, the case is seen as a “shot across the bow” toward the entire AI sector, particularly those training on or reproducing copyrighted content.
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The lawsuit warns that generative AI, if left unchecked, could “upend the bedrock incentives of U.S. copyright law”, threatening an industry that supports 2.3 million jobs and $229B in annual wages.
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Disney and Universal both acknowledge AI’s potential, but stress the importance of enforcing protections for creative work to sustain artistic industries.
🔹 4. Part of a Growing Pattern of Legal Pressure on Generative AI Companies
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The Midjourney suit joins a wave of recent lawsuits against AI firms over training and generation practices:
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OpenAI faces suits from The New York Times and authors like George R.R. Martin.
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Anthropic has been sued by Universal Music and others.
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Reddit, Stability AI, and others are also facing litigation.
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Unlike many cases focused on training data, this lawsuit also highlights output-level infringement, making it a test case for future AI regulation and copyright liability.
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