Technologies
See Ya, Siri: Why Apple Might Make Third-Party Voice Assistants Available in Europe
When given the choice, iPhone owners might opt for alternatives given the delayed rollout of Siri’s AI revamp.
Apple is reportedly working on changes to the iPhone’s operating system that will make it possible to choose an alternative voice assistant to Siri.
The ability to switch from Siri to another voice assistant, potentially powered by third-party companies including OpenAI, Google or Meta, could be a reality in the near future, but only for iPhone owners in Europe, Bloomberg reports. Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Apple is preparing the changes to Siri in anticipation of the European Union demanding the company allow European users a choice of voice assistants, according to Bloomberg. It would be similar to the policy shift Apple has already made in allowing rival app stores onto the iPhone, which was sparked by Europe’s Digital Markets Act.
Apple has faced many regulatory hurdles with the EU in recent years, largely in the form of challenges to its proprietary technology and walled-garden ecosystem, which provide Apple device owners with high levels of consistency, privacy and security, but often make it difficult for smaller companies to compete.
These regulatory challenges often leave Apple with little choice but to make significant changes to the way its tech works. Some of these changes — such as switching from Lightning connectors to the universal standard of USB-C — affect Apple device owners globally. Others affect only those who live within the EU.
Siri’s AI troubles
Siri has been available on iPhones since 2011 and has spawned many copycats. But the advent of generative AI over the last few years has brought about a number of chatbots, most notably OpenAI’s ChatGPT, that rival and surpass Siri’s capabilities, to the point where Apple is now seen as lagging behind competitors.
Apple announced an AI revamp of Siri last year at WWDC, its June developer conference, but the company delayed its rollout. Apple Intelligence-powered Siri is still nowhere to be seen, and may not even make an appearance at this year’s WWDC, per Bloomberg.
In light of this, it may be possible that European iPhone owners, when given the option, choose an alternative voice assistant. Unless Apple’s hand is forced, there’s currently no indication that people elsewhere will be given the same choice.
But Thomas Husson, VP and principal analyst at Forrester, doesn’t believe the AI overhaul of Siri is Apple’s main challenge.
«Is Siri’s revamp well overdue? Yes. Does Apple give the impression that they have an AI issue? Yes. It is too late for them? I don’t think so,» he said. Instead, Husson said what’s really at stake for the company is its ability to invent a user interface adapted to the AI era and create an ecosystem with companies and developers that will allow for new experiences within existing apps.
«Meeting the EU regulations and especially the DMA makes things more complex,» he added, but that’s the case for any digital platform operating in Europe.
Technologies
Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance
Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.
Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.
The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.
Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.
Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.
Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.
The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»
Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.
Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.
At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.
Technologies
OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report
OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.
OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.
Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.
‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’
Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.
The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.
Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.
This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.
Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.
Technologies
OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift
OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.
Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).
AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.
‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.
Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.
‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’
A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.
Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’
On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.
OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.
In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.
Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.
The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.
‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’
WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know
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