 | Edition 2348 |
| | Apologies for the late edition today, Sizzlers. I was juggling a kid who was supposed to go to daycare with everything else! Have a great weekend. | The News | Elon Musk vs Donald Trump is the fight we’ve all been waiting for | Wake up! The girls are fighting. After Elon Musk began dissing the Big Beautiful Bill, the world’s richest man and the world’s most powerful man Donald Trump are now in a full-on brawl using their individual social media platforms to throw punches at each other (The Verge). When Trump threatened to cancel Musk’s government contracts, Musk responded by saying SpaceX will stop building the Dragon spaceship which is used to fly people and cargo to the International Space Station. Musk also alleged Trump is in the Epstein Files (but strangely didn’t mention his own dining with Epstein).
Beyond the drama and the politics, there are seismic consequences for a Trump-Musk split given how many of Elon’s businesses interact or even depend on the US government. My prediction: The two will kiss and make up because Trump is weirdly accepting of former foes and, no matter how much they hate each other, they hate the other side more. |  | I’ve had this picture in the holster this entire year |
| Apple doesn’t want Australia to get the EU-style freedoms | Apple wants Australians to stay locked down in its walled garden where device owners can only install approved apps and pay a 30% fee on in-app purchases for the highest grossing apps (The Guardian). That’s the message from Apple in response to Australia’s proposed competition rules which could force side-loading and links to outside payment options in Apple’s App Store. Apple says that this “EU-style” competition regime would make users less safe, threaten their privacy, and stop innovation (Information Age). This comes as Apple is appealing the EU order to open up its tech to outside developers (Reuters). Also interesting to note: iOS 18, promoted for introducing Apple’s new AI features, has had a below-average adoption rate (Apple Insider). It’s hard not to feel that Apple’s position as the GOAT is under serious threat from the simultaneous forces of regulation and lack of cool new things. | Turns out you can build an AI model without stealing everything ever | A group of researchers has created a generative AI model trained on completely ethically sourced data that they claim is comparable in performance with recent other offerings (Washington Post). Academics from a handful of colleges said it was a pain but they were ultimately able to source 8 terabytes of public domain information from places like the US Library of Congress. This model, they claim, is about as good as Meta’s similarly sized 2023 Llama — not exactly state of the art but also not terrible either. This proof-of-concept reveals how bullshit the AI industry’s claim that they have to steal the whole world’s data without permission or compensation for their own benefit. The truth is, it’s easier to do that, and they’re betting that no one powerful will call them on their bluff. | Leftovers | Why insurers feed members’ data to AI models (Information Age) Tech giants' indirect emissions rose 150 percent in three years (IT News) Discord CTO says he’s “constantly bringing up enshittification” during meetings (Ars Technica) China’s rare earth restrictions halt first auto industry production lines (The Verge) Researchers uncover possible iPhone spyware campaign inside U.S. (Axios) Apple’s leaked 45W MagSafe charger is first to support Qi2.2 (The Verge) ICANN fee price hike by 11% (ICANN) This is a 2c increase FYI The Oversight Board says Meta isn't doing enough to fight celeb deepfake scams (Engadget) How we’re responding to The New York Times’ data demands in order to protect user privacy (OpenAI) OpenAI takes down covert operations tied to China and other countries (NPR) Microsoft's AI Weather Model Is More Accurate, Less Expensive Than Traditional Forecasting (Extreme Tech) Cellebrite acquires iPhone virtualization firm Corellium for $200M (Apple Insider) Ross Ulbricht Got a $31 Million Donation From a Dark Web Dealer, Crypto Tracers Suspect (WIRED, $) Twitter's new encrypted DMs aren't better than the old ones (mjg59’s journal) I Think I’m Done Thinking About genAI For Now (Glyph’s blog)
| | Oh, Also | How does the Nintendo Switch 2 taste? | The Nintendo Switch 2 is out, and the question on everyone’s lips — literally — is: what does it taste like? Thankfully, the good people at the Verge have done real journalism and put it to the test. (Don’t worry, Nintendo says its products aren’t harmful to taste) |  | Taste test: Switch 2 vs. Switch vs. 3DS vs DS, which cart tastes best? |
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| | Bargains | Electrical & Electronics | | Computing | | Mobile | | | The End | 😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius. | 🗣️ Have any feedback, a tip or just want to chat? Send me an email or Signal message. I promise to reply! | 💬 Want to hang out with other Sizzlers? There’s a subscriber-only Slack server and forum if you want to procrastinate and chat about tech-related news. | 🗣️ The Sizzle is on Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn if you’re feeling social. | 💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the Beehiiv customer portal. | 🎁 Make someone's day and gift them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle. | 💔 Don’t want this any more? I won’t take it personally. There’s a unsubscribe button at the bottom of this email or here’s a guide. | 🦺 The Sizzle has been tested to meet and exceed ISO 3533 standards. | Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land | The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present. |
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