Issue 2330 - Tuesday 13 March 2025

The News

Tariffs impact: iPhone prices up, phone imports and Softbank money down

Americans are still facing enormous 30% tariffs on Chinese imports after the Trump administration made a deal with China to temporarily reduce the taxes on their own citizens (Ars Technica). While the US government keeps fiddling with the tariff knob, the consequences are already hitting. Apple is considering jacking up prices on its new iPhones but won’t say it’s because of tariffs (WSJ, $). Meanwhile, shipments of phones into China — which has retaliatory tariffs — dropped by 50% in March (Reuters). Even OpenAI’s $500 billion “Project Stargate” announced at the White House has been delayed (Bloomberg, $). The thing about the tariffs is that uncertainty kills. When it comes to planning for businesses, even big tariffs are better than ones that constantly change.

Australia’s new tech ministers named

The Albanese government’s ministry post-election reshuffle has put some new faces in important positions for Australian tech policy (ITNews). Here are the important changes:

One of the first things on their agenda? Dealing with the ballooning number of data breaches as the Information Commissioner reported that they were up 25% in 2024 to their highest ever (OAIC).

Should it be illegal to use autonomous killing machines in war?

As drones, AI and other autonomous technologies have become bigger parts of war, there are essentially no internationally binding rules about how countries can use these technologies in combat. That’s why countries are meeting at the United Nations this week to try and come up with rules, like banning fully autonomous systems from combat (Reuters). Unsurprisingly governments like Russia, which is reportedly using fully autonomous drones in Ukraine, oppose anything binding. Meanwhile, internal documents from Google show that it worried it wouldn’t know how Israel used its technologies and may even be forced to fight any legal investigation into its use (The Intercept).

Leftovers

Oh, Also

People faking their deaths? The blockchain fixes this

Over the weekend, a video circulated online appearing to show the suicide of the developer of a little-known cryptocurrency, Zerebro. An obituary was posted online for the 23 year old man, Jeffy Yu, followed by the release of a memecoin in his honour. Then the San Francisco Standard went to his parents house and found Yu alive and well (San Francisco Standard). It’s not the first time that a crypto-guy has been suspected of faking his own death (NYPost) — feels like we need to have a better way to track this. Maybe… some permanent, transparent ledger… It could be decentralised… Such a shame that no technology exists like this.

Bargains

Electrical & Electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

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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.