iSpy 🍏🤖

👀 TLDR

In this week’s What’s Appening, we cover the news that Apple is suing OpenAI, accusing it of poaching employees and pressuring them to hand over trade secrets. In less controversial Apple AI news, it has just launched the public beta of Siri AI, and the signs are very positive so far. We also have news on a damning report on YouTube recommending harmful content to teens, look at how Meta was forced to pull down its latest AI image generator, the state that has decided to halt AI data center construction, and loads more!

🎬 Our Top Take

🍏🥷 Apple – Major Lawsuit Alleges that OpenAI Stole Trade Secrets

Do you remember the halcyon days of 2024 when Apple and OpenAI agreed to partner up to integrate ChatGPT into Macs, iPhones and iPads? It seems like a distant memory today as the two companies lock horns in a major lawsuit. Essentially, Apple accuses OpenAI of a) poaching its employees and b) coaxing those employees into (illegally) handing over sensitive information on Apple’s products and practices. It all ties into OpenAI’s hopes of entering the AI hardware marketplace. For balance, we should say that OpenAI strenuously denies any wrongdoing. In somewhat related Apple AI news, Siri AI public beta launched yesterday as part of iOS 27. We will get you more fulsome feedback as we experiment ourselves, but the signs are very positive so far. Oh, and the big winner from Siri AI? It might just be the Apple Watch. #SpyGate Read more here.

📲 App of the Week: NetLens

If you work from home and move about a bit to escape the summer heat, you might find that certain spots of your home have slower Wi-Fi than others. Other times, you might be just aware of quirky spots in the home that just don’t get a good signal. NetLens can help you out, as the app basically works as a Wi-Fi heat map, showing you the best – and worst – spots for signal in your home. The open-source app works remarkably well, and it has seen a surge in downloads. You can get it for free for iOS here and Android here.

🧐 Stat of the Week: 10K Subs

📈📉 The Craic – Shift’s Weekly Newsletter Hits Subscriber Milestone

Many readers will be aware of our partnership with Shift, an app designed as a digital home – networking, dating, festivals, artists, and A LOT of pubs - for the Irish and Irish-ish around the world. Well, Shift’s weekly newsletter has been going great guns, recently passing 10,000 subscribers. It’s a wry-eyed Irish news and culture digest, with a drop of craic to boot. If you fancy getting on board (it’s free), you can sign up here. And if you’d like to find out more about Shift, get it here.

🗞️ Other Stories

📍 Meanwhile at 3Advance

So you’ve reached the end of our newsletter. You hopefully enjoyed it then! We’ve been running What’s Appening for around four and a half years and are considering its future. Should we keep going? Is it worth it? Is it time to wrap it up? We love seeing it come together, and it’s been a great way to keep in touch with all of you. We’d love to hear what you think, or if you’ve got any ideas to fund it moving forward. Sponsorship? New stewardship? Open to all your thoughts.

Of course, you could always support the newsletter by hiring us or referring us! 💚