Tech Highlights of the Week: Google Faces Breakup Risk, AI Chip War Escalates

Tech Highlights of the Week: Google Faces Breakup Risk, AI Chip War EscalatesThe US Department of Justice is considering pushing for a breakup of Google, which would be the first attempt to dismantle a tech giant on grounds of illegal monopoly in two decades. Meanwhile, Google launched its Pixel 9 series phones with AI features to compete with Apple and Samsung

Tech Highlights of the Week: Google Faces Breakup Risk, AI Chip War Escalates

The US Department of Justice is considering pushing for a breakup of Google, which would be the first attempt to dismantle a tech giant on grounds of illegal monopoly in two decades. Meanwhile, Google launched its Pixel 9 series phones with AI features to compete with Apple and Samsung. Intel sold its stake in Arm, while AMD completed the acquisition of SiloAI, Europe's largest private AI lab, intensifying the AI chip battle. This week's AIdaily news recap covers the top tech happenings:

Google Faces Breakup Risk as DOJ Considers Tougher Measures

Following its landmark victory in the antitrust lawsuit against Google for dominating online search, the US Department of Justice is plotting a series of actions, including the unprecedented move of pushing for a split of Google parent company Alphabet. Sources say the DOJ is also considering forcing Google to share more data with rivals and taking measures to prevent it from gaining an unfair advantage in AI products.

If the DOJ proceeds with a breakup plan, the most likely departments to be spun off would be the Android operating system and Google's web browser Chrome. Additionally, the DOJ could force Google to sell its AdWords advertising platform.

Google Unveils AI-Powered Pixel 9 Series, Challenging Apple

Alphabet-owned Google is launching upgraded smartphones, watches, and earbuds, aiming to compete with Apple and Samsung Electronics. These products showcase Google's latest AI advancements, including the upgraded Google Assistant powered by Gemini generative AI, capable of producing more sophisticated responses, such as providing cooking recipes upon seeing pictures of ingredients.

In terms of hardware design, Google has also made changes, abandoning the curved design that has been used in Pixel phones for years. The new devices include the Pixel 9, 9 Pro, and 9 Pro XL phones, as well as a high-end foldable model called the 9 ProFold. Google also released the Pixel Watch 3 in two sizes and the PixelBuds Pro 2.

Intel Sells Arm Stake, AMD Acquires Europe's Largest Private AI Lab

Intel sold its stake in the chip design company Arm in the second quarter to raise funds to address its business challenges. The company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it no longer holds the 1.18 million shares of Arm it held three months ago. The sale will raise an estimated $147 million for Intel.

Meanwhile, AMD announced the completion of its acquisition of SiloAI. SiloAI is the largest private AI lab in Europe, with the deal valued at around $665 million. This is the largest acquisition of an AI innovation company in Europe since Google acquired Britain's DeepMind in 2014.

Trump and Musk's Live Interview Features Chinese Power Bank

On August 13th, Donald Trump held a live interview with Elon Musk on the platform X. Some users noticed that Trump was using a power bank from the Chinese brand AnkerMagGo, manufactured by Anker Innovations. Fueled by the on-air "product placement" during the live stream, Anker Innovations' stock price shot up close to the midday closing.

Alibaba Open-Sources Qwen2-Audio, a New Audio Language Model

Alibaba's Tongyi large language model continues to be open-sourced, with the Qwen2 series family adding a new audio language model: Qwen2-Audio. Qwen2-Audio can conduct voice-based question answering without text input, understanding and analyzing user-input audio signals, including human speech, natural sounds, and music.

Southeast Asian E-Commerce Platform Lazada Achieves Profitability in July

Alibaba's Southeast Asian e-commerce platform Lazada recorded a positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) in July, achieving profitability. Previously, Lazada Thailand had achieved profitability in 2022.

OpenAI Announces Update for GPT-4o

ChatGPT posted on social media platform X that its chatbot family's GPT-4o model has received an update. This model is not OpenAI's latest API-based GPT-4o0806 model, and free users can currently use it, though there are usage limits.

Other Tech News

• The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said mission managers will continue to assess the readiness of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft before a decision meeting no earlier than next week.

• Elon Musk's X is continuing to file antitrust lawsuits against several major brands and an ad industry group. X expects its advertising revenue to reach around $2 billion this year.

• Nvidia's stock price rose more than 6% during the day, increasing its market capitalization by over $400 billion in four days.

Conclusion

This week has seen numerous significant events in the tech realm, from Google facing a potential breakup to the escalating AI chip war, as tech giants engage in fierce competition surrounding AI technology. In the future, AI technology will continue to deeply impact our lives, and the dynamics of tech giants will continue to capture global attention.