Table of contents for #734 in AppleMagazine

Major technology companies are exploring the idea of deploying artificial-intelligence data centres in outer space. Google’s “Project Suncatcher” remains at the conceptual stage, but research released by the company highlights how satellites equipped with solar-powered hardware and high-speed optical links could eventually host machine-learning compute loads. Other organisations cited include Nvidia Corporation–backed startups developing satellites with H100 GPUs, and SpaceX—led by Elon Musk—which has publicly indicated plans to use its Starlink V3 system as a platform for orbiting data-centre infrastructure. The impetus for the shift arises as AI compute demands grow rapidly. On Earth, training large models and serving inference workloads consume increasing quantities of energy, require sophisticated cooling systems and use substantial land and water resources. Research from Google and others suggests that orbiting platforms could eliminate many of…

Independent analysis conducted by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) shows that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is being adopted at a pace unprecedented in technology history. According to the 2025 “Survey of Product Impact in the Connected Economy: Artificial Intelligence,” distributed by the CCIA Research Center, the diffusion rate of GenAI surpasses that of prior general-purpose technologies such as the personal computer and the internet. The findings outline what the group describes as a “once-in-a-generation” shift in how digital tools enter mainstream use. The survey reports that roughly three-fifths of relevant users had engaged with at least one GenAI application within eighteen months of its first mass-market appearance. While previous technologies required years to reach similar penetration, GenAI appears to be accelerating past those benchmarks. The CCIA characterizes the…

Google this week announced the release of its latest AI model family, Gemini 3, positioning it as the company’s most advanced system to date. The rollout spans multiple Google products and the developer ecosystem, signalling a concerted effort by the company to scale its model architecture across consumer, enterprise and research platforms. Among the key claims are major performance gains in mathematics and scientific reasoning, enhanced multimodal capabilities, and the introduction of agentic workflows that can plan, act and execute tasks across tools. The update comes amid heightened competition in the generative-AI landscape, where model leadership is increasingly tied not just to size or parameter count but to multimodal reasoning, tool use and multi-step planning. Google’s executives emphasized that Gemini 3 reflects improvements across those dimensions and will ship simultaneously…

The rapid ascent of the “Magnificent Seven” has reshaped global market concentration and intensified debate over how long the current AI-driven valuation cycle can continue. Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla now represent an unusually large share of global equity value, a dynamic strengthened further this year as companies accelerated spending on data-centre construction, high-performance chips and cloud-infrastructure expansion. The combination of soaring capital expenditure and increasingly ambitious earnings expectations has sharpened scrutiny over whether the group’s future performance can sustain the momentum responsible for much of the market’s recent gains. The firms have benefited from investor confidence that AI-related demand will remain strong for years, but analysts are questioning whether growth trajectories may begin to diverge. With earnings estimates rising faster than verifiable revenue impact across segments…

Director Joseph Kosinski has confirmed that conversations are underway with Apple Studios regarding a sequel to the racing drama film “F1,” which he directed and which saw major global success earlier this year. The talks, while still in exploratory stages, reflect the studio’s interest in extending the narrative of its blockbuster hit and leveraging its momentum in global box-office performance. The original film, starring Brad Pitt as veteran driver Sonny Hayes and Damson Idris as rookie Joshua Pearce, achieved substantial commercial results, opening the dialogue for potential next‐chapter developments. Kosinski, speaking at the Contenders Film: Los Angeles event, described the production team’s early ideation of a sequel as “something we’ve just started kind of dreaming about,” noting his personal interest in revisiting the characters and team dynamics from the first…

A shift in software design is emerging as organizations move toward systems built around agentic artificial intelligence rather than conventional, rules-based architectures. Microsoft and NVIDIA have outlined how these approaches are taking shape across industries, describing a transition in which AI models are no longer add-on components but central elements of infrastructure, logic, and workflow design. Their combined view reflects an environment where rapid iteration, automated reasoning, and specialized compute platforms are beginning to influence the next generation of software development. The companies point to a pattern among early adopters in which development cycles that once required months can now be condensed into hours, driven by tighter integration between models, tooling, and deployment pipelines. Several organizations have already begun using agent-based systems in operational contexts, applying them to logistics, research…

The competition between the United States and China in artificial intelligence has intensified into what can only be described as an AI Cold War. This rivalry focuses on control over computing infrastructure, data resources, AI model development, and robotics deployment. Recent reports indicate that a decisive advantage could emerge within five years, potentially shifting global economic and military balances. THE AI RACE IS HEATING UP The U.S.-China AI rivalry involves export restrictions, investment surges, and strategic alliances. The U.S. has implemented export controls on advanced semiconductors to limit China's access to high-performance GPUs, impacting companies like Huawei. In response, China has increased domestic production of chips and data centers, supported by state funding exceeding $100 billion annually. Nvidia's CEO has noted that China's regulatory environment enables faster deployment, potentially giving…

Intuit has entered into a multi-year agreement valued at more than $100 million with OpenAI to integrate the latter’s advanced language models into Intuit’s suite of financial-software offerings. Services such as TurboTax, QuickBooks and Credit Karma will gain embedded AI features that connect to OpenAI’s ChatGPT platform, enabling conversational access to tax preparation, personal-loan assessment and financial-planning tools. While the companies have not disclosed the full duration of the contract, the collaboration signals a deeper integration of generative-AI capabilities into mainstream financial-software workflows. According to public disclosures, the deal is designed to leverage Intuit’s proprietary financial-data assets, credit-model frameworks and domain expertise alongside OpenAI’s scale and frontier AI systems. The objective is to allow users who link their Intuit accounts with ChatGPT to receive interactive guidance—including tax-refund estimates, mortgage or…

TikTok is introducing tools to let users limit how much AI-generated content appears in their video feeds and to improve transparency by embedding hidden watermarks in content created or altered by its own AI tools or uploaded with standard metadata. The company said these changes aim to give viewers more context about synthetic media and to strengthen the platform’s ability to identify and manage AI-driven videos. The measures arrive at a time when social-media platforms face increasing scrutiny over the spread of synthetic media, deep-fakes and manipulated visuals. TikTok’s emerging formula combines user-facing controls with backend enhancements in detection to tackle both broad exposure and the more technical challenge of tracing AI-generated content. While the rollout is in early phases, the combination of feed controls and watermarking establishes a clear…

Apple has strengthened its presence in China’s smartphone market, with new data indicating that iPhones accounted for roughly one in every four devices sold in the country during the most recent quarter. The performance comes during a period of heightened domestic competition, fluctuating consumer sentiment and macroeconomic uncertainty in the world’s largest smartphone market. Despite these headwinds, Apple managed to sustain a leading share position driven by new-model demand, continued brand strength in premium segments and ongoing replacement cycles among existing users. The results reflect a complex competitive landscape defined by the resurgence of top Chinese brands, renewed pressure in flagship tiers, and a broader market recovery following two years of uneven demand. While overall smartphone shipments in China grew modestly, Apple’s sustained presence in the high-end segment underscores the…

Apple is moving further into advanced manufacturing by expanding its use of 3D-printed components for the upcoming Apple Watch Ultra 3 and elements of the iPhone Air. The shift reflects Apple’s broader effort to refine production efficiency, reduce material waste, and streamline complex design processes using additive-manufacturing methods that were tested on select Apple Watch models over the past year. With the next cycle of devices, Apple is scaling this approach from limited production runs to a more integrated framework across its wearable and smartphone lines. The transition marks one of Apple’s most notable manufacturing changes in recent years. While traditional CNC machining has defined the company’s enclosure production for more than a decade, 3D printing of metal components introduces a method that allows engineers to consolidate parts, experiment with…

Apple is increasing its internal focus on succession planning as CEO Tim Cook weighs the timing of his eventual departure, according to multiple reports examining recent board-level discussions. The renewed attention has emerged amid questions surrounding how long Cook intends to remain in the role and how Apple plans to maintain continuity across its hardware, software and services roadmap during what could become the company’s most consequential transition since 2011. While no firm timeline has been set, sources suggest Apple has sharpened its preparations as Cook approaches a tenure that has already extended more than a decade beyond Steve Jobs’ final years at the company. At age 65, Cook has served Apple for 27 years, including 14 as CEO, overseeing a period of sustained growth that reshaped the company’s position…

Major U.S. equity indexes fell again this week as some of the market’s highest-valued technology and artificial-intelligence names continued to retreat from their recent peaks. The pullback, led by Nvidia and several other megacap stocks, shifted market sentiment toward caution after a year of concentrated gains driven by AI infrastructure spending, chip demand and bullish forecasts from large technology firms. With valuations stretched across multiple sectors, investors have begun reassessing expectations against the backdrop of evolving Federal Reserve policy, mixed economic data and tightening financial conditions. The declines followed a series of sessions in which the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average all moved lower, reflecting broad investor unease rather than isolated profit-taking. Nvidia, which has served as a bellwether for the AI trade and is among…

After several years of litigation, Apple has prevailed in a patent-infringement lawsuit filed by engineer Dr. Timothy Pryor, whose case alleged that iPhone camera features breached his mobile-device patents. The case, originally filed in February 2021, claimed that technologies such as facial recognition, optical image stabilization (OIS) and Smart HDR infringed on Pryor’s patented inventions related to smartphone-camera interaction. A court has now ruled in Apple’s favor, rejecting the claim and bringing to a close one of the more persistent legal challenges facing the company in its camera-technology portfolio. The dispute centred on patents that had expired in 2020 but which prerelease filings covered features Apple deployed earlier. Pryor’s suit argued that because the patents predated certain iPhone camera enhancements, Apple’s use of the technologies constituted infringement during the active…

Apple has expanded its AppleCare+ program in India with upgraded coverage tiers that now include protection against theft and loss for recent iPhone models. The update brings India’s offerings closer to those available in larger global markets and aligns with the company’s broader strategy to strengthen post-purchase support for its growing user base in the region. Apple’s presence in India has been accelerating across retail, manufacturing and services, and the revised AppleCare+ plans reflect an effort to match rising device adoption with more comprehensive support. The new plans include extended warranty coverage, accidental damage protection and, for the top tier, reimbursement options in cases involving device loss or theft. Pricing varies based on the chosen coverage window and the specific iPhone model, positioning the program as a premium add-on for…