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Tech Talk is a weekly digest by Boardroom’s Michelai Graham that breaks down the latest news from the world’s biggest tech companies and the future of industry-shaping trends like AI.
I read an article in The Verge this week that said Apple TV+ is becoming the premier destination for science fiction-based series, and I couldn’t agree more! I’ve gone down a rabbit hole in recent months consuming every sci-fi show Apple has produced, and yes, See is the best one (Silo and Foundation are very close seconds).
A peek into today’s edition:
TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, officially filed a lawsuit against the US government to block a recent law that could force a sale or ban of the short-form video-sharing app in the US. The social media app company said the bill, which President Joe Biden signed into law on April 24, violates constitutional protections of free speech. The suit even went as far as to say that the law is an “unprecedented violation” of the First Amendment.
“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban,” TikTok wrote in the lawsuit, “and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide.”
The lawsuit also says that ByteDance divesting in TikTok wouldn’t be possible, forcing a shutdown of the app by January 19, 2025, at the latest.
Neither the White House nor the Justice Department has released a public response to the new lawsuit.
Apple finally announced new iPad models and correlating products at Tuesday’s virtual “Let Loose” event. The company skipped out on releasing new iPads last year, so this is the first time Apple has announced new products from its tablet line since October 2022. Apple says its new iPad Pro is the thinnest product it has ever developed, and it’ll be powered by a new M4 chip. The company also redesigned its iPad Air models, which will be powered by M2 chips.
Here are all the new products Apple announced at its recent product showcase:
The new Magic Keyboard models are only compatible with the new iPad Pro devices.
Aside from the hype around its latest products, the Big Tech giant is also facing widespread backlash for its latest advertising campaign, where it crushed creative tools into an iPad Pro. The ad is supposed to symbolize that all different types of creative tools for art, music, literature, and more can be found in its newest product, but it definitely “missed the mark” on that one, Apple’s VP of marketing told Ad Age in an apology.
President Biden might have his lips sealed about TikTok’s new lawsuit, but he is definitely in cahoots with Big Tech.
Microsoft announced that it is investing $3.3 billion in Wisconsin to build an artificial intelligence data center hub in the same building where the failed Foxconn factory was supposed to be located. Biden joined the tech software giant in Racine, Wisconsin, to announce the new project, which is expected to create an estimated 2,300 union construction jobs and up to 2,000 permanent jobs.
Biden’s move is a not-so-subtle jab at his rival, Donald Trump, who announced a $10 billion investment in Foxconn back in 2017 to help the large contract electronics manufacturer build a new facility that never fully materialized. Biden is likely aligning with Microsoft to show voters that Trump doesn’t make good on his promises, especially when it comes to promising new jobs.
Nintendo shared on X that it will announce a Switch successor before March 2025. While the announcement won’t come next month during Nintendo Direct, I’m going to bet that the video game developer will announce the new console by the end of the year to open up presales around the holiday season.
