Tech Digest daily roundup: iPhone 15 set to launch today

As I write this there are still several hours before Apple unveils the latest version of its best-selling product, the iPhone. In the last few weeks we’ve seen the handset come under pressure separately from both the EU and China. Globally, smartphone sales in general are slowing, and Apple’s highly anticipated virtual reality headset – which the firm seemed to be positioning as a potential future iPhone – won’t go on sale until next year. When it does it will have a whopping $3,500 (£2,780) price tag. And so, in the meantime, we get to meet the 16th generation of a device which changed the smartphone landscape forever when it launched in 2007. BBC 

Qualcomm (QCOM) revealed on Monday it struck a new chip supply agreement with Apple (AAPL). The partnership stipulates that Qualcomm will provide its Snapdragon 5G Modem‑RF systems for Apple’s smartphones launching from 2024 to 2026. The financial terms of the deal aren’t being shared, a Qualcomm spokesperson confirmed to Yahoo Finance. Qualcomm stock jumped over 3% in early trading on Monday while Apple stock rose 1%. Yahoo!

OpenAI has previously argued that copyrighted material scraped from the Internet to train its AI chatbot ChatGPT is fair use of content. A group of authors in the United States, including Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, has sued OpenAI in federal court in San Francisco, accusing the Microsoft-backed program of misusing their writing to train its popular artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT. Euronews 

A landmark antitrust lawsuit against Google begins today, with the California-based company accused of using illegal means to keep its monopoly power. The historic legal battle against federal government lawyers – which comes just a week after Google’s 25th birthday – is set to be the biggest in almost two decades, the outcome of which could have repercussions for the rest of the tech industry. The last comparable antitrust lawsuit was filed against Microsoft in 1998. Sky News 

If you’re a smartwatch wearer, you might be harbouring harmful germs that could get you very sick. A study by researchers at Florida Atlantic University found that 95% of 20 different smartwatch wristbands tested were contaminated with bacteria capable of causing disease. By analysing different types of wristband materials, researchers found that rubber and plastic bands had the most bacteria on them, while metal bands like gold and silver were virtually free from bacteria. Metro

Stellantis is targeting a 50% weight reduction in batteries by 2030 in a bid to lighten electric cars nearer to their combustion-engined equivalents. “The battery today is just too heavy; the vehicle is too heavy. We shouldn’t be going backwards,” said Ned Curic, head of engineering and technology, at the opening of the company’s new Mirafiori battery technology centre in Turin, Italy. Curic said the company’s goal was to halve the weight of the battery pack through the introduction of new lightweight battery technologies and more efficient cell packaging. Autocar

The head of Spotify has denied claims that users can repeatedly listen to their own uploaded 30-second track to rake in monthly royalties. Finance analysts at JP Morgan had said that Spotify subscribers could make $1,200 (£960) a month by listening to their song on repeat, 24 hours a day. The claim suggested Spotify’s royalty payment structure could be manipulated. But Daniel Ek, the streaming giant’s CEO, says that is not how the platform’s royalties work. BBC