Amazon investigated by UK regulator, Apple plans updated M4 Mac mini
The UK’s competition regulator has launched an inquiry into Amazon’s investment of over £3bn into an artificial intelligence (AI) startup as regulators ramp up their scrutiny of mergers involving the fast-growing technology. The deal, which Amazon announced in March, included a $4bn (£3.16bn) investment into Anthropic and a commitment from the AI startup to use Amazon Web Services as its “primary cloud provider” for essential functions, including safety research and the development of future foundation models. Sky News
A global advertiser alliance has discontinued its corporate responsibility program after a lawsuit from Elon Musk’s X accused the group of orchestrating a “massive advertiser boycott”. The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) told members on Thursday that it would shut down the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (Garm) following legal attacks from X, formerly Twitter, according to Business Insider, which first reported the news. Guardian
Pret is giving body cameras to staff amid a sharp jump in shoplifting and attacks on retail workers. The coffee shop chain has launched a trial of the body-worn cameras in six shops across London and put up signs informing customers about them. It comes as retailers and other high street brands grapple with surging rates of shoplifting and aggressive behaviour towards staff. Telegraph
Delta Airlines has expressed frustration with CrowdStrike in a new letter on Thursday, as the two companies continue to trade jabs after last month’s massive global network outage. The US-based carrier accused the cybersecurity company of “negligence”, saying it was forced to cancel thousands of flights because of the outage and had lost at least $500m (£392m) as a result. CrowdStrike had denied it was solely responsible for Delta’s flight disruptions, which it said continued after other carriers came back online. BBC
Apple hasn’t updated its Mac mini desktop lineup since the beginning of 2023, when it added M2 and M2 Pro chips and discontinued the last of the Intel models. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that the update drought will end later this year, when the mini will skip right from the M2 to the M4, something he originally reported back in April. But the mini will reportedly come with more than just new chips: it will also get a new, smaller design, which Gurman says will be closer in size to an Apple TV box. Ars Technica
Today’s Google Pixel leak is about the Pixel Watch 3, and we get a new rumor talking about its specs, following up one from about a month ago. If you were expecting huge improvements compared to the Pixel Watch 2, guess who’s in for a disappointment? It looks like the Pixel Watch 3 will have the same Snapdragon Wear 5100 and Cortex M33 co-processor as last year’s model, along with the same 2GB of RAM and 32GB of eMMC storage.
The battery capacity is once again confirmed to get a bump on the 41mm model, but it’s the world’s smallest bump: 1 mAh. Seriously, it went from 306 mAh to 307 mAh! GSM Arena
Jaguar is sticking with its plan to go all-electric from next year despite unsteady EV demand – and it is just months from scrapping its entire existing line-up and revealing a crucial concept car that will set the tone for its new era. In December it will reveal of a radical new concept that closely previews its first new-era EV: a £100k four-door GT with a range in excess of 435 miles, ultra-rapid charging and a dual-motor powertrain with more than 575bhp. Autocar
