Since X's users started using Grok to undress women and children using deepfake images, I have been waiting for what I assumed would be inevitable: X getting booted from Apple's and Google's app stores. The fact that it hasn't happened yet tells me something serious about Silicon Valley's leadership: Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are spineless cowards who are terrified of Elon Musk.
Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok is being used to flood X with thousands of sexualized images of adults and apparent minors wearing minimal clothing. Some of this content appears to not only violate X's own policies, which prohibit sharing illegal content such as child sexual abuse material (CSAM), but may also violate the guidelines of Apple's App Store and the Google Play store.
Apple has announced the changes it's making to the iOS App Store in Japan in order to comply with recent legislation in the country. It will allow third-party app stores and payment processing options, though is introducing new commission fees for those transactions. Developers in Japan will now be able to distribute apps on alternative app stores, much like in the EU, with AltStore PAL already expecting to launch in the country before the year's end. As in Europe, Apple will collect a 5 percent commission for in-app purchases made in third-party stores.
According to a new report today, Apple and Meta's regulatory woes in the EU are almost over. Both companies are allegedly close to settling their antitrust cases with the European Commission (EC), which will definitely be good for them as they'd avoid some additional hefty fines that the EC might impose otherwise. This information isn't official yet, the report says it comes from "officials briefed on the discussions" between the EC on one side, and Apple and Meta respectively on the other.
In a post on Thursday, the company said the DMA was leaving European consumers with fewer choices and creating an unfair competitive landscape-contrary to the law's own goals. For example, Apple said it had had to delay certain features, such as live translation via its AirPods, to make sure they complied with the DMA's requirement for "interoperability." The EU rules specify that apps and devices made by one company need to work with those made by competitors.