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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday added to the growing chorus of concerns about Apple, arguing that it's "problematic that one company controls what happens on the device."

Why it matters: Zuckerberg has been one of the loudest critics of Apple in Silicon Valley for the past two years. In the wake of Elon Musk's attacks on Apple this week, his concerns are being echoed more broadly by other industry leaders and Republican lawmakers.

Details: "I think the problem is that you get into it with the platform control, is that Apple obviously has their own interests," Zuckerberg said at The New York Times' Dealbook conference.

"[T]he fact that companies have to deliver their apps exclusively through platforms that are controlled by competitors — there is a conflict of interest there," he said. That conflict of interest makes Apple "not just a kind of governor that is looking out for the best of people's interests."

Zuckerberg also noted that Apple's policies differ from other tech giants, including Microsoft and Google, which allow apps to be sideloaded onto devices if they're inaccessible in app stores.

"I do think Apple has sort of singled themselves out as the only company that is trying to control, unilaterally, what apps get on the device and I don’t think that's a sustainable or a good place to be."

Changes to Apple's app tracking policies last year are expected to cost Meta billions of dollars in lost ad revenue.

Between the lines: Zuckerberg's comments come days after Musk publicly attacked Apple, alleging the company's app store policies are an abuse of power. 

Asked about Musk's content moderation decisions, Zuckerberg didn't go as far as to endorse his strategy, but said, "I kind of think the world in the industry gets more interesting when people take some different approaches."

"[Y[ou can agree or disagree with what Elon is doing, or how he's doing it. But I do think it's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out in terms of the approaches he's taking."

The big picture: Zuckerberg's appearance comes as Meta struggles to maintain the same level of meteoric growth that it's enjoyed for the past decade. 

The company, which announced big layoffs earlier this month, has struggled to grow ad revenues amid the broader economic slowdown. Its stock has taken a hit as investors become frustrated that Meta's investments in the metaverse have grown too costly.

Zuckerberg addressed some of those concerns Wednesday, assuring that the vast majority of what the company is focused on, and will continue to focus on, is its ad-based social media business.

What's next: Asked about TikTok, one of Meta's fiercest new competitors, Zuckerberg said it raises "a very complex set of questions" about the involvement of the Chinese state with TikTok's affairs. "I'm sure it's complicated.

Facebook parent Meta laying off 13% of staff

Zuckerberg says Apple's policies not "sustainable"

The Meta CEO has been one of the loudest critics of Apple in Silicon Valley for the past two years.

Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Facebook

Big Tech

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

"Stay" by The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber is the top global song of the year, Apple Music announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: Apple Music released its top charts and user-listening habits ahead of Spotify, which usually dominates the end-of-year conversation through the Spotify Wrapped tool.

Details: Apple announced the data through the redesigned Replay experience, which is seen as a direct competitor to Wrapped.

The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber's mega-hit "Stay" topped the global song chart for Apple Music in 2022, according to Apple's data. The song spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Top 100 this past summer, AP reports.

Elton John and Dua Lipa’s “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)” topped the Shazam chart, which was a list of songs that received the most Shazam searches.

And “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” — the catchy tune from Disney's "Encanto" — was the platform's song with the most-read lyrics, according to Apple.

Other top songs from Apple Music's global chart included:

“Wait For U” by Future featuring Drake and Tems

Of note: Bad Bunny — who secured Apple Music’s 2022 Artist of the Year award — became the first Latin artist to have the biggest album of the year on the platform, too, according to Apple. 

What we're watching: Spotify posted its first teaser for the Spotify Wrapped campaign on Monday, suggesting that the annual review of listener data is coming soon.

Spotify CEO says company isn't seeing impact of economic downturn yet

Spotify to acquire music trivia game Heardle

Apple reveals top songs, charts for 2022 before Spotify

Apple Music's Replay experience appears to be a direct competitor to Spotify Wrapped.

Illustration of a the Apple logo wearing headphones

Apple Music

Twitter will no longer enforce its COVID-19 misinformation policy, according to a note posted to its website.

Why it matters: This is the latest in a series of changes to the platform that have accompanied Elon Musk's takeover.

State of play: "Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy," the note on a page of Twitter's website outlining the platform's COVID misinformation policy stated.

The big picture: In 2020, Twitter took steps to crack down on coronavirus misinformation. That effort included deleting tweets that spread unproven treatments for COVID and cast doubt on the effectiveness of quarantines.

Twitter announced last year that it would label tweets with potentially misleading information about COVID-19 vaccines, and introduce a strike system that can lead to permanent account suspension.

Between January 2020 and September 2022, Twitter said suspended more than 11,000 accounts for violating its COVID misinformation policy and removed more than 100,000 pieces of content that did so.

Of note: Facebook and Instagram's COVID misinformation policies remain in place, a Meta spokesperson told Axios' Sara Fischer. The company has asked its independent Oversight Board to review them.

Musk announced last week that he would introduce a "general amnesty" for suspended Twitter accounts that have "not broken the law" or engaged in "egregious spam."

The amnesty would begin sometime this week, he said, but did not specify which banned users might be affected by the planned amnesty.

The move came after Musk reinstated the Twitter accounts of prominent users like former President Trump and Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.

Musk has ruled out reinstating the Twitter account of far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Twitter no longer enforcing COVID misinformation policy

This is the latest in a series of changes to the platform that have accompanied Elon Musk's takeover.

The Twitter Inc. logo is displayed on the facade of the company's headquarters in San Francisco, California

The Twitter logo is displayed on the facade of the company's headquarters in San Francisco. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Twitter

Coronavirus

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.

Health

A decade after voice assistant technology captured the world's imagination, Alexa and Siri appear to be on the wane.

Why it matters: Alexa's rise and fall shows that for every winner in the tech industry's neverending game of "dominate the next platform," there are multiple money-incinerating losers.

Driving the news: Amid tech’s biggest slump in two decades, companies are tightening their belts and decreasing investments in secondary devices and voice assistants.

Earlier this month, a report from Insider detailed that Amazon workers had determined that Alexa was a “colossal failure of imagination” and “wasted opportunity.” Insider reports its division was on track to lose up to $10 billion in 2022.

This was followed by news of Amazon’s biggest layoffs to date, with Alexa's team reportedly among those heavily affected by the cuts.

A month ago, Google reportedly decided to scale back development and support for its Google Assistant.

Flashback: When Siri first hit the market with the iPhone 4S in 2011, it was championed as “probably one of the most novel applications Apple has ever produced.” 

Amazon released the first Echo featuring Alexa in 2014 and it was a hit, selling 5 million devices in the first two years. Investments followed, and in 2018, Amazon said it had over 10,000 engineers working on Alexa and Echo products.

One high-water mark for the cultural optimism about the technology was "Her," the 2013 movie whose main character falls in love with his voice assistant.

Between the lines: Though voice assistants have become a literal fixture in millions of homes, they have not delivered on their creators' revenue targets. 

Amazon’s goal with Alexa was not to make money selling the devices but to give users an even easier way of ordering from the retail giant.

Insider reports that a few years into Alexa’s life, Amazon saw billion of interactions a week, but most of them were trivial usages that did not open money-making opportunities.

“We kept waiting, waiting, waiting for a huge percentage of consumers to say, ‘I bought a pizza’ [on my Echo],” Consumer Intelligence Research Partners cofounder Michael Levin told Fast Company. “It never materialized. People do not buy stuff, by and large.”

What they're saying: Amazon points to internal statistics showing a 30% increase in Alexa interactions over the past year and says it's "still in the earliest days of what Alexa will become."

"The fact is, Alexa has changed how people interact with technology, and we are observing incredible momentum with our customers. We are as committed as ever to Alexa, and will continue to invest heavily in it," an Amazon spokesperson told Axios.

Though voice assistants have slowly evolved to understand more complex commands, research shows that most people use them for simpler tasks like checking the weather or making a call.

The tech has also become something of a punchline as jokes center on Alexa or Siri mishearing a user or providing unhelpful information.

Meanwhile, a February report from Voicebot Research showed that fewer Americans used voice assistants in 2021 compared with 2020.

Smaller efforts from big companies, like Microsoft’s Cortana and Samsung’s Bixby, have also seemingly failed to gain traction in the market.

The intrigue: Voice assistants have also faced growing concerns over consumer privacy.

A 2020 survey from DataGrail found that over 82% of respondents had concerns about monitoring or data collection from phone microphones, laptop webcams, home devices like Amazon Echo, or devices with location tracking.

In 2019, Bloomberg reported that Amazon had a team of thousands who listened to conversations recorded through Alexa in efforts to improve the service.

Also in 2019, The Guardian reported that some private conversations and audio recorded by Siri was being shared by Apple with contractors.

Yes, but: Voice assistants have proven to have a wide range of applications and champions, even if not in the ways Amazon and Apple originally planned.

Voice input has been hugely important in providing greater tech accessibility, offering those with limited vision, motor impairments or other challenges a smoother way to interact with devices.

The world of “Internet of Things” products has produced an ecosystem of devices that can be controlled with users’ voices.

Voice has also proven to be an invaluable secondary input when users' hands are otherwise busy.

Using voice commands has increasingly allowed drivers to keep their hands on steering wheels. And a 2016 study showed that 62% of iPhone users used Siri in the car.

Additionally, innovations in wearables like VR headsets and AR glasses have also leaned on voice inputs so users don't have to keep touching their heads or carry around awkward controllers.

What's next: Voice could see a revival if the dreams of metaverse pioneers and AR innovators come true. 

Good night, Alexa: Voice assistants face deep cuts

As companies tighten their belts, they're trimming budgets for voice assistants that haven't yet delivered revenue boosts.

Illustration of an Amazon Echo with a red "no" symbol around the top

Amazon

Musk says Twitter will "tentatively" launch new verification service next week

"Gold check for companies, grey check for government, blue for individuals," Musk tweeted.

the Elon Musk Twitter account seen displayed on a smartphone and Twitter logo in the background. 

The Elon Musk Twitter account seen displayed on a smartphone and Twitter logo in the background. Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Elon Musk

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Elon Musk announced Thursday a "general amnesty" for suspended Twitter accounts from next week, "provided that they have not broken the law" or engaged in "egregious spam."

Why it matters: Online monitoring groups have reported a rise in racism, anti-Semitism and other hate speech on Twitter since free speech advocate Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of the social media company last month, though the billionaire said Thursday it has declined.

A screenshot of an Elon Musk tweet saying "the people have spoken" after his unscientific poll results showed most who voted wanted an amnesty for suspended Twitter accounts.

Activists warn the situation would get much worse if people like former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke were welcomed back following permanent bans for hate speech.

Driving the news: Musk tweeted his decision after 72.4% of over 3.1 million voters backed the amnesty in an online poll, which AP notes is an unscientific method that's vulnerable to the influence of bots.

It comes days after Musk reinstated the Twitter accounts of prominent users including former President Trump, who was banned in 2021 following the U.S. Capitol riot, and Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, whose page was restricted last month due to antisemitic tweets.

What they're saying: "Superspreaders of hate, abuse and harassment will be the only people to benefit from this latest decision by Twitter," said Imran Ahmed, CEO of campaign group the Center for Countering Digital Hate, to the Guardian.

"The choice for advertisers has never been starker: stick around and back Elon Musk, or protect their brands and ensure their marketing dollars aren’t used to enable the spread of hate, abuse and disinformation."

Hopewell Chin'ono, an award-winning Zimbabwean journalist, tweeted that the move would be "a major disaster especially in Africa where State sponsored Ghost accounts were suspended for endangering human rights activists & journalists!"

"You would have allowed vile people to put our lives in danger as journalists! You will have blood on your hands @elonmusk," added Chin'ono in a warning ahead of the poll closing.

Between the lines: Alejandra Caraballo, clinical instructor at Harvard Law's cyberlaw clinic, told the Washington Post that Musk's planned action was "existentially dangerous" for marginalized communities.

"It's like opening the gates of hell in terms of the havoc it will cause," Caraballo said.

"People who engaged in direct targeted harassment can come back and engage in doxing, targeted harassment, vicious bullying, calls for violence, celebration of violence. I can’t even begin to state how dangerous this will be."

Caraballo said Apple and Google should seriously consider "booting Twitter off the app store."

The big picture: Groups like the Center for Countering Digital Hate have reported a rise in racism on Twitter since Musk took over, including research indicating it failed to act on "99% of racist abuse" of soccer players in the leadup to the men's World Cup in Qatar.

Many advertisers have slowed or paused their purchases on the platform or left altogether. Musk blamed Twitter's "massive drop in revenue" this month on "activist groups pressuring advertisers."

Meanwhile, a European Union report published on Thursday found Twitter removed 45.4% of hate speech tweets it was notified about from March to May, down from 49.8% for the same period the previous year.

Between the lines: Though this was before Musk took over Twitter, his new policy could put it on a collision course with the EU — where laws like the Digital Services Act put more responsibility on platforms to police and remove content deemed illegal, such as hate speech, with fines for failure to comply.

Worth noting: Musk pledged to concerned advertisers after taking over Twitter that the platform would not become a "free-for-all hellscape" and tweeted Thursday that hate speech had declined on the site following a "spike."

"I have half a mind to wag my finger at the 1500 accounts that caused the spike, but I shall forebear," he said.

Musk said last week he'd deemphasize "hate" or "negative" tweets while also having previously suspended accounts reinstated.

The intrigue: While Musk had yet to indicate which banned users may be affected by the planned amnesty, he last week flatly ruled out reinstating the Twitter account of far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

A screenshot of a tweet by Elon Musk saying hate speech has declined.

Go deeper: Rivals see opening in Twitter's chaos

Editor's note: This article has been updated with more comment from Musk, details of the EU report and further context. 

Musk's Twitter "amnesty" plan for suspended accounts alarms activists

"You will have blood on your hands @elonmusk," said award-winning journalist Hopewell Chin'ono.

Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during a press conference at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10.

Elon Musk gestures during a February event near Boca Chica Village, Texas. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) personal Twitter account was reinstated on the platform on Monday, more than 10 months after being permanently suspended for "repeated violations" of the platform's COVID misinformation policy.

Driving the news: The move comes days after Twitter reinstated the account of former President Trump and amid a season of upheaval at the platform that has accompanied Elon Musk's takeover of the company.

The big picture: Greene's account had also been suspended in July 2021 for publishing incorrect information on COVID vaccinations and wearing face masks during the pandemic.

While Greene had lost access to her more frequently used personal account, she had maintained access to her official congressional account.

What they're saying: "I'm the only Member of Congress the unelected big tech oligarchs permanently banned. On January 2, 2022, they violated my freedom of speech and ability to campaign & fundraise crying "covid misinformation,'" Greene tweeted on Monday from her congressional account.

"My account is back. Go follow @mtgreenee for MTG unfiltered ;)" she added.

Greene has not yet tweeted from her reinstated personal account.

Marjorie Taylor Greene's personal Twitter account reinstated

Greene's account was suspended in January after "repeated violations" of Twitter's COVID misinformation policy.

Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks to reporters as she leaves the U.S. Capitol 

Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks to reporters as she leaves the U.S. Capitol on November 17. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Marjorie Taylor Greene

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

Far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones won't be let back on Twitter, according to Elon Musk, despite the reinstatement of former President Donald Trump.

Driving the news: Musk's takeover of Twitter brought a host of changes and upheaval to the platform. On Friday, Musk tweeted, "What should Twitter do next?"

"No," Musk replied to a user who wrote back, "Bring back Alex Jones!!!!" 

In response to another Twitter user calling for Jones' reinstatement on Sunday, Musk replied, "My firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame."

On Friday night Musk initiated a poll on his Twitter feed asking whether Trump should be reinstated. Trump's account was reinstated on Saturday following the poll's results where a slim majority wanted the former president back on the platform.

State of play: Jones responded to Musk's initial snub in a video posted to the conservative social media platform Rumble on Friday.

“Now, do I blame Elon Musk for this? No, ladies and gentlemen. And quite frankly, I don’t care if I get brought back to Twitter," Jones said.

"I care about any of these big tech platforms going back to free speech and back to where the Internet was four years ago, before this reign of surveillance and censorship. Because this isn’t just censorship. They’re surveilling everything you say in live time, not just on Twitter, but Google, Facebook, all of it in live time," Jones said.

The big picture: Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter days after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, in what the social media platform said was a response to the "risk of further incitement of violence."

Jones was permanently suspended from the platform in 2018 for abusive behavior.

Jones, primarily through his website and radio show Infowars, for years falsely claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.

Elon Musk won't let Alex Jones back on Twitter

"Quite frankly, I don’t care if I get brought back to Twitter," Jones said in a post on Rumble.

Alex Jones speaks to the media outside Waterbury Superior Court during his trial on Sept. 21 in Waterbury, Connecticut. Photo: Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images

Face The Nation - Trump Twitter

Elon Musk's decision to reinstate former President Trump's Twitter account doesn't make "any difference," given that Trump's posts on Truth Social tend to make their way to Twitter anyway, journalist Kara Swisher told CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday.

Driving the news: Musk reinstated Trump's account on Saturday after initiating a Twitter poll on his own Twitter profile.

“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated," Musk tweeted.

Twitter had permanently suspended Trump's account days after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, in what it said was a response to the "risk of further incitement of violence."

In April, Trump told Fox News that he would not return to Twitter and would continue to use his own platform, Truth Social.

What they're saying: Asked by host Margaret Brennan what Trump's return to Twitter would "actually do," Swisher replied, "nothing."

"People have been posting his truths — I think that's what they're called — on Twitter already and it gets out anyway," Swisher said.

"I think he can't resist and will probably go full Twitter at some point," she added.

"I don't think it makes any difference. Plus he's the former president, so it doesn't hit quite as hard."

Tech thought leader Scott Galloway told the same program that he thinks the move is "mostly" a public relations gimmick by Musk.

"I think if Elon's out of the news for more than 48 hours, he'll decide to kick him off again," Galloway said.

"I would argue the people haven't spoken, the GRU have spoken," he added, referring to the Russian military intelligence agency. 

"Twitter has become a playground for bad actors and fake bots. This poll is meaningless, this decision is meaningless," he said.

The other side: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday it was a "terrible mistake" to allow Trump back on Twitter, saying the former president used the platform "to incite the attack on the Capitol."

"It just underscores the erratic leadership of Twitter now under Musk," Schiff added.

Between the lines: Elon World is convinced this is all about eyeballs — high usage will leave advertisers with no choice but to return. Trump would boost engagement, Axios' Dan Primack notes.

Trump has 4.6 million followers on Truth Social — and over 86 million on Twitter as of Sunday afternoon.

Trump’s Twitter reinstatement doesn’t make “any difference”: Kara Swisher

"Plus he's the former president, so it doesn't hit quite as hard."

Tech giants are ditching several consumer device product lines as dark economic forecasts make cost-cutting a priority.

The big picture: Tech’s biggest bear market in two decades has spurred tens of thousands of layoffs and plummeting stock prices, as companies scramble to find ways to minimize the downturn’s long-term impact.

What’s happening: Amazon's reported plan to lay off about 10,000 workers, per the New York Times, will involve cuts to the retail giant’s devices organization, which covers "Kindle, Alexa, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Echo, Astro, Ring, Blink, Halo, and Luna" (per an Amazon jobs site), as well as cuts in retail and human resources.

The Wall Street Journal said last week that internal documents showed Amazon’s devices unit had an operating loss of more than $5 billion a year.

Over at Meta, last week executives said the giant was shutting down its Portal smart display platform and smartwatch projects.

Google canceled its next Pixelbook laptop in September and scuttled the team that was building it.

Of note: The trimmed devices are outside of each company's core or flagship businesses, which means the companies are scaling back some of their efforts to find growth in new markets.

Meanwhile, other large tech platforms are similarly retreating from some device projects. 

In August, Snap announced that it would halt development of its camera drone Pixy, which it first announced in April.

Big Tech powers down devices as economy sputters

Meta, Amazon and other companies are cutting product lines to save money.

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