National

Axios Login

Right now, Apple's system for connecting your iPhone to your auto, CarPlay, merely takes over a car's entertainment functions — but soon Apple intends to provide a pervasive interface controlling everything from the dashboard and the temperature controls to mapping and music.

Driving the news: The sneak peek at the future of CarPlay occupied less than three minutes of Apple's keynote on Monday — but it was arguably the most significant reveal of this year's developer conference.

How it works: Apple's demo showed CarPlay stretching across multiple displays, from the infotainment screen to the main instrument cluster, handling functions including fuel levels, speed, temperature control and radio — all things it doesn't do currently.

The list of auto companies working with Apple on the next generation of CarPlay include Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Nissan, Ford, Lincoln, Audi, Jaguar, Acura, Volvo, Honda, Renault, Infiniti and Polestar. 

Apple confirmed that the new CarPlay,  like the current version, will only show you the Apple-designed interface when connected to an iPhone, with a user's personal information and preferences stored on the device.

Yes, but: There is no guarantee all of those companies plan to use CarPlay as expansively as in Apple's Monday demo. Many carmakers were circumspect when queried by The Verge.

Apple did say vehicles using the new CarPlay "will start to be announced late next year."

The big picture: Apple's vehicle efforts go well beyond CarPlay. 

The company has a significant team focused on autonomous vehicles, though both the vision and the people have shifted over time. The company has received permission to test AVs in California,.

The software interface from CarPlay could well be used in conjunction with the autonomous technology if Apple does in fact ever produce its own car.

Be smart: Carmakers have to steer carefully to avoid turning over too much control to Apple or rival Google, which has also shown interest in moving further into vehicle software. 

Google has a deal with Volvo, for example, for its flavor of Android to natively power the infotainment system in future vehicles.

For the car makers, Apple CarPlay (along with Google's Android Auto) have proven to be popular features, often must-haves when people buy a new car. 

The catch: Automakers fear that letting Apple or Google control more of a car's interface could over time move more of the value of the vehicle to its software. 

That would leave the hardware makers with most of the hard work around safety and less of the profit, as the tech companies take a greater revenue share. 

Flashback: Before the iPhone, there were lots of different kinds of phones, and most of the revenue and profits went to the hardware companies. In the intervening years, most of the profits have gone to operating-system owners Apple and Google.

Apple also has a history of starting out as a partner, then turning into a rival.

In 2004, it partnered with Motorola to include iTunes on the company's phones. Meanwhile, it was developing the iPhone, which eventually decimated Motorola's business.

The bottom line: Mark Fields, then the CEO of Ford, acknowledged the dilemma to me in a 2015 interview.

"At the end of the day we don’t want to end up as the handset business," Fields said.

Apple's car vision extends far beyond music

A sneak peek showed Apple's in-car software controlling everything from the speedometer to temperature controls.

The next generation of CarPlay, as shown by Apple at WWDC2022

The next generation of CarPlay, as shown by Apple at WWDC2022. Photo: Apple

Apple

Column / Signal Boost

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

Apple-watchers viewing the company's Monday developer's conference keynote were disappointed that the company failed, once again, to unveil a world-changing new headset device, or even acknowledge that one was on the way.

They forgot a key principle Apple operates by: It never makes the first move in a new product category. Instead, it waits for just the right moment to bring that new product to a broad consumer market.

The big picture: It's a wide-open secret that Apple has been working on a headset or smart-goggles product to serve as its entrant in the battle to define and control the next big platform after the smartphone.

The company has commissioned Hollywood directors such as Jon Favreau (a producer of "Prehistoric Planet" on Apple TV+) to create content for its goggles, the New York Times reported Saturday.

The long-rumored headset product has become a more urgent priority for Apple as its rivals have ramped up efforts in this area.

Facebook changed its name to Meta last year and is rebuilding its entire identity around a push into the 3D metaverse led by the company's VR headsets, like Quest. 

Google was one of the first entrants into the augmented reality market with Glass. Microsoft's expensive HoloLens has been one of the more advanced contenders.

Yes, but: Apple has never rushed into a market just to be first.

The iPhone's unveiling came after years of successful — but not blockbuster — products from other firms in the cellphone-meets-computing category, such as those from Palm, BlackBerry and Danger.

Microsoft shipped tablets well before Apple's iPad launched.  

The iPod arrived well after many other companies had tried to sell MP3 players — but failed to develop easy-to-use interfaces paired with generous storage. 

Over the years, Apple, following the Steve Jobs playbook, has perfected the fine art of timing new products. 

It seeks just the right moment when the power of the available chips, the cost of components and advances in materials combine to bring some new capability to life that might dazzle buyers. 

If those stars don't align, the product doesn't ship. Apple is happy for other companies to take the "bleeding edge" blows. 

The flip side to this is that Apple can go for long dry stretches without the release of a big-deal new device — and sometimes, despite the rumors, it never ends up pressing the launch button.

After long years of exploration Apple never ended up shipping its own TV set, and now it probably never will.

Apple projects aimed at producing its own auto or autonomous vehicle have borne no substantial fruit to date. 

All this caution can leave Apple at times appearing to tread water with relatively modest tweaks to its existing line.

That's how it looked Monday, as the company released a parade of incremental improvements and small tweaks to existing product lines.

Look! You'll soon be able to change the font on the clock on your iPhone lock screen! And here's yet another in a long list of Mac tools for organizing your open windows in ever more intricate ways! 

Apple doesn't care that you're not impressed or that you're impatient. It will release its goggles when it's good and ready — not a minute, or a year, before.

Apple's long product-release game

The giant is taking its time in unveiling long-rumored augmented reality goggles.

Photo of an iPhone lock screen shifting from one preset to another with a user's thumb poised above

Apple showed off small improvements to the iPhone, like personalized lock screens, at its developer conference. Image: Apple's WWDC keynote video 

Apple on Monday unveiled its new iPhone operating system, iOS 16, which now includes a "Safety Check" feature that enables users to quickly limit who has access to their personal information.

Why it matters: Many "smart" devices can be double-edged swords that enable domestic abusers to exert further control over their family members. 

The big picture: Apple's "Safety Check" feature allows people to quickly disable shared passwords, location and other information, Axios' Ina Fried writes.

In a press release Monday, Apple described the new feature as a "privacy tool" that can help "users whose personal safety is at risk from domestic or intimate partner violence by quickly removing all access they’ve granted to others."

The feature enables users to quickly sign out of iCloud on all their devices, limit messaging to only the device they have with them, reset privacy permissions, and manage which people and apps have access to their personal information. 

What they're saying: "Many people share passwords and access to their devices with a partner," Katie Skinner, a privacy engineering manager at Apple, said at the conference, CNET reported.

"However, in abusive relationships, this can threaten personal safety and make it harder for victims to get help," she added.

Go deeper: Everything Apple unveiled at WWDC 2022

Apple launches "Safety Check" feature for users facing domestic violence

Apple describes the feature as a "privacy tool" that can help users whose personal safety is at risk.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaking at WWDC 2022

Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaking at WWDC 2022. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Apple used its annual developer conference on Monday to debut a new MacBook Air powered by an updated M2 chip. It also detailed iOS 16, the next iPhone operating system, as well as updates coming to CarPlay, Apple Watch and Apple Pay.

Why it matters: Apple uses its developer conference to lay out where it is headed with its key products, largely by detailing coming changes to the underlying operating systems for the iPhone, iPad, Mac and other products.

Between the lines: Apple didn't provide any hints about its mixed reality headset, which isn't expected to ship until next year.

Apple announced a new, second-generation Apple-designed processor to power future Macs. Apple says the M2 chip can deliver up to 18% better performance or use less power to deliver the same amount of performance.

The first Mac to get the new chip will be a redesigned MacBook Air with a larger 13.6-inch display, along with a MagSafe charger and improved 1080p camera for video calls. 

The 2.7-pound laptop will start at $1,199 and be available next month in four shades. The existing MacBook Air will remain in the lineup at a lower price.

The M2 will also be available next month on a new model of the 13-inch MacBook Pro and starts at $1,299. 

Apple also previewed Ventura, the next version of MacOS. Among its features is Stage Manager, designed to help people better manage multiple open windows. Another new feature makes it easier to wirelessly use an iPhone as a Webcam while doing video conferencing on a Mac.

Among the features coming to the iPhone is the ability to edit or recall recently sent messages, along with an improved lock screen with streamlined notifications and easier ways to track live events, such as following a basketball game, listening to music or keeping tabs on an Uber ride.

Apple is also offering a "buy now, pay later" feature, allowing people to pay for Apple Pay purchases with four equal payments over six weeks, notably with no interest and no fees.

The Wallet app is also being updated to make it easier to share digital keys as well as proof of age and identity. Those who are in a state that supports a digital ID card will be able to share proof to other apps that they are over a certain age, without having to share all their personal information.

A new “safety check” feature allows people to quickly disable shared passwords, location and other information, such as when a person is leaving an abusive relationship.

A preview version of iOS 16 will be made available to developers immediately, with a public beta planned for next month. The final version will come this fall as a free update for those with an iPhone 8 or later.

The iPad will get tablet-specific features in its version of iOS 16, including improved collaboration options in apps like Pages and Keynote. Apple also previewed a new brainstorming app, called FreeForm, coming later this year to iPad (as well as iPhone and Mac). Apple is also bringing over a bunch of features from the Mac, such as systemwide undo and redo.

Apple gave a sneak peek at a new version of CarPlay that can control more of a vehicle's features, such as changing the temperature. Automakers will also be able to integrate CarPlay with the main instrument cluster that displays speed and other information.

The watch's sleep tracking app will be able to measure stages of sleep, potentially amping up the competition with dedicated trackers like Google's Fitbit and Oura.

Users can also more easily track the medications they are taking, including getting reminders and information on drug interactions. The feature also works on iPhones.

Go deeper: Three things to watch at Apple's developer conference

Apple debuts lighter, M2-powered MacBook Air

It also detailed iOS 16, the next iPhone operating system and key updates to CarPlay and Apple Watch

Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaking at WWDC 2022. Screenshot: Axios, via YouTube

Axios Closer

The head of Amazon's consumer business, Dave Clark, is leaving July 1, Amazon announced in a regulatory filing Friday.  

Why it matters: Clark, who reports directly into CEO Andy Jassy, has helped to build Amazon's logistics operations into the powerhouse that it is now.

As of the end of 2021, Amazon had more than 400 fulfillment centers globally, 160 sortation centers, 1,000 delivery stations, 260,000 drivers, and 100 aircraft in its Amazon Air cargo fleet.

What he's saying: "Twenty-three years ago, I took what felt like a big personal bet when I joined Amazon out of grad school. We were a small company with only six fulfillment centers that year, but growing fast," Clark wrote in a note posted on Twitter.

"I've had an incredible time at Amazon but it’s time for me to build again. It's what drives me," he tweeted.

The big picture: This is the second big executive exit in Big Tech this week, following news that Sheryl Sandberg, Meta's chief operating officer, is stepping down from Facebook's parent company after 14 eventful years.

What to watch: As of Friday, Amazon had not named a replacement.

The company is "trying to be thoughtful in our plans for Dave’s succession and any changes we make. I expect to be ready with an update for you over the next few weeks," Jassy wrote.

Amazon is inching closer to being able to send you everything, from any store

New book unpacks Amazon retail chief's ruthless journey to the top

Amazon consumer guru Dave Clark to step down

This is the second big executive exit in Big Tech this week.

Then-President Barack Obama with Amazon executive Dave Clark amid yellow bins

Then-President Barack Obama with Amazon executive Dave Clark in 2013. Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images.

Amazon

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

Microsoft is announcing today that it won't stand in the way of company employee efforts to unionize, putting it in stark contrast to other tech companies.

Why it matters: The announcement comes amid a growing movement to unionize parts of the tech workforce, and as Microsoft seeks to close a deal to purchase Activision Blizzard, some units of which have pursued unionization.

"We’re not asking our employees to go form a union, but we will meet people where they are at," Microsoft president Brad Smith told Axios.

Driving the news: In a just-published blog post, Smith said that the company is "committed to creative and collaborative approaches with unions when employees wish to exercise their rights and Microsoft is presented with a specific unionization proposal."

Smith stressed that the company is focused on a collaborative relationship with all employees, whether unionized or not. "Our employees will always have direct access to this company’s senior leaders," he said. "They don’t need to form a union to be heard."

At the same time, Smith said that it is inevitable that unions will touch more businesses. "We don’t need to make contentious things that can be handled more amicably," he said in the interview.

Between the lines: Microsoft has been evaluating its stance toward unions for several months, Smith said, saying that the Activision Blizzard deal was among many factors that led the company to explore the issue more deeply.

Quality Assurance workers at Activision-owned Raven Software recently voted to form a union. The vote followed a strike within Raven that lasted nearly seven weeks.

While Microsoft told Axios in March it would not stand in the way of Activision Blizzard recognizing a union, Xbox head Phil Spencer said last week that he would recognize Raven's union once the deal closes.

"It’s a good time to step back and recognize there is a lot we can learn from not just business leaders but labor leaders," Smith said.

The big picture: Other large tech companies have been less open to union efforts.

Amazon has used a variety of tactics to try to convince warehouse workers to vote against unionization, with mixed results. Workers at one Staten Island facility voted in favor of a union, potentially Amazon's first, while those at a nearby facility voted against forming one.

Apple has also been resisting recent efforts by retail workers to unionize. Apple's retail and HR head Dierdre O'Brien warned workers in a leaked video: “I worry about what it would mean to put another organization in the middle of our relationship."

Our thought bubble: What Microsoft is saying shouldn't actually be that radical. Employees have the legal right to form unions, a fact which Smith notes in his blog post.

"We respect this right and do not believe that our employees or the company’s other stakeholders benefit by resisting lawful employee efforts to participate in protected activities, including forming or joining a union," Smith said in the blog.

In the interview, though, Smith said Microsoft was simply doing what it felt was right for itself, not trying to push the industry as a whole. "I don’t think it is our role to tell other companies what to do."

Yes, but: Labor leaders are hoping to see other's follow in Microsoft's footsteps.

"We know labor and management can be true partners in a company’s success, and it’s important for companies to respect workers’ rights," AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler said in a statement. "Microsoft’s collaborative approach to working with its employees who seek to organize is a best practice that we look forward to seeing implemented at Microsoft and other companies."

Microsoft pledges to work with employee unions

"We’re not asking our employees to go form a union, but we will meet people where they are at," Microsoft President Brad Smith told Axios.

Photo collage of Brad smith and an image of data

Photo Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: By Cody Glenn/Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images

Labor unions

Facebook parent Meta announced a broad reorganization of its AI efforts Thursday, a move that will embed more work within product teams and will also see a top AI executive leave the company.

Why it matters: Like rivals Google and Microsoft, Meta is looking to make sure that machine learning and AI are used broadly throughout the company, not locked away in research units.

Driving the news: Facebook, which had previously centralized much of its AI effort, will shift much of that effort to product teams, which were already doing an increasing amount of work around machine learning.

VP Jerome Pesenti, who has spent the last four years leading AI efforts and helped design the new structure, will leave Meta later this month.

The Responsible AI team will join Meta's Social Impact team, while Facebook AI Research (FAIR) will move into the research unit within Reality Labs.

A new cross-functional team of AI leads will report to Joelle Pineau, while chief AI scientist Yann LeCun, who helped establish Meta's AI efforts nearly a decade ago, will remain in his current role.

Between the lines: The move is unrelated to — but comes just a day after — longtime Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg announced her plan to leave the company.

What they're saying: "Whether for personalization or protection, whether to improve existing services or create entirely novel ones, our future depends on our ability to leverage the newest AI technology at scale," Pineau and Reality Labs head Andrew Bosworth said in a blog post.

Meta reorganization aims to decentralize Facebook's AI efforts

Meta VP Jerome Pesenti will leave the company this month.

The Meta house at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Facebook

Axios AM

After more than two decades as a ruler of Silicon Valley, Sheryl Sandberg told me it's getting harder to predict where tech is headed. The trends, she said, will hit "deeper and more quickly than we think ... I don't know those future trends."

Why it matters: Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg built a behemoth of a business out of Facebook. Her planned departure this fall as Meta COO, announced yesterday, comes amid a global reckoning around how technology is used.

Related: End of "Girl Boss" era — Sheryl Sandberg's advertising jackpot

When I asked Sandberg what she had learned, she struck a humbler note than we're used to hearing from tech executives:

"In technology, we can't really predict what will happen and how quickly trends will move," she said in a phone interview, minutes after posting her departure plans on Facebook. "Trends happen really quickly. The mobile transition took us by storm and by surprise."

"Every technology can be used for bad as well as good," she added. "So you have to build systems early on to protect against harm. Everything we learned from the family of apps [Facebook and Instagram], we're building into the metaverse from the beginning."

She said she sees an "incredibly bright" future for Meta, where she'll remain on the board.

"I believe as deeply in Mark as ever," she said.

Sandberg — who went to Silicon Valley after serving as Treasury Department chief of staff for President Clinton — told me: "I'm 14 years into a job I thought I’d be in for five years."

In her Facebook post announcing her departure, she said she'll focus "more on my foundation and philanthropic work, which is more important to me than ever given how critical this moment is for women."

What we're hearing: Friends expect Sandberg, 52, to focus for now on philanthropy, perhaps running some mission-driven organization. Then they can imagine her serving in government or running for office. 

Zuckerberg noted in his own Facebook post: "When Sheryl joined me in 2008, I was only 23 years old and I barely knew anything about running a company."

Zuckerberg added that she "taught me how to run a company ... and she deserves the credit for so much of what Meta is today."

Sandberg made women's empowerment her signature issue with her bestseller, "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead." Then she started LeanIn.Org, an initiative of the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation.

Sandberg said her daughters should have the same opportunities as her sons: "No one should tell them they can't do it all."

Axios interview: Sheryl Sandberg on her future

Sandberg tells Axios: "I believe as deeply in Mark as ever," after announcing her departure from Facebook.

Sheryl Sandberg speaks at the Step Up Together Digital Summit in September. Photo: Getty Images 

Conservatives' long campaign against social media platforms keeps hitting a wall.

Why it matters: Republicans in Washington haven't been able to change the laws that govern the way platforms moderate users' content. Conservatives' alternative platforms have largely failed to gain traction. And the latest blow came from the Supreme Court.

Driving the news: The court on Tuesday, by a 5-4 vote, stopped Texas from enforcing a law, passed last fall, intended to end online "censorship" of political views. 

The law would allow Texans and the attorney general to sue tech giants like Meta and YouTube if they remove certain kinds of content.

The court's order isn't a final ruling on the merits of Texas' law, but when the courts freeze a particular law or policy, it's often a sign that the measure faces an uphill climb on the merits.

The decision comes just a week after a federal appeals court barred Florida from enforcing a similar law.

The big picture: Conservative lawmakers and activists have argued for years that tech platforms are biased against them. Those complaints have only gotten louder as social media services have adopted stricter policies on abusive speech and on misinformation around vaccines, elections and voting.

States across the U.S. have begun to enact laws telling tech platforms how to manage users' posts. These measures aim to stop companies from removing users' legal speech; to prohibit platforms from using algorithms to choose which posts to show, or to require companies to be more transparent about their content decisions.

So far, this hasn't worked. Pressure from the right has not led to laws that pass legal muster. Meanwhile, conservatives' efforts to build rival platforms with different rules have largely fizzled.

Even under the Trump administration, Republicans in Washington weren't able to change the federal law that exempts online platforms from liability for what their users say, except for a small carveout in a sex trafficking bill in 2018.

Some proponents of these laws argue that tech companies should be considered "common carriers," like phone companies, and therefore required to carry messages from all comers with minimum interference.

That idea hasn't flown in court. “Neither law nor logic recognizes government authority to strip an entity of its First Amendment rights merely by labeling it a common carrier,” the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in its ruling against Florida's content-moderation law.

Democrats have also tried their hand at bills aimed at controlling content moderation, arguing that companies leave too much harmful content online.

What they're saying: “We are encouraged that this attack on First Amendment rights has been halted until a court can fully evaluate the repercussions of Texas’ ill-conceived statute," said Matt Schruers, counsel at the Computer & Communications Industry Association, one of the tech industry groups fighting the law.

Yes, but: It's not clear how the justices will handle similar cases going forward.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his dissent, "It is not at all obvious how our existing precedents, which predate the age of the internet, should apply to large social media companies."

The liberal Justice Elena Kagan sided with three conservative colleagues in letting the Texas law go into effect. But court watchers interpreted her vote as a part of her running objection to the court's growing practice — known as the "shadow docket" — of deciding important cases quickly without full argument or written decision.

What's next: This fight isn't over. States will likely keep passing new versions of these restrictions, prompting more court battles that conservatives could still win, especially with the Supreme Court's current makeup. 

The bottom line: The Texas decision shows that government policing of tech companies' content rules is just as tough to get right as tech companies' policing of users' speech. 

Our thought bubble: Conservatives stymied in court may find a different triumph in Elon Musk's planned purchase of Twitter, which the billionaire has promised to reshape along much the lines that the right has demanded.

Conservatives' campaign against social media stalls out

In Congress, state houses and the courts,  conservatives have so far failed to rein in what they see as online censorship.

Illustration of an elephant trunk on a block with a gavel coming down on it. 

Social media

Twitter has agreed to pay $150 million for using users' security data to target ads, violating a 2011 order by the Federal Trade Commission, the agency announced along with the Department of Justice Wednesday.

Driving the news: The complaint, filed by the DOJ on behalf of the FTC, stated that starting in 2013 through 2019, Twitter asked users for their phone numbers or emails for account security, but did not tell users the information would be used by advertisers to target messages.

The complaint says this behavior also violated the U.S.-EU privacy shield, the former data-sharing agreement between the U.S. and Europe. 

The 2011 FTC order barred Twitter from misrepresenting its privacy and security practices to users.

What they're saying: “Twitter obtained data from users on the pretext of harnessing it for security purposes but then ended up also using the data to target users with ads," FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a release. "This practice affected more than 140 million Twitter users, while boosting Twitter’s primary source of revenue."

“The $150 million penalty reflects the seriousness of the allegations against Twitter, and the substantial new compliance measures to be imposed as a result of today’s proposed settlement will help prevent further misleading tactics that threaten users’ privacy," Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in the same release.

How it works: The DOJ filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and a judge has to approve it for it to go into effect. Twitter paying the fine settles the FTC's allegations. 

Twitter said in a 2020 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it may face a $150 to $250 million fine, citing a then-draft FTC complaint. The company said in 2019 it had shared email addresses and phone numbers with advertisers "unintentionally."

Details: In addition to the fine, Twitter agreed to:

not profit from "deceptively collected data";

allow users to use multi-factor authentication without phone numbers;

notify users of misusing their information;

implement a comprehensive privacy and security program and consider privacy in new products;

limit employee access to personal data of users and tell the FTC if there is a data breach.

"Keeping data secure and respecting privacy is something we take extremely seriously, and we have cooperated with the FTC every step of the way," Twitter said in a blog post. 

Twitter to pay $150M for violating FTC privacy order

Twitter has agreed to pay the fine for using account security data to targeteadvertising.

Sections

Axios Local

Axios gets you smarter, faster with news & information that matters.

About

Subscribe

All Big Tech stories