Week in Assessment: Apple will not increase costs — but

Welcome again to Week in Assessment! We’ve received a number of information for you at present: Amazon earnings, Apple earnings, ChatGPT sycophancy, Alibaba’s AI fashions, and far more. Let’s get to it!

Nicely? Throughout Apple’s earnings name yesterday, Tim Cook dinner revealed that the corporate paid $900 million in tariffs final quarter. However regardless of this, the CEO didn’t announce any value will increase — but.

Huge bucks: Protection tech startup Mach Industries, which was based by 21-year-old Ethan Thornton, is about to shut a recent $100 million in financing, sources informed TechCrunch. This new funding ought to carry the startup’s complete funding to about $185 million thus far.

Extra fashions: Alibaba introduced this week that it’s releasing a household of AI fashions, referred to as Qwen3, that it claims can outperform OpenAI and Google. Based on Alibaba, the Qwen3 fashions are “hybrid” fashions, they usually’re not but obtainable for obtain. 

That is TechCrunch’s Week in Assessment, the place we recap the week’s greatest information. Need this delivered as a e-newsletter to your inbox each Saturday? Enroll right here.

Information

Shoot for the celebs: Amazon’s effort to create a space-based web community started in earnest this week: The corporate fired off its first 27 web satellites on Tuesday. The primary half of the community must be deployed by mid-2026 to fulfill the FCC deadline.

AI in your pocket: Meta is rolling out a stand-alone AI app, which it unveiled on the firm’s first LlamaCon occasion on Tuesday. The app permits customers to entry Meta AI in an app, much like the ChatGPT app and different AI assistant apps.

Blocked: A choose in India blocked the encrypted e-mail supplier Proton Mail throughout the nation. This was in response to a authorized criticism filed by New Delhi-based M Moser Design Associates, which alleged that its workers had obtained emails containing obscene and vulgar content material despatched by way of Proton Mail.

Cheaters by no means win: Cluely went viral just lately for its daring declare of serving to folks cheat on all the pieces. However some startups are claiming they will catch Cluely’s customers.

Alexa+: Amazon’s new digital assistant goals to let customers discuss with it in a extra pure type and ultimately have agentic skills that enable it to make use of third-party apps on a consumer’s behalf. Throughout Amazon’s earnings name this week, CEO Andy Jassy says that 100,000 customers now have Alexa+.

AI the place it issues: Airbnb appears to be taking a extra measured strategy with AI. It began rolling out an AI-powered customer support bot within the U.S. final month. CEO Brian Chesky mentioned in February that the corporate would use AI for customer support earlier than it began implementing it for different makes use of like journey planning or reserving tickets.

Epic ruling: Epic Video games has notched a win in an ongoing authorized dispute with Apple. Decide Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers mentioned in a ruling that Apple was in “willful violation” of a 2021 injunction that prohibited the corporate from imposing anticompetitive pricing. Consequently, Fortnite might be again on iPhones as quickly as subsequent week. 

LOL: Following the Epic Video games ruling, Stripe shared documentation that reveals iOS builders tips on how to keep away from the Apple fee.

Verify your settings: Meta emailed Ray-Ban Meta house owners on Tuesday with a discover that AI options will now be enabled on the glasses by default. This implies Meta’s AI will analyze photographs and movies taken with the glasses whereas sure AI options are switched on.

Yikes! OpenAI mentioned it was “rolling again” the newest replace to the default AI mannequin powering ChatGPT, GPT-4o, after complaints about unusual conduct, specifically it being overly agreeable and validating. Based on OpenAI, the replace, which was meant to make the mannequin’s default persona “really feel extra intuitive and efficient,” was knowledgeable an excessive amount of by “short-term suggestions.” Now the corporate pledges to make modifications that may stop this from occurring sooner or later. 

Earlier than you go

Oh the drama: We learn via the 80-page Epic v. Apple choice to drag out the choose’s juiciest, fieriest feedback. Right here’s one to get you began: “Apple engaged in ways to delay the proceedings. The Court docket later concluded that delay equaled income.”