1. Pete Hegseth in "does something good" shock
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth's latest memo on right-to-repair marks a rare moment of clarity amidst his usual utter tomfoolery. The document on "Army Transformation and Acquisition Reform" finally acknowledges what should have been obvious: that corporate intellectual property restrictions have disabled the Army's ability to fix its own kit in the field. While much of the memo retreads familiar ground with predictable Pentagon-speak, this admission of repair constraints signals a potential shift in the military's relationship with its profit-driven suppliers.
2. Don't send those rude emails, kids
An Indian court has blocked the use of Proton Mail, the fully-encrypted email provider, after a local company "alleged that its employees had received emails containing obscene and vulgar content sent via Proton Mail." Additional Solicitor General Aravind Kamath delicately sidestepped governmental responsibility in court. Speaking for the administration, he suggested the government's hands were largely tied regarding the petitioner's grievances, and instead redirecting them toward criminal courts.
These institutions, he claimed, might extract the necessary information from Swiss authorities – effectively transferring the burden of investigation across international boundaries while the petitioner's complaint remains suspended in procedural limbo. And of course the Swiss courts would just have laughed, because the Swiss do not fuck around when it comes to stuff like this.
3. Microsoft to Europe: Please let us be your friend
You might have noticed that Trump administration's "Trump First" agenda has led to Europe looking towards its own solutions for technology amidst a general push for "digital sovereignty". That could be bad news for big technology providers like Microsoft, so it's not that surprising that the company's top legal officer has come out with a lot of belligerent claims about what it would do if Trump wanted to get his hands on European data.
Microsoft's relationship to Trump appears complex. The company switched law firms in a shareholder case, replacing one that had settled with the Trump administration to avoid a punishing executive order with one that is actively fighting the White House over executive orders that stripped their security clearances and restricted their access to government buildings.
Given that the Federal Trade Commission opened a wide-ranging antitrust investigation into Microsoft's business practices just before Trump's second term, creating a situation where the incoming Trump administration must decide whether to continue or abandon the investigation, that's a pretty ballsy move.
4. Not everything is as it appears
A coworking space for chatbots. Sure. Why not?
But ignore the headline. It's actually a really interesting art project based around the loss of creative work to AI.
5. Education is a right
The right hates education. In particular, it hates education for ordinary people. That’s why the Trump administration (those guys again!) is scrabbling around for ideas on cutting student funding, making sure that degrees are only affordable for the rich.
Of course, this matters a lot to the world of technology companies, which are a major beneficiary of higher education not only in the US but across the world. Big tech has acted like a globalised vacuum cleaner for highly educated young people, lured by great working conditions and career prospects. While Trump has made noises about valuing highly-skilled immigrants, the hardcore MAGA crowd are dead-set against them.
6. Goodbye affiliate revenue, redux
I’ve been writing for a while about how affiliate revenue for publishers is going to tail off because of AI. So I’m not surprised that OpenAI is adding shopping to ChatGPT. It’s just so obviously a better experience for a lot of the kind of research-heavy, high value purchases that publishers have been targeting.
The only future for publishers is high-quality, direct traffic, and direct subscriptions. That’s it.
7. The greatest headline of all time
8. And speaking of great lines
“Things are weird in Apple-land” is certainly up there. Jason Snell does his usual excellent piece on Apple’s quarterly results, and points out (among many other things) that the company is very much not dead in the water (again). As he notes:
The water is many things. It’s choppy. It’s chilly. There may be blood in it. There might even be sharks swarming. You pick the water metaphors you want, but what Apple’s certainly not is dead in it.
But... the problem with statements like this is that the water looks fine, until the moment it’s not -- and that point often comes quite quickly. Apple has a lot of resilience baked in, thanks to very diversified revenue streams. But even the most resilient companies reach a peak at some point.
9. Good news! Good news!
Becky Chambers has nearly completed another book. If you haven’t read her works, you really should – some of the best and most gentle science fiction of the last decade.