Good Morning! Today we have news about Apple's legal battle in the UK over App Store fees, a new US bill that aims to bring more transparency to AI training data, and an overview of the first beta release of Android 15. 

— Forrest Knight & Meghanadh Vasireddy

Apple Loses Bid to Dismiss UK Lawsuit Over App Store Fees

Apple has lost its bid to dismiss a nearly $1 billion lawsuit in the UK over alleged unfair commission fees charged to app developers. The case, filed by competition law professor Sean Ennis, accuses Apple of abusing its dominant market position by imposing commissions of up to 30% on in-app purchases.

Judge Andrew Lenon ruled that Ennis' lawyers have a realistic chance of proving that Apple's "overcharging of commission to app developers based in the UK in relation to commerce transacted on non-UK storefronts did amount to conduct implemented in the UK." This decision means Apple must now face these allegations in court.

The ruling comes as Apple grapples with mounting regulatory pressure over its App Store practices, both in the US and Europe. With new laws requiring it to allow alternative app stores, and a high-profile legal battle with Epic Games, this UK lawsuit represents another front in the tech titan's fight to defend its lucrative App Store model.

• The case is not expected to reach trial until at least 2025, but the legal battle is far from over for Apple.

• The tech giant will have to continue defending its App Store policies against this lawsuit and other challenges in the years to come.

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US Lawmaker Proposes a Public Database of All AI Training Material

US Representative Adam Schiff has introduced a new bill called the Generative AI Disclosure Act. This bill aims to bring more openness to the training data used for AI systems.

The key details of the bill are:

• It would require AI companies to publicly disclose all copyrighted works used in their training datasets before releasing a new AI model.

• The bill would apply retroactively to existing AI systems, not just new ones.

• Companies would need to provide a public web link to the full training dataset, so creators can check if their work was used.

• Violating the rules could result in civil penalties of at least $5,000 per violation.

Some people see this as an important step to protect creators' rights in the age of AI. Currently, artists and writers often have to trick chatbots to identify if their copyrighted work was used for training. This database could actually provide much-needed transparency.

However, the logistics of compiling a comprehensive list of training data could be extremely difficult. AI training datasets can be massive, pulling content from many different sources. Putting together a complete record may prove impractical.

Read More Here

Android 15 First Beta: A Comprehensive Overview

The Android development team has just released the first beta for Android 15, allowing developers and early adopters to start using the new features on their supported Pixel devices. This release comes with several exciting enhancements.

One of the major improvements is the ability for apps to be displayed edge-to-edge by default. This means that content will now be visible behind system bars like the notification bar at the top or the navigation bar at the bottom, without the need for developers to call specific functions. To help developers optimize their apps for this new full-screen mode, Google has included many Material 3 composables that will handle the insets automatically.

The Android 15 beta also unlocks the ability for apps to register a fingerprint to be notified of NFC polling loop activity. This will result in a smoother tap-to-pay experience for users. Additionally, the observe mode changes that were first introduced in the second developer preview have now been integrated into the NFC functionality.

Another new feature in Android 15 is the ability to justify text based on letter spacing. This will be particularly useful for languages that use white space for segmentation, such as Chinese and Japanese.

Android 15 introduces built-in support for app archiving and unarchiving at the operating system level. This feature was introduced last year to allow users to free up space by removing infrequently used apps, while still preserving their data. Archived apps will be displayed in the launcher with an icon indicating that they need to be redownloaded.

The Android 15 beta also includes several other notable features:

• A ProfilingManager class that allows developers to collect performance data like heap dumps, heap profiles, and stack sampling

• Improved support for Braille displays in the TalkBack screen reader

• Key management features for end-to-end encryption

• Enhanced security measures to prevent malicious background apps from elevating their privileges and interfering with other apps

"Android 15 continues our work to build a platform that helps improve your productivity, give users a premium app experience, protect user privacy and security, and make your app accessible to as many people as possible," said Dave Burke, VP of Engineering for Android, in a blog post.

Read More Here

🔥 More Notes

• Jenkins was invented b/c an engineer “got tired of incurring the wrath of his team every time his code broke the build.”

• Google blocks California news in response to bill that would force tech giant to pay

• James Webb Space Telescope Sees Features Astronomers Have Yet to Explain

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Debunking Devin: "First AI Software Engineer" Upwork lie exposed!

Recently, Devin the supposed "First AI Software Engineer" was announced. The company lied and said that their video showed Devin completing and getting paid for freelance jobs on Upwork, but it didn't show that at all.

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