Big ·Fortune Anticipation builds for Apple’s ‘awe dropping’ iPhone 17 revealBy Jeremy KahnBy Jeremy KahnEditor, AIJeremy KahnEditor, AIJeremy Kahn is the AI editor at Fortune, spearheading the publication's coverage of artificial intelligence.
He also co- Eye on AI, Fortune’s flagship AI .SEE FULL BIO Apple says its new hardware announcements, scheduled for later today, will be "awe dropping."Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesGood morning.
Jeremy here again, filling in for Andrew, who is at Fortune Brainstorm in Deer Valley, Utah.
The conference kicked off yesterday, and man, I’ve got serious FOMO.Some highlights so far: Lyft CEO David Risher told the audience that the company’s deal with California state lawmakers that paves the way for its drivers to unionize will actually the company $200 million per year in insurance costs.
Jeffrey Katzenberg predicted that passing laws in the U.S. to tect children from online harms would be a slog, noting that it took 80 years to get seat belt laws passed in the U.S.
DoorDash CEO Tony Xu detailed why autonomous dery—whether through self-driving cars, small robots, or drones—has still not happened despite the better of a decade spent on re and development.
But the big news in today, aside from what’s happening at Fortune Brainstorm , of course, is anticipation around Apple’s big hardware reveal later today.
iPhone fans—and Apple investors—have great expectations. Will Apple up to them? Bea Nolan has a rundown below of what we might see unveiled.
One thing analysts are cautioning we bably won’t see: a lot of those native AI features Apple has been mising iPhone users for more than a year now.Always leave ‘em wanting more may be good showbiz advice, but it might not do Apple’s price any favors.
—Jeremy Kahn Want to send thoughts or suggestions to Fortune ?
Drop a line here.New iPhone, who dis?Apple says its hardware reveals later today will be "Awe dropping."Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesApple is set to unveil its iPhone in an “awe-dropping” event later today.The company is hosting its annual duct launch in Cupertino where it's slated to launch major hardware refreshes across its lineup and debut the brand new iPhone 17 family.
The company is also expected to launch to the iPad , Vision headset, Apple TV, and Pod mini and reveal the iPhone 17 Air, set to be the thinnest iPhone to date.
Apple has been navigating a complex political environment, and some analysts expect the giant to raise prices on the models as the company deals with a challenging tariff environment.Analysts have also cautioned against expecting a major AI announcement during the event.
“Apple has already d that a major Siri and Apple Intelligence revamp will only happen in 2026 and, timing-wise, it’s unly a major strategic investment in an AI firm would coincide with Apple’s keynote next week,” Forrester’s Thomas Husson noted.
Instead, he said Apple is more ly to spotlight its new A19 chip, which features a more powerful Neural Engine for on-device AI tasks conversational models, advanced photo editing, and personalized suggestions.
A fresh AI partnership with Google’s Gemini could also surface, building on last year’s tie-up with ChatGPT.The show kicks off at 10 a.m.
PT.—Beatrice NolanOpenAI is starting to panic its corporate restructuring plansOpenAI is scrambling to salvage its corporate restructuring after facing unexpected opposition, according to an exclusive Wall Street Journal report.
The company is even considering the "nu option" of leaving California entirely, though a spokesperson denied any plans to relocate.
The stakes couldn't be higher: $19 billion in funding—nearly half of what OpenAI raised in the past year—depends on investors getting traditional equity in a new for-fit structure.Currently, OpenAI issues "fit participation units" instead of traditional stock, but investors want real equity.
If the restructuring collapses, those investors can pull their money—a potentially catastrophic blow for a company planning to burn through $115 billion by 2029.
OpenAI now faces a coalition of dozens of nonfits, labor unions, and philanthropies opposing the move, plus a legal challenge from Elon Musk.
Meta has been lobbying to block the deal too, the Journal reports.Both California and Delaware attorneys general are investigating the restructuring, with concerns recent suicides linked to ChatGPT interactions complicating apval.
Regulators are questioning whether OpenAI has abandoned its original public benefit mission for revenue.
The AGs could sue or demand hefty settlements as conditions for apval.OpenAI executives didn't anticipate this backlash, according to the Journal, and are now scrambling to the deal, hiring advisers with ties to Governor Newsom while pledging $50 million to community organizations.—Jeremy KahnMeta suppressed child safety re, whistleblowers sayTwo former and two current Meta employees have submitted documents to Congress alleging that Meta curtailed re into children’s safety, according to a report from The Washington Post.The employees allege that after Frances Haugen’s 2021 leaks, Meta quietly limited how staff could study sensitive issues youth well-being, race, and harassment.
They allege Meta’s lawyers advised reers to avoid collecting data on minors and even urged them to run sensitive studies under attorney-client privilege.One reer says he was ordered to delete an interview in which a teen described his 10-year-old brother being sexually positioned in Horizon Worlds.
Meta told news outlets the deletion was required under privacy law, citing rules that ban collecting information from children under 13 without verified parental consent.Meta has denied the rest of the claims, saying the allegations were “stitched together.
The company also said it had apved nearly 180 Reality Labs-related studies on social issues, including youth safety and well-being, since 2022.A Senate subcommittee is set to review the whistleblowers’ claims this week.—Beatrice NolanAnthropic’s $1.5B settlement hits a roadblockThe judge overseeing Anthropic’s posed settlement with has blasted the agreement as “nowhere close to complete.”Judge William Alsup said at a Monday hearing that he felt “misled” by the settlement posal and had “an uneasy feeling hangers on with all this money on the table.” He cited concerns class lawyers striking a deal behind the scenes that will later be forced “down the throat of .” The motion to apve the deal was denied, and a post-hearing order stated that apval is postponed until more information is vided.
Attorneys will now have to return with a revised settlement posal.
As part of this, the judge directed the parties to create a form requiring all copyright owners to opt in to the settlement; if any owner opts out, that work will be excluded.Judge Alsup set a September 15 deadline for submitting a final list of works, which currently stands at just under 500,000.The $1.5 billion settlement had already been touted as one of the largest copyright deals in U.S.
history, and experts say it could establish a benchmark for similar cases.—Beatrice NolanMore Anthropic endorses California’s AI safety bill.
It’s the first major AI company to back the bill.Trump’s dinner triggers a MAGA backlash. bosses spike tensions in MAGA land.SpaceX to acquire EchoStar Spectrum in $17B deal.
The deal will allow EchoStar to resolve a regulatory be.A former WhatsApp security chief has sued Meta, alleging ignored privacy risks.
WhatsApp called the claims false and tied to poor performance.Google says the open web is already in “rapid decline.”The statement starkly contrasts Google’s recent claims the health of web .Endstop triggeredFortune Global Forum returns Oct.
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