A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill that would ban Google and other large companies from participating in more than one part of the digital ad ecosystem. The proposed legislation takes aim at companies that process more than $20B a year in digital ad transactions. If passed, it would force Google to break apart its current digital advertising business, which accounts for most of the company's revenue. More: - On Thursday, the Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act was introduced by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
- According to the Wall Street Journal, Google would be directly impacted by the bill given that it dominates the online advertising arena. It offers tools for companies to buy and sell ads and also auctions ad space on its network.
- Lee argued that Google claims an unfair advantage because it's both a buyer and seller of ads.
- He added: "When a company can wear all these hats simultaneously, it can engage in conduct that harms everyone."
- In response, Google said breaking apart its ad tools would hurt advertisers and publishers, lower the quality of ads, pose privacy risks, and support "low-quality data brokers."
- U.S. Reps. Ken Bucks (R-Colo.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) are expected to introduce a similar bill in the House of Representatives as early as today.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 
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Apple chip supplier TSMC is in talks about building a new manufacturing plant in Singapore to help address the global chip shortage. The world’s largest contract chipmaker could receive support from Singapore's government to help fund the facility's construction. More: - TSMC is seeking to produce chips with seven- to 28-nanometer fabrication processes at the plant, which has not been confirmed yet as a project.
- While Apple's latest chips use a five-nanometer process, the facility could open up production capacity at TSMC's other plants to produce more Apple chips.
- The company is working on plans for a $7B semiconductor site in Japan and is now building a $12B factory in Arizona, both of which are set to start mass-producing chips in 2024.
- Last year, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said the company was assessing potential plans to set up manufacturing operations in Germany as well.
- TSMC is said to have a budget of between $40B and $44B for its capital expenditure in the current fiscal year.
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Facebook parent Meta has paused hiring for engineering roles across its commerce, dating and gaming, remote presence, and Messenger Kids teams, according to The Verge. During an all-hands meeting last week, Mark Zuckerberg said the company is dialing back growth but has no immediate plans for layoffs. More: - However, Zuckerberg told employees he could not promise that the company "won't have to reconsider" layoffs as it readjusts its growth strategy.
- Meta is in a hiring freeze for engineers, recruiters, and low-level data scientists, though it is still hiring for AI and machine learning positions, a spokesperson confirmed.
- The impacted teams are working on products considered less of a priority. They don't generate enough revenue or aren't considered "strategically important" enough to warrant further investment, according to The Verge.
- A recent internal memo said Meta will slow the pace of hiring this year as it faces lower-than-expected revenue growth and a plummeting stock price.
- The company has been impacted by an industry-wide downturn and a loss of revenue in Russia following the Ukraine invasion, according to CFO David Wehner.
- It's experiencing a drop in advertising demand and expects to lose $10B in sales this year as a result of Apple's iOS privacy settings first introduced in 2021.
THE VERGE
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TikTok is testing games on its platform in Vietnam as it seeks to expand into gaming, sources told Reuters. The move would help increase user time on TikTok's app and shore up its advertising revenue, according to the news agency. More: - TikTok intends to further roll out gaming features in its Southeast Asia markets as early as Q3 2022, the sources said.
- A representative confirmed that the company has tested HTML5 minigames on its app through partnerships with Zynga and other third-party studios and developers. The spokesperson declined to comment on its broader plans for gaming.
- TikTok is owned by China-based ByteDance, which has allowed gaming on the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, since 2019.
- ByteDance could draw from this suite of games for TikTok.
- The games would likely have ads. ByteDance is expected to split the revenue with game developers.
Zoom Out: - TikTok was reported to be the most downloaded app worldwide last quarter, beating out Instagram. It is now the fifth app ever, and the only app not owned by Meta, to surpass 3.5 billion all-time downloads.
REUTERS
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Apple's forthcoming XR headset could debut in 2023 and is "as ambitious as the iPhone," according to a report published by The Information. The publication claims the company had a functioning headset prototype as early as 2016 but faced development setbacks due to lack of internal support. More: - Apple is said to be working on its first mixed-reality headset, which would combine virtual reality and augmented reality to overlay digital images onto the real world.
- The company began developing the device as early as 2016 but its team faced little support from CEO Tim Cook.
- The 100+ person team, referred to as the "Technology Development Group," has been developing silicon chips, specialty cameras, and other tech for the device.
- The headset is expected to have M1 levels of processing power and would be Apple's first major new product release since 2015, when it debuted the Apple Watch.
- Bloomberg reported that the headset could be delayed from 2022 to 2023 due to issues "related to overheating, cameras, and software."
- That claim has since been backed by analysts, who now expect a release in Q1 2023.
Some of this information first appeared in Inside XR, our newsletter covering the present and future of immersive technologies.
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 Tesla is expected to preview a prototype of its humanoid robot, Optimus, at its upcoming AI Day on Aug. 19. Elon Musk has said that the 5'8", 125-pound robot can walk 5 miles per hour and deadlift 150 pounds. It's designed to handle tasks considered "unsafe, repetitive, or boring," such as grocery shopping and household chores, he said. More: - Previously, the CEO said he hopes to have a working prototype of the bot by the end of 2022.
- Tesla aims to start producing the robot "hopefully" in 2023, Musk said in April.
- The bot would rely on the same AI technology that powers Tesla's semi-autonomous Autopilot tech for vehicles.
- It is intended "to be friendly" and navigate a world built for humans, he said.
- Musk said the bot's first application would likely be at Tesla facilities, moving around parts.
- At AI Day, it's likely that Tesla will also provide updates on its Full Self-Driving beta, new self-driving chip, and Dojo supercomputer program, which is designed to train AI networks for automated driving.
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- Apple could launch its iPhone 14 on Sept. 13, the expected date of its 2022 September Event, according to iDropNews.
- Microsoft's proposed $68.7B acquisition of Activision Blizzard is "moving fast" according to president Brad Smith. Earlier reports have estimated the deal could be completed in the first half of 2023.
- VITURE One XR raised $2.5M to develop lightweight XR glasses that resemble daily-wear sunglasses and can stream or play games in 1080p.
- Computer scientist Ian Goodfellow has taken a position at Alphabet's DeepMind AI lab after resigning as Apple's machine-learning director, citing his disapproval over the company's return-to-work policy.
- Multiple U.S. agencies warned that skilled North Korean developers and hackers are posing as freelancers on the internet.
- Robinhood is developing a standalone crypto wallet application for NFTs that will enable users can store their digital assets, withdraw crypto, and link to NFT marketplaces. (NOTE: Inside.com's founder and CEO, Jason Calacanis, is an investor in Robinhood.)
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 |  | Beth is a writer and analyst at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily tech news. Since starting work at Inside, she has covered various topics including virtual reality, drones, and e-commerce. Prior to that she was a public policy and investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic, where she won a Pulitzer Prize nomination and First Amendment Award for reporting on the rising costs of pensions. Reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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