| |  | Aug 26, 2025 | | | | | | Happy Tuesday! Elon Musk's xAI sues Apple and OpenAI. A group of Silicon Valley companies and executives are launching super PACs aimed at shaping AI policy. Temu's parent company PDD Holdings reports a slowdown in growth.
| | | | Elon Musk's xAI sued Apple and OpenAI on Monday, accusing the companies of colluding to squash competition in artificial intelligence. The suit accuses the companies of working together to steer users toward OpenAI's ChatGPT at the expense of competing chatbots like xAI's Grok, including through a deal announced last year that integrates ChatGPT into iOS. (Apple is evaluating models from companies like OpenAI, Anthropic and Google to power the next iteration of Siri, The Information reported in May.) xAI's lawsuit also claims that Apple has given ChatGPT favorable placement in its app store and "dragged out its App Store app review process" for competitors like Grok. "This is a tale of two monopolists joining forces to ensure their continued dominance in a world rapidly driven by the most powerful technology humanity has ever created," according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in the Northern District of Texas. xAI is asking a federal judge to order the companies to stop engaging in anticompetitive conduct and to pay xAI unspecified monetary damages. Musk, who co-founded and funded OpenAI before having a falling out with co-founder Sam Altman, also filed a separate lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI in California last year, challenging OpenAI's attempt to convert from a nonprofit to a for-profit company. | | | | A group of Silicon Valley companies and executives have put more than $100 million into launching a network of political action committees aimed at shaping artificial intelligence policy. Backers of the effort, "Leading the Future," include venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI President Greg Brockman and 8VC managing partner Joe Lonsdale. The group plans to advocate for industry-friendly AI policies and oppose policies that it believes will "stifle innovation," according to a press release announcing the launch. The move shows how Silicon Valley is putting more of its weight behind shaping policy under the Trump administration, after several tech firms publicly lobbied against state AI regulation. The new group plans to operate a network of state and federal PACs, suggesting it will be active in the 2026 midterm elections. | | | | Temu's parent company PDD Holdings reported on Monday that its revenue growth slowed again in the second quarter, with executives citing "intense competition" as a reason for the slowdown. The period also coincided with the elimination of an import duty loophole that had allowed Temu to flourish in the U.S. and keep costs low. The China-founded company, which also owns e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, said revenue grew 7% from the same period last year to $14.5 billion, the lowest growth rate since late 2021. Net income declined 4% from a year earlier to $4.29 billion, as the company said its investment in "merchant support initiatives" weighed on short-term profitability. PDD doesn't break out results for Temu or any of its other businesses. The company has recently had to contend with higher U.S. tariffs on imports from China, as well as the end of duty-free imports for low value shipments in the U.S. and other countries, which has increased PDD's costs. | | | | Elon Musk's xAI changed its corporate structure to end its status as a Nevada public benefit corporation, which would have required the company to disclose information about its environmental and social impact, CNBC reported on Monday. xAI appears to have made the change sometime between its founding in 2023 and May 2024, terminating its public benefit corporation status but staying registered as a company in Nevada, according to public records cited by CNBC. Registering as a public benefit corporation requires companies to pledge to make a positive impact on society and share annual reports on their progress toward doing so. After xAI appears to have changed its registration, the company began using gas turbines to power its main data center in Memphis, Tennessee, which has led to opposition from neighbors and activists concerned about air pollution. The change in registration is especially notable because Musk is fighting a legal battle against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman over the company's corporate structure. Musk, who says he gave OpenAI $44 million in its early years as a nonprofit based on the understanding that it would continue to operate "for the benefit of humanity," filed a lawsuit last year seeking to block the company from converting into a for-profit entity. | | | | Marketing software firm Klaviyo told employees it would restructure its R&D organization, according to an internal memo reviewed by The Information. As part of the shakeup, Klaviyo is laying off less than 100 staffers, according to a person with direct knowledge of the changes. Klaviyo will eventually replace most of the people who are laid off with new staffers within its engineering team as part of its effort to expand in AI, the person said. The company, which helps retailers send automated marketing messages, as well as track and manage other types of customer data, has been trying to beef up its artificial intelligence capabilities and technical hires. The memo, signed by Adil Wali, the company's chief product officer, and Surabhi Gupta, the company's chief technology officer, said Klaviyo is "raising expectations across engineering and product" teams, and that integrating AI skills and talent is "critical." "In product, we need more technically skilled product managers and analysts, and we have to accelerate the speed of zero-to-one product development," the memo said. "Within engineering, we'll build upon our AI foundation by hiring new roles to complement our existing teams and position us to be leaders in this space." | | | | Humain, the company overseeing Saudi Arabia's artificial-intelligence push, released an Arabic-language chatbot it plans to make available globally. The Humain Chat app is the first major software product from Humain, which has the backing of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and is aggressively pursuing investments and partnerships to expand the country's AI industry. Humain is raising money from AMD and Cisco for a cloud division and planning a $10 billion venture fund to invest in AI startups, The Information previously reported. Humain said the chatbot was powered by an AI model called ALLAM 34B developed by Saudi-based researchers and will be available in English and multiple Arabic dialects. The chatbot will at first be accessible in Saudi Arabia through a website and as iOS and Android apps. Humain Chat will be powered by a cluster of chips made by AI chip startup Groq, according to a Humain spokesman. A Groq spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. | | | Popular articles By Natasha Mascarenhas, Kalley Huang and Valida Pau
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