opens

Ibotta’s Initial Public Offering Experiences Favourable Reception, Signaling Growing Interest in Technology Stocks from the Public Market

Gettyimages 103399424
Shares are not continuing to climb in early trading, but are holding steady above its IPO price, at around $100 at the time of writing. Its successful debut marks the third major tech IPO in the United States this year, and is the third in a row to price well and immediately trade higher. Investor eagerness for Ibotta indicates that “there is an increasing appetite for IPOs again” Smith said, “particularly in the tech space.”Don’t pop the champagne yet for the tech IPO market coming roaring back, however. Classic tech IPOs tend to feature tech companies still in growth mode and deeply in the red. Smith agrees, calling the upcoming Rubrik IPO “an even bigger test” for tech debuts “given its weaker current financial picture.”We’ll find out next week.

Apple launches online distribution option for EU-targeted iOS developers

Apple App Store
Apple is opening up web distribution for iOS apps targeting users in the European Union from today. Apple’s walled garden stance has enabled it to funnel essentially all iOS developer revenue through its own App Store in the past. An Apple rep described this as a baseline safety and security standard which they said iOS users expect to help ensure their device is protected from external risks. Given Apple has only just started implementing web distribution for iOS apps it remains to be seen whether the EU will step in for a closer look at this aspect of its DMA compliance too. It’s also unclear how much demand there will be among iOS developers for direct web distribution.

“Tokyo Hub Welcomes OpenAI: Introducing GPT-4 Model Specifically Designed for Japanese Language”

Gettyimages 1647521480 E1694685235777
OpenAI is expanding to Japan, with the opening of a new Tokyo office and plans for a GPT-4 model optimized specifically for the Japanese language. Japan is the current G7 chair and President of the G7’s Hiroshima AI Process, an initiative to promote AI safety, including stronger AI governance. EnterprisingAs president of OpenAI Japan, Nagasaki will be tasked with building a local team on the ground to double down on OpenAI’s business in the country. OpenAI says ChatGPT is also being used by local governments to “improve the efficiency of public services in Japan.”ChatGPT has long been conversant in multiple languages, including Japanese. For now, OpenAI is giving early access to the GPT-4 custom model to some local businesses, with access gradually opened up via the OpenAI API “in the coming months.”

Apple expands repair options for used iPhone components

Apple Eu Self Service Repair Iphone E1670324694527
On Thursday, Apple announced that it has opened its iPhone repair process to include used components. Today’s news adds all components — including the battery, display and camera — which Apple requires to be configured for full functionality. “‘Parts pairing’ is used a lot outside and has this negative connotation,” Apple senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus, tells TechCrunch. “I think it’s led people to believe that we somehow block third-party parts from working, which we don’t. Ternus cites a recent UL Solutions study as evidence that third-party battery modules, in particular, can present a hazard to users.

Unveiling the Beta Launch: Join Threads and Link Your Accounts to the Fediverse!

Threads Fediverse
Meta announced on Thursday that its beta experience of sharing Threads accounts to the fediverse is now open to users ages 18 and up with public profiles. To opt into the fediverse beta experience on Threads, go to account settings and toggle on fediverse sharing. This gives you the chance to connect with other people who may not be on Threads but use alternative social networking apps. For instance, beta users on Threads can’t see people in the fediverse who replied or liked their posts. Users also can’t share posts with polls.

Bluesky Empowers Users to Host Personal Servers through New Federation Opening

Bluesky Felt
Social network Bluesky, a competitor to X, Threads, Mastodon, and others, is opening up its doors with today’s news that the network is now opening up federation, following its public launch earlier this month. The move will allow anyone to run their own server that connects to Bluesky’s network, so they can host their own data, their own account and make their own rules. That sent some former Twitter users in search of alternatives that were more sustainable, like Mastodon and Bluesky. While this model is similar to Mastodon, Bluesky uses a newer social networking protocol, the AT Protocol, while Mastodon and many other networks today use ActivityPub. “After this initial phase, we’ll open up federation to people looking to run larger servers with many users,” it says.

TikTok Under Formal Investigation by EU for Digital Services Act Violations, Citing Child Safety and Other Concerns

Gettyimages 1232166951
The European Union is formally investigating TikTok’s compliance with the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), the Commission has announced. Although the EU’s concerns over TikTok’s approach to content governance and safety predate the DSA coming into force on larger platforms. Commenting in a statement, Margrethe Vestager, EVP for digital, said:The safety and well-being of online users in Europe is crucial. The EU may also accept commitments offered by a platform under investigation if they are aimed at fixing the issues identified. In TikTok’s case the platform informed the bloc last year that it had 135.9M monthly active users in the EU.

Venture-Backed Apex Space Unveils State-of-the-Art Manufacturing Facility to Boost Production of Satellite Buses

Apex Factoryone Foundersloadingdock
When Apex Space emerged from stealth last October, the company had a provocative goal: remove the “new bottleneck” hitting the space industry by manufacturing satellite buses at scale. To get there, Apex announced today that it has opened a new headquarters and production facility in California that will eventually scale up to manufacture 50 satellite platforms annually. Apex wants to disrupt one of the more entrenched parts of the space industry. In general, satellite buses have been built to order at a very high cost and with very long lead times. Apex is planning on flying its first Aries on SpaceX’s Transporter-10 ride-share mission scheduled for the first quarter of next year.