Yazılar

Apple and Amazon Defeat $600 Million UK Lawsuit Over Alleged Collusion

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Apple and Amazon have successfully defended themselves against a mass lawsuit in the UK, which accused the tech giants of colluding to remove resellers of new Apple products from Amazon’s platform. The Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled on Tuesday that the lawsuit could not proceed.

The case was brought by consumer law academic Christine Riefa on behalf of around 36 million British consumers who had purchased Apple or Beats products. Riefa’s lawyers claimed that in 2018, Apple and Amazon conspired to block the majority of resellers of Apple and Beats-branded products from Amazon’s UK marketplace, allegedly reducing competition for these products.

Apple and Amazon argued that the lawsuit, valued at £494 million ($602 million) plus interest, was baseless and urged the tribunal to dismiss it. The tribunal agreed with the tech giants, ruling that Riefa had not demonstrated sufficient independence or robustness to represent the affected consumers. This decision was based on concerns about third-party funding for the litigation.

The refusal to certify the case was notable because the standard for certification is typically low, making it an unusual ruling in such legal matters. Neither Riefa’s legal team nor spokespeople from Apple and Amazon immediately commented on the outcome.

 

OpenAI Introduces ‘Tasks’ Beta Feature to Compete with Virtual Assistants

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On Tuesday, OpenAI unveiled a new beta feature called “Tasks” for ChatGPT, marking the company’s entry into the virtual assistant arena, aiming to compete with established platforms like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. This feature allows ChatGPT users to request actions to be performed at a specified future time, such as one-time reminders for events like concert ticket sales or recurring tasks such as daily weather updates or weekly news briefings.

Based on interactions with users, ChatGPT will also proactively suggest tasks that users can choose to accept or decline. This new function broadens the scope of what ChatGPT can offer, making it more assistant-like, similar to Alexa and Siri.

The launch follows a growing trend where AI-powered systems are reshaping virtual assistant functionalities. Amazon, for example, has been revamping its Alexa service with generative AI capabilities to remain competitive, while Apple has incorporated its “Apple Intelligence” technology into Siri. In collaboration with Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Apple now seeks user consent before sending queries to OpenAI’s services.

OpenAI’s “Tasks” feature will be available to Plus, Team, and Pro users globally in the coming days, with the web platform being the first to get access.

 

Amazon Opens Walk-In Centre in Cape Town to Expand Market Share in South Africa

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Amazon has launched a walk-in centre in Cape Town, South Africa, aimed at supporting independent sellers and helping them grow their businesses. This move is part of Amazon’s strategy to capture more market share in Sub-Saharan Africa, where it competes with local e-commerce leader Takealot, owned by Naspers.

Robert Koen, Managing Director of Amazon Sub-Saharan Africa, highlighted the importance of expanding Amazon’s product range to attract more customers. The company’s global marketplace relies heavily on independent sellers, with over 60% of Amazon’s sales worldwide coming from small- and medium-sized businesses. The new centre in Cape Town is designed to help these sellers reach a wider customer base by offering various services, including on-the-spot registration for selling on Amazon.co.za, training, product imaging, cataloguing assistance, and shipping and logistics support.

Since Amazon launched in South Africa in May of the previous year, the Cape Town centre represents the company’s first significant infrastructure in the region. Koen reported positive results from the recent holiday season, with the company exceeding its goals and seeing strong feedback from first-time shoppers, particularly appreciating the speed of delivery.