Warner Bros. Discovery reported revenue growth in Q2 with a $9.8 billion total compared to $9.7 billion for the same period in 2024. Propelled by the success of films like the action/comedy “A Minecraft Movie” and the horror hit “Sinners” starring Michael B. Jordan — in addition to the international rollout of HBO Max — the company turned a profit of $1.58 billion for the quarter, a significant increase over the same frame last year. Television series including “The Last of Us” and “Abbott Elementary” were hailed as examples of “creative excellence.” In the shareholder letter, WBD says it “optimized” linear networks, while making “substantive progress” in the movie studios and streaming arms. Continue reading WBD Earnings Buoyed by ‘Minecraft’ Film, HBO Max Growth

Apple posted quarterly revenue of $94 billion, up 10 percent year-over-year, the largest quarterly growth spurt for the tech giant since December 2021. Net profit of $23.4 billion was a new record for the June quarter and up nearly 9 percent from the prior year. Sales of Apple’s iPhones totaled $44.6 billion for the quarter, a 13 percent increase year-over-year, with growth posted across “every geographic segment” and a record number of upgrades as customers raced to beat the impact of anticipated tariffs, according to the company. The results for Apple’s fiscal Q3 exceeded Wall Street estimates. Continue reading iPhone Sales Jump 10 Percent, Driving Apple to Record Profit

Adobe competitor Figma went public Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange in a debut that saw the price of its first public trade nearly triple from the $33 per share the company and its institutional investors offered it up at, to $85, for a valuation of about $50 billion, well beyond the $20 billion the San Francisco-based design software startup agreed to in 2022 to essentially be acquired by Adobe. That deal was nixed by European regulators, who determined the move would stifle competition. Figma shares closed Thursday at $115.50, for a valuation of $67.7 billion. Continue reading Software Firm Figma Stuns with $67.7 Billion Valuation in IPO

Netflix revenue grew to $11.08 billion in Q2, a 16 percent year-over-year increase that helped drive net profit up 46 percent to $3.1 billion. The company’s operating margin rose to 34.1 percent in Q2, a nearly 7-point rise over Q2 2024 that along with 30 percent full-year guidance puts the streamer on par with tech giants such as Apple (31 percent) and Google (32 percent). Although Netflix no longer provides quarterly subscriber updates, the company did share results of its half-year Engagement Report, indicating members watched more than 95 billion hours of Netflix content during the first six months of the year. Continue reading Netflix Records Impressive Q2: Revenue Reaches $11 Billion

The Microsoft Store has an update to Microsoft Copilot that extends the capabilities of Copilot Vision. Rolling out initially to members of the Windows Insider Program, Desktop Share allows Copilot Vision to see a user’s desktop, enabling real-time conversation with the AI app, which will be able to answer questions about what it sees using text or natural language. Copilot Vision “can help analyze content, provide insights, and answer your questions, coaching you through it aloud,” according to Microsoft, offering things like “tips on making improvements to your creative project, help with improving your resume, or guidance while navigating a new game.” Continue reading Microsoft’s Copilot Update Includes Vision AI Screen Sharing

Google scuttled OpenAI’s negotiations to purchase AI coding firm Windsurf (formerly Codeium), by agreeing to pay roughly $2.4 billion to license the startup’s core technology, hire co-founder and CEO Varun Mohan and bring a passel of employees with him to Alphabet. The license is non-exclusive and Google is not taking a stake in Windsurf. Days after the Google deal, AI startup Cognition announced it would be acquiring Windsurf (both startups are backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund). Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen and some members of the Windsurf R&D team are moving to Google to work primarily with DeepMind on agentic coding. The $2.4 billion covers licensing fees and compensation. Continue reading Cognition Acquires Windsurf Following Google Licensing Deal

Apple announced a new 15,000-square-foot Apple Music Los Angeles studio in Culver City will open later this summer. The three-story complex that Apple says is “designed with artists in mind” includes two radio studios with support for immersive Apple Spatial Audio playback, a spatial audio mixing room, an art gallery, a “social media lab” and a 4,000-square-foot soundstage. Commemorating the 10th anniversary of Apple Music, the new structure is situated nearby to the future home of Apple TV+, a 550,000-square-foot building going up where Culver City borders the City of Los Angeles. Continue reading Apple Music Opening Three-Story Creative Hub in Culver City

Apple has changed its European App Store policies in response to the Digital Markets Act, in hopes the move will help ward off a potential fine of up to $585 million for violating the 2022 law in the way it charges commissions from third-party developers selling apps through links in the App Store. The European Union threatens fines of up to $60 million per day for DMA violations. A European Commission spokesperson said the body is assessing whether Apple’s new terms bring the company into compliance. The Commission is requiring the company “to make a series of additional changes to the App Store,” explains Apple, adding that “we disagree with this outcome and plan to appeal.” Continue reading Apple Introduces More App Store Changes to Avoid EU Fines

Anthropic has updated its Claude AI chatbot with the ability to build, host and share AI-powered apps directly in Claude. Launching in beta, the new function builds upon the Artifacts feature Anthropic introduced last year, allowing users to see and interact with what they asked Claude to create. “Now developers can iterate faster on their AI apps without worrying about the complexity and cost of scaling for a growing audience,” according to Anthropic. The San Francisco-based AI startup adds that millions people have already used Claude to create more than 500 million artifacts — from productivity tools to educational games. Continue reading Anthropic’s Claude Chatbot Is Now a No-Code App Developer

During WWDC at Apple Park in California this week, the company unveiled visionOS 26 updates for its mixed reality Vision Pro headset that will up the ante for both consumer and enterprise users, with new spatial widgets and more realistic avatar Personas among the noteworthy updates. The customizable widgets will appear to blend into a headset wearer’s physical environment, “integrating seamlessly into a user’s space” and reappearing exactly where the user left them each time the Apple Vision Pro is activated. A great deal of effort has gone into improved iPhone integration, including the ability to initiate calls directly from the headset. Continue reading Apple visionOS 2026 Features Spatial Widgets, Better Avatars

At WWDC 2025, Apple unveiled new features for Apple Intelligence including upgrades to Genmoji and Image Playground arriving with iOS 26 and other updated operating systems. Apple integrated ChatGPT into its Image Playground, allowing for the creation of generative AI images within the feature. In Messages, Image Playground will be able to generate new backgrounds for group chats. Apple is also adding live translation to its Phone app, as well as Messages and FaceTime. On audio-only calls, Apple Intelligence will generate a real-time voiced translation, while FaceTime will display live captions. Apple Intelligence updates span the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro. Continue reading WWDC: Apple Intelligence Gets Updates, iOS 26 Is Unpacked

Apple is acquiring its first game studio — Vancouver-based RAC7, a two-person company best known for Apple Arcade’s breakout hit “Sneaky Sasquatch.” While Apple is couching the move as an exception rather than a calculated expansion into gaming, the lack of exclusive Apple Vision Pro gaming IP could be considered a disadvantage against competing platforms. In January, Nvidia announced that its GeForce NOW cloud gaming platform added support for more than 2,000 visionOS-compatible titles accessible through Apple’s Safari browser for 4K streaming at 120 fps. Continue reading Apple Buys into Game Industry with Purchase of RAC7 Studio

Texas has codified a new law that requires the Apple and Google app stores to verify users’ ages for downloads, providing parents and guardians more control over children’s downloads. California and Illinois are considering similar measures, but so far Texas is the largest among 20 states that have evaluated similar smartphone laws aimed at child safety. In March, Utah became the first state to establish such regulation. As part of a broader national push Congress this month reintroduced the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) requiring social media platforms to police harmful content. Continue reading Texas Enacts App Store Accountability Act to Protect Children

Two years after entering into a collaboration to develop an AI device to succeed the smartphone, OpenAI has agreed to purchase io, Jony Ive’s device and design startup. The $6.4 billion all-stock deal will bring OpenAI to the hardware business and possibly foster the next steps toward ambient computing. “The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering and product teams in San Francisco,” OpenAI announced, adding that Ive will assume “deep creative and design responsibilities across OpenAI and io.” Continue reading OpenAI Acquiring Jony Ive’s io in a Deal Valued at $6.4 Billion

Amazon’s Audible audiobook service is partnering with select publishers to bring more print and e-books into the spoken word realm and is leveraging AI narration and translation to help it happen at scale. This move aims to quickly boost Audible’s product offerings so it can compete more effectively against streamers like Apple and Spotify who have rapidly expanded their literary market share. “Audiobooks are the fastest-growing format in publishing,” yet of the millions of titles available today in print and as e-books, only 2-5 percent exist in audio form, according to the company. Continue reading Audible Using AI Narration and Translation to Expand Catalog