Technology 9/6: Apple, Meta and ambitious projects to dominate global AI

Apple faces AI challenges and competitive pressure at WWDC 2025

Apple is entering WWDC 2025 under pressure as its artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions fall short of expectations. While the company announced major improvements last year, including a personalized version of Siri and new AI tools for developers, the rollout has been plagued with glitches, leaving both developers and users frustrated.

Apple CEO Tim Cook brings many challenges to WWDC.

The delay of Siri is particularly notable, as Apple has long considered it a cornerstone of its AI strategy—an assistant that can understand context and support actions within apps. But developers have yet to take advantage of these features, limiting the smart app experience.

In addition, Apple is facing changes to its App Store payment policies in the US, as a new ruling prohibits the company from charging for payments outside of apps. This could affect App Store revenue, forcing Apple to come up with more attractive features to maintain the value of the iOS ecosystem.

In this context, Apple needs to focus on improving its AI tools to support app development, ensure a smoother user experience, and enable developers to tap into the potential of AI in the Apple ecosystem. WWDC 2025 will be an opportunity for the company to prove that it remains competitive in the AI race against major rivals such as OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft.

Meta Could Invest Over $10 Billion in Scale AI

Meta is in talks for a multibillion-dollar investment in Scale AI, with the deal potentially worth more than $10 billion, according to Bloomberg. If confirmed, it would be the largest outside AI investment by parent company Facebook and one of the largest funding deals ever for a private company.

Scale AI, led by CEO Alexandr Wang, provides data labeling services to companies like Microsoft and OpenAI to help train AI models. Much of this work is done by contractors. The U.S. Department of Labor recently concluded an investigation into the company for possible misclassification and underpayment of workers.

Meta could invest more than $10 billion in Scale AI.

Scale AI had $870 million in revenue last year and is expected to grow to $2 billion this year, according to Bloomberg. Meta was an investor in Scale AI’s $1 billion Series F funding round, which valued the company at $13.8 billion. Scale AI also developed Defense Llama, a large military language model, based on Meta’s Llama 3 platform.

Microsoft and Asus launch two Xbox Ally handhelds

Microsoft and Asus have just announced two new handheld gaming devices, ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, with a full-screen Xbox experience on Windows, optimized for mobile gaming.

The white ROG Xbox Ally supports 720p gaming, while the more powerful version, the black ROG Xbox Ally X, is aimed at 900p to 1080p on-the-go experiences. Both feature a 7-inch 1080p display with a 120Hz refresh rate and VRR support.

The new ROG Xbox Ally with full-screen experience.

In terms of configuration, Xbox Ally uses AMD Ryzen Z2 A chip, 16GB LPDDR5X-6400 RAM, and 512GB M.2 2280 SSD. Meanwhile, Xbox Ally X is upgraded with AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme, 24GB LPDDR5X-8000 RAM, and 1TB M.2 2280 SSD.

This partnership marks a new step for Microsoft in the field of handheld gaming devices, bringing a more powerful Xbox mobile experience to gamers.

XAG launches new generation agricultural drone

XAG Co Ltd, one of China's largest manufacturers of smart agricultural drones, has just launched two new drone models, the R100 and R200, in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.

These two models have been comprehensively upgraded from structural design, intelligent control system to energy and mission, helping to optimize performance. According to Peng Bin, founder and CEO of XAG, the new models will help farmers reduce production costs, limit pesticide waste and increase crop yields.

The R100 and R200 drones are particularly suitable for greenhouses and orchards where limited space and terrain make manual spraying difficult. With a compact, flexible, intelligent and safe design, this new series promises to become a powerful support tool for farmers in improving production efficiency.

Minh Hoan

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/cong-nghe-9-6-apple-meta-va-nhung-du-an-tham-vong-thong-linh-ai-toan-cau-ar947791.html