171 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Richard Lawler

Richard Lawler

Senior News Editor

Senior News Editor

    More From Richard Lawler

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    “Starting today.”

    In March, we wondered why no one could find any mention of the Twitter ad revenue split Elon Musk had advertised a month earlier as a reason to buy Twitter Blue.

    Now, while saying that Tucker Carlson hasn’t signed a deal with Twitter for his new show, Musk acknowledged Twitter is “still working on the software” to make the split happen. He didn’t mention whether any subscribers will get their $8 per month fees refunded.

    Elon Musk on Twitter, “I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators. Rewards means subscriptions and advertising revenue share (still working on software needed for latter), which is a function of how many people subscribe and the advertising views associated with his content.”
    Top message, Elon in February, bottom message, Elon Musk today.
    Image: Twitter
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    GM hires former Apple cloud exec Mike Abbott as its new executive vice president of software.

    Abbott left Apple in March, where he was the VP of engineering for Apple Cloud Services, over iCloud and Apple’s tech behind stuff like iMessage and the App Store.

    CNBC reports that GM, which is openly working to pull drivers away from Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to experiences it controls (and can profit from), will put three segments together under Abbott: software-defined vehicle and operating systems; information and digital technology; and the company’s digital business,

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Remember that time the Citizen crime alert app offered users cash to bring in an alleged wildfire arsonist, and it was the wrong guy?

    Push alerts sent to LA residents via the Citizen app in 2021 offered a cash reward — that eventually reached $30,000 — with a picture of a man erroneously tabbed as an arson suspect. Hosts on Citizen’s livestream told viewers to “hunt this guy down.”

    Vice has put together a two-hour documentary based on its reporting on the incident. You can see the trailer below and watch the entire documentary for free on Tubi.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Now you can use Google Bard AI with a Workspace account.

    If your job hasn’t banned plugging company data into an AI chatbot, then go ahead. You’ll still need to join the waitlist though — the results of our first tests from March are right here, and we also tried Bard head-to-head with Bing and ChatGPT.

    We’ll see what kind of updates Google I/O brings tomorrow, but maybe it’s better to hold off writing this week’s report with the tool Google employees reportedly called “worse than useless” and “a pathological liar.”

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Keep an eye out for the next Pixel Watch in the fall.

    Google announced the Pixel Watch a year ago during its I/O event and launched the wearable last fall, delivering what Victoria Song called “a good-but-not-yet-great smartwatch for Android users.”

    Maybe we’ll see more Wear OS updates this week during I/O 2023, but 9to5Google is already citing a source saying the Pixel Watch 2 will launch this fall along with the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro smartphones.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Not all of the Twitter Blue subscribers are sticking around.

    Citing data scraped by independent researcher Travis Brown (you can have a look at his setup on Github), Mashable reports, “Out of about 150,000 early subscribers to Twitter Blue, just around 68,157 have stuck around and maintained a paid subscription as of April 30.”

    Brown says his process gets data for about 90 percent of Blue subscribers. We’ll see if Elon ever releases any official numbers regarding the subscription to confirm or refute what’s accessible and estimated via scraping.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    It’s Bandcamp Friday.

    It’s that special time when Bandcamp takes a brief holiday from its usual commission, continuing a pandemic tradition that is now stretching into 2023.

    On the first Friday of the month since March of 2020, we’ve waived our revenue share to help support artists on Bandcamp. Over the course of just those 27 days, fans have paid artists and labels more than $95 million USD. If you’re among the nearly 1.5 million fans who have participated, thank you.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    The Brydge is over.

    Brydge launched in 2012 with a mission of turning your iPad into a MacBook Air, but roughly a decade clear of its initial Kickstarter, the company has ceased operations.

    9to5Mac has a report detailing Brydge’s internal culture, recent waves of layoffs, unpaid employees, and failed attempts at acquisition by peripheral competitors like Razer or Targus.

    The addition of iOS trackpad support in 2020 — which was fully compatible with Apple’s Magic Keyboard but not Brydge — was another big problem. Apple Insider spoke to co-CEO Nicholas Smith, who said he believes “the new owners intend on fulfilling the outstanding orders.”