In today’s top story, Sarah listened to Apple’s fourth-quarter earnings call so that you don’t have to. Here’s what she came back with: CEO Tim Cook pushed back against some comments that the consumer tech giant was not innovating as much in the area of artificial intelligence. He said that may be noticed because Apple doesn’t necessarily label its features as AI. To prove that, Cook confirms Apple has made investments in generative AI. Get the scoop.

Meanwhile, Mary Ann writes about some bad news today — wholesale marketplace Faire, which raised at a $12.6 billion valuation last year, laid off 20% of its staff. Read more.

And this is further evidence that you will never be sick of hearing about the latest AI-powered whatever. Here are five AI-powered tech gifts that are both fun and productive. Treat yo’self.

More top reads

A Meta amount of issues: We have a pair of Meta stories from across the pond for you. First up, Meta’s latest privacy rip-off will test the European Union’s mettle for reining in Big Tech. Simply put, an ad-free Facebook won’t be free anymore. Meanwhile, both Meta and Amazon settle U.K. antitrust probes over use of third-party data to benefit marketplaces. Here’s what they are going to do.

Safe and secure: DoorDash adds some new safety tools for its delivery people, including “driving insights.” Find out what they do.

Find the exact beige couch you’ve always wanted: Deft is building out an e-commerce search site to help you find the right product quickly. Shopper’s delight, indeed.

That’s quite a leak you have there: Not sure if you were aware, but some of those apps you are using to communicate with others may actually be revealing your IP address. Learn more.

More layoffs: Chinese EV darling Nio is cutting 10% of its staff, citing “fierce competition.” This story is still developing. In the meantime, we have a comprehensive list of 2023 layoffs.

For those who spread their wings: We’ve got 10 editor-tested travel gifts for your favorite frequent flier. Check them out.

In a heartbeat: Blackbird invests in Carepatron’s “radically accessible” healthcare management platform that is now pretty global. Read more.

Failed to make Lemon8 out of U.S. lemons: Lemon8, the Instagram rival from TikTok parent ByteDance, hasn’t gained much traction in the U.S. since launching earlier this year. Find out why.

Put a pin in it: People are turning to Snap Map for firsthand perspectives from Gaza. Read more.

Even more for your Friday:

• Why Mozilla is betting on a decentralized social networking future
• Black founders still care for Silicon Valley Bank (TC+)
• Revel ends moped sharing, focuses on EV charging and ride-hail
• Pitch Teardown: The CancerVAX crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine (TC+)
• Norrsken22’s debut fund closes at $205M to back growth-stage startups in Africa

On the pods

Today on Equity, Mary Ann, Becca and Alex chat about what happened to WeWork. They also discuss who Charlie is and explore an interesting health tech play in the Middle East. They also got into some massive fintech rounds and what to do when founding teams break up. Listen here.

Read More

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