Tesla's new API, US Inflation Comes in Higher Than Expected, and Updates From the FTX Trial. Newsletter #27
Tesla's new API, US Inflation Comes in Higher Than Expected, and Updates From the FTX Trial. Newsletter #27
Tesla announced that it will officially release an API (application programming interface) to allow developers to create third-party applications for its vehicles.
Tesla’s Official API
US Inflation Higher than Expected
Updates from the FTX Trial
Microsoft Completes Activision Deal
Tesla’s Official API
Tesla announced that it will officially release an API (application programming interface) to allow developers to create third-party applications for its vehicles.
APIs act like bridges in the digital world, allowing data to be transferred between applications and build new apps on top of the API itself.
For years, tech enthusiasts have been able to build apps for the vehicles through reverse engineering the API but development using this method will hopefully come to an end now that Tesla has released official documentation.
Tesla isn’t giving too much away at present although they have said that the API will be temporarily free and will evolve in 2024/
Although larger third-party platforms such as Uber may find ways to adapt, smaller initiatives initiated by Tesla enthusiasts utilizing open-source software like TeslaMate could potentially face significant challenges.
The latest official API versions seem to impose stricter limitations compared to existing ones and may create more costs, which could pose difficulties for smaller services in their current configurations.
US Inflation Higher than Expected
US inflation was higher than expected in September, raising the possibility of the Fed hiking interest rates, even more so in light of robust data showing the job market's strength.
Year on year inflation was 3.7% in September, the same as in August. Economists had expected a slight decline.
Inflation eased on a monthly basis, slowing from 0.6% to 0.4%, partly due to reduced pressure from energy prices.
But "core" inflation, which excludes the volatile energy and food prices, held steady at 0.3% month on month.
Updates from the FTX Trial
We’re now two weeks into the trial of Sam Bankman Fried (SBF), the disgraced CEO of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed at the end of last year.
Prosecutors are trying to paint SBF as a criminal mastermind. Central to their argument is the fact that SBF controlled everything and new exactly what he was doing.
They’ve called his ex-girlfriend and former top executive in his crypto empire, Caroline Ellison, to the stand.
She cried at times, telling the court “[SBF] directed me to commit these crimes” and that he told her to manipulate financial documents to mislead investors.
Gary Wang, a co-founder of both FTX and Alameda Research, said that SBF instructed him to modify code in the software to divert funds from FTX customers to Alameda without them knowing.
SBF’s defense argue that he became overwhelmed with how fast the company was growing and that he, mistakenly, put a lot of trust in his deputies like Wang and Ellison as he became more famous and busier.
It’s still unclear whether SBF himself will testify but if convicted, he could well spend the rest of his life in prison.
Microsoft Completes Activision Deal
Microsoft completed its $69 billion takeover of Activision in the biggest gaming industry deal ever.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) initially had concerns that the deal would stifle innovation in the cloud gaming market, and launched an inquiry into the deal in August.
The deal has now been revised to give Ubisoft exclusive rights to distribute Activision Blizzard titles outside of the European Economic Area.
The shift is a big concession from Microsoft which not cannot release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service.
Activision released a statement saying “The CMA’s official approval is great news for our future with Microsoft, and we look forward to becoming part of the Xbox Team.”
Although Ubisoft will distribute Activision’s games on console and PC via the cloud, Microsoft will now control games such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft which will provide it with a huge revenue boost.
It was for this reason that Sony strongly opposed the deal, worrying that big titles like the two mentioned above could eventually become Xbox exclusives.
Despite the approval, the CMA did criticize Microsoft’s behaviour during the investigation.
CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said:
“Businesses and their advisors should be in no doubt that the tactics employed by Microsoft are no way to engage with the CMA.
Microsoft had the chance to restructure during our initial investigation but instead continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldn't work. Dragging out proceedings in this way only wastes time and money."
Whether the deal will ultimately be good for gamers remains to be seen.