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StatCounter: Bing ended 2023 with 3.4% global search market share, up less than one percentage point after ChatGPT

— Search engine has steadily increased usage but remains tiny

— Google meanwhile is racing to add its own AI enhancements

 

Jackie Davalos / Bloomberg:

 

 

When Microsoft Corp. announced it was baking ChatGPT into its Bing search engine last February, bullish analysts declared the move an “iPhone moment” that could upend the search market and chip away at Google’s dominance.

“The entire search category is now going through a sea change,” Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said at the time. “That opportunity comes very few times.”

Almost a year later, the sea has yet to change.

The new Bing — powered by OpenAI’s generative AI technology — dazzled internet users with conversational replies to queries asked in a natural way. But Microsoft’s search engine ended 2023 with just 3.4% of the global search market, according to data analytics firm StatCounter, up less than 1 percentage point since the ChatGPT announcement. (Google had 91.6%, Yandex 1.6%, and Yahoo 1%).

Google still dominates

Bing’s AI features have not shaken Google’s hold on the global search market

Source: StatCounter
Note: Data as of 12/31/2023. Other encompasses smaller search engines including Baidu and DuckDuckGo.

Bing has long struggled for relevance and attracted more mockery than recognition over the years as a serious alternative to Google. Multiple rebrandings and redesigns since its 2009 debut did little to boost Bing’s popularity. A month before Microsoft infused the search engine with generative AI, people were spending 33% less time using it than they had 12 months earlier, according to SensorTower.

The ChatGPT reboot at least helped reverse those declines. In the second quarter of 2023, US monthly active users more than doubled year over year to 3.1 million, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence analysis of SensorTower mobile app data. Overall, users were spending 84% more time on the search engine, the data show. By year-end, Bing’s monthly active users had increased steadily to 4.4 million, according to SensorTower.

To build on the momentum, Microsoft has been adding more AI tools to Bing. In October, the company integrated the latest version of OpenAI’s image-generating model, DALL-E 3. Visitors can use it to create realistic-looking images with simple text prompts.

The offering does nothing to enhance Bing’s search abilities. But its addition generated a spike in usage, according to Jordi Ribas, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of search and AI.

“We noticed an increase in usage by 10 times and that took us by surprise because if you think about it, DALL-E 2 was already quite good,” he said in an interview. “It really made a difference in the engagement and the users that came to our product.”

Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s consumer chief marketing officer, declined to specify how many active users Bing has.

“Look, it’s still early days and new behaviors are being built,” he said. “We’re still learning new things, but have millions and millions of people using the new tools.”

Even as the Bing team adds crowd-pleasers, Google has been racing to develop its own AI tools. In May, it launched an experimental version of its search engine called the “search generative experience,” which delivers conversational responses atop the familiar list of links. Dubbed SGE for short, it’s still not widely available. However, Google plans to embed its most powerful large language model, Gemini, into SGE sometime this year.

The Alphabet Inc. division also retains considerable advantages. It has more than 90% of the market and is the default search engine on Apple Inc. hardware, including iPhones, giving Google crucial critical mass. The more people who use it, the more the search engine knows and the more Google can use that data to deliver and rank results in a way people find useful.

Bing’s ChatGPT boost

More people are using the search engine since it added generative AI features

Source: SensorTower

The retooling of search by both technology giants reflects a shared conviction that generative AI will fundamentally change the way people seek and receive answers online. For Microsoft, the shift is an opportunity to propel Bing forward. But the incremental gains so far make clear that buzzy AI features alone probably won’t transform it into a formidable search player.

“We are at the gold rush moment when it comes to AI and search,” said Shane Greenstein, an economist and professor at Harvard Business School, who has studied the commercialization of the internet. “At the moment, I doubt AI will move the needle because, in search, you need a flywheel: the more searches you have, the better answers are. Google is the only firm who has this dynamic well-established.”

 

 

 

— Techmeme

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Apple’s commissions from third-party iOS apps seemingly confrontational stance at odds with regulatory pressure

As of Thursday, developers can begin exercising their court-established right to tell US customers about better prices on the web. These awful Apple-mandated confusion screens are over and done forever.

 

John Gruber / Daring Fireball:

 

 

—  That take didn’t last long.

 

Sweeney, on Wednesday at 7 p.m., after Apple released the details of its intended compliance with the anti-steering (anti-anti-steering?) mandate from the Epic v. Apple case:

 

A quick summary of glaring problems we’ve found so far:

  1. Apple has introduced an anticompetitive new 27% tax on web purchases. Apple has never done this before, and it kills price competition. Developers can’t offer digital items more cheaply on the web after paying a third-party payment processor 3-6% and paying this new 27% Apple Tax.

[Sweeney’s points 2–4, complaining about Apple’s stringent design, presentation, and privacy demands regarding external links, omitted.]

 

Epic will contest Apple’s bad-faith compliance plan in District Court.

 

Sweeney’s description makes it sound as though Apple is demanding its commission from all web sales for apps and services that have an iOS app. They’re not. They’re only demanding the commission from web sales that occur within 7 days of a user tapping through to the web from the new External Purchase Links entitlement in an app. Any app or service that already sells over the web, without paying a cent to Apple, can continue to do so in exactly the same way.

 

 

Also, Apple has done this before: what they announced yesterday is almost exactly in line with their compliance with Netherlands regulations pertaining to dating apps in 2022.

 

Before yesterday:

  • iOS app developers could sell digital content and subscriptions over the web, without paying Apple any commission.
  • iOS apps outside the “reader” category could not link to, nor even tell users about, those web purchases from within their apps.

After yesterday:

  • Apps that wish to link to — or, I think, even inform users about — web purchasing options from within their iOS apps must (a) still offer Apple’s IAP for those items; (b) pay Apple its adjusted 27/12 percent commissions on web sales that come from inside iOS apps; (c) send Apple sales data monthly and submit to audits of their sales; and (d) follow Apple’s stringent design edicts for these in-app links to the web.
  • Apps that do not link out to their web stores from within their iOS apps using Apple’s new External Purchase Links entitlement can continue whatever they were doing before yesterday. For apps that do nothing new, Apple is collecting nothing new.

 

I’m only surprised that Sweeney was seemingly surprised by any of this. He genuinely seemed to think that Apple not only would, but had to allow links from within apps to the web for purchases without collecting any commission on those sales, and that developers could present those links however they chose.

 

I’m glad that Sweeney and Epic plan to contest this, because I’m genuinely curious whether Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers sees Apple’s solution as complying with her injunction against their prior anti-steering rules. But I think it does comply.

 

To be clear, I think Apple should allow apps other than games to just tell users they can pay/buy/subscribe/whatever on the web, without any commission. That the rules which have applied only to “reader” apps since early 2022 should be extended to all apps other than games, perhaps alongside a requirement (which doesn’t apply to “reader” apps) that apps taking advantage of this also offer in-app purchasing.

 

I’d draw an exception for games — an exception that surely Sweeney would disagree with completely, given that he’s in the games business — because games are different, and hefty un-circumventable revenue commissions to platform owners are clearly standard for the video game industry. The iPhone and iPad are not PCs; they’re consoles for games and apps.

 

But I’m not sure at all that Apple is doing anything contrary to the law. Sweeney (and other critics of Apple’s stewardship of iOS as a tightly controlled console) believe Apple both shouldn’t and legally can’t comply with the anti-steering injunction this way. I only believe Apple shouldn’t, not that they legally can’t.

 

Most critics of Apple’s control over all iOS software are seemingly of the view that iPhones and iPads should, on principle, be largely like the Mac, where the App Store is an option, not the only game in town for software distribution. Personally, I am on the record wishing that Apple would allow some sort of “expert” or “developer” mode — chock full of warnings, perhaps even requiring a developer account to enable — that would basically offer the same options for installing third-party software on iOS as there are on the Mac. That’s me, personally, an expert user. But even setting aside every penny of revenue generated by the App Store,1 I see and understand many of the reasons why Apple wouldn’t want to do this. There are a lot of Mac users whose Macs are overrun by adware and other scammy software. I’m not talking about viruses or malware, even — but apps that just abuse the largely free-for-all nature of the Mac platform.

 

Basically, there’s an argument that iOS devices should be more like traditional PCs (including the Mac), on ethical or moral grounds. The “it’s my device, I should decide and control what software runs on it” argument. I get it. But I also get that most consumers’ Windows PCs, and many Macs,2 are riddled with bad software (privacy invasive, resource hogging, and all sorts of anti-user shenanigans you’d never think of) that App Store policies forbid. App Store review is far from perfect — I mean come on, that should go without saying — but it is undeniable that adversarial software is not a problem for any typical users on iOS. Nothing you install from the App Store can damage your iPhone or iPad experience. Nothing you install from the App Store is difficult to uninstall if you don’t like it. The same is true of dedicated game consoles like Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox — and to a lesser degree (because Google’s Play Store review seems comparatively lax) for Android.

 

But the cynical take is that it’s all about the money for Apple. Maybe the cynics are right! Let’s just concede that they are, and that Apple will only make decisions here that benefit its bottom line. My argument remains that Apple should not be pursuing this plan for complying with the anti-steering injunction by collecting commissions from web sales that initiate in-app. Whatever revenue Apple would lose to non-commissioned web sales (for non-games) is not worth the hit they are taking to the company’s brand and reputation — this move reeks of greed and avarice — nor the increased ire and scrutiny of regulators and legislators on the “anti-Big-Tech” hunt.

 

Apple should have been looking for ways to lessen regulatory and legislative pressure over the past few years, and in today’s climate that’s more true than ever. But instead, their stance has seemingly been “Bring it on.” Confrontational, not conciliatory, conceding not an inch. Rather than take a sure win with most of what they could want, Apple is seemingly hell-bent on trying to keep everything. To win in chess all you need is to capture your opponent’s king. Apple seemingly wants to capture every last piece on the board — even while playing in a tournament where the referees (regulators) are known to look askance at blatant poor sportsmanship (greed).

 

Apple’s calculus should be to balance its natural desire to book large amounts of revenue from the App Store with policies that to some degree placate, rather than antagonize, regulators and legislators. No matter what the sport, no matter what the letter of the rulebook says, it’s never a good idea to piss off the refs.

 

 

    1. That’s a metric buttload of pennies to set aside, to be sure. ↩︎
  2. iOS App Store policy critics often point to the Mac as all the evidence they need that Apple could open up software distribution on iOS with no ill effects to users. I wrote about this back in 2021, in a piece titled “Annotating Apple’s Anti-Sideloading White Paper”. Quoting from that column, which begins with a quote from Apple’s white paper:

    Page 9:

    iPhone is used every day by over a billion people — for banking, to manage health data, and to take pictures of their families. This large user base would make an appealing and lucrative target for cybercriminals and scammers, and allowing sideloading would spur a flood of new investment into attacks on iPhone, well beyond the scale of attacks on other platforms like Mac.

     

    Here Apple dances around the elephant in the room — the question of why iOS shouldn’t just work like the Mac with regard to non-App Store software. Apple’s deft argument is that there are far fewer Macs than iOS devices, making the Mac a less enticing target for scammers and crooks (including privacy crooks). That’s more or less the argument Windows proponents used to explain the profound prevalence of malware on Windows compared to the Mac back in the day, whilst Apple (and Mac proponents) argued otherwise, that the Mac actually was far more secure at a technical level.

     

    But the truth Apple won’t come out and say is that it’s both. The Mac was more secure by design, but also a far less enticing target because of how many more users were (and still are) on Windows. And, today, iOS is more secure and private than the Mac. That’s the nature of the Mac as a full PC platform.

     

    I’ll admit it: if Mac-style sideloading were added to iOS, I’d enable it, for the same reason I enable installing apps from outside the App Store on my Mac: I trust myself to only install trustworthy software. But it doesn’t make me a hypocrite to say that I think it would be worse for the platform as a whole.

     

    The Mac is fundamentally designed for users who are at least somewhat technically savvy, but tries its best to keep non-savvy users from doing things they shouldn’t. But you can always hurt yourself, sometimes badly, with any true power tool. The iPhone is the converse: designed first and foremost for the non-savvy user, and tries to accommodate power users as best it can within the limits of that primary directive.

     

 

— Techmeme

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Vicarius remediation service for supply-chain attacks, raised a $30M Series B led by Bright Pixel, for total funding of $57M

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:

 

 

—  If the pitches reaching my inbox are any indication, one of the hot new things in generative AI is “copilots” for cybersecurity.

Microsoft has one. Google, too. So does Vicarius, the vulnerability remediation platform — recently, it launched a text-generating AI tool, vuln_GPT, that helps write system breach detection and remediation scripts.

Perhaps it’s Vicarius’ trend following that caught investors’ attention — as well as (I’d wager to guess) the startup’s 5x year-over-year growth. Vicarius co-founder and CEO Michael Assraf tells me that the company’s customer base recently eclipsed 400 brands, including PepsiCo, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Equinix.

Whatever put Vicarius on backers’ radars, the company recently closed a $30 million Series B round led by Bright Pixel Capital, with participation from AllegisCyber Capital, AlleyCorp and Strait Capital, Vicarius announced today. The round, at double Vicarius’ previous valuation — a valuation Assraf declined to disclose, unfortunately — brings Vicarius’ total raised to ~$56.7 million, the bulk of which Assraf says is being put toward advancing Vicarius’ product roadmap and doubling the size of its 43-person team.

 

“Vicarius automates much of the discovery, prioritization and remediation workload plaguing security and IT teams,” Assraf said. “An early adopter of product-led growth, Vicarius’s self-service model changes the cybersecurity solution buyer’s paradigm by letting customers transparently test and find value … before purchasing.”

 

Vicarius was founded several years ago by Assraf, Yossi Ze’evi and Roi Cohen, who noticed — at least the way Assraf tells it — that attackers were reusing the same “building” blocks to carry out cyberattacks.

 

“Those building blocks are third-party and operating system APIs provided by software and operating system-compiled libraries,” Assraf said. “The main idea [with Vicarius] was to build an intelligent permission manager for system-level APIs.”

 

Today, Vicarius analyzes apps for vulnerabilities and alerts customers to these vulnerabilities. When a patch isn’t available, Vicarius applies what Assraf calls “in-memory protection,” which ostensibly secures the app without the need for a software upgrade (color me a bit skeptical, though).

Vicarius also offers access to a community of security vulnerability researchers where researchers can share remediation and detection scripts and get rewarded for it with a virtual currency, as well as a community dataset that Vicarius uses to train the aforementioned vuln_GPT. Vuln_GPT, speaking of, doesn’t run completely unsupervised — Assraf says that all AI-generated scripts are “validated” before being pushed to Vicarius’ customers. (Customers can give feedback on the scripts from a module).

 

“We wish to emphasize that Vicarius is looking to lead AI-based vulnerability remediation at any stage,” Assraf said, “from detection to prioritization to proactive remediation.”

 

Vicarius is ambitious, to be sure, with plans to allow security researchers in its community to spend their currency on products, launch educational courses and integrate the Vicarius platform with existing ticketing platforms like ServiceNow and Jira. The startup also aims to grow into new markets, in particular Asia Pacific, while expanding into markets in which it currently does business, including North America and Europe.

 

“For years, enterprises have been struggling with deploying vulnerability management processes that require too many tools and create too many alerts and too much work for overburdened security teams,” Assraf said. “While most security processes advanced one or two generations, the vulnerability remediation cycle management lagged, exposing businesses to cyber risk. As a result, customers are looking for a single platform that consolidates, personalizes and scales the vulnerability remediation process.”

 

 

 

— Techmeme

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The EU Council, Parliament reach a provisional deal on Anti-Money Laundering for crypto companies

—  Crypto firms have to do checks on transactions of 1,000 euro or more, and the framework adds measures to mitigate risks in transfers with self-hosted wallets

 

 

Sandali Handagama / CoinDesk:

 

 

Policymakers in the European Union on Wednesday reached a provisional deal on parts of a comprehensive regulatory package to combat money laundering that will force all crypto firms to run due diligence on their customers.

 

The Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR) is a broad-stroke effort to combat sanctions evasion and money laundering. It includes the creation of a single rulebook and sets up a supervisory authority that will also have purview over the crypto sector.

 

The European Parliament and Council (which gathers finance ministers from the bloc’s 27 member states) have agreed to measures, including for crypto firms to apply “customer due diligence measures when carrying out transactions amounting to €1,000 ($1,090) or more.”

 

The deal also adds measures to mitigate risks in relation to transactions with self-hosted wallets, Wednesday’s announcement said.

 

The EU last year finalized specific AML checks on crypto fund-transfers alongside its landmark Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation. In December, the European Parliament and Council agreed on setting up the AML supervisory authority. Wednesday’s agreement specifically concerned the EU’s sixth money-laundering directive and the rulebook as part of the AMLR.

 

The package may have got tougher as it went through the EU’s complex legislative process in light of U.S. sanctions against crypto anonymizing tool Tornado Cash, as well as fears that crypto was being used to evade sanctions by Russia and even Hamas. A lawmaker leading the discussions on the package in Parliament last year assured the measures won’t seek to outlaw privacy-enhancing crypto.

 

Industry body, the EU Crypto Initiative, urged lawmakers in May 2023 to remove planned restrictions on privacy-preservation tools or, failing that, to include a “clear delineation between prohibited anonymous high-risk accounts and high-risk anonymizing instruments.”

 

“This agreement is part and parcel of the EU’s new anti-money laundering system. It will improve the way national systems against money laundering and terrorist financing are organized and work together. This will ensure that fraudsters, organized crime and terrorists will have no space left for legitimizing their proceeds through the financial system,” Belgian Minister of Finance, Vincent Van Peteghem, said in a press statement.

 

 

 

— Techmeme

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Phibro Animal Health Corporation to host webcast and conference call on second quarter results

TEANECK, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Phibro Animal Health Corporation (Nasdaq: PAHC) expects to announce its second quarter financial results on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, after the market closes. Phibro management will host a conference call and webcast on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, at 9 a.m. ET.

 

Interested parties are invited to listen to the conference call and view the presentation slides by visiting https://investors.pahc.com. The discussion will also be available by dialing +1 (888) 330-2022 in the U.S. and Canada, or +1 (365) 977-0051 for international callers. Provide the conference ID 3927884.

 

A replay of the webcast will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the live event. To access the webcast recording, visit https://investors.pahc.com.

 

About Phibro Animal Health Corporation

Phibro Animal Health Corporation is a leading global diversified animal health and mineral nutrition company. We strive to be a trusted partner with livestock producers, farmers, veterinarians, and consumers who raise or care for farm and companion animals by providing solutions to help them maintain and enhance the health of their animals. For further information, please visit www.pahc.com.

 

Our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission are available online at www.sec.gov, www.pahc.com or on request from the company.

Contacts

Richard Johnson

Chief Financial Officer, Phibro Animal Health Corporation

+1-201-329-7300

investor.relations@pahc.com

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French IT group Atos names Paul Saleh as CEO, and forecasts H2 2024 cash flow to drop below targets

Sudip Kar-Gupta / Reuters:

 

Summary — 

  • CFO Paul Saleh to become new CEO
  • Jacques-Francois de Prest joins as CFO
  • Atos warns that it will miss second-half cash flow target
  • Company has yet to request creditor conciliation proceedings
  • Shares down 16%

PARIS — French technology company Atos (ATOS.PA) named Paul Saleh as its new chief executive on Monday and warned that free cash flow would be slightly below its initial target for the second half of the year, sending its share price tumbling.

Atos said Saleh, currently chief financial officer, would become CEO – the company’s fourth in less than two years as it has grappled with a series of profit warnings.

The logo of Atos is seen on a company building in Nantes, France, March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

 

 

 

 

 

 

Atos shares were down by 16% in early trading. The stock has fallen by about 40% since the start of the year.

Saleh takes over from Yves Bernaert, who leaves the company “after an intense period of transformation,” Atos said, with Jacques-Francois de Prest coming in as CFO after finance roles with car parts business Mobivia and telecoms group Vodafone.

Les Echos newspaper reported on Monday that the company’s restructuring plan was facing difficulties.

Atos, which is taking longer than expected to negotiate the sale of its loss-making Tech Foundations arm, said it has not filed a request to open conciliation proceedings with creditors.

The potential Tech Foundation sale to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EPEI seems a long way off. Les Echos on Monday cited an unnamed source as saying a “last chance” meeting between the parties was slated for the next few days.

Representatives for Atos and the Kretinsky camp did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on the report.

Atos said on Monday that CEO Saleh will still focus on refinancing debt, the sale of the Tech Foundations business and the sale of the company’s Big Data & Security (BDS) activities to Airbus (AIR.PA).

 

Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta Editing by Tassilo Hummel and David Goodman

 

— Techmeme

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Apple says Al Gore and James Bell to retire from its board this year, and ex-president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation to replace

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

 

 

—  Both Al Gore and James Bell are retiring from Apple’s board of directors, Apple announced Thursday. Dr. Wanda Austin, former president and CEO of  The Aerospace Corporation, has been nominated to join the board as the two depart.

 

According to Apple, Dr. Austin brings “decades of science and technology experience” to the role, and she has a track record of “advancing innovation and shaping corporate strategy.”

 

“Wanda has spent decades advancing technology on behalf of humanity, and we’re thrilled to welcome her to Apple’s board of directors,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “She’s an extraordinary leader, and her invaluable experience and expertise will support our mission of leaving the world better than we found it.”

 

“Like Apple, I’ve always believed in the power of innovation to improve lives, support human potential, and shape a better future,” said Dr. Austin. “I’m honored to join Apple’s board of directors, and I look forward to being part of a company that’s always creating new ways to empower people all over the world.”

 

Apple does not allow directors to stand for reelection after reaching age 75, which means that both Al Gore and James Bell are retiring from the board due to their age.

 

“We’re deeply grateful to Al and James for their many years of service to Apple — their insights, energy, and values have made us a stronger company in so many ways,” said Cook. “For more than 20 years, Al has contributed an incredible amount to our work — from his unconditional support for protecting our users’ privacy, to his incomparable knowledge of environment and climate issues. James’s dedication has been extraordinary, and we’re thankful for the important perspectives and deep expertise he’s offered on audit, finance, and so much more over the years.”

 

Al Gore first joined Apple’s board in 2003, while James Bell joined in 2015. Dr. Austin has a Ph.D in industrial and systems engineering. She joined The Aerospace Corporation in 1979, and from 2008 to 2016, she served as the organization’s president and CEO. From 2018 to 2019, she was the interim president of the University of Southern California, and she also serves on the boards of Amgen and Chevron. She previously was on the board of Virgin Galactic.

 

 

— Techmeme

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Beijing’s judicial bureau says state-backed institution cracks Apple’s AirDrop to identify message senders,  police finds multiple suspects

—  Beijing agency claims to have found way to identify senders 

— Declaration follows efforts to crack down on sensitive content

 

Bloomberg:

 

A Chinese state-backed institution has devised a way to identify users who send messages via Apple Inc.’s popular AirDrop feature, Beijing’s government claims, as part of broader efforts to root out undesirable content.

 

The Beijing institute developed the technique to crack an iPhone’s encrypted device log to identify the numbers and emails of senders who share AirDrop content, the city’s judicial bureau said in an online post. Police have identified multiple suspects via that method, the agency said, without disclosing if anyone was arrested.

 

“It improves the efficiency and accuracy of case-solving and prevents the spread of inappropriate remarks as well as potential bad influences,” the bureau said.

 

The declaration again drew attention to an iPhone feature that activists around the world have employed to spread their message. Requiring just a nearby bluetooth connection, it was widely used by protesters to share pro-democracy slogans during 2019 protests in Hong Kong. An Apple representative didn’t respond to requests for comment.

 

Hailed by the article as a “technological breakthrough,” the method could supplement measures intended to eradicate information China deems unhealthy. It also adds more uncertainty to Apple’s operations in a country where it already grapples with severe constraints on content, including on Apple TV and Books.

 

AirDrop allows the quick exchange of files like images, documents or videos between Apple devices. The company has limited the feature on Chinese iPhones since 2022, after the service was used by protesters to spread images to fellow device owners.

 

The American electronics leader also faces mounting sales pressure, after a growing number of state-backed agencies banned the use of foreign devices at work.

 

 

 

— With assistance from John Liu and Yuan Gao

 

— Techmeme

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The FCC sends letters to nine of the largest automakers, warns  about abusive partners with connected car apps to harass and track their victims

—  The Federal Communications Commission is concerned about abusive partners using connected car apps to harass and track their victims.

 

 

Kashmir Hill / New York Times:

 

Many modern cars are internet-connected and have apps that allow an owner to see a car’s location, turn it on remotely, honk its horn and even adjust the temperature. These apps for car control and tracking are designed for convenience, but a New York Times article last month detailed how they have been weaponized in abusive relationships, allowing for unwanted stalking and harassment.

 

PHOTO: The Federal Communications Commission sent letters to nine of the largest automakers, asking for more information about their connected car apps and whether the companies had processes in place to assist abuse victims.Credit…Mike Blake/Reuters

 

Domestic violence survivors and experts said car companies had not been responsive when asked to cut off abusers’ digital access to cars. Customer service agents at the car companies were unable to help when the abuser was the owner or co-owner of the vehicle, even when the victim had a restraining order or a legal judgment awarding her sole use of the car during divorce proceedings.

 

On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission sent letters to nine of the largest automakers, including General Motors, Toyota, Ford Motor and Tesla, asking for more information about their connected car apps and whether the companies had processes in place to assist abuse victims.

 

“No survivor of domestic violence and abuse should have to choose between giving up their car and allowing themselves to be stalked and harmed by those who can access its data and connectivity,” Jessica Rosenworcel, the F.C.C. chairwoman, said in a statement. “We must do everything we can to help survivors stay safe. We need to work with auto and wireless industry leaders to find solutions.”

Chairwoman Rosenworcel wrote in the letters that the F.C.C. was responsible for enforcing the Safe Connections Act, a relatively new law that requires phone companies to separate a victim’s phone from a family plan shared with an abuser. To the extent that cars have become “smartphones on wheels,” automakers “may be ‘covered providers’” under the act, she wrote.

 

The agency also sent letters to the three largest wireless communications providers — Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile — about the role they play in providing connectivity to cars and whether they are complying with the law.

 

Thomas Kadri, a law professor at the University of Georgia who was an adviser on the Safe Connections Act, found it surprising that the law might apply to car manufacturers. But he said he hoped the letters would cause automakers to consider how connected car apps might be used for stalking and harassment.

 

“It’s not a niche or rare issue at the scale they are operating at,” he said.

 

The F.C.C. asked for responses to the letters by the end of the month.

 

 

 

— Techmeme

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Johnson & Johnson to acquire Ambrx, advancing Next Generation Antibody Drug Conjugates to transform the treatment of cancer

Portfolio of Clinical and Preclinical Programs, Including Lead Product Candidate ARX517, a Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)-Targeting Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC), Strengthens Johnson & Johnson’s Commitment to Oncology Innovation

 

Novel Technology Platform Sets Stage for the Development of Next Generation ADCs and Targeted Oncologic Therapeutics

 

 

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) announced on Tuesday it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ambrx Biopharma, Inc., or Ambrx (NASDAQ: AMAM), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a proprietary synthetic biology technology platform to design and develop next-generation antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), in an all-cash merger transaction for a total equity value of approximately $2.0 billion, or $1.9 billion net of estimated cash acquired.

 

Ambrx is advancing a focused portfolio of clinical and preclinical programs designed to optimize efficacy and safety of its candidate therapeutics in multiple cancer indications, including ARX517, its proprietary ADC targeting PSMA for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC); ARX788, its proprietary ADC targeting human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) for metastatic HER2+ breast cancer; and ARX305, its proprietary ADC targeting CD-70 for renal cell carcinoma.

 

“Ambrx’s ADC technology offers unique advantages in the conjugation of stable antibodies and cytotoxic linker payloads, which results in engineered ADCs that effectively kill cancer cells and limit toxicities,” said Yusri Elsayed, M.D., M.H.Sc., Ph.D., Global Therapeutic Area Head, Oncology, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. “The results seen to date with ARX517 in mCRPC are promising and represent a potential first- and best-in-class targeted therapy for the treatment of this aggressive disease. In addition, Ambrx’s pipeline and ADC platform present exciting future opportunities to deliver enhanced, precision biologics as we look to transform the treatment of cancer and improve patients’ lives.”

 

The planned acquisition presents a distinct opportunity for Johnson & Johnson to design, develop and commercialize targeted oncology therapeutics. Ambrx’s proprietary ADC technology incorporates the advantages of highly specific targeting monoclonal antibodies securely linked to a potent chemotherapeutic payload to achieve targeted and efficient elimination of cancer cells without the prevalent side-effects typically associated with chemotherapy. Building on a legacy of innovation in oncology and in prostate cancer, J&J scientists intend to work with Ambrx researchers, accelerating the Phase 1/2 APEX-01 study (NCT04662580) of ARX517 in advanced prostate cancer, while progressing a pipeline of novel ADC product candidates.

 

“With a median overall survival of less than two years and novel hormonal therapies moving earlier in the disease, significant unmet need remains in the treatment of mCRPC,” said Margaret Yu, M.D., Prostate Cancer Disease Area Leader, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. “We see a unique opportunity to harness the potential of this innovative ADC platform, and with our deep understanding of prostate cancer, deliver a targeted PSMA therapeutic for addressing the growing needs of the more than 185,000 patients living with metastatic castration-resistant disease today1.”

 

Ambrx was spun out of The Scripps Research Institute in 2003. The company pioneered the expanded genetic code technology platform for incorporation of synthetic amino acid (SAA) into proteins at any selected site using industry standard cell lines. SAAs allow engineered precision biologics with site-specific, homogenous and stable conjugation, overcoming limitations of traditional conjugation technologies.

 

About the Merger Agreement

Under the terms of the transaction, which was approved by the Johnson & Johnson Board of Directors, Johnson & Johnson (the Company) will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Ambrx’s common stock for $28.00 per share in cash through a merger of Ambrx with a subsidiary of the Company. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the first half of 2024, subject to receipt of Ambrx shareholder approval, as well as clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and other customary closing conditions. The approximately $1.9 billion estimated net value of the transaction is based on Ambrx’s estimated fully diluted shares outstanding, less estimated net cash at the time of closing. Following completion of the transaction, Ambrx’s common stock will no longer be listed for trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

 

The accounting treatment as a business combination or asset acquisition will be determined on or before the expected close of the transaction.

 

About Johnson & Johnson

AtJohnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/ or at www.janssen.com/johnson-johnson-innovative-medicine. Follow us at@JNJInnovMed.

 

Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” regarding the acquisition of Ambrx. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of Johnson & Johnson or Ambrx. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that the closing conditions for the acquisition will not be satisfied, including the risk that clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act or other applicable antitrust laws will not be obtained; uncertainty as to the percentage of Ambrx stockholders that will vote to approve the proposed transaction at the Ambrx shareholder meeting; the possibility that the transaction will not be completed in the expected timeframe or at all; potential adverse effects to the businesses of Johnson & Johnson or Ambrx during the pendency of the transaction, such as employee departures or distraction of management from business operations; the risk of stockholder litigation relating to the transaction, including resulting expense or delay; the potential that the expected benefits and opportunities of the acquisition, if completed, may not be realized or may take longer to realize than expected; challenges inherent in product research and development, including uncertainty of clinical success and obtaining regulatory approvals; uncertainty of commercial success for new products; manufacturing difficulties and delays; product efficacy or safety concerns resulting in product recalls or regulatory action; economic conditions, including currency exchange and interest rate fluctuations; the risks associated with global operations; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges to patents; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including tax laws and global health care reforms; adverse litigation or government action; changes in behavior and spending patterns or financial distress of purchasers of health care services and products; and trends toward health care cost containment. In addition, there will be risks and uncertainties related to the ability of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies to successfully integrate the programs and employees/operations and clinical work of Ambrx. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other factors and the general risks associated with the respective businesses of Johnson & Johnson and Ambrx can be found in Johnson & Johnson’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2023, including in the sections captioned “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” and in the company’s most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and the company’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), and under the caption “Risk Factors” in Ambrx’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 13, 2023, and elsewhere in Ambrx’s reports filed with the SEC. Copies of these filings, as well as subsequent filings, are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com, https://Ambrx.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson or Ambrx. Neither Johnson & Johnson nor Ambrx undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments, except as required by law.

 

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This press release may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the proposed acquisition of Ambrx by Johnson & Johnson. In connection with the proposed transaction, Ambrx intends to file relevant materials with the SEC, including Ambrx’s proxy statement in preliminary and definitive form. INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS OF AMBRX ARE URGED TO READ ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, INCLUDING AMBRX’S PROXY STATEMENT (WHEN THEY ARE AVAILABLE), BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and stockholders of Ambrx are or will be able to obtain these documents (when they are available) free of charge from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, or free of charge from Ambrx on Ambrx’s website at https://ir.Ambrx.com.

 

Participants in the Solicitation

Johnson & Johnson and Ambrx and their respective directors, executive officers and other members of management and employees, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be “participants” in the solicitation of proxies from stockholders of Ambrx in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about Johnson & Johnson’s directors is set forth in Johnson & Johnson’s Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A for its 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on March 15, 2023; and information about Johnson & Johnson’s executive officers is set forth in Johnson & Johnson’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2023, which was filed with the SEC on February 16, 2023. Information about Ambrx’s directors and executive officers is set forth in Ambrx’s Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A for its 2023 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 28, 2023. To the extent holdings of Johnson & Johnson’s or Ambrx’s securities by their respective directors or executive officers have changed since the amounts set forth in such 2023 proxy statements, such changes have been or will be reflected on Initial Statements of Beneficial Ownership on Form 3 or Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC. Additional information concerning the interests of Ambrx’s participants in the solicitation, which may, in some cases, be different than those of Ambrx’s stockholders generally, will be set forth in Ambrx’s proxy statement relating to the proposed transaction when it becomes available.

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1 Decision Resources (DRG) 2023 Report

Contacts

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