Instagram launches iPad app, Apple eyes Gemini for Siri, France fines Google $381M

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Instagram is coming to iPad, 15 years later
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• Instagram has finally introduced a dedicated iPad app, launching globally on September 3, 2025, offering a tailored experience for the tablet format.

• The app opens directly to Reels—a strategic emphasis on short-form video content—while also including Stories at the top and a “Following” tab for a more traditional, chronological feed.

• The iPad version enhances usability with side-by-side layouts for Reels comments and full-screen videos, along with an inbox/chat view in DMs similar to Messenger; support for Android tablets is expected soon.

Apple’s rumored AI search tool for Siri could rely on Google
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• Apple is developing an AI-powered search feature for Siri, internally called “World Knowledge Answers,” which would deliver AI-generated summaries enriched with text, images, videos, and POIs.

• To power these responses, Apple has reportedly entered a “formal agreement” with Google to test Google’s Gemini AI model on Apple’s servers, while also evaluating Anthropic’s Claude for other planning functions.

• The upgraded Siri, tied to the upcoming iOS 26.4, is expected to launch around March 2026, aligning with the unveiling of the iPhone 17 series.

France hits Google with $381 million fine for consumer protection failures
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• On September 3, 2025, France’s CNIL fined Google €325 million (approximately $381 million) for improperly displaying ads in Gmail and using cookies without user consent.

• Google has six months to comply: it must stop showing ads between emails without consent and ensure consent is explicitly obtained when creating accounts for ad-tracking purposes.

• Failure to comply could result in additional daily penalties of €100,000 until the issues are resolved.

Switzerland releases its own AI model trained on public data
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• Switzerland unveiled “Apertus,” an open-source AI language model trained exclusively on publicly available and scraper-friendly data, avoiding copyrighted or opt-out restricted content.

• The model is available in two sizes—8 billion and 70 billion parameters—and supports over 1,800 languages, positioning it as a transparent alternative to proprietary models like Meta’s Llama 3.

• Apertus aims to align with EU copyright laws and voluntary AI ethics standards; its code, weights, training data, and development details are openly accessible on HuggingFace.

Vijaye Raji to become CTO of Applications with acquisition of Statsig
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• OpenAI announced on September 2, 2025, that Vijaye Raji will become the CTO of Applications—overseeing product engineering for ChatGPT, Codex, infrastructure, and integrity—following its acquisition of Statsig.

• Raji brings to OpenAI a background as founder/CEO of Statsig and years of large-scale consumer engineering leadership at Meta.

• The acquisition aims to enhance OpenAI's experimentation and feature rollout capabilities, with Statsig operating independently out of Seattle until integration is complete.