Tech Roundup (July 14): Twitter's Lawsuit, AP and OpenAI's Partnership, Adobe's Scrutiny and more

Major developments unfolded in the tech sector over the last few days, bringing into focus the intersections of data privacy, artificial intelligence, antitrust concerns, and creative technology. Twitter filed a lawsuit over unlawful data scraping, OpenAI and The Associated Press announced a groundbreaking partnership, Adobe's acquisition of Figma came under increased scrutiny, Meta prepared for the launch of a commercial AI model, and Stability AI introduced an innovative sketch-to-image tool.

• Twitter's Data Scraping Lawsuit: Twitter parent company, X Corp., sues four unknown entities for "widespread unlawful scraping of data" from the platform. The defendants are being blamed for rate limits Twitter implemented earlier this month and the company is seeking $1 million in damages. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of causing significant server stress and impairing user experience.

• AP and OpenAI Partnership: The Associated Press (AP) and OpenAI enter a two-year agreement to share news content and technology, aiming to improve future iterations of ChatGPT and related tools. This high-profile partnership grants OpenAI access to AP archives dating back to 1985, and AP will gain access to OpenAI’s proprietary technology in exchange. The partnership marks a significant move towards integrating AI in news reporting.
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• Adobe's Figma Acquisition Scrutinized: The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) initiates a thorough investigation into Adobe's $20 billion Figma acquisition over antitrust concerns. Adobe remains hopeful to close the deal by the year-end, although it is still under scrutiny from the US and awaits a decision from the EU by August 7th.
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• Meta's AI Commercial Venture: Meta is preparing to launch a commercial version of its language model, LLaMA, which companies can customize. The model will initially be available for free, but Meta may charge enterprise customers for tailored versions in the future. The move is aimed at strengthening Meta's position in the AI landscape.
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• Stability AI's Sketch-to-Image Tool: Stability AI introduces Stable Doodle, a sketch-to-image service that uses the Stable Diffusion model to generate high-quality images from basic sketches. The service, available through ClipDrop, aims to be a valuable tool for designers, illustrators, and other professionals by maximizing efficiency and freeing up time.
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