> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://spyglass.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Inklings #025 πŸ“§ - URL: https://spyglass.org/inklings-app-store-succession-cybercab-launch-azure-reporting-no-google-breakup-snaps-specs-situation/ - Published: 2026-09-04T16:55:44.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-04T17:28:29.000Z - Description: App Store Succession β€’ Cybercab Launch β€’ Azure Reporting β€’ No Google Breakup β€’ Snap's Specs Situation - Author: M.G. Siegler - Tags: newsletter, inklings Big week for the [frontier AI model race](https://spyglass.org/ai-frontier-race/) with GPT-6 Astra, Fable/Mythos 5.1, and to less extents, Gemini 3.8 Flash and Must Spark 1.3 all pushed out the door, which is obviously not a coincidence. Next week, all eyes turn to Apple to see if they can turn foldables into a (mass scale) thing. A $2,000 starting point would be rough (though [somewhat mitigated](https://spyglass.org/apple-as-a-service/)), but all other [signs](https://spyglass.org/iphone-ultra-blackberry-typing/) ([and predictions](https://spyglass.org/10-big-predictions-for-2026/#:~:text=The%20%27iPhone%20Fold%27%20is%20a%20big%20hit%20at%20launch)) point to 'yes'. Happy September, American college football (and English futbol) is very much in the air. πŸ‚πŸˆβš½οΈ ****Inklings** is a [newsletter](https://spyglass.org/newsletter/) featuring links and commentary from ****M.G. Siegler** on timely topics found around the web. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. ### I Note... **πŸ‘‹** [**Phil Schiller Abdicates App Store Throne**](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-31/apple-s-phil-schiller-steps-down-from-running-app-store-and-product-events?ref=spyglass.org) **–** On one hand, yes, it's [a natural time](https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/09/03/schiller-steps-down?ref=spyglass.org) for him to step down with Cook leaving the CEO perch. On the other, it's a little weird this news leaked at the *exact same time* of that transition – couldn't everyone have waited, I don't know, a couple weeks? Unless perhaps the move is a key part of that transition, with John Ternus looking to turn a new leaf with the App Store and developers? I know this sounds a bit conspiratorial, and yes, [I've been predicting it](https://spyglass.org/apple-app-store-cut-death/#:~:text=So%20yeah%2C%20they%20need%20Epic%20to%20settle.%20Can%20a%20CEO%20change%20at%20Apple%20somehow%20make%20that%20happen%3F%20Might%20Tim%20Sweeney%20need%20to%20see%20other%20concessions%3F%20Perhaps%20new%20leadership%20for%20the%20App%20Store%20itself%3F%20This%20isn%27t%20game%20over%2C%20but%20it%27s%20close...), but, well, [there are signs](https://x.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/2094556865824690398?ref=spyglass.org) that this points to some bigger [changes in direction](https://spyglass.org/the-pledge-the-ternus-the-prestige/) forthcoming for the store. Which are [long](https://500ish.com/the-app-store-commandments-a867a0409dff?ref=spyglass.org) [overdue](https://spyglass.org/play-store-30-percent-cut-app-store/) and have put Apple in a precarious spot both [legally](https://spyglass.org/tear-down-the-app-store-walls/) and from a [business-perspective](https://spyglass.org/epic-apple-beatdown/), all [around the world](https://spyglass.org/apple-eu-app-store-new-rules/). I'm just saying it's possible! **One more thing:** Schiller also oversaw all Apple events. Might we see a move back to live onstage keynotes? [Also](https://spyglass.org/over-oiled-apple/) [long](https://500ish.com/the-too-slick-apple-event-70c579ccec0f?ref=spyglass.org) [overdue](https://spyglass.org/sweet-iphone-16-2/), IMO. **\[**[**Bloomberg**](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-31/apple-s-phil-schiller-steps-down-from-running-app-store-and-product-events?ref=spyglass.org) **πŸ”’\]** **πŸš•** [**The Unusually Muted Tesla Cybercab Launch**](https://www.theverge.com/transportation/989501/tesla-cybercab-launch-robotaxi-austin-musk?ref=spyglass.org) **–** Look, to their credit, it's 2026 and Tesla has indeed [manufactured some Cybercabs](https://spyglass.org/tesla-cybercab/). *45 of them to be exact*. They're gold and, if we're being honest, pretty hideous. They look sort of cheap and tacky? Slightly better than the Cybertruck, but also in a color that only Donald Trump or [Auric Goldfinger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auric%5FGoldfinger?ref=spyglass.org) could love. I guess they stand out though, like the yellow taxis of old. Still, I must prefer [the Zoox aesthetic](https://zoox.com/?ref=spyglass.org). (And, to be fair, I've [never been a fan of the Tesla look](https://spyglass.org/rivian-looks-nicer-than-tesla/) and feel.) I'm not sure this launch event was quite what everyone was looking for as the most notable element seems to be what *wasn't* there: the press or *even Elon Musk*. Still, they did manage to ship, so kudos on that. No steering wheel! Legally? [Unclear](https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/teslas-cybercab-event-set-thursday-with-few-details-2026-09-03/?ref=spyglass.org) at [this point](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/business/tesla-cybercab-nhtsa-investigation.html?ref=spyglass.org). But that's pretty par for Elon's course. It also [may perform miracles](https://x.com/ZacksJerryRig/status/2095651384448462875?s=20&ref=spyglass.org)? Let's see how 2027 goes, [that's when the real promises kick in](https://spyglass.org/teslas-tenuous-timelines/). Can Tesla scale Cybercab to compete with Waymo? Or even Uber? Will they actually *sell* these cars to consumers? [For $30,000](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo-uubnajWM&ref=spyglass.org)? Or will it all end up a part of [SpaceX's mission](https://spyglass.org/spacex-tesla-xai-cursor-mistral-ai/)? **\[**[**Verge**](https://www.theverge.com/transportation/989501/tesla-cybercab-launch-robotaxi-austin-musk?ref=spyglass.org)**\]** **☁️** [**Microsoft Shifts Reporting Structure**](https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/microsoft-to-change-reporting-structure-to-reflect-effects-of-ai-59dce66d?ref=spyglass.org) **–** While this is being framed as the company trying to be more transparent with regard to Azure, there's certainly [an argument to be made](https://x.com/mgsiegler/status/2095425402994864214?ref=spyglass.org) that it actually makes the business *more opaque* in [certain ways](https://x.com/CZituo/status/2095470091856936975?ref=spyglass.org) – notably, it's now harder to back into just how much of Microsoft's Cloud business might be directly tied to OpenAI... It's also interesting just how top-heavy this makes Microsoft from a segment perspective – 'Agents & Infra' is now $75B versus just $15B or so for 'Devices & Consumer' on a quarterly basis. That almost [seems like](https://bsky.app/profile/grork.bsky.social/post/3mulzgpvh522w?ref=spyglass.org) they're trying to position the latter to eventually be cleaved off/spun-out? There's a long history of such a movie, with HP being a prime recent example, but would Nadella dare put Windows in [an actually separate company](https://bsky.app/profile/mgsiegler.com/post/3mulzznuhtc2e?ref=spyglass.org)? I mean, maybe if it's small enough! Certainly it gives them a way to ease [the Xbox headache](https://spyglass.org/the-resuscitation-of-xbox/)... But that's undoubtedly reading too much into it – at least for now. The easier story is that Azure is now a $100B/year business, so it's a natural time to further break it out. But there are second-order effects! **\[**[**WSJ**](https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/microsoft-to-change-reporting-structure-to-reflect-effects-of-ai-59dce66d?ref=spyglass.org) **πŸ”’\]** **βš–οΈ** [**Google Avoids a Breakup of its Ad Tech Business**](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/technology/google-ad-tech-remedies.html?ref=spyglass.org) **–** Who could have foreseen? Except pretty much everyone – well [maybe not Lina Khan](https://spyglass.org/earth-to-lina-khan/), [Tim Wu](https://spyglass.org/modern-antitrust-keeps-failing/), and their [contemporaries](https://spyglass.org/mopping-the-floor-with-antitrust/). I wrote about why such outcomes were going to keep happening [in April 2025](https://spyglass.org/google-meta-antitrust/) – even in the cases the government [technically wins](https://spyglass.org/google-apple-and-mozilla-win-in-the-antitrust-case-google-lost/)! – because there's an obvious and natural mismatch between litigating the past and [trying to fix the future](https://spyglass.org/google-antitrust-ai/). I mean, that's generally true, but with tech, things move far too fast and in many cases, [natural "disruption"](https://spyglass.org/google-disrupted-microsoft/) of the things being litigated are already underway, as was the case in the Google cases, which made the proposed remedies [pointless at best](https://spyglass.org/google-chrome-spin-out/) and [problematic at worst](https://spyglass.org/big-tech-antitrust-broken/) – imagine if the government had forced Meta to sell off Instagram, they'd [effectively be destroying their overall business](https://spyglass.org/without-instagram-meta-is-screwed/). This is all going to get worse with AI, where things are moving even faster. Good luck. **\[**[**NYT**](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/technology/google-ad-tech-remedies.html?ref=spyglass.org)**\]** **😎** [**Can Evan Spiegel Sell the World on $2,195 Smart Glasses?**](https://www.wsj.com/tech/can-evan-spiegel-sell-the-world-on-2-195-smart-glasses-3fb9b8ca?ref=spyglass.org) – A very [Betteridge's Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s%5Flaw%5Fof%5Fheadlines?ref=spyglass.org) headline from *WSJ* here. Also, [my own such headline](https://spyglass.org/snap-specs-way-too-expensive/) was better three months ago. Look, I don't want to be a dick, but doubling down here with a big launch in a couple of weeks just looks stubborn, if not stupid. I get that Snap is sort of out of options after failing to entice outside investors and pouring so many resources into this project with the promise of a 2026 launch, but the timing is just all wrong. Not only are the glasses an order of magnitude too expensive – [a lesson](https://spyglass.org/vision-pro-launch-disaster/) even mighty Apple [had to learn](https://spyglass.org/apple-vision-pro-mistake-smart-glasses/) the hard way – but there's now [growing backlash](https://spyglass.org/airpods-vision/) against such wearables [thanks to](https://spyglass.org/i-am-the-great-glassholio/) their [old nemesis Meta](https://spyglass.org/meta-smart-glasses-snap/). Yes, AR is different from AI, but the public is not going to care about that difference, if they care about the product at all! And unlike Meta with Quest, Snap doesn't have [the profits](https://spyglass.org/meta-apple-ai-strategy/) to weather this being a dud. Hard to see how this ends; I still think the company should [try to go private again](https://spyglass.org/snap-adds-ads/) if they're going to insist on such efforts. Get an AI narrative and the investors will come for that user base alone... **\[**[**WSJ**](https://www.wsj.com/tech/can-evan-spiegel-sell-the-world-on-2-195-smart-glasses-3fb9b8ca?ref=spyglass.org) **πŸ”’\]** ### I Wrote... πŸ”— OpenAI's AGI Eras Tour β€’ Spyglass πŸ”— Can Someone Finally Architect Personal Assistant AI? β€’ Spyglass ### I Quote... > "There’s a saying here in Tennessee. Pigs get fat, and hogs get slaughtered." – **Jonathan Skrmetti**, Tennesse's attorney general, [in a meeting](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/29/technology/meta-states-settlement.html?ref=spyglass.org) to urge his fellow AGs to take Meta's $17B offer to settle the social media case against them. As the quote so wonderfully illustrates, that's a lot of money to those states. [It is not a lot of money to Meta](https://spyglass.org/metas-poke-on-the-wrist/). Certainly not $200B, *let alone $1.4T*. As the settlement makes clear – and the reporting that they were trying to settle before the trial even started – Meta was terrified of losing the case. Beyond the money, it was going to be yet another blow to their reputation – [undoubtedly the biggest one yet](https://spyglass.org/big-techbacco/) – just as the company is trying to move on from social media, looking towards [their AI future](https://spyglass.org/meta-ai-context-watermelon-hatch/). ### Thoughts On... πŸ”— Back to the Frontier AI Races β€’ Netflix Out-YouTubes YouTube β€’ Spyglass πŸ”— OpenAI's Comeback β€’ Hollywood's Ticket Disaster β€’ Spyglass ### Asides... - [Conflicts of interest](https://spyglass.org/ai-conflict-of-interest/) for **VCs** may [no longer matter for Big AI](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/technology/anthropic-ipo-investors-winners.html?ref=spyglass.org), but they still seem to for smaller **AI startups**, particularly in [the "personal assistant"](https://spyglass.org/the-swiss-assistant/) space... **\[**[**Upstarts**](https://www.upstartsmedia.com/p/scoop-town-fundraise-vc-reshuffle?ref=spyglass.org)**\]** - **Anthropic** has officially [licked enough](https://spyglass.org/amodei-another-day/) **Trump administration** boots to be [back in](https://spyglass.org/anthropic-becomes-the-villain/) the good graces. Well, [maybe not](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-03/pentagon-says-its-anthropic-ban-is-on-despite-lutnick-remarks?ref=spyglass.org). **\[**[**Axios**](https://www.axios.com/2026/09/02/lutnick-anthropic-trump?ref=spyglass.org)**\]** - But they should be back with **large enterprise customers** thanks to the **data retention** changes. Let's see what it does to [the Fable numbers](https://spyglass.org/thoughts-on-nvidia-perplexity-fables-stalled-growth/#:~:text=Anthropic%27s%20Fable%20Plateau...)... **\[**[**CNBC**](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/01/anthropic-data-retention.html?ref=spyglass.org)**\]** - **MapQuest**, last heard from around the time of ["Lazy Sunday"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRhTeaa%5FB98&ref=spyglass.org) is um, *atop the *App Store**. [Blame Canada](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOR38552MJA&ref=spyglass.org) if you want, but [unlike Google and Apple](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/01/us/lake-ontario-america-name-apple-maps-mapquest.html?ref=spyglass.org), they refuse to budge on the '**Lake America**' naming nonsense. **\[**[**MacRumors**](https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/31/mapquest-tops-app-store-charts/?ref=spyglass.org)**\]** - **Meta** mandating **Slack** usage across the company is wild to [those of us](https://x.com/aunder/status/2095297699717472394?ref=spyglass.org) who recall the company's attempt to directly compete in the space. AI, bringing former enemies together. Microsoft dropping Teams for Slack next? 🀣 **\[**[**BI**](https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-switching-from-google-chat-slack-for-ai-agents-2026-9?ref=spyglass.org)**\]** - I'm sure '**Google Pics**' – their new AI-centric **Canva/Adobe competitor** – won't be confused with Google Photos like every single day. **\[**[**Verge**](https://www.theverge.com/tech/987423/google-pics-ai-image-editor-generator?ref=spyglass.org)**\]** - As **Howard Stern** cuts back to one show a week on SiriusXM, he is putting a video version on **HBO Max** – sort of backing [into podcasting](https://spyglass.org/apple-howard-stern-podcasts-plus/), in a way! **\[**[**THR**](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/howard-stern-new-hbo-max-deal-weekly-siriusxm-show-1236685643/?ref=spyglass.org)**\]** - Has **Steve Ballmer** sunk the **Clippers**? It sure looks that way. From the [logo redesign](https://spyglass.org/los-angeles-titanics/) to the **Kwahi Leonard** shitshow, it's not a great look. But [I prefer to think](https://x.com/mgsiegler/status/2095631556450701779?ref=spyglass.org) that it was to move them to Seattle to be reborn as the Supersonics. **\[**[**FOS**](https://frontofficesports.com/article/clippers-kawhi-leonard-steve-ballmer-punishment-spotlight/?ref=spyglass.org)**\]** ### I Spy... Oh look, Apple sees [some success](https://spyglass.org/macbook-neo-thoughts/) with [an idea](https://spyglass.org/macbook-neo/) – here: low-priced, colorful laptops – and the [industry](https://www.theverge.com/tech/988765/lenovo-ideapad-vibe-laptop-macbook-neo-competitor-ifa-colors-price-specs?ref=spyglass.org) quickly [follows](https://www.theverge.com/gadgets/987839/dell-14s-student-laptop-ifa-2026-price-specs?ref=spyglass.org). The problem, of course, will be that they lack Apple Silicon and run Windows. But otherwise, yeah, similar. [Who could have known](https://spyglass.org/macbook-colors/) such [a simple formula](https://spyglass.org/new-macbooks/) would be a [success](https://spyglass.org/cheap-macbook-color/)?... [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/ca/afcaa655-46e2-45b8-889a-2881de5cce69/content/images/2026/09/268683_Lenovo_IdeaPad_Vibe_IFA_2026_ADiBenedetto_0002.webp)](https://www.theverge.com/tech/988765/lenovo-ideapad-vibe-laptop-macbook-neo-competitor-ifa-colors-price-specs?ref=spyglass.org) 🎢 Listening to [****"See Out Loud" by Interpol**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoQ5f1lYmLM&ref=spyglass.org) 🍺 Enjoying a [****Stroud Brewery LOL Light Lager**](https://stroudbrewery.com/products/lol?srsltid=AfmBOopIcid0dtRatpXn9czJJWxQZpAAMKHV%5FW1vD0PXaB0PWk9x88Rt&variant=44091313094880&ref=spyglass.org) πŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ Sent from ****London, England**