🍜 Apple hit by tariffs..

Welcome, Noodle Networkers.

Apple’s still fumbling in the AI race 🍏—because apparently, teaching Siri to do anything useful is harder than landing a rocket on Mars. Maybe next year she’ll stop mistaking “call Mom” for “open TikTok.” Over in chatbot chaos, Grok—Elon Musk’s digital brainchild—blamed Holocaust denial on a “coding error” 🤖. Which is kind of like your toaster burning the house down and saying it just misunderstood breakfast. And Canada’s shiny new AI minister 🇨🇦 is facing big questions about, well… what exactly he’s supposed to do. We’re not saying the role is vague, but he might still be Googling “what is AI?”

Is the world leading the AI charge—or just stumbling forward while the robots take notes? Let’s find out...

In today’s AI digest:

• Apple hit by tariffs, AI setbacks, and Fortnite loss 🍏

• Google slammed for burying the web with AI search 🔍

• Melania Trump taps AI to narrate her audiobook 🎧

Read time: 5 minutes

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY

$AAPL ( ▼ 0.24% ) 

Apple hit by tariffs, AI setbacks, and Fortnite loss 🍏

(source: The Guardian)

The Digest: Apple’s having a rough week—hit with tariffs, struggling to keep up in the AI race, and taking a Fortnite L in court. It’s like Tim Cook woke up, checked the news, and said, “Cool cool cool, let’s go back to making iPods.”

Key Highlights:

📱 Tariffs Could Make iPhones a Luxury Item – With Trump’s 25% tariff looming, your next iPhone might cost more than your rent. Apple’s considering shifting production out of China, but let’s be honest—it’s like trying to move your entire kitchen mid-dinner.

🤖 AI Still Loading… – Apple’s shiny new AI dreams are delayed thanks to budget cuts and Siri’s ongoing existential crisis. While ChatGPT writes novels, Siri’s still trying to figure out how to set a timer without passive aggression.

🎮 Fortnite Gets the Victory Royale – After years in exile, Fortnite is back on the U.S. App Store. Epic Games dodged the App Store fees, and Apple took a courtroom L. Moral of the story: never fight teenagers with unlimited V-Bucks and lawyers.

Why It Matters: Apple’s usual polished image is looking a little dented. With manufacturing headaches, AI falling behind, and app store rules being shredded by 12-year-olds yelling into headsets, the company might need more than a Vision Pro to see its way out of this one.

$GOOG ( ▼ 0.24% ) 

Google slammed for burying the web with AI search 🔍

(source: NYMag)

The Digest: Google’s new AI-powered search features—AI Overviews and AI Mode—are being accused of burying the internet alive. Instead of sending users to websites, Google now serves up AI-generated answers directly in search results. It's like asking a librarian for a book and having them summarize it with random Reddit posts and questionable cooking advice.

Key Highlights:

📚 Search, But Make It Lazy – With AI Overviews, you no longer have to visit actual sites. Google just guesses what you need and hands you a summary. Great if you're in a hurry—less great if you’re a website owner wondering where your traffic went.

💸 Publishers: Not Amused – News outlets say Google’s basically looting their content without credit or payment. It’s like writing a book and watching someone else turn it into a movie… without inviting you to the premiere.

🍕 Misinformation Buffet – Some AI answers have been… creative. One advised adding glue to pizza. Another said eating rocks might help digestion. Somewhere, a geologist and a chef are both crying.

Why It Matters: This could reshape how we use the internet—and not necessarily in a good way. If all your search answers come from AI parroting stuff it scraped, we might end up in a world where SEO dies, publishers go broke, and your next recipe includes super glue and river pebbles.

AI narrative

Melania Trump taps AI to narrate her audiobook 🎧

(source: MSNBC)

The Digest: Melania Trump has released an audiobook of her memoir—narrated entirely by an AI version of herself. That’s right, for just $25, you can now listen to a robot Melania tell you about life in the White House, her Slovenian roots, and (presumably) how she never really wanted to move to D.C. in the first place.

Key Highlights:

🗣️ MelaniaBot Activated – The voice was made using ElevenLabs and is basically a calm, elegant, emotion-neutral version of the former First Lady. So… just like the real one?

📘 From Slovenia to the Situation Room – The memoir covers her life story, from childhood to First Lady. We’re still waiting to see if the AI voice gets more expressive when talking about Christmas decorations.

🌍 Coming Soon in More Languages – Future AI-Melania voices in other languages are planned. So wherever you are, you too can enjoy a perfectly monotone retelling of her time in the West Wing.

Why It Matters: It’s a milestone for both publishing and the uncanny valley. Using AI to narrate your own book is either genius branding or peak dystopia—we’re not sure yet. But if this catches on, expect future audiobooks read by AI versions of Shakespeare, Oprah, or your favorite barista.

THE NOODLE LAB

AI Hacks & How-Tos

Getting Started with ImagineAR 📱

The Digest: ImagineAR is an AR-as-a-Service platform that allows users to create, manage, and view AR experiences through its mobile app. It supports both marker-based and location-based AR content, making it accessible for various applications, including education, marketing, and entertainment.

🛠️ How to Use ImagineAR:

1. Download the ImagineAR App:

   • Available on iOS and Android.

2. Explore AR Experiences:

   • Open the app and select "Scan AR Target" to view AR content associated with specific images or markers.

   • Alternatively, use the "AR Near Me" feature to discover location-based AR experiences in your vicinity.

3. Create Your Own AR Content:

   • For content creators, ImagineAR offers a self-service platform to upload and manage AR assets.

   • You can design AR campaigns by uploading images, videos, or 3D models and assigning them to specific triggers or locations.

4. Share and Engage:

   • Once your AR experience is live, share it with others by distributing the associated markers or promoting the location-based experiences.

   • Users can interact with your AR content through the ImagineAR app, enhancing engagement and providing immersive experiences.

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