This is more bark than bite, imo. They're just threatening to withhold products at this point, but as the article points out:
So... go right ahead. Let's see how this really plays out.
There's no technical reason an iPad can't run full-blown MacOS or even Linux & Windows; Apple just locks down the hardware to prevent it. I dream of one day having strong enough right-to-repair protections that companies won't do that anymore and we'll be able to install whatever we want on the equipment we've purchased, but I'm also not holding my breath for it.
It's not so much that we're boring, it's that we're so far away and not trivial to send mass and energy towards.
I think that a sufficiently advanced civilization that could come over for a visit wouldn't want to.
I also think a sufficiently advanced civilization with the curiosity and desire to learn about us could do so via probes and we'd never know they visited us.
It's also likely that an alien species capable of interstellar travel doesn't want anything we have. Our resources aren't anything special, they have no need for slave labor and we don't produce anything of interest to them. It's a long drive. Why burn the gas and waste the time?
Most people don't know how to switch between inputs on their TVs or have gotten rid of their DVD or BluRay players at this point.
They're using the built in streaming apps or they've plugged a Roku in where the cable box used to go.
The RIAA vs the AI industry... Can they both lose?
As far as it is, it's still just under one day at light speed.
No, there's an offhand mention or two, but nothing impactful. The most important tie is Pike being aware of his fate, but they recap that pretty thoroughly.
I don't think LLMs are useless, but I do think little SoC boxes running a single application that will vaguely improve your life with loosely defined AI features are useless.
Plenty of free apps get monetized just fine. They just have to offer something people want to use that they can slather ads all over. The AI doo-dads haven't shown they're useful. I'm guessing the dedicated hardware strategy got them more upfront funding from stupid venture capital than an app would have, but they still haven't answered why anybody should buy these. Just postponing the inevitable.
Reviewer opinions on both Humane and Fisker are pretty consistently negative so this isn't some mean YouTuber with an axe to grind situation.
The products are bad and people shouldn't waste their hard earned money and time on them. Venture Capital firms may lose money, but that comes with the territory. Not every venture is a win.
$130 menu price but regularly goes on sale for $99. Still not cheap (especially compared to the "free" ad platform built in to the TV) but lessens the sting a bit. And much less likely to be abandoned by its manufacturer and get exploited.