Microsoft Executive Called AI Scraping ‘Largest Theft of Labor’ as AI Policy and Platform Fights Grow

Microsoft internal data cited in the records showed that after AI platforms launched, click-through rates for some plaintiff media outlets fell by 51 percent to 94 percent through search and other channels. Communications also showed that when engineers reported finding a way to bypass The New York Times paywall, OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman replied, “Ah, nice.” The plaintiffs argue that ChatGPT and Copilot often reproduce articles verbatim when users ask for summaries or reviews, replacing demand for the original websites and undercutting the defendants’ fair use defense. They also allege that Microsoft improperly resold a dataset purchased for the Bing search engine to OpenAI for model training, and that OpenAI misused a third-party dataset containing 1.8 million articles despite knowing it violated a non-commercial use agreement. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the new evidence shows both companies knew their conduct was improper.

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company’s AI products are transformative uses rather than substitutes and that Hecht’s statements reflected his personal views, not Microsoft’s legal position. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified that the diversion of news traffic reflects a change in how information is consumed. OpenAI did not comment.

China State Railway Group said in a public account article on Sept. 19 that 12306 has continued to identify and curb malicious ticket-grabbing since sales for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday travel period began. The system uses big data analysis and risk controls to flag accounts that frequently buy tickets for others, payment accounts that frequently pay for others’ orders, and abnormal behavior such as forged terminal devices mimicking user ticket purchases. Accounts with abnormal behavior are placed in a slow queue, and suspicious payment accounts are refused ticketing. Since holiday ticket sales began, 12306 has placed 7.117 million transactions in the slow queue and refused ticketing for 1.023 million transactions, covering 1.331 million tickets, the article said. It said travelers should use official 12306 channels, adding that the railway operator has never cooperated with third-party platforms and does not offer acceleration packages, membership fees or seat-selection charges. It warned that buying through third-party platforms does not increase the chance of success and may be slower or fail.

According to TechCrunch, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Sept. 19 proposing a new name for artificial intelligence. Trump said the term “artificial intelligence” is inaccurate and undignified, and he launched a poll asking users to choose among “Superior Intelligence,” “Extreme Intelligence” and “Supreme Intelligence.” He described concerns about AI safety risks and opposition to computing data centers as a political “hoax” fabricated by his opponents, said he would not allow the industry to be blocked and would fully support its development, and said the incoming White House “AI czar” role would require someone with high intelligence. He also said he would establish an “AI Force” but did not describe its duties.

The remarks came amid rising debate in the United States over the pace of AI development and the boundaries of regulation. An Anthropic researcher recently resigned publicly over fears that frontier models pose an existential threat to humanity, prompting discussions involving OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk about controlling AI development. Construction of computing facilities has also stirred local opposition over grid capacity and environmental load, and New York State has paused permits for large data center projects. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and others have opposed any move to block or slow AI development; Huang recently expressed agreement with Trump at a public event.

GrapheneOS disclosed that Android 17 QPR1, released by Google on Sept. 15, is the first Android version since Android 3.x Honeycomb to introduce new APIs without synchronizing them to AOSP. The APIs are currently exclusive to Pixel devices, and other manufacturers and open-source communities cannot obtain them until Android 17 QPR2, expected in December 2026. Google had already changed its development strategy starting with Android 16, no longer pushing quarterly platform releases such as QPR1 and QPR3 to AOSP and publishing only the annual major release and QPR2. GrapheneOS also said a September Pixel-only update included security fixes for general Android platform components, but Google did not add those patches to the Android Security Bulletin for all vendors, leaving non-Pixel devices with months of delayed security patches. The group criticized Google for taking weeks to provide GPL kernel source code to developers. GrapheneOS said it has completed code adaptation for Android 17 QPR1 but, before receiving release permission, can maintain updates only by reverse-engineering security patches and backporting low-level drivers. It added that it is pursuing an official partnership with Motorola as Pixel devices become harder for third parties to maintain.

Apple published a support article titled “Get your iPhone 18 Pro Max ready for shipping,” describing a firmware feature that limits battery capacity for transport. The document says the iPhone 18 Pro Max has a battery capacity above 20 Wh, and that devices with single-cell batteries above 20 Wh face additional shipping requirements in most countries and regions. To meet those requirements, the phone uses a battery firmware solution that keeps capacity below 20 Wh from the factory through transport; the limit is removed after activation, allowing the full capacity to be used. After activation, if a user needs to ship the iPhone 18 Pro Max for repair, trade-in, return or gifting, they can use the “Prepare for Shipping” feature in Settings. The feature discharges the battery below 20 Wh and sets a charging limit to ensure the phone does not exceed that level during shipping. The process is reversible, and users can reset the charging limit after shipping. Apple said the battery is safe and suitable for shipping and air travel, and that the process is needed only to meet shipping requirements, not during travel. Under United Nations and International Air Transport Association rules, lithium-ion batteries with a single cell above 20 Wh or a battery pack above 100 Wh must follow dangerous goods transport procedures, including additional declarations, labels and packaging. A 2025 U.S. Department of Transportation letter said that if a battery’s rated capacity is limited by firmware rather than device-side software, the battery can be treated under small lithium battery shipping rules at the limited capacity.

According to TechRadar, Apple hardware engineering vice president Tom Marieb said in an interview that seeing people put screen protectors on iPhones makes his “skin crawl.” Marieb said Ceramic Shield 2, which Apple began using with the iPhone 17 series, balances scratch resistance and long-term durability. In reliability tests, Apple did not follow traditional military standards but simulated real user behavior, completing accelerated validation equivalent to more than five years of daily wear in several weeks of intensive engineering cycles. Users may need one or two years to notice the benefits of Ceramic Shield 2, he said. Marieb also discussed the inner display of the iPhone Duo, saying Apple introduced anti-reflective nanotexture technology previously used in high-end Macs. The matte diffusion reduces light concentration at the crease. For opening, closing and half-fold hovering, the engineering team finely tuned the hinge torque curve so that it closes with “the heavy damping of a luxury car door” and avoids looseness or wobbling.

Mark Gurman said Apple may launch its first screen-equipped smart home hub, internally codenamed J490, as soon as next month. The device is a priority for new Apple CEO John Ternus, resembles an Amazon Echo Show and has a nearly square screen, with desktop base and wall-mount options; the base looks like half a HomePod mini, according to Gurman. It includes a camera and microphone, and without a standard Face ID sensor it can use the front camera for facial recognition to show personalized schedules, memos and media for different family members. The software runs an interface blending features of iOS, tvOS and watchOS, with Siri AI arriving with iOS 27 as the interaction core, integrating cross-device information retrieval, smart home control and video calls. Gurman also said Apple had planned a dedicated stylus for the iPhone Duo that could magnetically attach to the hinge, but shelved the plan before mass production because of technical obstacles and shifted to Apple Pencil compatibility.