| Google gets a big fat antitrust fine from the EU, Apple's new beta goes to 11 and more in The Daily Crunch for June 27, 2017. And if you're in the AI business, everybody apparently wants to be your partner. 1. Google gets hit with record antitrust fine Google has been hit with its largest ever antitrust fine – a fine that actually tops all ever issued by the European Commission. This is the biggest deal since the body's 2004 ruling against Microsoft regarding Internet Explorer and you can bet it's going to have ramifications. Google was taken to task for highlighting its own shopping service above competitors, and it's predictably going to appeal the ruling. Some analysts have pointed out that as per usual, the ruling lags the progress of the tech, meaning it's not likely to significantly impact Google's future ability to do business. But that fine is still large, even by Google standards. 
2. Apple launches iOS 11 public beta If you don't want to wait until fall and you're brave, you can get the iOS 11 beta now without a developer account. It's still got bugs, and most reports suggest battery life takes a hit. But if you're hungry for that added iPad productivity, it does seem like something that's relatively stable at this stage. 3. Uber lets users request rides for others Uber's definitely still embattled, but it needs to keep making product if it wants to survive as a company. This new feature lets users hail rides for others, and it's smart because it broadens the potential user base to groups of underserved people who otherwise wouldn't have a smartphone or an Uber account. 4. Drive.ai wants to retrofit existing fleets with self-driving tech How do you carve out a niche for yourself as a self-driving technology startup when players like Google and Apple are tackling the problem with significantly more resources? Find a niche. That's what Drive.ai hopes to do with its retrofit approach, which could be attractive to businesses looking to save money while staying on top of tech. 5. VW teams with Nvidia on AI Volkswagen wants to use Nvidia's AI – but for things beyond just autonomous cars. The two announced an expanded partnership today that includes things like robotic enterprise applications. Good news for Nvidia, for sure. 6. Apple acquires eye-tracking company Apple has acquired SMI, a company that works on eye-tracking tech. This could be part of their AR play, should they make dedicated glasses, as some have reported. The company has also recently shown interest in VR, and this could definitely help there, too. 7. Amazon Echo gets intercom features If you have a bunch of Echos around the house, including the new Echo Show, you could use them as an intercom system. That's pretty neat, and something Google will likely copy in the future with Home. Echo is kind of like a weird little limited functionality robot in your house, but you can find out a lot more about robotics at our upcoming TC Sessions event focused on the market. Get tickets here: 
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