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Source: Apple

Apple’s products compete as gaming platforms with Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo, the company said on Friday in a regulatory filing.

Previously, Apple only said it competed against Google‘s Android in smartphones and Microsoft Windows in PCs for the attention of software developers.

Apple’s competitors were an important topic in a high-profile antitrust trial with Epic Games earlier this year in which Apple argued that it didn’t have a monopoly because its App Store competed against other gaming platforms that also offered Epic’s Fortnite, the Epic app Apple banned from its store.

At the time, the company did not list gaming consoles as competitors in its SEC filings.

Ultimately, the judge ruled that Apple did not have a monopoly in the market for “mobile gaming transactions,” but ordered the company to change its business practices and allow developers to link out to payment methods not operated by Apple. Epic Games and Apple are appealing the ruling.

The update in Apple’s annual filing also reflects how much money the company makes from gaming on its phones and tablets.

According to the court ruling in the Epic Games trial, about 70% of all App Store revenue comes from gaming apps, which is generated by less than 10% of App Store users.

Apple is also increasingly catering to gamers in product decisions. In September, Apple released new iPhone 13 Pro models with displays that can increase their refresh rate, a popular feature among gamers.

Apple’s App Store had gross sales of over $64 billion in 2020, according to a CNBC analysis. Apple makes more profit from games than companies like Microsoft, Nintendo, Activision Blizzard and Sony, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month.

Risks from legislation and government investigations

Apple warned investors in its annual filing that it may be forced to make further changes to its App Store, which could decrease the number of apps downloaded and reduce the commission Apple takes.

Apple “is also subject to litigation and investigations relating to the App Store, which have resulted in changes to the Company’s business practices, and may in the future result in further changes,” the company said in the filing with the SEC.

Apple takes between 15% and 30% of paid software downloads, in-app purchases and subscriptions sold by third-party apps on its App Store.

Apple’s App Store is part of its services business, which reported $68.43 billion in sales in the company’s fiscal 2021, a 27% increase over the previous year. Apple doesn’t break out revenue from the components in services, which also include subscriptions, extended warranties and advertising.

According to Apple’s filing, sales in its services business increased last year primarily because of growth in advertising, App Store and cloud. But Apple warned that its advertising business may be hurt by increased scrutiny on other technology companies.

“For example, the Company earns revenue from licensing arrangements with other companies to offer their search services on the Company’s platforms and apps, and certain of these arrangements are currently subject to government investigations and legal proceedings,” Apple said in the filing.

While Apple didn’t name Google, it has a lucrative licensing agreement under which Google is the default search engine on iPhones. The Department of Justice cited “public estimates” that Google pays Apple between $8 billion and $12 billion per year as part of this deal as part of an antitrust lawsuit against Google.

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Waymo offers teen accounts for driverless rides

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Waymo offers teen accounts for driverless rides

Waymo announced it is now offering teen accounts for its self-driving car service Waymo One, beginning in Phoenix, Arizona.

Courtesy of Waymo

Waymo announced Tuesday that it is offering accounts for teens ages 14 to 17, starting in Phoenix.

The Alphabet-owned company said that, beginning Tuesday, parents in Phoenix can use their Waymo accounts “to invite their teen into the program, pairing them together.” Once their account is activated, teens can hail fully autonomous rides.

Previously, users were required to be at least 18 years old to sign up for a Waymo account, but the age range expansion comes as the company seeks to increase ridership amid a broader expansion of its ride-hailing service across U.S. cities. Alphabet has also been under pressure to monetize AI products amid increased competition and economic headwinds.

Waymo said it will offer “specially-trained Rider Support agents” during rides hailed by teens and loop in parents if needed. Teens can also share their trip status with their parents for real-time updates on their progress, and parents receive all ride receipts.

Teen accounts are initially only being offered to riders in the metro Phoenix area. Teen accounts will expand to more markets outside California where the Waymo app is available in the future, a spokesperson said.

Waymo’s expansion to teens follows a similar move by Uber, which launched teen accounts in 2023. Waymo, which has partnerships with Uber in multiple markets, said it “may consider enabling access for teens through our network partners in the future.”

Already, Waymo provides more than 250,000 paid trips each week across Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Austin, Texas, and the company is preparing to bring autonomous rides to Miami and Washington, D.C., in 2026.

In June, Waymo announced that it plans to manually drive vehicles in New York, marking the first step toward potentially cracking the largest U.S. city. Waymo said it applied for a permit with the New York City Department of Transportation to operate autonomously with a trained specialist behind the wheel in Manhattan.

WATCH: We went to Texas for Tesla’s robotaxi launch. Here’s what we saw

We went to Texas for Tesla's robotaxi launch. Here's what we saw

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Elon Musk’s X says Indian government ordered over 2,000 accounts blocked, including Reuters

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Elon Musk's X says Indian government ordered over 2,000 accounts blocked, including Reuters

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the White House to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 13, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Andrew Harnik | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Elon Musk’s X said Tuesday that the Indian government ordered the company to block 2,355 accounts, including Reuters, in the country.

“The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology demanded immediate action- within one hour- without providing justification, and required the accounts to remain blocked until further notice,” X’s global government affairs account posted.

The main Reuters account, along with ReutersWorld, was blocked Saturday for users in India, the news service said. Screenshots showed the message “Account withheld @Reuters has been withheld in IN in response to a legal demand.”

The Indian government’s Press Information Bureau told Reuters that no government agency had required blocking the account and said it was working with X to resolve the issue. The accounts were restored on Sunday.

Read more CNBC tech news

The statement by X on Tuesday is the latest development in an ongoing censorship legal battle between Musk’s social media site and the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

X sued Modi’s government in March, accusing India’s IT ministry of unlawfully expanding online censorship to allow the easier removal of content.

Musk often refers to himself as a free speech absolutist and has said his takeover of Twitter was partly due to what he viewed as the unfair restriction of conservative views and voices.

The Tesla CEO swiftly made changes to moderation after he acquired the site, which he later renamed to X.

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Robinhood CEO downplays OpenAI concerns on tokenized stock structure

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Robinhood CEO downplays OpenAI concerns on tokenized stock structure

Robinhood CEO defends OpenAI stock token offering

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says it’s not “entirely relevant” that the trading platform’s so-called tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX aren’t technically equity in the companies.

It comes after OpenAI raised concerns about the product, which is designed to give users in the European Union exposure to various U.S. stocks — including private companies, which are less liquid than publicly listed firms.

OpenAI last week warned that Robinhood’s stock tokens do not represent equity in the company and said in a post on X that, “any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer.”

Robinhood says its OpenAI stock tokens are “enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle.”

“It is true that these are not technically equity,” Tenev, who co-founded Robinhood in 2013 with fellow entrepreneur Baiju Bhatt, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” Tuesday, echoing his initial response to OpenAI’s concerns.

Tenev said that OpenAI’s complex company structure enables institutional investors to gain exposure to the company through “various instruments, like equity upon the event of a conversion to a for-profit at a later date.”

OpenAI was initially founded as a non-profit organization. However, it has since evolved to include a for-profit entity, which is owned by the non-profit.

“In and of itself, I don’t think it’s entirely relevant that it’s not technically an equity instrument,” he said. “What’s important is that retail customers have an opportunity to get exposure to this asset” — even if it’s a private company — due to the disruptive nature of AI, he added.

Read more CNBC tech news

On Monday, the Bank of Lithuania, which is Robinhood’s lead authority in the European Union, told CNBC it was “awaiting clarifications” regarding the structure of the company’s stock tokens following OpenAI’s statement last week.

“Only after receiving and evaluating this information will we be able to assess the legality and compliance of these specific instruments,” Bank of Lithuania spokesman Giedrius Šniukas told CNBC. “The information for investors must be provided in clear, fair, and non-misleading language.”

Tenev said in response to the Lithuanian regulator’s comments that Robinhood is “happy to continue to answer questions from our regulators.”

“Since this is a new thing, regulators are going to want to look at it, and we’ve built this program in a way that we believe will withstand scrutiny — and we expect to be scrutinized as a large, innovative player in this space,” he told CNBC.

Watch CNBC's full interview with Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev

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