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News from IT and Telegram world. Advertising // adv@kod.ae Editor-in-chief // editors@kod.ae ! The project is not managed by Pavel Durov
⛔️ DOJ vs. Google
The U.S. Justice Department wants Google → to sell Chrome, end default search deals, and give rivals access to user data — calling it a necessary move to dismantle its search monopoly.
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😽 France is putting everyone at risk
Pavel Durov has publicly criticized → French lawmakers for attempting to force encryption backdoors in messaging apps.
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❤️ This weekend in #TECH
💘 Beijing hosted the world’s first half marathon featuring 21 humanoid robots running alongside thousands of humans.
💘 Google plans to appeal a ruling that labeled it a monopoly in the online advertising market.
💘 OpenAI says it spends tens of millions each year to keep ChatGPT polite. Saying “please” and “thank you” costs real electricity — and money.
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🧠 Not just Neuralink anymore
Neuralink’s main rival just got FDA approval → for long-term testing of its brain implant.
Precision Neuroscience plans to use the tech to help restore movement and speech in people with severe impairments.
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👍 Plastic, who?
The UAE will begin replacing physical Emirates ID cards with a facial recognition–based digital identity system.
The new AI-powered verification platform → will roll out gradually across key sectors like banking, healthcare, telecom, and insurance over the next year.
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🧠 Another one?
OpenAI is reportedly building its own social network → focused on sharing ChatGPT-generated content.
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🤔 Rise of the Feeds?
Meta will start using data from EU users to train its AI → including public posts, comments, and interactions with Meta AI across Facebook and Instagram.
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❤️ This weekend in #TECH
💘 ChatGPT topped global app downloads in March with 46M installs, followed by Telegram in the top 10.
💘 Sony announced a 25% price hike for the PlayStation 5 across multiple regions.
💘 The recent U.S. tariff exemption on smartphones, laptops, and other electronics has been confirmed as temporary. New sector-specific duties are expected within one to two months.
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😘 Elon, if you're reading this...
U.S. President comments on relationship with Elon Musk: says he’s doing “a fantastic job” running the Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump also recalled why he bought a Tesla back in March 2025 — and under what terms.
“Everyone was asking me, ‘Oh, did you get a bargain?’ No. I said, ‘Give me the top price.’ I paid a lot of money for that car,” he said.
🍏 AIMLess at Apple
Insiders say Apple’s AI → efforts stalled due to poor leadership and a lack of clear direction.
Siri’s team reportedly learned about new “AI features” during the WWDC keynote — at the same time as everyone else.
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🛸 Premium Thoughts, Premium Price
Anthropic has launched its most expensive Claude plan yet → $200/month for the new “Max” tier. That gets you 20x the usage of the $18 Pro plan, though limits still apply.
The company says it’s testing how far users will go to pay for cutting-edge AI access.
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📦 No Shipping, No Cry?
Major tech and auto brands → including HP, Dell, Lenovo, Audi, and Nintendo — have paused U.S. shipments in response to Trump’s steep tariff hikes.
Electronics and cars from Asia are now on hold, with companies warning of potential revenue drops and delayed product launches.
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😎 At long last
Meta is finally building a native Instagram app for iPad → after years of saying the user base was too small.
The decision comes as the U.S. tightens pressure on TikTok, and Meta moves to strengthen its grip on the market.
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😆 Not friends anymore?
Elon Musk asked Trump to roll back the new tariffs → and got a hard no.
The new rules, signed April 2, impose duties of up to 50% on goods from 185 countries. Starting April 5, a 10% base rate now applies to all imports.
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😽 Markets Brace for ‘Black Monday’
The crypto market is in sharp decline, with Bitcoin slipping below $75,000 — a continuation of the panic triggered by Donald Trump’s newly announced economic measures.
Asian stock markets were hit first, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s KOSPI dropping so fast that trading was briefly halted. U.S. stock futures and commodity prices also plunged, sending shockwaves through crypto markets.
Starting April 2, Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from over 200 countries and territories: 20% on the EU, 34% on China, and 46% on India. Even the uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands made the list.
According to Reuters, Wall Street is bracing for at least a week of market volatility. The S&P 500 has already dropped 10%, with listed companies losing over $5 trillion in market value.
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🤐 Too young for this app
Meta will use AI to detect teen users → who misrepresent their age on its platforms.
If the system suspects a false claim, the account will be automatically placed under restricted settings.
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🚘 No driver? No problem
Dubai will launch its first 50 autonomous taxis in 2025 → scaling up to 1,000 vehicles by 2030 as part of its plan to make 25% of city transport fully self-driving.
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📱 Custom stickers, finally native
WhatsApp has added a built-in feature to create and share custom sticker packs → no third-party apps needed. We’ve broken down how to make your own inside the app.
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😎 Bots, Be Gone
Google blocked 39.2 million suspicious ad accounts in 2024 → triple last year’s total. Backed by AI, the company rolled out 50+ system upgrades and 30 new ad policies to crack down on fraud.
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📱 Restart routine
Android phones will now auto-restart every 3 days if unused — a new security measure from Google to protect your encrypted data before first unlock.
Why it matters, and how it works → in our breakdown.
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🍏 Fold Me Maybe
Chinese insider Digital Chat Station has revealed the expected display resolutions → of Apple’s upcoming foldable iPhone.
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🧠 GPT-4.1 is here
OpenAI has introduced GPT-4.1 for developers → a faster, cheaper, and more capable successor to GPT-4o. It offers a 1 million token context window and comes in three versions: Standard, Mini, and Nano.
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🛸 Choose your fighter…
Our team asked chatgpt to turn tech ceos into action figures — here’s what came out.
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🤔 Fold Me Once
Insiders say Apple is working on a massive 19-inch foldable device → possibly a MacBook–iPad hybrid. If all goes to plan, production starts late 2026, with a release expected in 2027.
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🧑⚖️ OpenAI sues Elon Musk
OpenAI has filed a countersuit against Elon Musk. What exactly the company is demanding — we break it down here.
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😄 Tariff Time-Out
Trump has postponed the broader import tariffs → for over 75 countries, reducing rates to 10% for the next 90 days.
The exception is China — now facing a steep 125% duty after enforcing its own retaliatory measures.
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📱 Surprise Patch Drop
Google → just rolled out an emergency security update for Android. Both are zero-day vulnerabilities — and one was already exploited in the wild without any user interaction.
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⛔️ It’s Not Slowing Down
Starting April 9, the U.S. will impose a 104% tariff on Chinese goods → a direct response to Beijing’s refusal to drop its retaliatory tariffs.
The White House says similar penalties could hit other countries that don’t stand down.
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🍏 iPhones, Incoming
Apple flew in five planeloads of iPhones and gadgets from India to the U.S. → all within three days and right before the new import tariffs hit.
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❤️ This weekend in #TECH
💘 Trump grants TikTok another 75-day reprieve before potential U.S. ban
💘 Kawasaki unveils the world’s first robotic horse, Corleo
💘 Over 700M images generated with ChatGPT this week, says OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap
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