Apple announced that Tim Cook will step down as CEO in September after 15 years in the role, handing the job to hardware chief John Ternus. Longtime Slashdot reader sinij shares the news from MarketWatch: Cook leaves an impressive legacy after growing the company to a $4 trillion market capitalization from just $300 billion 15 years ago. Over Cook's 15-year tenure as CEO, Apple's stock has risen 1,932%, beating the S&P 500's 504% increase, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That places Apple's stock as the 38th best-performing member of the index over that period of time.

Cook had big shoes to fill, replacing Apple's iconic founder, Steve Jobs, as CEO. Cook's successor, John Ternus, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, will need to guide Apple's through uncharted waters as the company navigates its artificial-intelligence transition and supply-chain constraints. Cook will remain at Apple as executive chairman. "It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company. I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world," said Cook.

"John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor. He is a visionary whose contributions to Apple over 25 years are already too numerous to count, and he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future. I could not be more confident in his abilities and his character, and I look forward to working closely with him on this transition and in my new role as executive chairman."

As for Ternus' replacement, the role of Chief Hardware Officer will be awarded to Apple executive Johny Srouji. "Srouji, who most recently served as senior vice president of Hardware Technologies, will assume an expanded role leading Hardware Engineering, which John Ternus most recently oversaw, as well as the hardware technologies organization," said Apple in a press release.

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Alex Bores, a former Palantir employee and current Democratic House candidate in New York, is proposing an "AI dividend" that would send direct payments to Americans if AI drives major job losses. "At its core, the AI Dividend is simple: if AI dramatically increases productivity and concentrates wealth, the American people have a stake in those gains," a memo on the policy reads. Axios reports: The dividend would fund direct payments to Americans. It would also be invested into workforce training and education, as well as government capacity to "govern AI safely and fund independent oversight," per the plan memo.

"You don't take out fire insurance because you expect your house to burn down -- you have insurance in case something goes awry," Bores told Axios in an interview. "Here we have, for the first time, a technology where the makers of the technology are explicitly saying that their goal is to replace all human labor." "The fact that they've put it out there means government needs to take it seriously." [...]

The proposal would be funded through:
- A token tax, described in the memo as a "modest tax on AI consumption"
- Equity participation in frontier AI firms
- Changes to the tax code that would reduce incentives to invest in AI "when it leads to less work" "If [AI companies] they can support this plan, that would show that they actually believe in what they're putting out there," Bores said. "If they're not doing it, then I think it shows that they're really putting window dressing out there."

Further reading: Palantir Posts Bond Villain Manifesto On X

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Deezer says AI-generated songs now make up 44% of all new uploads to its platform, with nearly 75,000 arriving each day and more than two million per month. The company notes that consumption of these tracks is still very low, "between 1-3% of the total streams," and 85% are flagged as fraudulent. TechCrunch reports: The latest figure from Deezer highlights a continuous surge in AI-generated music uploads to the platform. Deezer reported receiving around 60,000 AI tracks per day in January, up from 50,000 in November, 30,000 in September, and just 10,000 in January 2025, when it first launched its AI-music detection tool.

Songs tagged as AI-generated on Deezer are automatically removed from algorithmic recommendations and not included in editorial playlists. The company announced today that it will no longer store hi-res versions of AI tracks. "AI-generated music is now far from a marginal phenomenon and as daily deliveries keep increasing, we hope the whole music ecosystem will join us in taking action to help safeguard artists' rights and promote transparency for fans," said Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier in a press release. "Thanks to our technology and the proactive measures we put in place more than a year ago, we have shown that it's possible to reduce AI-related fraud and payment dilution in streaming to a minimum."

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"After a Supreme Court of the United States ruling in Feb. 2026, many tariffs imposed by the Trump administration were declared illegal because the president overstepped his authority," writes Slashdot reader hcs_$reboot. "As a result, the U.S. government now has to refund a massive amount of money, around $160-170+ billion, paid mainly by importers." According to the New York Times, the administration has now begun accepting refund requests, "surrendering its prized source of revenue -- plus interest." From the report: For some U.S. businesses, the highly anticipated refunds could be substantial, offering critical if belated financial relief. Tariffs are taxes on imports, so the president's trade policies have served as a great burden for companies that rely on foreign goods. Many have had to choose whether to absorb the duties, cut other costs or pass on the expenses to consumers. By Monday morning, those companies can begin to submit documentation to the government to recover what they paid in illegal tariffs.

In a sign of the demand, more than 3,000 businesses, including FedEx and Costco, have already sued the Trump administration in a bid to secure their refunds, with some cases filed even before the Supreme Court's ruling. But only the entities that officially paid the tariffs are eligible to recover that money. That means that the fuller universe of people affected by Mr. Trump's policies -- including millions of Americans who paid higher prices for the products they bought -- are not able to apply for direct relief.

The extent to which consumers realize any gain hinges on whether businesses share the proceeds, something that few have publicly committed to do. Some have started to band together in class-action lawsuits in the hopes of receiving a payout. Many business owners said they weren't sure how easy the tariff refund process would be, particularly given Mr. Trump's stated opposition to returning the money. The administration has suggested that it may be months before companies see any money. Adding to the uncertainty, the White House has declined to say if it might still try to return to court in a bid to halt some or all of the refunds. The money will mostly go to importers and companies, since they were the ones that directly paid the tariffs. While individual refunds with interest could take around 60 to 90 days to process, the overall effort will probably move much more slowly because of how large and complicated it will be.

There are also legal questions around whether companies would have to pass any of that money on to consumers. Slashdot reader AmiMoJo commented: "This is perhaps the biggest transfer of wealth in American history. Most of those companies will just pocket the refund and not pass any of it on to the consumer. If prices go down at all, they won't be back to pre-tariff levels. You paid the tariffs, but you ain't getting the refund."

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DeanonymizedCoward writes: Engadget reports that Palantir has posted to X a summary of CEO Alex Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska's 2025 book, The Technological Republic, which reads like a utopian idealist doodled on a Bond villain's whiteboard. While the post makes some decent points, it also highlights the Big-AI attitude that the AI surveillance state is in fact a good thing, and strongly implies that the Good Guys need to do war crimes before the Bad Guys get around to it. "The ability of free and democratic societies to prevail requires something more than moral appeal," one of the 22 points states. "It requires hard power, and hard power in this century will be built on software."

The book is billed as "a passionate call for the West to wake up to our new reality," and other excerpts in the social media post include assertions such as: "Free email is not enough. The decadence of a culture or civilization, and indeed its ruling class, will be forgiven only if that culture is capable of delivering economic growth and security for the public"; "National service should be a universal duty"; "The postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone"; and "Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive."

The statement criticizes the West's resistance to "defining national cultures in the name of inclusivity," as well as the treatment of billionaires and the "ruthless exposure of the private lives of public figures."

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Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Cal Color

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date stamped on slide, August 1961

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President’s spokesperson announces Chavez-DeRemer, investigated over misconduct allegations, leaving for private sector job

Donald Trump’s labor secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is stepping down, the administration announced Monday.

“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote on social media. “She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives.”

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Slowly but surely, West Ham are edging their way to safety. While this battling draw against a Crystal Palace side with their minds elsewhere proved terminal to his former club Wolves as it confirmed their relegation, Nuno Espírito Santo had to be satisfied with a point after Brennan Johnson missed the best chance to boost his former employers Tottenham.

Palace, who have now been involved in eight stalemates this season, were indebted to captain Dean Henderson for producing the save of the night to deny Konstantinos Mavropanos just before half-time, although West Ham struggled to create much else. Nuno will be disappointed not to have stretched their advantage over Tottenham to four points, although their fate remains very much in their hands with David Moyes’s Everton next up on Saturday.

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Cook, who will assume the role of executive chair, will be succeeded by John Ternus as CEO on 1 September

Apple announced on Monday that it had named a replacement for Tim Cook as CEO, with head of hardware engineering John Ternus succeeding him on 1 September. Cook will stay at the company in the role of executive chair.

“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company. I love Apple with all of my being,” Cook said in a press release.

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Official involved in deal tells El Reg number doesn't paint entire picture of datacenter's economic benefit

When Rockland County, New York, approved nearly $77 million in tax breaks for JPMorgan Chase's datacenter expansion in 2024, no one showed up to object. Two years and a whole lot of bit barns in the news cycle later, government watchdogs are calling foul over the project's lone permanent job.…

LOOSDRECHT (ANP) - De politie heeft maandagavond het gebied rond het gemeentehuis in het Noord-Hollandse dorp Loosdrecht ontruimd. Dat gebeurde tijdens een anti-azc-demonstratie. Dat bevestigt de gemeente, die spreekt van een grimmig einde. Eerder hadden de gemeente en politie nog aangekondigd "niet te zullen tolereren dat personen de demonstratie aangrijpen om strafbare feiten te plegen of ernstige wanordelijkheden te organiseren".

Op het hoogtepunt zouden er naar schatting zo'n vijfhonderd mensen aanwezig zijn geweest bij de demonstratie. De gemeente spreekt van een vreedzame sfeer die langzaam grimmiger werd. Demonstranten gooiden met eieren en vuurwerk.

Volgens de gemeente heeft burgemeester Mark Verheijen de demonstratie laten beëindigen nadat demonstranten "zwaar illegaal vuurwerk op agenten richtten". Daarna ontruimde de mobiele eenheid het gebied rond het gemeentehuis. Er stonden toen nog tussen de tweehonderd en driehonderd mensen.

Rond 22.00 uur was het volgens de gemeente weer rustig.

Tim Cook stopt als topman van Apple. Het Amerikaanse bedrijf meldt dat hij de komende maanden nog in functie blijft, maar vanaf september wordt vervangen door John Ternus. Die is nu bestuurder van de hardwaredivisie.

NEW YORK (ANP) - Wall Street beperkte maandag de verliezen, gesteund door hernieuwde hoop bij beleggers op een compromis tussen de VS en Iran over het conflict. Volgens de Amerikaanse nieuwszender CNN houden de VS en Iran woensdag een tweede onderhandelingsronde in Pakistan.

In afwachting daarvan hielden beleggers zich op de eerste handelsdag van de nieuwe week gedeisd, na de sterke opmars van vrijdag. Die aandelenrally volgde op de heropening van de Straat van Hormuz door Iran. De spanningen tussen de Amerikanen en Iran liepen afgelopen weekend echter weer op door de inbeslagname van een Iraans vrachtschip door de Amerikaanse marine. Ook sloot Iran zaterdag het scheepvaartverkeer door de Straat van Hormuz weer af in reactie op de aanhoudende Amerikaanse blokkade van de Iraanse havens.

De Dow-Jonesindex eindigde een fractie lager op 49.442,56 punten. De S&P 500-index zakte 0,2 procent tot 7109,14 punten en techbeurs Nasdaq verloor 0,3 procent op 24.404,39 punten.

Staakt-het-vuren

De S&P 500 en de Nasdaq sloten vrijdag op nieuwe recordstanden. Wall Street kende daarmee een zeer sterke beursweek. Zo won de S&P 500 vorige week 4,5 procent, terwijl de Nasdaq ruim 7 procent steeg. De techzware Nasdaq ging vrijdag zelfs voor de dertiende dag op rij omhoog. Dat is de langste winstreeks sinds 1992.

De beurzen zijn sinds het staakt-het-vuren tussen de VS en Iran hard gestegen. Beleggers hopen dat de oorlog snel voorbij is en de door AI-gedreven aandelenrally van voor het conflict gaat voort. De huidige wapenstilstand loopt echter op 21 april af en het is nog onduidelijk of die wordt verlengd.

Olieprijs

De olieprijs steeg weer na de forse prijsdaling op vrijdag. Brentolie werd 5 procent duurder op 94,98 dollar per vat. Amerikaanse olie kostte 5,2 procent meer op 86,87 dollar. Vrijdag werd olie nog bijna 12 procent goedkoper.

Oliebedrijven als ExxonMobil (plus 0,9 procent), die vrijdag nog hard daalden door de gekelderde olieprijs, toonden maandag herstel. Bedrijven in de reissector, die erg gevoelig zijn voor hoge brandstofkosten, gingen omlaag. Cruisemaatschappij Carnival zakte 0,7 procent en luchtvaartmaatschappij United Airlines verloor 2,8 procent.

Marvell Technology steeg bijna 6 procent. Technieuwssite The Information meldde dat Google in gesprek is met de chipfabrikant over de ontwikkeling van twee nieuwe chips om AI-modellen efficiënter te laten draaien.

tintinetmilou has added a photo to the pool:

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