English edition
GAFAM News
Big Tech, seen from Japan.
GAFAM is a common name for Big Tech in Japan and France. The F is for Facebook, now Meta.
Good evening. The Owl here. I watch Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft from my tree in Japan, and I care less about the newest technology than about what it changes in business, work and everyday life.
Every month I split Big Tech’s news into the light side and the dark side, and in between I write essays on one theme at a time. I am an owl, so I may not be the best talker, but I keep watching quietly and closely.
These are English editions of articles first published in Japanese on note. They were translated from the author’s originals with AI assistance and reviewed by Hoot Hall. Each article shows the date of the Japanese original; facts and figures are as of that date.
Essays
One theme at a time, with the data behind it.
- Can Google make an AI comeback? Reading Gemini through Google+ and other past failures
Where Google stands in AI, and what Google+, Glass, Nexus Q and Google Home teach about turning impressive demos into products people keep using.
- NTT's reported ¥1 trillion AI data center: who pays for the power and water?
An NTT Data facility for Anthropic in Osaka may cost up to ¥1 trillion. What AI data centers ask of local grids, water and towns, and who should foot the bill.
- What is Meta selling with AI? The ad company being rebuilt behind the stock surge
Why Meta's AI bet is a redesign of its ad engine, not a cloud business, and what its spending, glasses and agents mean for its stock.
- Smart speakers were just timers and music. Can Alexa+ and generative AI give them a second act?
Why Alexa, Google Home and HomePod never became the home's computer, why LLMs were slow to arrive, and what Alexa+ must get right this time.
- When will AGI arrive, and will it make us happy? 30 answers on one map
I plotted 30 AI voices, 15 abroad and 15 in Japan, by AGI timing and optimism: what the map shows, what it hides, and Japan's different kind of worry.
- The AI bubble's blind spot: why genuinely new businesses haven't appeared yet
AI spending is enormous, yet few AI-native industries exist. Why speed gains aren't turning into new businesses, with DeNA as a case study.
- Why is Amazon's AI strategy so hard to see?
Amazon has no ChatGPT-style face, yet AWS, Bedrock, Anthropic, Trainium, Nova and Amazon Q add up to a quiet, very large bet on the plumbing of AI.
- The first jobs AI takes may belong to its power users
Why AI job losses hit the people closest to AI first, and what keeps your work valuable once just using AI is no longer an edge.
- Beyond AI hype and AI fear: the real question is where AI works
Past the wow-merchants and the scaremongers: why AI's value depends on where it is placed, who is accountable, and what counts as a result.
- AI show-offs and secret users: the two schools of AI at work
Some workers flaunt their AI use while others hide it. What tokenmaxxing, workslop and shadow AI reveal about how workplaces reward AI.
- Is Siri AI late, or deliberately last? Reading Apple's WWDC26 bet
Apple unveiled Siri AI at WWDC26. Is it a catch-up move or Apple's classic late entry? What it borrows from Google and what it must prove this fall.
- After Google I/O, the real fight over AI search comes into view
Google I/O 2026 turned search into an AI gateway. UK rules, Microsoft Scout, a Meta chatbot breach and a Ring lawsuit show the fight is now over permissions.
- Can we stop with the hindsight takes? Why the AI race rarely keeps the same leader
A look back at the AI race from ChatGPT to Claude Code, the strengths and weaknesses of eight players, and why the lead keeps changing hands.
- How much electricity does AI actually use? The numbers behind Big Tech's energy war
AI's power appetite in plain numbers: data center growth, Big Tech's usage vs. all of Tokyo, local grid strain, nuclear bets, and the Hormuz energy risk.
- What Big Tech bet on in 2025: the latest earnings and the race for AI dominance
Q4 2025 earnings from Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft show where each is betting on AI, what the capex boom means, and how it reaches Japan.
- Can Japan still afford the iPhone? The price wall and the fate of the iPhone kingdom
iPhone prices in Japan now top ¥150,000 and Android has retaken the majority. How price, AI and Apple's local strategy are reshaping Japan's iPhone kingdom.
- Isn't AI development really just about money? The winner-takes-all structure and where nations and companies stand
Why AI spending runs so high: the winner-takes-all logic behind it, and how the US, China, Europe, Japan and Big Tech compare.
- Why do scam ads that TV would never air run freely online?
Why TV and newspapers vet every ad while Google, Meta and other platforms carry scam ads: the history, laws like Section 230, and how the ad business is built.
- Are AI layoffs overhyped? What Big Tech headcount data actually shows
Headcount data for Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft from 2019 to 2024 suggests recent layoffs trim pandemic over-hiring, not AI job loss.
- Will humans be left with the work AI won't do?
AI is moving into strategy, design and even the CEO's chair. What's left for people may be the chores AI doesn't want, not the creative work.
- Can XR make a comeback? Where VR, AR and mixed reality stand today
From Google Glass to Vision Pro, Quest and Android XR: a look back at a decade of XR and whether it could become the next interface.
- Google, the antitrust punching bag: where its cases around the world stand
A country-by-country table of government antitrust cases against Google, the penalties at stake, and how it differs from Microsoft's IE case.
- The dystopia of small AI: why everyday AI may be scarier than superintelligence
Forget The Terminator. The Owl looks at how narrow, everyday AI is already displacing jobs, outpacing the law, eroding trust and shaking our sense of worth.
- Big Tech's remote work U-turn: so is working from home good or not?
Amazon, Google and Meta are pulling staff back to the office. What is really behind the reversal, and does remote work actually help productivity?
- Big Tech is walking away from DEI: what it means for Japan
Why Meta, Google and others are scaling back DEI programs, why Apple is holding firm, and what Japan should learn instead of following the US trend.
Monthly roundups
Each month of Big Tech news, sorted into the light news and the dark news.
- October 2026 Roundup
iPhone Duo, Muse Wonder, Gemini 4 Carbon and AWS growth, set against Alphabet's record drop, Microsoft buyouts and Amazon's cash outflow.
- July 2026 Roundup
July 2026 earnings showed AI paying off in cloud and search, and its weight on Meta and Amazon cash flow, plus Microsoft layoffs and EU rulings.
- June 2026 Roundup
Siri AI, Microsoft Scout, AWS agents and Meta's AI Mode, plus the UK CMA on Google AI search, Siri AI's EU delay and a Ring face-scan lawsuit.
- May 2026 Roundup
Google I/O remakes search around AI, earnings show real AI cloud revenue, and the dark side of capex, Meta layoffs, Fortnite and a Vermont lawsuit.
- April 2026 Roundup
Tim Cook steps down, trillion-yen AI and space bets from Microsoft and Amazon, 16,000 job cuts, and Iran's threats reach data centers.
- March 2026 Roundup
Apple at 50, a $110 billion OpenAI round and Meta's MTIA chips, against Big Tech stocks 14–35% off peak, a social media verdict and layoffs.
- January 2026 Roundup
Apple picked Google's Gemini for the next Siri and Microsoft doubled carbon removal, while Meta and Google faced scam-ad and privacy trouble.
- December 2025 Roundup
Amazon began selling Trainium 3 and Meta agreed to buy Manus, while Meta planned metaverse cuts and Microsoft set 365 price hikes of up to 33%.
- November 2025 Roundup
Gemini 3 launched, Apple turned to Gemini for Siri and OpenAI signed a $38B AWS deal, while Japan's smartphone act and LeCun's exit loomed.
- October 2025 Roundup
Meta's AI spending sank its stock, Amazon cut 14,000 jobs and AWS went down, while Google advanced quantum computing and Apple shipped M5.
- September 2025 Roundup
Apple's iPhone 17 and Meta's display glasses, plus Google's antitrust remedies, a record Amazon class action and Meta's photo scanning.
- August 2025 Roundup
Apple pledged $100 billion more for US manufacturing and Amazon licensed NYT content for AI, while smishing surged and Meta's AI rules drew fire.
- July 2025 Roundup
AI drove strong earnings at Google, Microsoft and Meta, while a fierce AI talent war, Google's antitrust case and an Alexa privacy suit loomed.
- June 2025 Roundup
WWDC brought iOS 26 and visionOS 26, Japan's My Number Card reached iPhone, and Google went AI Mode, amid layoffs, a Pixel ban and EU fines.
- May 2025 Roundup
Google's AI Mode and Android XR at I/O, the NYT–Amazon AI deal, plus antitrust pressure, military tech protests and Meta's metaverse losses.
- April 2025 Roundup
Generative AI moved into real products at Microsoft, Google and Meta, Apple shifted iPhone output to India, and antitrust pressure mounted.
- March 2025 Roundup
New iPads and Macs, Anthropic AI for Alexa+, Gemini 2.5, Majorana 1, a photo-scanning row, a greenwashing suit, preliminary EU DMA findings and a stock slide.
- February 2025 Roundup
Apple launched the iPhone 16e, Big Tech's AI spending is set to soar, and the giants cozied up to the new Trump administration and dropped DEI.