Image: Nikolai Chernichenko / Protocol
Apple got skewered at the most useful tech hearing yet

Good morning! This Thursday, we have notes from the latest tech antitrust hearing, a first look at the EU's plan to regulate AI, Roku getting ready to win the streaming wars and a feisty fight among delivery company CEOs.
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Yesterday's Senate Judiciary hearing on antitrust and app stores turned into largely a referendum on Apple. In a rare show of bipartisan cooperation, Protocol's Issie Lapowsky writes, senators on the antitrust subcommittee gave representatives from Match, Tile and Spotify ample space to air their grievances against Apple.
Apple was left to do most of the explaining. And Kyle Andeer, its chief compliance officer, struggled: He couldn't refute Sen. Amy Klobuchar's questions about the App Store's huge profit margins, or explain the difference between using an iPhone to get an Uber (which Apple doesn't charge a commission for) and using it to get a Tinder date (which it does).
This is only going to get worse for Apple. Senators yesterday borrowed heavily from filings in the Epic v. Apple case, and that heads to trial in less than two weeks.
Anna Kramer writes: The European Commission released the first law proposing serious limits on the use of artificial intelligence. This law (or the version of it that eventually passes) has the potential to someday be the AI equivalent of GDPR, and it poses a long list of potential restrictions on popular AI already in use.
The EU has focused on overseeing "high-risk" AI. That includes all biometric identification — facial recognition, genetic markers and iris scan databases, for example — as well as systems used for employment, immigration, education and law enforcement.
This won't be what passes. The proposed law will face years of debate and votes in the European Council, European Parliament and in EU countries before it could pass in some form. Industry lobbying groups like the BSA Software Alliance have already released noncommittal statements on the legislation, urging for continued cooperation and debate between tech companies and regulators as the law moves forward. Which is think tank speak for "get in loser, we're going lobbying."
Someday the Roku Method is going to be taught in business schools. It's a four-step system to dominate a crowded industry:
Roku reached the endgame yesterday, launching Roku Originals by combining the Roku Channel (which, again, it grew using other people's content) and the shows it bought from Quibi. The company hinted there's much more to come, too.
With distribution, monetization and content all under one roof, few in the space can match its scope and none can match its power. The company that promised to be Switzerland spent a decade quietly amassing an army, and is now going to war.
Remember what it was like to see a new city, visit your family, watch a live show, or cheer for your favorite team in person? Those experiences are closer than ever with the free CLEAR app. Vaccine connection is coming soon - download today and get ready.
Join Protocol's Ben Pimentel for a conversation about the future of banking with Clearbanc's Michele Romanow and Wells Fargo's Ather Williams III at #CollisionConf on April 22. Learn more
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Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi and Just Eat Takeaway's Jitse Groen went at it on Twitter after Uber Eats announced it's coming to Germany:
On Protocol: UiPath had a huge public debut, and CFO Ashim Gupta said the market's not going down anytime soon:
Startup fundraising is smashing records right now — the last quarter was up 41% over the previous high — and EB Exchange's Larry Albukerk said things feel crazy:
Enough with the claims of meritocracy, Ellen Pao said:
Al Prescott is Luminar's new chief legal officer, joining from Tesla.
Dish and Amazon are working together on 5G tech, as Dish tries to use cloud infrastructure to catch up quick in the wireless world.
Affirm acquired Returnly for about $300 million. Returnly does … what you'd guess: It builds software for product returns and exchanges.
Here's a new product worth trying: FigJam, a digital whiteboard app Figma just released. It's free for the rest of the year, and it's a pretty useful collaborative tool for quick brainstorms, design reviews and the like. There's a persistent audio chat, too, so you can jump in without needing a separate Zoom call. Digital whiteboards have become a necessity for lots of newly remote workers, and while Figma has lots of competition in this space it certainly seems to have a shot at winning the market. (I don't know if you know this, but people love Figma.)
Remember what it was like to see a new city, visit your family, watch a live show, or cheer for your favorite team in person? Those experiences are closer than ever with the free CLEAR app. Vaccine connection is coming soon - download today and get ready.
Join Protocol's Ben Pimentel for a conversation about the future of banking with Clearbanc's Michele Romanow and Wells Fargo's Ather Williams III at #CollisionConf on April 22. Learn more
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Today's Source Code was written by David Pierce, with help from Anna Kramer and Shakeel Hashim. Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to david@protocol.com, or our tips line, tips@protocol.com. Enjoy your day; see you tomorrow.
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