WRAL TechWire

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ALERT: The Justice Department on Thursday announced a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of engineering an illegal monopoly in smartphones that boxes out competitors and stifles innovation.

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ALERT: U.S. antitrust enforcers are opening an investigation into the relationships between leading artificial intelligence startups such as ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Anthropic and the tech giants that have invested billions of dollars into them.

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ALERT: Two workers were injured in a flash fire that occurred while equipment was under maintenance, officials said. The injuries were minor, and there was no damage to the Wolfspeed building.

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ALERT: A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked a sweeping import ban on Apple’s latest smartwatches while the patent dispute winds its way through the legal system.

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ALERT: The clock has wound down on the newest Apple Watch after President Joe Biden declined to issue a last-minute, emergency action to keep the best-selling smartwatch on store shelves.

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ALERT: As promised, Apple on Thursday stopped selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in its online store in the United States, with the devices pulled from sale just days ahead of when an Apple Watch import ban goes into effect. In-store sales stop soon as well.

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ALERT: The comapny did disclose the planned closing in October of this year, but the announcement received scant notice alongside the news of a new company Board Chair and CEO.

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ALERT: Apple plans to stop selling some versions of the Apple Watch in the United States as soon as this week to get ahead of what could be one of the most momentous patent disputes in years.

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ALERT: IBM is investing more than $2 billion in cash to bolster its artificial intelligence and cloud computing lineup by acquiring an integration platform as a service suite from Germany-based Software AG.

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ALERT: Lolli, a Durham-based bitcoin rewards app company, announced an $8 million funding round today, and MrBeast is one of the investors.

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ALERT: Tesla is recalling more than 2 million vehicles across its model lineup to fix a defective system that’s supposed to ensure drivers are paying attention when they use Autopilot.

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ALERT: The Triangle is one of the first markets where Google Fiber (GFiber) will roll out its ultra-fast 20-gigabit internet service. But it's not cheap: $250 per month.

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ALERT: Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says Google's own actions in "deleting" company records helped his company win its antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant on Monday.

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ALERT: New documents indicate when construction could begin on the new Apple campus at RTP. The documents reference a "build out" of some access roads for the facility coming in 2026.

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ALERT: A UNC economist said Friday that he sees job market "stabilization" in the latest US employment data—but he also shared predictions about a "hard landing" for the economy. Take a look at the numbers.

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ALERT: Epic Games' megahit Fortnite adds a new dimension of "worldbuilding" today, going live with a new game LEGO Fortnite. Be sure to check out the embedded video trailer.

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ALERT: The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure cooled last month, the latest sign that price pressures are waning in the face of high interest rates and moderating economic growth. And that's good news, says N.C. State economist Dr. Mike Walden.

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ALERT: More new jobs related to lithium batteries needed for use in electric vehicles are coming to North Carolina, this time to Davidson County.

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ALERT: Immersive streaming startup Hololight, which has an operation in Durham, has raised $12 million in new funding, saying it wants to further advance a platform focusing on virtual and augmented reality, or XR, streaming technology.

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ALERT: K4Connect, a company launched in 2013 to provide improved communications tools for senior living centers and people with disabilities, is getting a new chief executive officer as cofounder and CEO Scott Moody steps aside.