Connected newsletter: Setback for Ireland in €13 billion Apple tax case as Web Summit backlash continues

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In what was arguably the biggest tech story locally this week, the Irish government and Apple experienced a serious setback when the European Court of Justice on Thursday sided with the European Commission in the €13 billion tax case.

The ECJ’s advocate general has said the EU’s general court should reopen the case. While its decision is not binding it is seen as influential in how the European Court of Justice will rule when it announces its final decision on the case next year.

In another big news story, disquiet over former Web Summit chief executive Paddy Cosgrave’s recent comments on Israel continue to hurt the company.

Robert Habeck, the German economy minister and vice-chancellor, withdrew from next week’s flagship Web Summit event in Lisbon after more than 300 Israeli entrepreneurs wrote an open letter to him calling for a boycott of the conference.

In related news, Web Summit moved to have a video critical of Cosgrave and the company pulled from social media websites. And as if that weren’t enough, Web Summit announced it had withdrawn funding from The Ditch, the investigative website championed by its former CEO.

Facebook parent Meta this week began notifying users in Europe that they “need to make a choice” between paying €9.99 a month for the ad-free use of Facebook and Instagram or being targeted with personalised advertising.

Elon Musk has revealed a ‘rebellious’ alternative to ChatGPT. Grok is the first product from the entrepreneur’s xAI company. Meanwhile, ChatGPT’s owner OpenAI held its first-ever developer conference earlier this week during which it announced plans to let users build custom versions of its chatbot to accomplish specific personal and professional tasks.

Mental health and AI were among the most popular themes among the 2,000 projects submitted for the 2024 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE), its organiser revealed. The 60th edition of the event returns in mid-January.

Over two thirds of Irish businesses plan to invest in cyber security as cyber threats continue to increase, according to a new study by Dell Technologies.

Lastly, on the funding front, it was good news for Positive Carbon and GreyScout, which both revealed they had secured investment from backers yesterday.

I’m going to be at Web Summit next week and will be reporting from Lisbon on what’s happening at the event so stay tuned!

All the best

Charlie

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