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1. Google to Pay $7 Million to Settle Antitrust Lawsuit

Following its defeat in an antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games, Google's parent company, Alphabet, is now facing a larger challenge from the U.S. government. According to court documents filed in San Francisco, Alphabet has proposed a settlement in which it would pay $7 million and make changes to its Google Play policies to reduce competition barriers in the app distribution and payment processing markets.

Commentary: Google's move is an attempt to avoid further legal risk and reputational damage, as well as to maintain its dominant position in the mobile app market. The company needs to find a balance between maintaining its competitiveness and complying with regulations.

2. Apple Reportedly Plans "Rescue Mission" for Apple Watch

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple is planning a "rescue mission" to save its Apple Watch business, which is worth nearly $17 billion. The report claims that Apple engineers are working around the clock to modify the device's blood oxygen level measurement algorithm, including adjusting the way the technology determines blood oxygen saturation and presents the data to customers. This is in response to a ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC) that Apple Watch's blood oxygen measurement feature infringes on a patent held by Masimo, a pulse oximeter company. As a result, Apple has stopped selling the latest versions of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the United States.

Commentary: Apple's blood oxygen measurement feature is a major selling point for its smartwatches. If it is able to pass regulatory approval, it will help Apple maintain its competitive advantage in the smartwatch market.

3. GPT-4.5 Allegedly Leaked: Stronger Multimodal, Supports 3D

According to a report from The Verge, GPT-4.5 is rumored to be "OpenAI's most advanced model," with even more powerful multimodal capabilities. In addition to the text, speech, images, and videos that GPT-4V can handle, GPT-4.5 can also easily handle 3D information and cross-modal understanding. The price is at least six times higher than the previous GPT-4 Turbo model.

Commentary: GPT-4.5's multimodal capabilities and 3D support will create more possibilities and challenges for the application scenarios and value creation of artificial intelligence, and will also put higher demands on the ethics and social impact of artificial intelligence.

4. Tesla to subside German New Car Buyers 

Tesla has announced that it will provide subsidies to German new car buyers to make up for the lack of government subsidies. The German Ministry of Economy said last week that it would end the electric car subsidy program, which was scheduled to expire at the end of the year, due to a budget crisis. The program was cut back after a ruling by the German Constitutional Court reduced the national budget by $6 billion. This forced the government to shelve some plans to accelerate Germany's green transition.

Commentary: Tesla's subsidy measures may increase its short-term cost pressure, but they could also boost its market share and brand influence in the long run.

5. Novo Nordisk Cracks Down on Fake Diet Pills

According to a report from Reuters, Novo Nordisk's legal team in India is working with the Indian online marketplace IndiaMART to develop a framework to remove counterfeit diet pills from the platform and curb illegal sales. Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic have been widely praised since their launch. Wegovy is a weight control medication, and Ozempic is a diabetes medication. Both drugs contain the active ingredient semaglutide, for which Novo Nordisk is the sole patent holder.

Commentary: Novo Nordisk's action is aimed at protecting its intellectual property rights and market position in the weight loss and diabetes drug markets, as well as maintaining its reputation and quality in the pharmaceutical industry.

6. ASML to Launch 2nm Manufacturing Equipment in the Coming Months

According to a report from The Information, ASML will launch 2-nanometer (nm) manufacturing equipment in the coming months. The company plans to produce 10 units of 2nm equipment in 2024, with Intel reportedly purchasing six of them. ASML plans to increase the production capacity of these chip manufacturing equipment to 20 units per year in the coming years.

Commentary: ASML's 2nm manufacturing equipment will provide chipmakers with a significant competitive advantage. It will allow them to produce chips that are faster, more efficient, and more powerful than those produced by their competitors.

Disclaimer: The information and data provided in this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Please verify the information before making any decisions.