- The Arrival of Deep Research. There’s been such a flood of new products and features in the AI space that it’s become harder for my jaw to drop to the floor like it did when I first played with ChatGPT. One such occasion occurred this week, however, as I read Ben’s coverage of Apple’s Q4 earnings and a new product from OpenAI. The earnings themselves were interesting, and Apple continues to evolve into a services company, but that’s a footnote alongside the alarmingly cogent and useful reports on Apple that Ben generated using OpenAI’s new Deep Research tool, which he included in full in the Update. Ben and Andrew did a great job talking through the economic implications of this tool on Thursday’s episode of Sharp Tech, and for my part, it really felt like Stratechery added a new staff member this week. I’m now excited to incorporate Deep Research into our weekly workflow, and extremely curious to see how the rest of the world makes use of this technology. (And yes, for you Stratechery podcast listeners, I did speak for almost a full 90 minutes on Tuesday’s episode. Thank you for bearing with me!) — Daman Rangoola
- Apple and the Double-Edged Services Sword. As Ben (and Deep Research!) observed on Tuesday, Apple saw record profits and record revenues in Q4, even as iPhone sales were down year-over-year. It was another quarter’s worth of evidence that as the modern iPhone market plateaus, Apple’s services business continues to be a massive source of revenue, high margins, and growth (and awe-inspiring Apple TV+ budgets). All of that is context, then, for an interesting bit of news Ben highlighted in Wednesday’s Daily Update: In the midst of a looming trade war with the US, Bloomberg reports that China’s State Administration for Market Regulation is examining Apple’s app store policies and its 30% tax on developers. Bill Bishop and I touched on Apple’s complicated new realities in China on a free episode of Sharp China this week, and while details of the App Store investigation are scarce, consider a) how central the App Store revenue has become to Apple’s business, b) how consistently Apple has fought to continue collecting its 30% fees on every continent, but c) how Apple’s compliance with Chinese regulators has altered its worldwide behavior in the past. We’ll see what, if anything, happens next. — Andrew Sharp
- Mayhem in Professional Basketball. About three weeks ago on Greatest of All Talk, I wondered aloud whether the days of midseason blockbuster NBA trades were behind us. Ummm… Whoops! The past week saw eight NBA All-Stars change teams, including a Luka Doncic trade that still has the entire basketball world stupefied (and grumbling about the Lakers). I covered the week from top to bottom with the Washington Post’s Ben Golliver, and if you want to get caught up on why the Lakers are seen as massive winners, De’Aaron Fox and his new future with Victor Wembanyama, or what the hell just happened with Jimmy Butler, Kevin Durant and the Warriors, this week’s second GOAT is free, and it’s a great Friday listen. Check it out below. — AS
Stratechery Articles and Updates
- An Interview with ServiceNow Chairman and CEO Bill McDermott about Enterprise AI Agents — An interview with ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott about his life story, leadership, and why ServiceNow is the right platform for enterprise AI agents.
- Google Earnings, Search Status, China Antitrust Actions — Investor disappointment in Google is overwrought, while Search is showing some positive results from AI. Then, China is investigating Google and Apple for very different reasons.
- Apple Earnings, OpenAI Deep Research, The Unbundling of Substantiation — Ben analyzes Apple’s Earnings, and then OpenAI Deep Research does the same, demonstrating the unbundling of substantiation from creation.
- The De Minimis Loophole, Impact on Amazon and Meta, AI and Abundance — Trump’s new tariffs take aim at the de minimis exception, which has undergirded Temu and Shein growth, and had knock-on effects on Amazon and Meta.
Dithering with Ben Thompson and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber
Asianometry with Jon Yu
Sharp China with Andrew Sharp and Sinocism’s Bill Bishop
Greatest of All Talk with Andrew Sharp and WaPo’s Ben Golliver
- De’Aaron Fox to the Spurs, Luka Thoughts 48 Hours Later, Questions for LeBron and the Lakers
- Emergency Pod: Yes, This is Real, and Luka Doncic is Now on the Lakers
Sharp Tech with Andrew Sharp and Ben Thompson
- Experimenting With OpenAI’s Deep Research, Another ChatGPT Moment, Won’t Someone Think of the Entry-Level Employees?
- Apple Abandons Its Smart Glasses, Google as the Yellow Pages, LLMs and the Overton Window
The latest Stratechery video is a DeepSeek FAQ.