TechShot: Digital Innovation Stories From the Past Seven Days

 

This Week's TechShot

Over the past week, six pivotal developments have reshaped the digital innovation landscape. Google’s landmark antitrust trial unveiled a lucrative, undisclosed two-year pact to preinstall its Gemini AI assistant on Samsung’s Galaxy S25, displacing Bixby. Apple has launched Visual Intelligence in iOS 18.2, enabling on-device, real-time object recognition and context-aware insights with strict privacy controls. ByteDance is set to roll out TikTok Shop in Japan this June, following explosive early growth in Europe. In Washington, the White House’s OMB has ordered all federal agencies to appoint Chief AI Officers and publish enterprise-wide AI strategies by June 30, 2025. At Auto Shanghai, Pony.ai warned that Trump-era tariffs could chill investor sentiment even as it secures Nvidia chips for a 1,000-unit robotaxi fleet next year. Finally, Interpol’s Singapore Innovation Centre is quietly leveraging underwater drones, AI forensics, and robotic K9s—processing 7.4 billion database searches in 2023 and aiding in 215 fugitive captures—to stay ahead of modern cybercrime.

---

1. Google & Samsung Cement Gemini as Default AI Assistant

In April 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed during its landmark antitrust trial that Google has struck a two-year, multi-billion-dollar agreement to preinstall its Gemini AI app on Samsung’s Galaxy S25 series, displacing Samsung’s Bixby . Prosecutors described the deal as “lucrative and undisclosed,” evidencing Google’s strategy to weave generative AI directly into Android’s most popular handsets. Documents also show Google once pursued exclusivity clauses with other Android OEMs—Motorola, AT&T, and Verizon—before scaling back amid regulatory pressure. Meanwhile, the European
Commission is investigating whether such pre-installation deals stifle competition in AI markets, sending questionnaires to industry players about rival chatbot access on Samsung devices.

---

2. Apple’s Visual Intelligence Turns iPhones into Real-Time Research Tools

Apple has rolled out Visual Intelligence, a feature in iOS 18.2 and later that uses on-device AI to recognize objects, text, and scenes through the camera—delivering business hours, translations, and plant-care tips without leaving the viewfinder. Available on iPhone 16/16 Pro (iOS 18.2), iPhone 16E (iOS 18.3), and iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max (iOS 18.4), users must enable Apple Intelligence under Settings → Apple Intelligence & Siri, then long-press the Camera Control button (or use Control Center) to activate. Because all image processing occurs locally, Apple emphasizes privacy—no photos are stored or transmitted to its servers, a key differentiator from cloud-based rivals .

3. TikTok Shop Prepares to Go Live in Japan This June

ByteDance is recruiting Japanese merchants ahead of TikTok Shop’s June 2025 launch, aiming to replicate the 150% surge in seller sign-ups and 200% jump in order volumes seen in March’s European rollout (France, Germany, Italy). Merchants in fashion, cosmetics, and consumer electronics will host livestream sales, tapping into short-form video trends to drive conversions . This expansion comes as U.S. regulators pressure ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. assets, making Asia-Pacific growth all the more critical for the company’s e-commerce strategy.

---

4. White House Directs All Agencies to Appoint Chief AI Officers

Photo by Aaron Kittredge

On April 7, 2025, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a directive requiring every federal agency to designate a Chief AI Officer and publish an enterprise-wide AI
strategy by June 30, 2025. This order rescinds previous Biden-era guidelines that prioritized risk mitigation and transparency, instead embracing a “forward-leaning, pro-innovation” posture to accelerate AI deployment. Agencies must establish minimum-risk management practices, craft generative AI policies, and emphasize U.S.-made AI solutions—while the FAA already uses machine learning to analyse flight-safety data as an early example of federal AI in action.

---

5. Pony.ai Warns Tariffs Could Cloud Robotaxi Rollout

At Auto Shanghai 2025, Pony.ai CEO James Peng cautioned that President Trump’s April 9 tariff hikes—10% on most imports and 145% on select Chinese goods—risk chilling investor sentiment overseas, potentially slowing partnership deals and market entry despite supply-chain resilience. Pony.ai sources Nvidia Orin-X chips (exempt from export curbs) and readies Drive Thor as a next-gen fallback, while lining up domestic chipmakers to insulate production. Having debuted on Nasdaq with a $260 million raise and $4.55 billion valuation last November, the firm still targets deploying 1,000 robotaxis globally in 2025—a plan that could encounter headwinds if tariffs stoke geopolitical uncertainty.

6. Under the Radar: Interpol’s Singapore Innovation Centre

Nestled in Tanglin near the Botanic Gardens, Interpol’s Global Complex for Innovation hosts its Singapore Innovation Centre—the second-largest after Lyon—where underwater drones, AI-driven forensics, and robotic K9s combine to fight cybercrime and cross-border fugitives. In 2024, the facility processed over 7.4 billion database queries and helped capture 215 wanted individuals by leveraging techniques from clean-room device extraction to vehicle infotainment data reads . Its digital forensics lab uses chip readers, Faraday cages, and specialized software to retrieve data from damaged phones, while synthetic media and deepfake countermeasures keep pace with evolving threats

---

Let us know your thoughts on these key innovation stories, has anything else caught your eye this week?