Jonathan Rinderknecht was facing arson charges for setting a fire on New Year’s Day in 2025, which became one of the deadliest wildfires in LA history. To make their case, prosecutors turned to location data from his iPhone, security camera footage, and witness testimony. But they also turned to his ChatGPT logs.

Prosecutors said that Rinderknecht had ChatGPT generate images of fire, asked the chatbot, “Why am I so angry all the time?”, and ranted to it about how the wealthy were destroying the world. They also pointed to a screen recording in which Rinderknecht asked ChatGPT whether someone could be blamed for a fire if it was lit by their cigarette.

But the jurors were unconvinced. The trial ended in a deadlock when the jury voted 10-2 in favor of the defense. That led the judge to declare a hung jury and a mistrial. 

One juror told CBS LA that she didn’t believe the ChatGPT logs were proof of anything, saying, “I talk to ChatGPT all the time.” She said it actually made her “angry” that they were suggesting his use of the chatbot indicated some sort of character flaw. 

Teenage Engineering has already issued multiple substantial updates for its surprisingly capable $329 EP-133 KO II sampler. Its latest is one of the biggest yet. OS 2.5 adds audio over USB, selectable sample rates for lo-fi fun, sample reverse, an arpeggiator, equal-length autochopping, and it extends the maximum length of a sample from 20 seconds to 40 seconds by capturing mono, instead of stereo, audio.

Sample reverse is such a simple feature that it’s shocking it wasn’t implemented earlier. An arpeggiator doesn’t always make a ton of sense on a sampler, but the KO II sounds so incredible repitching samples (like the SK-1 successor I’ve always wanted) that here it’s a huge addition. It’s easier than ever now to crank out a synthpop bassline. 

The combination of longer sampling time and equal-length autochopping also makes the KO II much better suited to chopping up and rearranging samples and loops. While the transient-based autochopper was great for isolating drum hits in a break, it was less useful for melodic content.

My favorite new feature, though, is the new selectable sample rate. You can stick with the standard 46k kHz if you want, but the new 32 kHz mode adds some nice character, while 26 kHz goes full lo-fi, turning crunchy and digital.

Those are just the headlining features. There’s also improved time stretching, new scales, per-pad time shifting, and tons of bug fixes.

The OS 2.5 update is also available for the KO II’s reggae-themed sibling, the Riddim. While the bizarre EP-1320 Medieval sampler is finally getting an OS update, it’s only getting USB audio, and nothing else. We’ve asked Teenage Engineering why the EP-1320 is regularly left out of the update fun, but have yet to hear back. 

You can update your OP-133 KO II, EP-40 Riddom, or EP-1320 Medieval here.

Apple is looking to alleviate some of the pressure on its supply chain by seeking an exception from the Trump administration to buy RAM chips from CXMT, a company blacklisted by the Pentagon over ties to the People’s Liberation Army, according to the Financial Times. The skyrocketing prices of RAM and storage have driven Apple to raise prices on almost all of its products this week, so it makes sense that it would seek alternative sources.

Legally, Apple isn’t barred from buying chips from CXMT, but doing business with a company tied to the Chinese military would carry serious reputational risks. It’s possible that CXMT could still find itself the target of export controls for undermining US security. The company was on a list of proposed additions to the so-called “Entity List” by the Commerce Department, but held off because the White House was in the middle of trade negotiations with China.

It’s unclear if the administration would give its blessing to Apple. Tim Cook has spent significant time trying to build bridges with the Trump administration, presenting the president with gaudy statues and attending a screening of the Melania movie, directed by accused rapist Brett Ratner. But if the White House granted Apple permission, such a decision would likely face significant blowback. John Moolenaar, Republican chair of the House China committee, told the Financial Times that:

“Apple choosing to partner with a Chinese military company would be a grave mistake… Helping the [Chinese Communist Party] succeed in its plans to dominate critical supply chains will make our country’s tech industry and economy more dependent on China at a time when we must build secure tech supply chains with our allies,”

Tim Cook recently said price increases were “unavoidable” and described the company’s pricing as “unsustainable.” The 16-inch MacBook Pro saw its price go up by $300. The 11-inch iPad Air went from $599 to $749. Even the HomePod Mini got a $30 bump to $129. Cook squarely placed the blame at the feet of the AI industry, which is not surprising. RAMageddon has already come for your desktop PCs and gaming consoles. The Xbox has seen its price climb nearly 25 percent depending on the model, and Nothing even canceled an entire phone launch. Apple is just the most recent to jack up prices and point the finger at AI.

The price hikes are “basic economics,” says Tim Derdenger, associate professor of marketing and strategy at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. As the tech industry has raced to win the AI war, “the price of RAM has skyrocketed because the memory manufacturers have reallocated their production lines to produce new HBM memory for AI data centers and away from consumer DDR5.” And when the cost of components goes up, companies tend to pass those costs on to consumers.

But this isn’t some fluke, or temporary supply chain problem. Companies are choosing data center clients over ordinary buyers because “the same chip earns far more inside an AI server than inside a consumer device,” according to Srikanth Jagabathula, professor of technology, operations, and statistics at the NYU Stern School of Business. Regardless of whether people are clamoring for more AI, and more AI data centers, or not.

Companies like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft have thrown around unprecedented amounts of money, outbidding companies like Apple for RAM and storage, creating what even Sam Altman has admitted is a bubble. This imbalance has led to record earnings for companies like Micron, which manufactures memory chips. “This shortage is not temporary and might extend into the next few years … And because the increase is lasting rather than temporary, simply absorbing the cost is not a sustainable strategy,” Jagabathula says.

But Apple has posted record earnings for at least four quarters in a row, and its margins on hardware sales are much higher than the industry standard. Its markups are estimated to be between 30 and 40 percent, depending on the product. TechInsights and The Wall Street Journal estimate that it’s even higher on the iPhone 17 Pro, perhaps as much as 47 percent. According to TheStreet, margins on smartphones are typically between 15 and 25 percent. Data on laptop margins is harder to come by, but estimates put it between 10 percent and 25 percent for most of the industry.

Apple is actually among the last of the major tech companies to raise its prices. But why are customers being asked to foot the bill when Apple seems well-positioned to absorb these costs?

Ari Lightman, professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College, described it as “spot on” to say it’s hard to square Apple’s public financial statements and Tim Cook’s description of its pricing as unsustainable. He said raising prices was “without a doubt” about appeasing shareholders who demand constant growth. 

Lightman points to Apple’s lagging behind in the AI race, the uncertainty around installing a new CEO in John Ternus, and the lack of a hit new product category as putting pressure on the company. 

“There’s a lot of things that investors can really beat them up on,” he said, and “if they’re going to be selling the stock and promoting the stock to large institutional investors … in terms of being one of the most valuable companies, then they have to tell a really good story.” And that story is one of huge margins and profits even in the face of rising costs and AI-driven supply constraints.

The AI boom is touching almost every facet of our lives, but this week, it came particularly hard for our wallets with the announcement of another round of price hikes for the Xbox, and even the Arduino got caught up in the memory crunch. I spent hours talking to marketing and business experts, exchanging emails and phone calls, and no one could give me a satisfying answer to why the price of popping up more data centers should be consumers’ costs to bear.