The chief executive optimist says it\u2019s because AI is helping automate processes. The pessimist says it\u2019s because we\u2019re heading into a recession. Whatever the reason, no one wants to be over their skis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Out in Silicon Valley? Moonshots. In? Roofshots.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s tech news below. \u2014Andrew Nusca<\/p>\n
Want to send thoughts or suggestions to\u00a0Fortune Tech?\u00a0Drop a line\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Is John Ternus the heir apparent at Apple? Gabby Jones\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/p>\n With Apple CEO Tim Cook turning the big 6-5 next month\u2014and many of his top lieutenants not far behind him\u2014the rumor mill is spinning as to who might eventually replace him at the $4 billion U.S. tech giant.<\/p>\n According to Bloomberg\u2019s Mark Gurman<\/a>, Apple is \u201cintensifying the spotlight\u201d on hardware chief John Ternus as Apple\u2019s next top exec.<\/p>\n We\u2019re already starting to see changes. Cook\u2019s No. 2, COO Jeff Williams, will exit this year. Hardware chief Johny Srouji and sustainability chief Lisa Jackson are weighing retirement, per Gurman. AI chief John Giannandrea has arrows in his back from the company\u2019s troubled Apple Intelligence rollouts. All are in their 60s.<\/p>\n At 50, Ternus\u2014a 24-year veteran of the company\u2014has some runway to operate if he were handed Apple\u2019s top job. And his product engineering background may be desirable at a time when Apple could use a hit.<\/p>\n Not that Cook plans to shuffle off into the sunset anytime soon. As he said in an interview earlier this year: \u201cI don\u2019t see being at home doing nothing and not [being] intellectually stimulated.\u201d \u2014AN<\/p>\n The AI boom is creating a memory shortage<\/p>\n As with most electronic things, the cost of computer memory and storage has dramatically declined<\/a> over time.<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s purchase? Half the price today. And it\u2019ll happen again next year.<\/p>\n Except it might not. Suppliers and analysts reportedly believe that the tremendous buildout of AI data centers is driving us toward major shortages of both memory (DRAM) and storage (NAND, a.k.a. flash).<\/p>\n As Tom\u2019s Hardware writes<\/a>: \u201cEvery memory cycle has a trigger, or a series of triggers. In past years, it was the arrival of smartphones, then solid-state notebooks, then cloud storage. This time, the main driver of demand is AI.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Turns out GPUs and electricity weren\u2019t the only limitations on an AI boom.<\/p>\n Hyperscalers are well aware. The recent Samsung-SK Hynix-OpenAI agreement<\/a> to supply up to 900,000 DRAM wafers per month to the Stargate project accounts for nearly 40% of global output of the stuff, Tom\u2019s notes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Future flash arrays, it seems, are harder to book than a Friday night table at 7 Adams in San Francisco.<\/p>\n When will we see relief? Based on previous boom-bust memory and storage cycles, it could take years. Strap in. \u2014AN<\/p>\n North Korean IT agents have scammed businesses out of millions<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been reading this newsletter for awhile, you\u2019ll know that thousands of North Korean IT workers have for years been stealing identities, falsifying r\u00e9sum\u00e9s, and deceiving their way into highly paid remote tech jobs in the U.S. and other wealthy countries.<\/p>\n The operation has targeted hundreds of Fortune 500 businesses, aerospace manufacturers, and U.S. financial institutions ranging from banks to tiny crypto startups, according to the FBI.<\/p>\n Is it working? Yes. According to a new Fortune report<\/a>, the scam has pried open a gusher of cash for Kim Jong-un\u2019s government, which confiscates most of the IT workers\u2019 salaries.<\/p>\n The program has funneled anywhere from hundreds of millions to $1 billion to the authoritarian regime in the past five years, according to FBI estimates.<\/p>\n Both sides are getting smarter about the situation, but it continues to evolve. The latest wrinkle? The North Korean IT workers are subcontracting out more labor to developers based in India and Pakistan in an attempt to conceal their true identities.<\/p>\n Beneath the sprawling scheme lies an uncomfortable truth: The modern economy prizes efficiency, productivity, and results. And North Korean IT workers are leaning in on those tenets. \u2014Amanda Gerut<\/p>\n More tech<\/p>\n \u2014Trouble in Ive x Altman land.<\/a> Reported technical issues with OpenAI\u2019s planned personal device that may lead to launch delays.<\/p>\n \u2014Clash over subsea cables<\/a>. U.S. Big Tech uses more than 70% of their capacity, much to China\u2019s chagrin.<\/p>\n \u2014European startups chase U.S. investment.<\/a> American VCs have invested some $14.2 billion in European AI startups so far this year.<\/p>\n \u2014Peak social media was in 2022.<\/a> Time spent globally three years ago, per GWI, has since steadily declined\u2026except in North America.<\/p>\n \u2014Robinhood guns for the U.K<\/a>. Product launches aplenty as the low-cost U.S. fintech firm takes on Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2014Boys just wanna game<\/a>. Young males have doubled their average time per week spent playing video games, according to a large U.S. survey.<\/p>\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-1239031817.jpg\"\/)
<\/a>John Ternus, SVP of hardware engineering at Apple, speaking in New York on March 8, 2022.<\/p>\n