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- Product & Design Pulse v72
Product & Design Pulse v72
Happy Holidays! 🎄🕎
Malcom Jones
December 30, 2025
Welcome to this week’s edition of Product & Design Pulse, where we explore the latest in tech, product, design, and innovation! New York moved to require warning labels on social media, signaling a shift toward consumer-facing accountability for platform design choices. On the infrastructure side, Groq’s deal with Nvidia and Alphabet’s acquisition of Intersect underscored how inference performance and energy supply are becoming strategic assets for AI at scale. Waymo’s response to a PG&E power outage offered a reminder that autonomous systems depend as much on resilient energy and connectivity as they do on software and sensors. Rounding it out, Apple faced fresh antitrust pressure in Europe and Spotify disclosed an internal data leak—highlighting how trust, competition, and operational rigor remain under intense scrutiny as tech grows more embedded in daily life.
🎧 Audio Overview
For those who don’t have time to read 😁 |
Last week…
New York Requires Warning Labels on Social Media Platforms
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation requiring social media platforms to display warning labels about potential mental health risks, particularly for children and teens. The law aims to increase transparency around addictive design patterns and harmful effects tied to excessive social media use. It marks one of the most direct state-level efforts yet to regulate platforms through consumer-facing disclosures rather than behind-the-scenes rules.
Groq and Nvidia Partner to Accelerate AI Inference at Scale
Groq and Nvidia announced a non-exclusive licensing agreement that allows Nvidia to integrate Groq’s inference technology into its own AI stack. The partnership focuses on improving speed, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness for large-scale AI inference workloads. It highlights how inference—not just model training—is becoming a critical competitive battleground in AI infrastructure.
Waymo detailed how a recent PG&E power outage disrupted portions of its autonomous ride-hailing operations, temporarily preventing some vehicles from operating as expected. While the cars themselves remained safe, the outage affected supporting infrastructure—highlighting how autonomy depends not just on vehicles, but on broader energy and communications systems. The incident underscores that real-world autonomy isn’t just a driving problem, but a resilience challenge spanning power, connectivity, and urban infrastructure.
Italy Fines Apple for Alleged Abuse of App Store Dominance
Italy’s antitrust authority fined Apple for allegedly abusing its dominant position by restricting app developers’ access to user data through the App Store. Regulators argued that Apple favored its own services while limiting fair competition from third parties. The ruling adds to mounting regulatory pressure across Europe targeting Big Tech platform control.
Alphabet to Acquire Intersect to Advance U.S. Energy Innovation
Alphabet announced an agreement to acquire Intersect, an energy-focused company working on advanced grid and energy-management solutions. The acquisition aligns with Alphabet’s broader push into energy innovation to support data centers and AI-driven growth. It underscores how energy infrastructure is becoming strategically intertwined with Big Tech’s future expansion.
Spotify Confirms Leak of Internal Music Library Data
Spotify confirmed that internal data related to its music library was leaked online, though the company says no user data or passwords were compromised. The exposed information reportedly included metadata and internal identifiers used for catalog management. The incident raises fresh questions about security practices as streaming platforms manage massive, highly valuable content databases.
