Apple's having a rough year

Apple is in the DOJ's crosshairs. Here's a breakdown in less than a minute.

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Welcome back to our Sunday edition, a roundup of some of our top stories.

Wondering how to buy a home when interest rates are so high? This homebuyer got a 2.5% rate when everyone else was paying 6%. 

On the agenda:

• The economy is doing great — unless you want to make a change in your life.

• AI is upending the world's most profitable online business: Google Search.

• Goldman Sachs' response to criticism that it's bleeding women leaders.

• He was an American war hero. Then he decided to smuggle arms to Israel.

But first: Apple is in the DOJ's crosshairs. Here's a breakdown in less than a minute.

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This week's dispatch

Taking a bite out of Apple

Apple's having a rough year.

It's under pressure in China, pulled the plug on its EV project, just paid out $490 million in a settlement, and now it's facing an antitrust lawsuit from the Department of Justice.

The DOJ says Apple has illegally maintained a monopoly in the smartphone market by "delaying, degrading, or outright blocking" rivals from competing.

Apple is to blame for Amazon and Microsoft's phone failures, per the DOJ, which also zeroes in on Apple's green text bubbles. The lawsuit quotes Tim Cook joking about buying your mom an iPhone and an email Steve Jobs sent more than a decade ago.

Apple has said a win for the DOJ would set a "dangerous precedent," and that it will "vigorously defend" itself. Analysts at Wedbush predict a settlement will be reached in 12 to 18 months.

This is just the latest example of government intervention in the tech industry. The FTC sued Amazon in September, while Google's own antitrust trial wrapped up in November.

In some ways, the DOJ suit is history repeating itself. It was a tech antitrust lawsuit more than two decades ago that helped create space for Apple's rise.

The "trapped in place" economy

Thinking about making a big change anytime soon? Want to change jobs, buy a house, or get a new car? You may be out of luck.

Right now, everything's sort of stuck. Inflation is falling, but prices are still high. Interest rates are up. The job market is cooling off, and it's tougher to find a job than in recent years.

Why everything's gone stagnant.

"Site owners are terrified"

Last year, Google began rolling out a new generative AI-infused version of Search. Since December, BI has plugged the same queries into Google's traditional search engine and its generative AI version to see how information is presented differently — including a query about one of Lady Gaga's business deals.

The differences are dramatic — and will likely alter the way billions of people access online information.

How AI changes the search engine.

Goldman talking points

Goldman Sachs is battling a vortex of speculation about its lack of women leaders. And thanks to a 12-point internal memo obtained by BI, we now know how the Wall Street giant is responding to the criticism.

Chief of staff Russell Horwitz admitted that "progress has been slow" and distributed a "briefing toolkit" advising bankers on how to speak to staff and clients.

See the memo for yourself here.

Also read:

• Top Goldman Sachs exec Stephanie Cohen explains why she's leaving Wall Street for tech

An arms smuggler and a daring heist

In 1948, the decorated WWII veteran Al Schwimmer masterminded a covert, illegal, international operation with the Jewish underground paramilitary and an unlikely gang of volunteers — including Frank Sinatra and Pee-wee Herman's dad.

Together, they broke an American embargo, and smuggled 125 military planes and more than 50,000 weapons to Palestine, for one of the most incredible military heists of all time.

Here's what happened.

This week's quote:

"Buy your mom an iPhone."

• Tim Cook in 2022, as cited in the DOJ's lawsuit.

More of this week's top reads

• Inside Microsoft's big bet on the cofounder of Google Deepmind.

• An Official Amazon HR document reveals a spike in employees put on PIPs.

• Joe Rogan's audience is huge. Like, really, really huge.

• Reddit's co-founder was bickering with investors on the company's big IPO day.

• Angela Chao's BAC was nearly 3 times the legal limit when she drowned in her Tesla, police report shows.

• A billionaire energy drink mogul elbowed his way into publishing Sports Illustrated — now he's lost it.

• Secretly working a second job? It may not be for much longer, the "Oracle of Wall Street" warns.

• Read BI's report that inspired the new series "Quiet on Set": Inside Dan Schneider's "disgusting" Nickelodeon empire.

The Insider Today team: Matt Turner, deputy editor-in-chief, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.