Apple Enters the Smart Home Market & Does OpenAI Have a Spy Problem?

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

We all love connecting over a video call, a quick text or that group chat that literally never sleeps. AT&T has got a deal worth texting the group about. Right now at AT&T, you can get the new iPhone 18 Pro for $0 with eligible trade-in. It has the ultimate pro camera system and big leap in battery life, so you can turn this deal into a long lasting connection. Connecting changes everything. Requires trade-in of $230 or more and eligible plan. Terms and restrictions apply. Subject to change, visit an AT&T store for details.

Neal Freyman (0:33)

Good morning, Brew Daily Show. I'm Neal Freyman.

Toby Howell (0:36)

And I'm Toby Howell.

Neal Freyman (0:37)

Today, OpenAI found an employee bugging a top secret conference room.

Toby Howell (0:41)

Then Apple is making its first foray into the smart home market. It's Wednesday, October 14th. Let's ride.

Neal Freyman (0:55)

I've got a couple of exciting streaming updates to share. The first, which got a lot of people pumped yesterday, is that Girls is coming back to HBO for a five-episode run next year, with most of the major cast members reprising their roles. Considering my Slack profile picture is a character from the show, yeah, I'm going to be locked in. Big win for Millennials. And then, how's this for even more nostalgia? Netflix is developing a movie adaptation of Gary Paulson's Hatchet, the only book you read in school that you actually liked. Toby, big things come to the screen for the girls and the boys.

Toby Howell (1:29)

I'm very excited for Hatchet, but I have to say that book made me unduly scared of being attacked by a moose at some point in my life. Really thought moose attacks was going to be something that I would have to look out for. As for Girls, haven't actually seen it. That's my big admission right here. But it's got me thinking what else from that era would get people equally psyched to come back? Entourage reboot, Gossip Girl reboot, the OC coming back. One of those is going to see Girls' potential success, say, what if we dust it off our characters as well?

And now a word from our sponsor Intuit. Neal, remember the blonde lady who broke into the family's home, ate all their food, broke their furniture and slept in their beds?

Neal Freyman (2:12)

Goldilocks?

Toby Howell (2:13)

Yeah, that little home intruder. She was looking for something that was just right, sort of like finance teams and CFOs logging into four systems to close one month, rebuilding every report in a spreadsheet and paying for add-ons they were told they wouldn't need.

Neal Freyman (2:26)

Luckily, there's the Intuit ERP for that. It's powerful enough for enterprise demands, yet nimble enough to feel familiar and intuitive.

Toby Howell (2:33)

Your team runs one close, however many entities you have. They build their own reports, no consultant required. And getting started doesn't take over your year, all without the legacy ERP baggage.

Neal Freyman (2:43)

To learn more, head to intuit.com/erp. That's intuit.com/erp.

Toby Howell (2:51)

Apple is in your pocket, it's on your wrists, it's in your ears, and now it wants to follow you to your home. The company unveiled HomeView yesterday, a $299 smart display designed to make you forget your Alexa ever existed. Think of the HomeView as a command center for your life, or as Wired put it, a giant Apple watch for the home. It comes equipped with a seven inch display that has multiple faces you can swipe through and apps like FaceTime and Safari pre-installed. Apple thinks its big differentiator though is personalization. HomeView automatically recognizes who is standing in front of it, so when mom walks by, it will show her her calendar appointments, versus if a kid walks by, it might show relevant info from their iPhone. That goes for Siri as well, where different answers will be served up depending on who's asking based on what AI knows about each home member. Since this is Apple, it's put privacy concerns front and center. If I tried to do a drive-by of Neal's HomeView, for instance, I'd be restricted from controlling lights or door locks since I'm a guest. Speaking of lights and locks, Apple is rolling out a whole line of smart home products through a partnership with LG. That includes cameras, doorbells, and thermostats that can all be orchestrated through the device. Neal, Apple has never really invested in this product category before, content to let Google and Amazon duke it out for counter space next to your toaster. Why is now the moment it's choosing to make a splash?

Neal Freyman (4:12)

There are two main reasons. One is this category is ripe for disruption. And number two, it's feeling threatened from AI hardware that could ultimately replace the iPhone. Let's start with number one. The market for home displays, smart home displays, is small and it's shrinking. In 2023, these things did $2.5 billion in sales. Two years later in 2025, it was down to $2.3 billion. For a consumer tech product, that is just not a lot of money. Apple has largely seeded leadership to Amazon and Google, but I don't think anyone's satisfied with those products that they've put out these smart displays. The Amazon Echo Show has these really annoying ads that you can't turn off. Google hasn't released a new Nest Hub since 2021 So much like the MP3 player or coming up a foldable smartphone, Apple is going to go into an established market and think it can shake things up.