News
- ChatGPT and Google Gemini have overtaken popular social media sites for discovering new products
- 55% of UK shoppers have made a purchase based on AI-powered product recommendations
- Privacy and advanced features like visual search could be holding back wider adoption
New research has claimed that while AI is helping people to shop, the technology is yet to contribute to any noticeable increases in revenue.
Figures from Vercel and the World Retail Congress found 20% of UK consumers use AI search platforms such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini over social media to kick off their retail discovery, with Facebook on 19%, TikTok on 18%, and Instagram with just 14%.
Meanwhile, 87% of UK shoppers find AI recommendations useful, but only 55% have made a purchase following an AI recommendation.
AI shopping assistantsWhile AI recommendations and price comparisons are considered useful, retailers are yet to see any increase in buying. This could be due to trust or privacy issues, with only 10% of shoppers admitting that they would spend more time with an AI shopping assistant than a human fulfilling the same role, a figure that is repeated across Europe.
In the UK, while AI is being increasingly adopted by storefronts, it is still some way from wider adoption as a replacement. 79% prefer to open a retailer’s website to start online shopping, and for high value purchases, 65% still prefer to pay a visit to the retailer’s bricks-and-mortar location and see the goods for themselves before parting with their cash.
Some of the resistance can be attributed to trust and privacy issues. The report found a third (33%) of UK customers are concerned that AI doesn’t show them the best products, perhaps because they are inaccurate, or worse – influenced by manufacturers or some other promotional tool.
The challenge to retailers"For most of the web's history, we optimized storefronts for two audiences: people and Google," said Malte Ubl, CTO at Vercel.
"There's now a third: AI agents that discover, compare, and increasingly recommend products on a shopper's behalf. The retailers who win the next decade will be the ones who can iterate and ship quickly enough to keep up with how fast this consumer behavior is moving."
But challenges exist. While 43% are likely to prefer one retailer over another due to a superior AI-powered experience, privacy concerns and features like visual search need to be addressed.
- Cloudflare summary logs a typhoon, two earthquakes, power failures, and thirteen government exam shutdowns
- It also identified a fiber cut, drone damage to an AWS region, and a botched DNSSEC key rollover
- The report's sharpest finding is that Tanzania's accidental power blackout looked almost identical in the data to its deliberate election-day shutdown in 2025
Cloudflare has published its latest account of what recently knocked chunks of the Internet offline, and the list reads like a catalogue of everything that can go wrong at once: a typhoon, two earthquakes a minute apart, a national power failure, ten government shutdowns timed to school exams, a fiber cut, drone damage to a cloud region, and a routine cryptographic key update that briefly made every .de website in the world unreachable.
Drawn from traffic telemetry on Cloudflare Radar, it is a useful reminder that the systems most people treat as a utility are held together by a surprisingly small number of things.
With geopolitics in the Middle East shaping traffic in Iran, the UAE, Iraq and Sudan, Cloudflare found that not only did the former's traffic drop even after a shutdown ended two months ago, but the UAE seems to be one of the most affected by the on-again, off-again US-Iran conflict thanks to two AWS facilities being struck by Iranian drones.
An accidental blackout and a government shutdown look similar from the outsideCloudflare's insights tend to make for an interesting read on how the connected world functions, often defying expectations about traffic, online activity, and user behavior, with the recent FIFA 2026 World Cup being an excellent place to start.
When it comes to the most severe disruptions, one would turn to Iran's approach, which cut off internet access during its conflict with the US, an engagement that also had ramifications for most of its Gulf neighbors.
Interestingly, Radar began picking up signs of restoration on May 26 2026, ending an 88-day shutdown that had left the country almost entirely offline since February 28, but it never reached peak pre-conflict levels.
By May 27, traffic had returned to 40% of pre-outage levels, consistent with reports that access was being reintroduced selectively. It has since climbed as high as 90% before settling at roughly 59% of pre-shutdown levels, suggesting that more stringent restrictions may be in effect even as the country grapples with a war that threatens to reignite at a moment's notice.
The most consequential item on the list, as a result of the conflict, is ironically the one that does not look like an Internet outage at all. HTTP traffic to AWS me-central-1, the cloud region in the United Arab Emirates, has remained low, matching AWS status reports at the end of April 2026 stating that the region had been damaged by the conflict in the Middle East and could not reliably support customer applications.
This followed earlier reports in March of physical damage to facilities in both the UAE and Bahrain caused by drone strikes, with two UAE facilities directly hit. It also highlights an interesting insight: A cloud region has become the sort of concentrated dependency that a submarine cable used to be, with the added complication of being a physical target that is much easier to locate than an undersea cable.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)The longest single disruption came from Super Typhoon Sinlaku, the strongest storm of the 2026 Pacific typhoon season so far, which tracked through the Mariana Islands in mid-April and passed just north of Guam. The island avoided a direct hit, but tropical-storm-force winds knocked out power, disrupted water systems, and took connectivity with them. Traffic from the territory fell as much as 80% below expected levels on April 13 and 14.
Venezuela lost connectivity on June 24 when two major earthquakes struck northern Venezuela within roughly a minute of each other, at Yumare and San Felipe, followed by an aftershock near the coast outside Caracas, coinciding with a fall in traffic visible across Fibex Telecom, which serves an estimated 1.6 million users.
Three days later, a power outage in Tanzania produced a sharp drop in HTTP traffic lasting at least five hours, with Cloudflare drawing parallels to the country's election-related blackout in 2025.
Saint Lucia lost most of its connectivity on June 21 when traffic on Karib Cable's network fell to essentially zero by 21:00 UTC and remained flat for the better part of a day, reportedly due to a fiber cut near the island. Karib Cable is one of the largest providers there, so the loss was registered nationally, with the country's overall traffic falling by around 60% compared with the previous week.
In terms of a self-inflicted wound, Germany takes the cake: On 5 May, DENIC, the registry for the .de domain, performed a DNSSEC key rollover, the routine periodic replacement of the cryptographic keys used to sign a zone's DNS records, and the process began producing invalid signatures.
Because DNSSEC-validating resolvers only trust answers whose signatures match the current published keys, a mismatch is read as evidence of tampering, so resolvers worldwide rejected every .de lookup and returned errors until normal service resumed at 23:15 UTC. To users, it did not appear to be a cryptographic failure. It presented as German websites not loading, email bouncing, and apps timing out. It resulted in global .de query volume going up during the outage rather than down, indicating that users were, as a result, looking for ways to access said sites, amplifying the failure, at least statistically.
Taken together, Cloudflare's insights about the quarter are less a parade of exotic failures than a fairly consistent argument about concentration.
One registry's keys gate an entire national domain for the whole world. One provider carries enough of Saint Lucia's traffic to take the country with it. One cloud region hosts applications that have no idea they are under attack by a drone strike, causing unintended blackouts. The causes are both ordinary and extraordinary. It is the dependencies, however, that are extreme, making the case for redundancies worldwide.
If you're a die-hard iPhone user, then there's a strong chance that you already have access to Apple Arcade and don't take full advantage of it. The gaming service is currently included with all tiers of the Apple One subscription — an all-in-one bundle that also includes the likes of iCloud Plus, Apple TV Plus, and Apple Music in one monthly fee.
Ultimate Guide to Apple Arcade(Image credit: Apple / Future)This article is part of our Ultimate Guide to Apple Arcade: the definitive guide to everything that you need to know about the gaming service. Be sure to browse the full series here.
Even if you don’t pay for Apple One, a free three-month trial of Apple Arcade comes bundled with every new iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV, plus, the service is available as a standalone subscription if you don’t want it bundled with anything else. Sounds great, right? But what actually is Apple Arcade, how much does it cost, and is it really worth the price?
I’ve spent this week getting to grips with all things Apple Arcade, from diving into some of its biggest exclusive games to comparing it to other competing services, in order to bring you this comprehensive breakdown of everything you need to know about it. Read on and become an Apple Arcade expert.
What actually is Apple Arcade?Apple Arcade is a gaming subscription service by Apple designed for its iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and even Apple Vision Pro devices. It launched in September 2019 and gives you access to a huge library of more than 200 premium games that you can download and play offline.
Unlike many titles that you might download from the App Store, Apple Arcade games are wholly devoid of both ads and in-app purchases. They are complete experiences that you can dive into without the risk of annoying interruptions or being asked to shell-out real world cash for in-game items or downloadable content (DLC).
What kind of games are included?There are more than 200 games available on Apple Arcade, with options across a wide variety of genres. This includes a selection of high-quality original games such as fast-pace platformer Sonic Dream Team, cozy life simulator Hello Kitty Island Adventure, and beautiful role-playing game Fantasian.
There are also some ports of console and PC games, such as hit strategy game Sid Meier's Civilization 7 Arcade Edition, Disney life sim Disney Dreamlight Valley Arcade Edition, and indie roguelike Cult of the Lamb.
You will also find loads of premium versions of existing mobile titles with no ads or microtransactions in the likes of Doodle Jump 2+, Fruit Ninja Classic+, Bloons TD 6+, and much more.
You can use our quiz below for some hand-picked recommendations.
How much does Apple Arcade cost?The Apple Arcade standard plan costs $6.99 / £6.99 / AU$9.99 a month.
You can save some cash by opting for an annual plan instead, which is $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$79.99 — a saving of $33.89 / £33.89 / AU$39.89 compared to 12 months of monthly payments.
No matter which of these two options you choose, you can share your Apple Arcade subscription with up to six family members at no extra cost.
Apple Arcade is also available as part of all Apple One tiers (Individual, Family, and Premier). Unlike Apple Arcade, Apple One is not available in an annual subscription format, so you can only pay for it on a monthly basis. You can view and compare all of the options below.
Plan
Price
Included services
Sharing limit
Apple Arcade
$6.99 / £6.99 / AU$9.99 per month
$49.99 / £49.99 / AU$79.99 yearly
Apple Arcade
Up to six users
Apple One Individual
$19.95 / £18.95 / AU$24.95 per month
Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, 50GB iCloud Plus
One user
Apple One Family
$27.95 / £24.95 / AU$34.95 per month
Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, 200GB iCloud Plus
Up to six users
Apple One Premier
$39.95 / £36.95 / AU$52.95 per month
Apple Arcade, Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple News Plus, Apple Fitness Plus, 2TB iCloud Plus
Up to six users
How to claim your Apple Arcade free trialIn most regions a new iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV now comes with a three-month free subscription to Apple Arcade. The offer is only valid for 93 days (that's roughly three months), so if you have an eligible device you should consider claiming it quickly if you're interested.
To do so, simply follow these four simple steps
- Open the App Store on the eligible device
- Tap the Apple Arcade tab at the bottom of the screen
- The offer should appear automatically
- Follow the on-screen instructions to redeem it
If you're not eligible for a complimentary three-month subscription, there's no need to worry — because new subscribers can still claim a one-month trial via the App Store.
Whether you claim three months or one month, bear in mind that a valid payment method will be required in order to get set up. This will be billed at the standard subscription price when your promotional period is over, so remember to cancel your subscription if you want to avoid any charges.
You can find out how to do this on the official Apple Support page.
Do you need a controller to play Apple Arcade games?The CRKD NEO S is a good pick for Apple Arcade. (Image credit: CRKD)You don't actually need a controller to play the majority of Apple Arcade games. On iPhone and iPad, almost every title supports full touch screen controls and can be enjoyed without any extra hardware.
If you're playing on Mac, many titles support keyboard and mouse controls.
On Apple TV, you're most likely to need a dedicated gamepad as there are only a few titles that work well with the included remote.
Of course, lots of games still allow you to use a controller on any device even if it's not strictly required and I'd recommend it if you're after an even more console-like gaming experience.
You can see some models that I've personally tested and would recommend for Apple Arcade below.
What about the competition?If you're strictly looking for a gaming subscription service for your iPhone, then Apple Arcade doesn't really have much direct competition.
The biggest alternatives on that platform are cloud gaming services such as Amazon Luna, which you can access through your iPhone's web browser. These stream games to your phone directly from a cloud server, which means that they require a constant internet connection and cannot be accessed offline.
They also don't work too well with on-screen controls, which means a controller like the dedicated Luna Wireless Controller is required for anything but the most casual titles.
That said, cloud gaming does have some big advantages. You can access full console or PC games, including massive titles such as Fortnite, Fallout 4, or Shadow of the Tomb Raider. As they do not rely on your local hardware, they can also offer high-end graphics features such as maximum in-game settings and ray tracing — though slow or choppy internet can negate this by introducing visual artifacts.
If you have access to an Android Phone, Google Play Pass is a potential alternative. It's cheaper than Apple Arcade but similarly grants access to loads of mobile games with zero ads or microtransactions. It also includes some productivity apps, meaning that it's a little more versatile than the strictly gaming-focused Apple Arcade.
That said, its software library feels much more chaotic and less curated. It also lacks the compelling exclusive releases that I think really bring a lot of value to Apple Arcade.
Apple Arcade FAQsDo Apple Arcade games work offline?Yes, all Apple Arcade games work offline. This means that you can play them on your iPhone or iPad when you're out of the house and don't have a steady internet connection.
Is it worth getting Apple Arcade?Apple Arcade can be worth getting if you frequently play mobile and want a more curated, premium experience. The lack of in-game ads and microtransactions means that you don't have to worry about annoying distractions or impulse spending, while many of the exclusive games are high-quality experiences that are worth playing.
Do I lose my games if I cancel Apple Arcade?You will lose access to Apple Arcade games if you cancel your subscription. You don't need to worry about losing any progress, however, as your save data is stored by Apple via iCloud. This means you can pick up exactly where you left off if you resubscribe at a later date.
Can games leave Apple Arcade?Although it is uncommon, games can leave Apple Arcade. When this happens you can keep playing the game for a short grace period, before it becomes unavailable on your device.
- Meta rebuilt storage systems after slow data repeatedly stalled expensive AI GPUs
- SSD caching dramatically reduced AI dataset loading times from hours to minutes
- Meta replaced complex metadata lookups with a faster unified storage architecture
Meta says storage systems have failed to keep pace with AI computing power, creating delays that leave costly GPUs waiting instead of processing workloads efficiently.
According to the company's engineers, storage bottlenecks remain a major cause of GPU stalls, increasing operating costs while slowing research progress and extending development timelines.
To address those delays, Meta redesigned its storage architecture, arguing that faster movement of data can unlock greater value from expensive AI hardware investments.
Meta rebuilds storage architecture to keep GPUs workingMeta's engineers explained that the company operates hundreds of exabyte-scale storage clusters supporting Facebook, Instagram, Reality Labs, Meta AI, advertising systems, databases, and internal data warehouses.
Those services rely on a foundational storage layer called Tectonic, which manages object storage, file systems, block devices, and data placement across HDDs and SSDs.
The company has increasingly shifted from traditional file storage toward BLOB storage because massive AI datasets require unified access methods with significantly higher performance.
When GPU servers request information from storage, repeated metadata lookups across several layers create latency that interrupts AI training pipelines and delays overall processing.
Meta responded by rebuilding the metadata subsystem into a unified schema backed by ZippyDB while allowing clients to retrieve data directly from storage servers.
Instead of routing every transfer through application servers, the redesigned software uses an embedded client capable of streaming information directly from the Tectonic storage layer.
To support distributed AI deployments, Meta placed regional BLOB-storage systems beside GPU clusters, reducing delays associated with transferring information across distant infrastructure.
It introduced distributed caching using unused GPU host memory, producing an average cache hit rate of 80%, while metadata became accessible within 1 to 2 ms.
The engineers further added hedged reads alongside dynamic concurrency controls, stating that "the new BLOB-storage stack is now capable of serving AI workloads without causing GPU stalls."
SSD caching cuts hours from AI data ingestionMeta examined lengthy delays experienced before AI training even began, when researchers transferred enormous dataset snapshots from BLOB storage into regional GPU facilities.
Instead of loading every dataset directly from slower storage drives, Meta created multiple cache layers that keep frequently used data much closer to GPU servers.
That approach introduced multiple caching layers, using GPU memory as L1, SSDs inside GPU hosts as L2, and regional flash-backed BLOB storage as L3.
Traditional HDD storage remained the authoritative data source, while faster cache layers supplied frequently requested information before slower disks became necessary during processing.
Meta’s redesign produced sharp gains in ingestion speed, cutting a previous 150-minute loading process down to just 10 minutes.
A separate job that once required 89 hours to complete now finishes in just over three hours from start to finish.
Citrini analyst Jukan notes that high-capacity storage has traditionally been judged mainly by its cost per terabyte of capacity alone.
He argues that idle GPU time can outweigh any savings gained from cheaper storage if data arrives too slowly each day.
This suggests that the cost of flash storage is economically rational whenever eliminating idle time costs more than the flash itself each hour.
Via Blocks and Files