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Apple's iPhones to Support Starlink Direct-to-Cell Coverage in US 

Customers walk past an Apple logo inside of an Apple store at Grand Central Station in New York, US, August 1, 2018. (Reuters)
Customers walk past an Apple logo inside of an Apple store at Grand Central Station in New York, US, August 1, 2018. (Reuters)
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Apple's iPhones to Support Starlink Direct-to-Cell Coverage in US 

Customers walk past an Apple logo inside of an Apple store at Grand Central Station in New York, US, August 1, 2018. (Reuters)
Customers walk past an Apple logo inside of an Apple store at Grand Central Station in New York, US, August 1, 2018. (Reuters)

Apple's iPhone devices are now eligible to test SpaceX-owned Starlink's direct-to-cell capability that provides coverage from space, according to T-Mobile, a partner in the program.

T-Mobile and Elon Musk's SpaceX are currently testing the Starlink cell network on a trial basis after receiving approval from the Federal Communications Commission in November last year.

The trial offers 'text via satellite', while voice and data features will be added in the future, according to the T-Mobile website.

T-Mobile initially only listed a few Android smartphones as eligible devices to test the network, but has now added iPhone devices with the latest iOS 18.3 software update.

Bloomberg News first reported on Tuesday that Apple, SpaceX and T-Mobile had been secretively working to add support for the network in its latest iPhone software.

Apple and SpaceX did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside regular business hours.

In October last year, the FCC had allowed SpaceX and T-Mobile to enable Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell capability to provide coverage for cellphones in areas of North Carolina hit hard by Hurricane Helene.

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Sam Altman Says Meta Offered $100 Million Bonuses to OpenAI Employees 

The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
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Sam Altman Says Meta Offered $100 Million Bonuses to OpenAI Employees 

The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
The logo of Meta is seen at the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Meta has offered his employees bonuses of $100 million to recruit them, as the tech giant seeks to ramp up its artificial intelligence strategy.

The alleged attempts by Meta to hire OpenAI staffers are the latest signs of a frenzy to hire top engineers to develop AI models, and they come at a time when the Facebook owner is working on building its superintelligence unit to catch up with competitors.

Competition for AI talent has reached a feverish pitch as superstar researchers are being courted like professional athletes on the belief that individual contributors can make or break companies.

"They (Meta) started making giant offers to a lot of people on our team," Altman said on the Uncapped podcast that aired on Tuesday, hosted by his brother. "You know, like $100 million signing bonuses, more than that (in) compensation per year."

"At least, so far, none of our best people have decided to take them up on that," Altman said.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours, and Reuters could not verify the information.

"I've heard that Meta thinks of us as their biggest competitor," Altman said.

His comments come just days after Meta invested $14.3 billion in data-labeling startup Scale AI, and hired its top boss, Alexandr Wang, to lead its new superintelligence team.

Meta, once recognized as a leader in open-source AI models, has suffered from staff departures and has postponed the launches of new open-source AI models that could rival competitors like Google, China's DeepSeek and OpenAI.