The License Was the Easy Part
Ode with Anthropic arrived with a $1.5B commitment and roughly 100 engineers; AWS put another $1B behind an AI-focused forward-deployed engineering organization.
Android’s AI Default Is Only the Front Door
Perplexity can replace Google as Android’s default assistant, but Gemini reaches Gmail, Maps, Docs, and device surfaces. Two EU DMA decisions now require Google to provide rivals comparable Android access and some Search data.
Thinking Machines Lab debuts Inkling, an open-weight MoE model with 975B total and 41B active parameters, trained to be broad rather than optimized for one area
Try on Tinker Model card Hugging Face — Our mission is to build AI that extends human will and judgment.
SpaceXAI open-sources Grok Build under an Apache 2.0 license, after the tool uploaded user repositories to SpaceXAI's Google Cloud bucket, causing a backlash
xai-org/grok-build, now open source (via) xAI's grok CLI tool faced severe community backlash yesterday when it became apparent …
Source: OnePlus will begin to cease operations in the US and Europe as early as this week and Realme will exit China as part of a restructuring by parent Oppo
OnePlus, a consumer electronics brand that gained a loyal following with its lineup of aggressively priced Android smartphones …
SpaceX's stock fell for a fourth-straight session on Wednesday, briefly dropping below its $135 IPO price for the first time, before closing down 1% at $135.27
SpaceX shares fell for a fourth-straight session on Wednesday, briefly dropping below their $135 initial public offering price …
OpenAI details GPT-Red, an internal automated red-teaming model that scales prompt injection vulnerability discovery so it can fix bugs before wider deployment
Training strong automated safety red-teamers to improve robustness. — Summary — Problem
Moonshot AI releases Kimi K3, a 2.8T-parameter AI model that it says rivals Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5, and plans to release model weights by July 27
Today, we are introducing Kimi K3 — our most capable model. Kimi K3 is a 2.8T-parameter model built on our Kimi Delta Attention and Attention Residuals …
A hacker claims to have accessed Suno's user info and source code, showing how it scraped music; Suno says no sensitive info was compromised in a November hack
Hacked source code reveals how Suno scraped decades worth of music and podcasts from the internet to train its AI tool.
Ofcom report: daily VPN users in the UK jumped to 2.2M, up from 1.2M before the introduction of laws enforcing age limits on pornography sites in July 2025
Regulator Ofcom finds evidence of children using the technology to get around age checks — Use of virtual private networks in the UK …
TSMC reports Q2 revenue up 36% YoY to ~$39.45B, net income up 77.4% YoY to ~$21.9B, both above est., and says chips 7nm or smaller were 77% of its wafer revenue
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co on Thursday reported a 77.4% jump in second-quarter profit year on year …
The EU issues two decisions under the DMA that order Google to provide rival AI assistants and search engines comparable access to Android and some Search data
The EU says Google must let rival search engines and AI assistants have comparable access to Android and some Search data to comply with the DMA.
Coinbase's Jesse Pollak says Jordan Fish, aka “Cobie”, will now lead the Base app team, after acknowledging some of Base's bets on social features fell short
Quick Take — Cobie will now lead the Base app team as Base creator and Coinbase executive Jesse Pollak focuses …
Hyundai says it will make Boston Dynamics a wholly owned subsidiary by acquiring SoftBank's ~10% stake; Hyundai acquired an 80% stake in Boston Dynamics in 2021
Hyundai Motor Group said on Thursday it would make U.S. robotics company Boston Dynamics a wholly owned subsidiary by acquiring SoftBank Group's …
Apple publishes a policy for its upcoming Maps ads: home services ads are banned, medical services ads will be “evaluated on a case-by-case basis”, and more
Apple has quietly published a rulebook for its new Maps ads, revealing a more curated approach than advertising giant Google.
Apple raises its AppleCare+ prices for Macs and iPads by $0.50 per month and $5 per year; the increases are exclusively for new sign-ups
Apple Inc. slightly raised the cost of individual AppleCare+ service subscriptions, marking its latest price increase in the face of a global memory shortage and other challenges.
A US federal judge rules the State Department engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination by denying visas to researchers studying misinfo and disinfo
Last year, the Marco Rubio-run State Department announced that it would start denying visas to people who worked …
Filing: Elon Musk quietly bought Jacksonville, Florida-based APR Energy, which runs mobile gas and diesel turbines like those in Colossus 2, for an implied ~$1B
Elon Musk has quietly bought APR Energy, a Jacksonville-based company that operates a fleet of mobile gas and diesel turbines totaling more than 1 GW of generation capacity.
xAI sues a South Carolina man for allegedly using Grok to generate CSAM, in one of the first cases of its kind brought by an AI company against one of its users
Elon Musk's artificial-intelligence startup xAI has sued a South Carolina man arrested earlier this year on charges …
Google says users in the US can now link to and interact with some apps in AI Mode, including Instacart, Canva, and YouTube Music
Google announced on Thursday that it now allows users to link and interact with some of their go-to apps right in AI Mode, the tech giant's conversational search experience.
The UK sentences two Scattered Spider members, who pled guilty to an August 2024 Transport for London cyberattack, to five and a half years in prison
Two men who carried out a cyber-attack which crippled Transport For London (TfL) when they were teenagers have both been sentenced to five years and six months in prison.
OnePlus confirms it will no longer operate in North America or Europe but will keep operating in China, while Realme, another Oppo sub-brand, will exit China
“Never settle” takes on a whole new meaning, as the once-maverick phone-maker retreats from the US and Europe.
After reports of GPT-5.6 deleting files, OpenAI says the issue most often occurs in full-access mode without sandboxing and it is working to mitigate the risk
On file deletions. We've investigated a handful of reports where GPT-5.6 unexpectedly deleted files. What we have found is that this most commonly occurs when: - Full access mode is enabled and codex ...
Uber agrees to acquire Delivery Hero in a deal that values the German food delivery company at ~$14.8B, offering €41.50 per share and buying Prosus' 16.8% stake
Uber Technologies Inc. has agreed to buy Delivery Hero SE in a deal that values the German food-delivery company at $14.8 billion …
Nvidia unveils Cosmos 3 Edge, a world model for robots and AI agents to perceive and navigate physical environments in real time, after Cosmos 3's debut in May
Nvidia unveiled a new AI model for robots and vision AI agents on Wednesday, deepening its push into the physical AI market in Japan.
Dave Brown, AWS SVP of Compute, AI, and Platform, is leaving the company after 19 years for a new job; he is a member of the S-team that advises CEO Andy Jassy
Amazon (AMZN.O) veteran Dave Brown, a senior vice president in Amazon Web Services and member of the elite internal group advising CEO Andy Jassy …
OpenAI launches Codex Micro, a $230 desktop keypad built in collaboration with keyboard maker Work Louder, with backlit keys, a rotary knob, and a tiny joystick
Sources: Moonshot plans to launch Kimi K3, China's largest model to date with 2T-3T parameters, in the coming days; it's expected to outperform Claude Opus 4.8
Kimi K3 expected to exceed performance of Claude Opus 4.8 in sign of narrowing gap between US and China on frontier AI
Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman's $1.5B AI implementation company, announced in May, launches with the name “Ode with Anthropic” and 100 engineers
AI models are becoming ever more capable, but exactly what enterprise adoption will look like remains a big question.
1Password launches a new Claude integration for macOS that lets Anthropic's AI agent sign in to websites without seeing the user's password or 2FA code
1Password is launching a new Claude integration for Mac users today. It's designed to let Anthropic's AI agent sign in to websites without seeing …
Uber and Waymo are engaged in a DC lobbying battle over AV legislation, with Uber supporting a hybrid human-robotaxi model and Waymo pushing for pure robotaxis
The latest leading indicator of the robotaxi revolution is a tiff. Waymo LLC, a unit of Alphabet Inc., and Uber Technologies Inc. are nominally partners.
Ofcom opens an investigation into TikTok over Online Safety Act compliance, citing doubts about the effectiveness of age inference in determining users' ages
The online safety watchdog is worried about TikTok's use of “age inference” to guess users' ages.
Roblox unveils Build, which lets users create basic games through text prompts directly within its mobile app, powered by Roblox's models and open-source models
It's the latest push into AI from Roblox, which has embraced the technology. … Roblox is about to let people make games …
Netflix reports Q2 revenue up 13% YoY to $12.56B, vs. $12.59B est., and says it will give fewer engagement updates starting in 2027; NFLX drops 7%+ after hours
Netflix reported second-quarter revenue and earnings that were in line with analyst estimates on Thursday as Wall Street is keeping …
Data center company Csquare raises $1.05B in its US IPO, selling 50M shares at $21 each, below its marketed range of $23 to $27, valuing the company at ~$3.25B
Data center provider Csquare (CSQR.N) said on Thursday it raised $1.05 billion in its U.S. initial public offering as investors continued …
Sources: Microsoft security chief Hayete Gallot, who took over in February, has prioritized AI tools, cut several hundred roles, replaced senior execs, and more
Microsoft, the largest cybersecurity software seller in the world, is overhauling that business to cash in on corporate anxieties about AI-powered hacks.
Sources: Apple is preparing new iPads, including an iPad mini with an OLED screen by October and refreshed entry-level iPads and iPad Airs for 2027
Apple Inc. is preparing to introduce its biggest overhaul to the iPad mini in half a decade, giving new life to a product that's popular …
Visa debuts the Visa Stablecoin Platform, an internal system to help its network of ~15K financial institutions and 200M+ merchants more easily use stablecoins
Stablecoins have changed how people think about moving money, and their exponential rise over the past year has pushed mainstream payment networks to figure out how to adapt.
Vital Signals launches the $399 Signal Ring, which it says provides systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings as accurately as a traditional arm cuff
A three-year-old startup says it has produced a smart ring that can track blood pressure as accurately as a traditional arm cuff and that …
Meta will now notify parents if their teen discusses suicide or self-harm with Meta AI and will contact emergency services if a user might be at risk of suicide
Meta announced on Thursday that it will now notify parents if their teen discusses suicide or self-harm with the company's Meta AI chatbot.
A New York State school district is piloting a humanoid robot teacher by the company Realbotix to help students with summer school classes
A New York school district is piloting a humanoid robot teacher to help students with summer school classes. — Announced earlier this year …
Samsung unveils a new Flex Titanium foldable display that is slimmer, more durable, and less prone to creasing, debuting in its upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 8 series
Ocado's stock drops 13%+, hitting a 13-year low, after it failed to show tangible progress in talks to secure new US partners for its warehouse automation tech
Shares in British technology and online grocery group Ocado (OCDO.L) tumbled to a 13-year low on Thursday after it failed …
Sources: ASML has discussed raising prices for its EUV systems with TSMC and plans to charge 10% more for its DUV systems; TSMC is resisting ASML's price plans
Meta's Oversight Board says top AI models may be restricting free expression in its first evaluation of LLMs, as it seeks to expand its influence beyond Meta
The group is trying to extend its influence beyond Meta. — The Oversight Board, the independent content moderation organization created …
Sable, which is building an AI agent named Aiden that lives on a company's website to run live product demos and more, raised $45M from Sequoia and 8VC
Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire still remembers the demo that changed his mind on Sable. — An AI sales rep was walking a buyer through …
Cadence unveils AuraStack AI Super Agent, an AI platform for PCB and advanced chip packaging design, with Nvidia, TSMC, and Schneider Electric among early users
Google renames NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook and rolls out an update giving every notebook a secure cloud computer, letting it write and execute code natively
We're renaming NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. It's the same standalone product, now doing more across the Google ecosystem and updated with a secure cloud computer.
London-based Applied Computing, which is developing AI models for energy operations, raised $20M led by KBR, with participation from Databricks Ventures
Applied Computing has secured fresh funding to expand its AI platform for energy operations, supporting international growth …
Filing: AST SpaceMobile delays the launch of its satellite-to-phone service to 2027 after the Blue Origin mishap and plans to raise $1B in convertible notes
(AST SpaceMobile) — AST SpaceMobile, a rival to SpaceX's Starlink Mobile, is delaying the timing of its satellite-to-phone service to 2027 …
OpenAI employees donated a combined $215K+ to Guardrails Alliance, a super PAC seeking stricter AI rules and opposing Greg Brockman-backed Leading the Future
Lumin Digital, which provides cloud-based digital banking software to banks and credit unions, raised more than $115M at a $1.6B post-money valuation
Bunkerhill Health, which uses AI agents for hospital tasks like managing wait times, raised a $25M Series B led by Khosla, bringing its total funding to $55M
In 2017, Nishith Khandwala was a Stanford computer science student with an idea—that you could take existing radiology scans …
Alpaca, which offers brokerage and financial infrastructure, raised $135M in equity and $300M in debt, following a $150M Series D in January
Brokerage and financial infrastructure startup Alpaca has raised $135 million in equity and $300 million in debt, as it looks to expand a business …
Grubhub parent Wonder raised a $650M+ Series D at a $9B valuation, bringing its total raised to $3B+ since its founding in 2018, and plans to go public in 2027
Marc Lore is ready to ring the bell. The serial entrepreneur—who previously sold Jet.com to Walmart for $3.3 billion …
Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs launch a bioresilience program to leverage AI models for pathogen surveillance, vaccine design, and outbreak responses
Google DeepMind on Thursday unveiled a new bioresilience program designed to help governments and researchers prevent, detect and respond to biological threats.
Fireworks, which helps developers access AI chips and open-source models, raised $1.5B at a $17.5B valuation and says it has exceeded $1B in annualized revenue
The cost of the latest artificial intelligence models is increasingly breeding anxiety among finance executives …
Demis Hassabis, Sam Altman, and Dario Amodei published memos in recent weeks that agree on an AI regulatory framework but disagree on the US government's role
The three men racing hardest to build superhuman AI — Demis Hassabis, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei — all agree the frontier needs to be regulated ASAP.
An NYT reporter finds AI-generated, unauthorized biographies of herself and other journalists on Amazon, where AI-made books with elusive “authors” proliferate
Recently, I received a strange text from a new acquaintance. “You have your own biography???” it read.
Google updates its AI video editor Vids with Gemini Omni and a feature that lets users create custom digital avatars using a selfie and voice recording
OpenAI's Sora may have shut down, but Google apparently thinks there's still interest in a tool that lets you star in your own AI videos.
Munich-based Microagi, which collects factory and household data to train humanoid robots, raised $55M led by Hummingbird in Germany's largest ever seed round
The startup teaches robots how to work in factories and homes — Munich-based robotics company Microagi …
Filings: Dario Amodei gave $1M in May to Public First, a super PAC advocating for AI safety regulations, seemingly his first seven-figure political donation
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei gave $1 million in May to Public First, a super PAC that supports candidates who share the company's goal …
Venture funding of fintech startups grew 22.7% YoY in H1 2026 to $28.6B globally, but deal count fell 25.7% and funding fell 17.3% vs. H2 2025's $34.6B funding
Venture funding into fintech startups climbed nearly 23% year over year in H1 2026, even as deal count fell more than 25% …
Source: PayPal's board sees Stripe and PE firm Advent International's $53B takeover bid as undervaluing the company and facing regulatory and financing hurdles
PayPal's (PYPL.O) board sees a $53 billion takeover bid by rival Stripe and private equity firm Advent International as undervaluing …
Trump Media plans to launch the Truth API on August 1, providing real-time data from trending Truth Social accounts to news organizations and trading firms
Trump Media & Technology Group is launching a backend interface that will allow financial services companies to access real-time Truth Social data …
Fora, which connects travel agents with travelers and offers agents AI tools, raised a $60M Series D at a $1B valuation led by Forerunner and Tactile Ventures
Travel agency Fora announced a $60 million Series D round led by Forerunner and Tactile Ventures, valuing the company at $1 billion.
Beacon Security, which offers an agentic security platform, raised a $13M seed and says it has “tens” of large enterprise customers including Cerebras
Beacon Security, an agentic security platform, raised a $13 million seed led by Notable Capital, CEO Gal Tal-Hochberg tells Axios Pro exclusively.
San Diego-based Self Inspection, which uses AI to assess body damage on a car with as little tech as a smartphone camera, raised $10M led by Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl Sandberg has led a $10 million investment into Self Inspection, a San Diego-based startup that is also backed by former Tesla president Jon McNeill's DVx Ventures.
How Anthropic is pursuing a state-by-state push for ever-tougher AI safety laws, in contrast with OpenAI's “reverse federalism” strategy for common state rules
China enacts rules forbidding companionship chatbots from encouraging emotional reliance, banning virtual relationships with minors, and more
Sources: Apple is looking to acquire chip companies to boost its AI server efforts, as it struggles with AI server chip upgrades and M2 Ultra server performance
Hyundai's South Korea auto workers have gone on a partial strike over wages, AI, and the prospect of it deploying Boston Dynamics' humanoid robot in factories
1. Salary vs hourly pay, to protect against automation. …
AI execs are bolstering personal security amid rising AI opposition; Liferaft: digital threats against execs and data centers grew 7x from late February to May
Violent threats against AI companies are rising and spilling over into real-world security incidents
Runta, which provides isolated sandboxes and guardrails for AI agents to prevent operational risks, raised a $20M seed led by a16z at a $100M+ valuation
As a father to two young kids, Guanlan Dai sees a lot of similarities between AI agents and precocious children.
Beehiiv launches Community, which lets subscribers chat with each other, adds programmatic ads and an AI tool that helps creators manage their audiences
Newsletter platform Beehiiv is expanding into new avenues of engagement by launching a feature called Community, which lets subscribers of a creator chat with each other.
Filing: a Chinese luggage maker says a fund in which it invested deployed ~$420M for an indirect 0.8265% stake in DeepSeek, implying DeepSeek is valued at ~$52B
China's Anhui Korrun (300577.SZ) said a fund in which its subsidiary invested deployed 2.90 billion yuan for an indirect 0.8265% stake in DeepSeek …
DoorDash launches a limited beta of DoorDash CLI, which lets users place orders via an AI agent, available by waitlist to macOS developers in the US and Canada
Sudo make me a sandwich. The future has arrived! DoorDash just introduced a limited beta of DoorDash CLI …
Indian AI coding startup Emergent raised a $130M Series C at a $1.5B post-money valuation, up from $300M in January, bringing its total funding raised to $230M
Crypto.com raised $400M from Citadel Securities in its first institutional funding round, valuing the Singapore-based crypto exchange at $20B
Crypto.com secured a $400 million strategic investment from market maker Citadel Securities in a deal that values the crypto exchange at $20 billion …
How TikTok Shop sellers are using AI creators and AI twins to boost affiliate sales; eMarketer: US sales on TikTok Shop will grow 48% YoY to $23.41B in 2026
Israel-based Hemispheric, whose AI model can analyze brain activity measured non-invasively and turn it into quantitative metrics for diagnoses, raised $52M
Sources: the EU is set to fine Google hundreds of millions of euros over alleged self-preferencing of its services in Search and restrictions on app developers
China, Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela, and 22 other countries sign an agreement to create the World AI Cooperation Organization in Shanghai
Twenty-nine countries on Thursday signed an agreement to establish the World AI Cooperation Organization, an intergovernmental body China says aims …
Spectro Cloud, an AI infrastucture company helping manage token costs, raised a $100M Series D from AMD, LG, others at a $1B+ valuation, up from $750M in 2024
Amsterdam-based Monumental, which develops autonomous robotics and software for the construction industry, raised a $32M Series B led by Khosla Ventures
A US official says TSMC plans to spend an additional $100B to build four US chip plants, bringing its total pledge to $265B as part of a broader US-Taiwan deal
Bloomberg:NEW
Sources: Google is months behind schedule on delivering Gemini 3.5 Pro as it tries to improve its capabilities, particularly in coding; GOOG closes down 4.43%
US Homeland Security says it seized 30k+ SIM cards in June and July in a nationwide operation it claims dismantled infrastructure used in telephone fraud
US Homeland Security Investigations recently seized more than 30,000 mobile phone SIM cards from sites around the country …
Netflix says roughly 300 titles used generative AI this year, mostly in post-production, “to deliver higher quality output more quickly and at a lower cost”
Today, we're sharing what our members watched on Netflix from January to June 2026.
Sources detail how xAI has been slowed down by internal chaos as Musk pushed for Grok to match Claude, amid signs it is turning a corner under Michael Nicolls
Carmen Arroyo /Bloomberg:
Gavin Newsom is tempering his pro-tech instincts with economic populism ahead of a likely presidential bid, proposing giving Americans equity in AI companies
Sources detail how xAI has been slowed down by internal chaos as Musk pushed for Grok to match Claude, amid signs it is turning a corner under Michael Nicolls
Carmen Arroyo /Bloomberg:NEW
Kimi-K3 is now #1 on the Frontend Code Arena benchmark, surpassing Claude Fable 5; the model scored 88.3 on Terminal Bench 2.1, only below GPT-5.6 Sol's 88.8
Michael Nuñez /VentureBeat:
TSMC raises its 2026 capex projection from $52B-$56B to $60B-$64B and its revenue growth projection in USD from 30%+ to 40%+ YoY, citing “the AI megatrend”
Debby Wu /Bloomberg: