When a $45B AI Fund Meets the Margin Clock
CNBC reported Situational Awareness had grown as large as roughly $45 billion in early July; Bloomberg reported assets near $10 billion on July 30 after margin-driven liquidations. Neither disclosed a common denominator, while U.S. data-center credit deals had reached $178.5 billion by December 2025.
Three Claude Models Crossed a Permission Boundary
Anthropic said three Claude models gained unauthorized access to three organizations during cyber evaluations, then found the incidents in a later transcript review. With Claude Code ARR reportedly at least $1.1 billion by end-2025, buyers need scoped keys, live alerts, retained logs, and recourse.
France’s €655M AI Plan Builds an Exit Option
France plans €655 million in AI investment through 2030 as DGSI prepares to replace Palantir tools with ChapsVision. A Mistral-powered public-service chatbot puts the same strategy at the citizen interface.
Apple reports Q3 revenue up 16% YoY to $109.42B, above $108.65B est., net income up 27% to $29.79B, and China revenue up 22% to $18.82B, below $19.6B est.
CUPERTINO, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2026 third quarter ended June 27, 2026.
Anthropic says it discovered three of its models had breached three organizations after launching a review in response to the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident
In a review of our cybersecurity evaluation transcripts, we found three incidents in which a Claude model reached the internet …
Sources: AI-focused hedge fund Situational Awareness sold the bulk of its stock portfolio to Ken Griffin's Citadel after suffering deep losses
The highflying hedge fund run by Leopold Aschenbrenner is in crisis mode after AI-related bets sank — Situational Awareness …
Amazon reports Q2 revenue up 20% YoY to $200.6B, net income up 245% to $62.6B, operating income up 43% to $27.5B, and a $25B+ annual revenue run rate for chips
SEATTLE—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2026.
OpenAI says it is cutting the price of GPT-5.6 Luna by ~80% and the price of GPT-5.6 Terra by 20% after improving the efficiency of the systems that serve them
OpenAI said Thursday it is cutting prices for two GPT-5.6 models after improving the efficiency of the systems that serve them.
Google rolls back an image generation tool in Google Earth to add “stronger guardrails” after concerns arose it can be used to create deepfake satellite imagery
A day after Google unveiled a new feature that allowed users to create AI-generated satellite images with the click …
A leaked memo, issued by the water utilities information sharing group WaterISAC, links dozens of cyberattacks against Minnesota water utilities to Iran
A memo obtained by WIRED, issued by the water utilities information sharing group WaterISAC, links dozens of cyberattacks against Minnesota water utilities to Tehran.
SK Hynix and Samsung shares surge 20%+ in Seoul on Friday, marking a sharp reversal from this week's sell-off; Japanese stocks like SoftBank also rally
South Korea's chip heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics skyrocketed in Seoul on Friday, tracking a sharp rally in U.S. technology stocks …
Google DeepMind releases Gemini Robotics 2, which combines several different AI models into a single system to control a range of robots, including humanoids
The latest version of Google DeepMind's AI model includes a significant jump into “physical AGI.” But plopping AI into the real world comes with risks.
Sources: Tesla prepared to separate its China unit before a potential SpaceX merger; advisers weighed a sale, spinoff, or closure; Musk calls it “fake news”
The U.S. automaker could sell or spin off the business in its second-largest market over geopolitical concerns
Thinking Machines releases Inkling-Small, an open-weight model with 276B total and 12B active parameters, saying it “achieves comparable performance” to Inkling
Try on Tinker Model card Hugging Face — Today, we are releasing Inkling-Small, an efficient open-weights model …
Reddit reports Q2 revenue up 61% YoY to $805M, vs. $730M est., forecasts Q3 revenue above est., says search referrals were “choppy”; RDDT drops 20%+
Reddit reported second-quarter earnings on Thursday that beat on the top and the bottom lines, and the company issued guidance that sailed past expectations.
In a memo to employees, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma lays out priorities for the unit, including returning to player and revenue growth by the end of fiscal year 2027
Asha Sharma wants Xbox to return to growth. Asha Sharma wants Xbox to return to growth.
Coinbase reports Q2 revenue down 19% YoY to $1.2B, vs. $1.3B est., stablecoin revenue below est., and a wider-than-expected loss; COIN drops 12%+
Coinbase shares dropped in extended trading on Thursday after the crypto platform posted a wider-than-expected loss for the second quarter …
Google Earth's Nano Banana 2 feature allows users to create fake satellite images, such as a nuclear plant in Iran; Google says the images have AI watermarks
The question is: what on earth is Google doing? — UPDATED, with response of Google — Tonight I typed just one sentence …
Roblox reports Q2 bookings up 8% YoY to $1.56B, vs. $1.6B est., DAUs up 10% to 123M, forecasts Q3 bookings and revenue below est.; RBLX drops 27%+
The company projects revenue to increase by 4% to 10%, slowing from recent double-digit growth
Google starts rolling out access to Gemini Spark for Google AI Pro subscribers to over 160 countries and adds a Chrome auto browse integration on desktop
Gemini Spark is getting two big updates today, starting with Chrome auto browse integration on desktop. — Previously, Gemini Spark had access to a remote web browser.
Sony reports Q1 operating profit up 40% YoY to ~$2.92B, raises FY profit forecast by 8% to ~$10.56B, and says it secured enough memory chip supply for the FY
Sony (6758.T) reported on Friday a 40% rise in first-quarter operating profit, beating analyst estimates, boosted by the performance …
Amazon shares closed up 15.32% on Friday, the biggest one-day jump since April 2012, after the company reported accelerating AWS revenue
Amazon.com Inc. shares surged the most since 2012 after the company reported accelerating cloud-computing revenue, easing investors' concerns …
Tim Cook says Apple expects “the impact from the supply constraints to increase significantly sequentially” and the market pricing for memory to keep rising
Juli Clover /MacRumors:
SpaceXAI says it will remove 69 gas turbines used to power the Colossus data centers near Memphis by July 2027, as it moves to a 1.2 GW natural gas power plant
SpaceX said on Thursday that it will remove the unpermitted turbines powering its xAI data centers near Memphis as it transitions to a permanent …
New York sues Kalshi for alleged violations of its gambling laws; the CFTC files an emergency motion to stop the state's enforcement, calling it an “overreach”
New York's attorney general sued Kalshi on Friday, claiming that its prediction market platform violates state laws against illegal gambling.
Snap says its recommendation systems will be adjusted so only videos created by real people, not AI-generated ones, are eligible for Spotlight recommendations
Snapchat is the latest company to strengthen its stance against AI slop. The social network platform will no longer reward fully …
Sources: OpenAI has discovered other instances where AI agents escaped containment; none of the agents were thought to have left OpenAI's network
OpenAI has discovered other instances in which autonomous agents have escaped containment as the company expands its investigation …
Roblox shares close down ~27%, its worst-ever daily percentage decline, after forecasting falling bookings and slowing revenue growth; RBLX is down 40%+ YTD
Choose Barron's as a preferred source of financial news — Key Points — Shares of Roblox tumbled Friday as Wall Street responded harshly …
Filing: Amazon has completed its $50B investment in OpenAI; source: OpenAI received the final tranche this week, taking Amazon's position to roughly 5%
Ecommerce giant has roughly 5% stake in AI lab after equity deal — Amazon has completed a $50bn investment in OpenAI …
A German court rules that Suno has violated copyrights and must disclose illicit revenue after Germany's state-mandated licensing agency GEMA sued in 2025
Germany's state-mandated licensing agency, GEMA, says the verdict has “global significance,” as Suno is also directed to pay yet-to-be-quantified damages.
Anthropic says three of its models, including an internal research model, gained unauthorized access to real-world systems during internal cybersecurity testing
Some of Anthropic's most powerful models — including Mythos 5 and an internal research model — gained unauthorized access …
LinkedIn introduces a “seems like AI slop” button to allow users to report posts they think are AI-generated
Apple Q3: iPhone up 22% YoY to $54.25B, vs. $53.86B est., Mac up 29% to $10.35B, iPad down 6% to $6.19B, and Wearables, Home, and Accessories up 6% to $7.88B
Sources: Situational Awareness has sold all of its public stock holdings; the fund grew to as big as $45B at the start of July before big losses took hold
Happy Thursday. — We're live on YouTube and 𝕏.Ryan Cook /Tech Times:Citadel Buys Situational Awareness Portfolio as 4x Leverage Ends AI Fund's 1,000% Run
The FTC clears quantum computing company IonQ's $1.8B acquisition of chipmaker SkyWater after the FTC's two members disagreed at first on imposing conditions
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission cleared quantum computing firm IonQ's (IONQ.N) $1.8 billion acquisition of chipmaker SkyWater Technology …
Amazon reports Q2 ad revenue up 26% YoY to $19.81B, vs. $19.43B est., and subscription services revenue up 12% YoY to $13.73B
but CEO Andy Jassy Won't Say How It's Paying for It: ‘Nothing to Share...’Dade Hayes /Deadline:Amazon Thrives On Big Q2 For AI, Advertising Revenue Climbs 26% To Near $20 Billion MarkRussell Brandom /...
At a hearing, a US judge says “I don't see additional evidence” from the Pentagon justifying its designation of Anthropic as a supply-chain risk
Amazon reports Q2 AWS revenue up 37% YoY to $42.2B, above estimates of a 31.21% increase, and AWS operating income up 64% to $16.6B; AMZN jumps 13%+
and still won't have enough capacity to meet demandIsabella Simonetti /Wall Street Journal:Amazon Shares Jump as Cloud Sales—and Spending—AccelerateJordan Novet /CNBC:Amazon's AWS posts fastest growth...
Source: Situational Awareness has a $5B stake in Anthropic, and will continue to run as a private investment firm after suffering heavy losses in recent days
Financial Times:
Wiz says a now-patched flaw in Azure CosmosDB would have let a hacker remotely compromise any of its users; Microsoft has seen “no evidence of customer impact”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signs the Children's Social Media Safety Act, a bill designed to limit children's access to “addictive” social media algorithms
Apple reports Q3 revenue from Services, which includes the App Store, Apple TV, Apple Music, iCloud, and more, grew 12% YoY to $30.74B, vs. $31.36B est.
Todd Spangler /Variety:
Sources: OpenAI demoed a new “Astra” AI model family to US policymakers and regulators this week, touting its improved abilities to complete long-running tasks
OpenAI is preparing to release a new model family, tentatively using the name “Astra,” with improved abilities …
Sources: NXP is in talks to buy Ambarella, which has a market cap of ~$3.3B and makes image-processing chips for security cameras and self-driving cars
Deal would land amid consolidation wave sweeping semiconductors as they position for AI revolution — NXP Semiconductors …
Google pilots a faster twice-a-week schedule for Chrome security releases as AI tools drive a surge in bug discoveries; Chrome 149 and 150 fixed 1,072 bugs
Okta agrees to acquire AI identity security startup Permiso; source: the acquisition is valued at just under $200M and is structured as an almost all-cash deal
The Commerce Dept. signed letters of intent for $874M in CHIPS Act funding in exchange for minority stakes in GlobalFoundries, Kepler, and five other companies
AI-generated images, video, audio, and text on matters of public interest designed to look authentic must be labeled in the EU under the AI Act from August 2
Companies must ensure people know when they are interacting with artificially generated images, audio and text designed to look real
DeepSeek rolls out the official V4 Flash API in public beta, touting enhanced agent capabilities and benchmark scores “far surpassing” V4 Pro Preview
Microsoft's stock closed up 15.5% on Thursday, adding ~$450B to its market capitalization, the largest single-day market value increase in stock market history
and its stock jumped the most in 18 yearsAmanda Gerut /Fortune:Microsoft's stock has biggest one-day gain since 2008, adding $480 billion in market value as cloud business boomsEdward Ludlow /Bloomber...
Sources: the Trump admin is weighing a $100K fee for foreign students seeking to work in the US after graduation; a judge blocked Trump's $100K H-1B fee in June
Source: Situational Awareness' assets have fallen to ~$10B after it liquidated some positions to meet margin calls, down from a reported $20B+ as of late May
An in-depth account of the past two days inside Situational Awareness, as Aschenbrenner assured investors he would focus on changes to his portfolio management
and lost most of it in daysReuters:Citadel buys most of Situational's stock holdings after AI share rout, sources sayNewcomer:The Abrupt Fall of Situational Awareness Is a Warning Sign. So Is Nvidia's...
Friend announces an AI pendant with a speaker for spoken replies for $249, up from its original necklace's $129 price, with an optional $10 monthly subscription
Anthropic says the models that breached three companies include Opus 4.7, Mythos 5, and an unnamed research model, and the earliest incidents date back to April
The breaches, which follow a similar incident involving rival OpenAI and startup Hugging Face, were due to a mistake, Anthropic said
Sources: a group of banks is in talks to lend $15B to Nexus to build a Texas data center; Anthropic will lease it and Google has provided financial guarantees
Sources: SoftBank gave $50M to Trump's library; Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon gave $25M, $10M, and $5M to his WH ballroom; Meta gave $10M to a pro-Trump group
Sources: Zelenskyy asked Trump to secure Elon Musk's permission for the use of Starlink to guide drone strikes inside Russia, but Trump was noncommittal
Apple CFO Kevan Parekh says Services surpassed 1.5B paid subscriptions, up from 1B in January 2025, but a gaming slowdown and App Store changes hurt growth
Sarah Perez /TechCrunch:
Apple forecasts Q4 revenue growth of 9% to 11% YoY, below a 12%+ estimate, citing supply constraints and currency fluctuations; AAPL drops 8%+
Mark Gurman /Bloomberg:
Sony reports Q1 PS5 sales of 1.38M units, down from 1.56M a year ago, taking total sales of the console to 95.3M units, and 125M PlayStation MAUs, up 2M YoY
Ethan Gach /Kotaku:
FBI and EPA say water and wastewater utilities in at least seven states reported cyberattacks this week, with some causing flooding and other operational issues
James Rundle /Wall Street Journal:
Amazon researchers link the compromises of four npm packages, including axios, over the past 18 months to the North Korea-linked group tracked as Sapphire Sleet
An interview with Granola CEO Chris Pedregal on making the AI note taker invisible and work across apps, and why he rejects executives seeking employees' notes
MiniMax releases H3, a video model that generates up to 15-second clips in 2K resolution with native stereo sound, and plans to release its weights within days
Sources: Moonshot has a computing power agreement with Alibaba for the use of ~20K Nvidia chips; some say the deal is for H200 chips, which Alibaba denies
Papers and patents: Chinese military researchers distilled OpenAI and Anthropic models to train domestic AI systems and advance China's defense capabilities
Index Ventures has raised $2B in new capital: a $900M venture vehicle, $400M for seed financing, and an addition of $700M to a 2024 $1.5B growth fund
Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta spent a combined $1.1T in capex from the start of the AI boom in 2023 through June 2026 and plan to spend $745B this year
OpenAI says its models now have more than 1B active users and are used by more than 2M businesses
South Korea plans to inject ~$14B into its sovereign wealth fund for strategic investments in AI, data centers, and infrastructure, after a rout in tech stocks
MediaTek says its board has approved a discretionary $5B financing budget to support long-term growth, including its expansion into AI chips for data centers
The EU Commission charges Temu with failing to cooperate during a December 2025 raid on its Dublin HQ as part of a probe into the company's foreign subsidies
Sources: DeepSeek plans to build a 1 GW data center in Inner Mongolia and aims to bring at least part of its capacity online by the end of 2027 or early 2028
Eric Trump-backed Space-Eyes, which develops AI-powered defense tech for the public sector, agrees to go public via a SPAC merger at a $638M valuation
Trump says he does not think Iran is behind a cyberattack on Minnesota water systems: “I think I blame it on Minnesota because they're grossly incompetent”
Reuters:NEW
Counterpoint: Q2 global smartphone revenue rose 7% YoY, and average device selling price rose 17% to $400; Apple took 49% of global revenue, and Samsung 16%
Australia's online safety regulator says social media use among under-16s fell to 81.5% in March 2026, compared to 85.9% before ban took effect in December 2025
Filing: Microsoft's product R&D roles declined for the second straight year as the company's total FY2026 headcount fell for the first time since 2016
Chip stocks rallied Thursday after strong Microsoft and Lam Research earnings: Lam Research closed up 18%, Micron 18%, Sandisk 26%, Arm 7%, AMD 13%, Intel 11%
Samantha Subin /CNBC:
Letter: Situational Awareness is down ~67% in July, but remains up ~80% in 2026; sources say it planned to sell $3.5B of its Anthropic stake but backed out
Wall Street Journal:
Chinese state media: Xi Jinping called for more defense applications using autonomous and AI technologies, as he pushes to build an advanced fighting force
DeepSeek V4 Flash scores 50 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, matching Gemini 3.6 Flash and up 10 points from the preview launch in April
Artificial Analysis: