Tech Brew Ride Home

OpenAI floated giving the US government a 5% stake to court the Trump administration. Nvidia promised to backstop cloud providers for a revenue cut, SpaceX showed investors an xAI phone prototype, Apple ramped foldable iPhone orders, and Z.ai launched ZCode.


Sources: OpenAI has discussed giving a 5% stake to the US government, seeking to clear political obstacles by securing buy-in from the Trump administration (FT)


Nvidia promises to financially backstop young cloud providers like Firmus that rent out its AI chips, in exchange for a revenue share through a new program (The Information)


Sources: SpaceX showed investors a handset-like device prototype with AI tech from xAI, a proprietary OS, a Snapdragon chip, and a design slimmer than an iPhone (WSJ)


Sources: Apple has told suppliers to prepare to produce ~10M foldable iPhones in 2026, up from 7M to 8M previously, and 80M iPhones in total across new models (Nikkei Asia)


Apple reportedly orders 10M foldable iPhone Ultra models, which could sell for around $2500 (9to5Mac)


Sources: Apple is in negotiations to buy chips from CXMT and YMTC, two Chinese semiconductor makers on a Pentagon blacklist, for use in devices sold in China (Bloomberg)


Z.ai launches ZCode, an "Agentic Development Environment" optimized for its new GLM-5.2 model; Z.ai's GLM Coding Plan costs from $16.20 to $144 per month (VentureBeat)

Subscribe to the ad-free feed.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthropic said Commerce lifted export controls on Fable 5 and Mythos 5, restoring access Wednesday, and launched Sonnet 5. Sony is ending PlayStation game discs in 2028, a 140-company group unveiled Open USD, and Meta's building a cloud business.


Anthropic says the Department of Commerce has lifted export controls on Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 and that it will begin restoring access Wednesday (X)


Anthropic says the Department of Commerce has lifted export controls on Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 and that it will begin restoring access Wednesday (BleepingComputer)


Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 5, saying it nears Opus 4.8 performance at lower prices and is substantially better than Sonnet 4.6 for agentic work (Anthropic)


Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 5, saying it nears Opus 4.8 performance at lower prices and is substantially better than Sonnet 4.6 for agentic work (The New Stack)


Sony says all new PlayStation games from both first- and third-party developers will be sold in digital formats from January 2028, ending physical game discs (Game File)


Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, Coinbase, and 140+ companies join Open Standard to launch Open USD, a stablecoin that shares earnings from its reserves (The Block)


Sources: Meta is developing plans for a cloud infrastructure business that will sell access to AI computing power and models, to compete with AWS and Azure (Bloomberg)


SpaceX cuts monthly Starlink prices in half in the Memphis area, as it endures blowback and legal challenges from opponents of its Colossus data centers (Bloomberg)

Subscribe to the ad-free feed.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comcast moved to spin off NBCUniversal and Sky into a new public company. The Supreme Court limited geofence warrants, Australia sued Amazon over Prime Video ads, Chamath returned to lead his AI coding startup, and Gemini's image generation went free.


Comcast plans to spin off its media and entertainment assets, including NBCUniversal and Sky, into a new publicly traded entity, set to close by mid-2027 (Variety)


SCOTUS limits the law enforcement use of "geofence" warrants, saying people have "a reasonable expectation of privacy" in their cell-phone location data (TechCrunch)


Australia's ACCC sues Amazon for allegedly introducing ads to Prime Video under unfair contract terms and forcing existing subscribers to pay more to avoid them (Bloomberg)


AI coding startup 8090 raised a $135M Series A led by Salesforce Ventures; founder Chamath Palihapitiya announces that he will lead the company as CEO (TechCrunch)


The DOD seeks to recruit engineers experienced in frontier AI, machine learning and automation, and data systems, to embed them "down to the unit level" (Bloomberg)


Google says the Gemini app now offers personalized Nano Banana image generation, previously limited to Plus, Pro, and Ultra users, to eligible US users for free (TechCrunch)


Hotels, tour operators, and travel agencies rush to launch proprietary online tools and loyalty schemes to fend off future competition from AI travel agents (FT)

Subscribe to the ad-free feed.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The US lifted its block on Anthropic's Mythos 5, clearing it for 100+ institutions. Researchers said China's GLM-5.2 matches US models on security bugs. South Korea pledged ~$590B for chips, and the memory crunch turned existential for small makers.


Letter: the US lifts its block on Mythos 5, allowing Anthropic to release it to more than 100 US institutions; sources: talks about Fable 5 are ongoing (Semafor)


Researchers say Z.ai's GLM-5.2 matches latest US models at finding security bugs, as critics question the US' lax approach in restricting Chinese open models (WSJ)


South Korea, Samsung, and SK Hynix say they plan to invest ~$590B to build a new chip complex, including four chipmaking plants and a chip packaging cluster (FT)


Soaring memory costs are posing existential threats to small electronics makers, amid thin margins, low supply chain leverage, and little room for price hikes (CNBC)


Sports clips' rise on platforms like YouTube has left broadcasters debating whether to use them to attract younger viewers or protect their subscription revenue (CNBC)

Subscribe to the ad-free feed.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI leaned toward delaying its IPO to 2027 rather than budge from Altman's $1T valuation, rattling tech stocks. The government had OpenAI stagger GPT-5.6's release over security concerns. Microsoft hiked Xbox prices again, and SpaceX teased a Starlink mobile network.


Sources: OpenAI leans toward holding off its IPO until 2027 after warnings that Sam Altman's desired $1T valuation may not be met in current market conditions (The New York Times)


Sources: Sam Altman told staff the US government asked OpenAI to stagger the release of GPT-5.6 over security concerns, approving "access customer by customer" (The Information)


Microsoft says the price of Xbox consoles will increase on August 1 by $100 for 512GB models and $150 for 1TB models, the third price increase since 2025 (Kotaku)


Sources: SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell told investors during an IPO roadshow SpaceX may launch a Starlink mobile product and build its own terrestrial US network (FT)

Longreads


How Chicago is betting on quantum computing, including turning the site of its former US Steel mill into a campus, after largely missing the digital revolution (WSJ)


As China's working-age population shrinks, consensus is growing that China must embed embodied AI robots into as many tasks as possible, as soon as possible (FT)

Subscribe to the ad-free feed.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices