• Midjourney bought astrology app Co-Star, which uses AI to offer personalized advice, in the spring and is building its first standalone image-generation app (Natalie Lung/Bloomberg)
• In their letter defending open-weight AI, tech companies urge lawmakers to avoid "premature restrictions" that "stifle competition or drive innovation overseas" (Ashley Capoot/CNBC)
• Sources: Anduril is in talks with investors for a new funding round that could see it valued at around $100B; the company raised $5B at a $61B valuation in May (Reuters)
• Meta, Nvidia, Microsoft, a16z, and others sign a letter defending open-source AI; Jensen Huang, in his first X post, says open models strengthen cybersecurity (Leo Schwartz/The Information)
• Delhi High Court rules OpenAI's use of ANI content to train ChatGPT wasn't copyright infringement as the news agency didn't show ChatGPT reproduced its reports (Munsif Vengattil/Reuters)
• Meta launches Facebook Verified, a free program it says will verify that users are real humans by analyzing a facial recognition selfie and assigning badges (Mat Smith/Engadget)
• India orders GitHub to remove Bitchat, the offline messaging app built by Jack Dorsey that is used by anti-government protestors amid internet blackouts (Shaurya Malwa/CoinDesk)
• Meta launches Seller, a free standalone app version of Facebook Marketplace; Seller includes AI features that scan photos to fill out listings automatically (Eli Tan/New York Times)
• Poolin, previously regarded as one of the world's largest crypto mining pool providers, files for Chapter 11 and seeks to sell its Texas mining assets for $52M (Brian Danga/The Block)
• Sources: Shanghai-based GPU maker MetaX confidentially filed for a Hong Kong listing, targeting an IPO by the year-end, amid a surge of fundraising from rivals (Zoe SL Chan/South China Morning Post)
• Preliminary findings: the EU Commission says TikTok's accounts for minors violate the DSA, citing features that could expose children to bullying and predators (Foo Yun Chee/Reuters)
• The US OCC denies Wise's application to create a national trust bank, citing incompatibility with new Federal Reserve policies; Wise says it plans to reapply (Simone Lobo/Reuters)
• Sources: OpenAI told Hugging Face only this week its models caused the July 11 hack; the models appear to have been active online for days before being stopped (Wall Street Journal)
• A look at China's push to catch up with US AI chips; sources: its Vice Premier warned AI companies that anyone who resisted using local chips was a traitor (Wall Street Journal)
• Flush with AI cash, South Korean groups are making their biggest US investment push in years, with their Q1 US foreign direct investment up 100%+ YoY to $10.2B (Financial Times)
| • Silicon Valley Is Completely Divided Over Chinese AI
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• Dyson V10 Konical Review (2026): Affordable and Solid
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• OpenAI Models Escaped Containment and Hacked Hugging Face
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• Taylor Farms Spent Big on MAGA and Anti-Regulatory Lobbying Before Diarrhea Outbreak
• This Former Intel CEO Wants to Jumpstart Moore’s Law With Light
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| • I visited Samsung's foldable-themed pop-up pub and its alcohol-free beers tasted terrible
• Amazon Luna is getting a brand new Batman game next week
• EV batteries could last much longer than experts first predicted
• Alienware 15 review: Perfect timing for a budget gaming laptop
• Meta launches a storefront platform through Facebook Marketplace
• Meta launches new Facebook Verified badge for actual, real humans
• More than 200 companies sign Trump's 'pledge' to protect consumers from data center price rises
• LG promises to stop McAfee spam ads following pressure from Microsoft
• Google is expanding access to its Gemini Spark agentic AI assistant
• Scientists develop handheld device for measuring when your body is burning fat
• Peacock is finally profitable, thanks to the World Cup and Love Island
• Patreon is laying off 20 percent of its staff
• Meta's pro-AI ad campaign is conspicuously light on AI
• OpenAI once again makes the case for giving ChatGPT your health records
• Universal secures rights for film adaptations of 10 Atari games
• Instagram is now banning users who make creepy content with Meta glasses
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• Bethesda accused of breaking Canadian labor laws with Montreal layoffs
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