Welcome back to your daily memorandum talking tech, business, AI, markets, and more. 🗞️

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

🗣️ New Grok criticizes democrats and Hollywood’s Jewish execs in a new update.
📱 TikTok’s ‘ban’ problem could end soon with a new app and sale.
🗳️ Elon Musk formed a new political party called the America Party.
🌍 Nations race to secure Trump trade deals as Bessent hints at extension.
⚔️ China retaliates against EU ban with import restrictions on medical devices.

TECHNOLOGY

• Improved Grok criticizes democrats and Hollywood’s Jewish executives in new update

  • Elon Musk claims that the Grok chatbot is significantly improved and encourages politically incorrect factual input.

  • Grok now criticizes Democratic policies and supports conservative reforms like Project 2025 in responses.

  • Grok controversially claims Jewish executives dominate Hollywood and influence content with progressive ideology.

• TikTok’s ‘ban’ problem could end soon with a new app and sale

  • To meet US law requirements, TikTok may soon be sold to non-Chinese investors, including Oracle.

  • A new app version called M2 is expected to launch on September 5 as the original app phases out.

  • The sale still needs China’s approval, while TikTok’s current US operations face shutdown by March 2026.

• How Brex is keeping up with AI by embracing the ‘messiness’

  • Brex struggled with slow procurement as AI tools evolved faster than traditional sales cycles.

  • Their months-long approval process caused teams to lose interest before tools were even deployed.

  • Brex revamped its procurement framework to quickly vet and test new AI tools internally.

BUSINESS

• Elon Musk formed a new US political party called the America Party

  • Elon Musk announced the formation of a new US political party called the America Party.

  • The party will target 2–3 Senate seats and 8–10 competitive House districts in the elections.

  • As the world’s richest man, Musk’s political involvement could influence close congressional races significantly.

• Samsung prepares to see if the Ultra foldables can finally attract more buyers

  • Despite years of effort, Samsung’s foldables still hold a small share of the smartphone market.

  • Motorola saw 253% growth in foldables, while Samsung’s updates lacked innovation and excitement in 2023.

  • Samsung plans new models, including a thinner Ultra Fold and cheaper options, hoping to boost adoption.

• Nations race to secure U.S. trade deals as Bessent hints at extension

  • Major U.S. trading partners rush to secure deals or request extensions before the July 9 tariff deadline.

  • Treasury Secretary Bessent says countries without agreements may get a three-week extension to negotiate.

  • Trump plans to send tariff letters to 12-15 partners, with some deals expected before the deadline.

MARKETS

WORLD

• Japan’s real wages have fallen the most since 2023 causing headaches for Ishiba

  • Japanese real wages fell 2.9% in May, the largest drop since September 2023.

  • Inflation continues to outpace salary growth, reducing workers’ purchasing power significantly.

  • The wage decline poses a challenge for Prime Minister Ishiba ahead of upcoming elections.

• China retaliates against EU ban with import restrictions on medical devices

  • China restricts government purchases of EU medical devices over $6.3M in retaliation to EU curbs.

  • EU previously barred Chinese firms from tenders over unfair access, invoking new procurement rules.

  • Beijing criticizes the EU for protectionism, saying reciprocal measures are necessary despite China’s goodwill.

• South African president faces new crisis over police misconduct allegations

  • South African President Ramaphosa faces crisis after police accuse minister of interfering with investigations.

  • Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and officials seized political assassination dockets in KwaZulu-Natal province.

  • Commissioner Mkhwanazi claims Mchunu planned to disband the task team investigating political killings.

CONTENT

• The Base44 bootstrapped startup success story by solo founder Maor Shlomo

  • Maor Shlomo bootstrapped AI app Base44 to $80M acquisition by Wix in just six months.

  • Reached $1M ARR in three weeks and 400,000 users without funding or marketing spend.

  • Shared insights include AI coding strategies, solo founder advantages, and growth from building in public.

• Graham Dugoni explains how smartphones hurt society and why schools resist phone-free policies

  • Graham Dugoni, Yondr founder, discusses smartphones' harmful effects and challenges of phone-free school adoption.

  • Yondr promotes phone-free spaces using lockable pouches, with use expanding beyond schools into other venues.

  • Dugoni runs Yondr without a smartphone, proving businesses can succeed without social media or heavy tech use.

• François Chollet explains pretraining limits and the path toward true general intelligence

  • François Chollet highlights the limits of AI pretraining and the challenges to achieving true intelligence.

  • The ARC benchmark measures AI’s ability for compositional reasoning and test-time adaptation.

  • Chollet’s Ndea lab develops meta-learning systems to create adaptable and inventive artificial intelligence.

FUTURISM

• Xiaomi succeeded where Apple failed to introduce the YU7 at the Beijing launch event

  • Xiaomi founder Lei Jun celebrated the launch of the company’s second electric SUV in Beijing.

  • Xiaomi is the only tech firm that successfully diversified into car making, unlike Apple.

  • Lei Jun referenced Apple’s failed decade-long, $10B car project during the launch event.

• Researchers try to influence peer review using hidden prompts in AI systems

  • Researchers inserted hidden AI prompts in preprints to influence peer review toward positive feedback.

  • Nikkei Asia found 17 such papers across 14 institutions, including Columbia, KAIST, and Waseda University.

  • Prompts used small fonts or white text and urged AI reviewers to only give praise.

• Here are the vehicles that offer iPhone car keys now

  • Apple introduced digital car keys in 2020 for iPhone and Apple Watch users.

  • Select automakers like Audi, BMW, Hyundai, and Mercedes support the feature.

  • Apple's official vehicle list is outdated; newer compatible models are tracked separately.

EXTRAS

• Reuters accounts became inaccessible on X in India Saturday evening now restored

  • Reuters’ X account was briefly withheld in India, showing a legal demand message to users.

  • Indian government denies involvement, and says it’s working with X to resolve the issue promptly.

  • X previously accused India of censorship, citing vague takedown requests and ongoing legal tensions.

• South Korea seeks US trade deadline extension as tariff threat grows

  • South Korea and US officials discuss extending the July 9 trade deal deadline to avoid new tariffs.

  • Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington.

  • South Korea proposed manufacturing partnerships and tariff reductions on key exports like steel and automobiles.

• At least 36 new tech unicorns have been minted in 2025 so far

  • AI boom fuels a surge in startups reaching unicorn status at an accelerating monthly pace.

  • Most new unicorns are AI-related, but others include satellite and blockchain-based companies.

  • TechCrunch tracks and updates VC-backed startups now valued at over $1 billion in 2025.

AND MORE

• Here are the best Apple Watch deals available right now.

• State of EV sales and Rivian secures the next $1B from VW.

• Indian solar photovoltaic modules maker Emmvee files for initial public offering.

• Need to scale an AI team quickly? Athyna delivers vetted talent globally in under a week.*

• Dollar doubters drive historic gains for developing world debt markets.

• Best earbuds we’ve tested for 2025 from various popular tech brands.

• Drive Capital’s second act is how the Columbus venture firm found success after a split.

• Turn complex tasks into stunning step-by-step video guides in seconds with Guidde.*

• Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 review names it the new king of Chromebooks

• Apple’s $350M gamble on movie 'F1' is starting to pay off.