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

In today’s edition, we are tackling the following:

🗺️ Erin Brockovich launches a map to expose data center secrecy across the U.S.
👨‍💻 Cognition CEO Scott Wu says AI coding agents shouldn't replace humans.
💻 The U.S. moves to halt NVIDIA AI chip shipments to Chinese firms abroad.
📉 Trump faces a new bond market inflation warning ahead of midterm elections.
🏗️ SoftBank says it will invest up to €75B in French data centers.

TECHNOLOGY

• Erin Brockovich launches map to expose data center secrecy across the U.S. (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: CNN, Business Insider, Forbes}}

  • Brockovich launched a website mapping data centers across the U.S., crowdsourced from affected community members.

  • After an April call for reports, she received nearly 4k submissions in the first month alone.

  • The most common concern is transparency, she says, ahead of noise, water usage, and utility bills.

• Dell unveils $699 XPS 13 laptop in challenge to Apple's MacBook Neo (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: PCMag, Investing.com}}

  • Dell unveiled the XPS 13 at $699, or $599 for students, targeting Apple's MacBook Neo buyers.

  • Dell calls it its thinnest and lightest model, about half a pound lighter than the MacBook Neo.

  • Apple launched the MacBook Neo at $599 in March; the XPS 13 arrives amid a memory chip crunch.

• Cognition CEO Scott Wu says AI coding agents shouldn't replace humans (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!, MSN}}

  • Cognition, the two-year-old startup behind Devin, raised $1B at a $26B valuation this week.

  • Wu says replacing humans has never been the goal, despite Devin owning coding tasks end-to-end.

  • Amid 2026's wave of AI layoffs, Wu does not want coders to lose their jobs; he started coding at nine.

BUSINESS

• U.S. moves to halt NVIDIA AI chip shipments to Chinese firms abroad (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, Japan Times, Yahoo!}}

  • The U.S. Commerce Department moved Sunday to close a loophole letting advanced AI chips reach Chinese subsidiaries abroad.

  • NVIDIA's top Blackwell processors may have reached Chinese AI firms' subsidiaries in places such as Malaysia.

  • A circulating paper warned "the floodgates have quietly opened"; one source estimated hundreds of thousands of chips.

• Trump faces a new bond market inflation warning ahead of midterm elections (Seattle Times)
  ^{_{More: AP, ABC}}

  • Rising U.S. borrowing costs are worsening affordability and growth, creating a fresh midterm risk for Republicans.

  • The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield tops 4.44%, up from 3.95% before the Iran war began.

  • Mortgage rates have hit a nine-month high and auto sales are slumping as the strain spreads globally.

• This weekend's two biggest box office hits were directed by YouTubers (Boston Globe)
  ^{_{More: CNN, TechCrunch, MSN}}

  • 'Backrooms,' Kane Parsons' YouTube-to-film horror, topped the box office with an estimated $81M domestically this weekend.

  • The figure is A24's biggest opening ever, far surpassing the $25.7M record set by 'Civil War.'

  • 'Obsession,' at $26.4M, is the first film since 1982 to grow on both its second and third weekends.

MARKETS

WORLD

• U.S. bombs Iranian military sites as Kuwait faces drone & missile fire (AP)
  ^{_{More: The Guardian, Al Jazeera, NPR}}

  • The U.S. bombed Iranian radar and drone control sites after Tehran downed an American MQ-1 Predator drone.

  • Iran launched a retaliatory strike, while Kuwait said it was intercepting incoming drone and missile fire.

  • The attacks strain a fragile ceasefire as Iran keeps disrupting energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

• SoftBank says it will invest up to €75B in French data centers (WSJ)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, Reuters, Tom's Hardware}}

  • SoftBank will spend up to €75B (around $87B) to expand its data center capacity across France.

  • The plan targets up to five gigawatts, including 3.1 gigawatts for the Hauts-de-France region by 2031.

  • SoftBank, an OpenAI investor and customer, calls this its largest AI infrastructure investment in Europe yet.

• Indian court ruling on Google keyword ads could reshape online advertising (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Straits Times, TechCrunch, MSN}}

  • An Indian court ruled Google infringed Hindware's trademark by letting rivals buy its name as an ad keyword.

  • The Delhi High Court ordered Google to pay $31.6k in damages in its May 22 ruling.

  • Indian businesses say the decision could reshape online ad economics and open new routes to legal recourse.

FUTURISM

• Meta is reportedly developing an AI pendant for testing next year (Engadget)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, PCMag}}

  • Meta is developing an AI-powered pendant it plans to begin testing next year, according to a memo.

  • The device likely builds on Limitless, the AI pendant startup Meta acquired in late 2025.

  • Reality Labs lost $4B in Q1; new AI glasses and a 'Wearables for Work' subscription are planned.

• NVIDIA, Unitree & Sharpa unite to build humanoid robot for 'real work' (SCMP)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, Reuters}}

  • NVIDIA partnered with Unitree and Sharpa to release a humanoid robot reference design, CEO Jensen Huang announced.

  • The design, called H2+ or Isaac GR00T, streamlines humanoid development from data collection to real-world deployment.

  • Huang, speaking at Computex in Taipei, called data "the hardest problem" for physical AI systems.

• This Trump-linked startup plans to put humanoid robots in the military (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: TOI, TechSpot}}

  • Foundation Future Industries, founded in 2024, builds humanoid robots for military and industrial work, not household tasks.

  • The startup has already tested its robots in Ukraine and aims to bring them to the U.S. military.

  • It recently brought on Eric Trump, son of the sitting president, as its chief strategy advisor.

• Hunting for AI roles eats hours across careers pages, internal referrals, group chats, and a dozen overlapping boards*

  • The Athyna AI Job Board does the watching for you and matches openings to your profile in the background.

  • When a role hits a 75% matching index or higher, we notify you with details and a direct apply link.

CONTENT

• Benedict Evans on AI, jobs, & why things will probably be okay (Lenny's Podcast)

  • Benedict Evans, an independent analyst and former Andreessen Horowitz partner, argues AI rivals the internet's impact.

  • He likens AI's moment to 1997, early and uncertain, with distribution becoming the ultimate competitive moat.

  • Evans says the key question is whether AI handles a single task or an entire job.

• Matias Castello on using Codex for code review & product work at Alchemy (OpenAI)

  • On Builders Unscripted, Romain Huet talks with Alchemy Product Lead Matias Castello about building with Codex.

  • Matias explains how his team uses Codex for code review and builds side projects with App Server.

  • He also rebuilds Snapcat as a personal evaluation for every new model, including GPT-5.5.

• Robin Carhart-Harris talks psychedelic research & its therapeutic potential (Sam Harris)

  • Sam Harris speaks with Robin Carhart-Harris about psychedelic research, therapy, and the FDA's denial of MDMA treatment.

  • They explore set and setting, the REBUS model, the default mode network, microdosing, and ego dissolution.

  • Carhart-Harris founded Imperial College London's Centre for Psychedelic Research in 2019, the world's first of its kind.

EXTRAS

• Hotly debated lung cancer drug cut death risk by 34% in China (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: Straits Times, Yahoo!}}

  • Akeso and Summit Therapeutics' drug ivonescimab improved survival in the Harmoni-6 Phase 3 trial in China.

  • The bispecific antibody targets PD-1, like Merck's Keytruda, and VEGF, like Roche's Avastin.

  • Results were presented at the ASCO annual meeting, where PD-1/VEGF drugs remain a hotly debated emerging class.

• China tightens overseas investment rules a month after blocking the Meta-Manus deal (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Nikkei, Straits Times}}

  • China issued sweeping rules Monday tightening control over overseas deals involving Chinese investors, technology, and data.

  • The move follows Beijing ordering Meta to unwind its acquisition of AI startup Manus a month earlier.

  • Published by the State Council, the rules take effect July 1 and target 'Singapore-washing' and talent transfer.

• 'This is fine' artist KC Green reaches agreement with AI startup Artisan (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!, MEXC}}

  • KC Green, creator of the 'This is fine' meme, has reached an agreement with AI startup Artisan.

  • The dispute began when Artisan used a version of his dog-in-flames art in subway ads for assistant Ava.

  • Green said his art was "stolen as AI steals"; this week, Artisan's CEO confirmed a deal.

AND MORE

• TikTok is steadily on its way to becoming a super app.

• How Trump's Ukraine aid cuts undermine justice for Russian war crimes.

• Roko’s Basilisk skips the buzz words and cuts straight to what moves markets, products, and careers.*

• GitHub Copilot's new token-based billing has sparked frustration & backlash among developers.

• Nearly 8% of Norway oil workers threaten strike from June 5.

• Former Snap employees have unveiled a new venture fund called Ghost Angels.

• What happens in Vega$ involves steroids, swimmers, and a billion-dollar hustle.