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

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

🎬 Midjourney pushes Hollywood studios to disclose their own internal AI usage.
🚫 Alibaba to block employee access to Anthropic's Claude Code, reports say.
✈️ Lockheed Martin front-runner in $3.5B race to acquire Ultra Maritime.
📉 Nearly 1M investors have lost $3.8B buying Trump's $TRUMP memecoin.
🚕 Uber halts five planned European launches amid Delivery Hero takeover pursuit.

TECHNOLOGY

• Midjourney pushes Hollywood studios to disclose their own internal AI usage (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Engadget, Gizmodo, Mashable}}

  • Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. sued the startup for generating images of their characters.

  • Midjourney argues training its models on copyrighted characters is permitted under fair use protections.

  • The startup wants studios to reveal all AI usage, not just 'consumer-facing' outputs, calling limits unfair.

• Google ad reimagines the Declaration of Independence as a Workspace group project (The Verge)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Yahoo!}}

  • Marking the declaration's 250th anniversary, Google's ad shows founders collaborating via Docs, Calendar, and Meet.

  • Gemini takes meeting notes, visualizes national seal options, and advises declining King George's access request.

  • The tongue-in-cheek spot avoids suggesting AI would improve the declaration's actual text, unlike past ads.

• Alibaba to block employee access to Anthropic's Claude Code, reports say (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Firstpost, SCMP, TechCrunch}}

  • The ban takes effect July 10; Anthropic already prohibits Chinese companies from using its models.

  • A Reddit post revealed a Claude Code version that could secretly identify Chinese users.

  • Anthropic's Thariq Shihipar called it an 'experiment' against resellers and distillation, with stronger mitigations since it landed.

BUSINESS

• Lockheed Martin front-runner in $3.5B race to acquire Ultra Maritime (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: AOL, Financial Times, Reuters}}

  • The naval defense firm, owned by Advent International, specializes in anti-submarine technology and torpedo countermeasures.

  • Guggenheim and JPMorgan are advising on the sell side, with a deal possibly announced this week.

  • Ultra was reportedly put up for sale earlier in 2026 for more than $4B.

• Nearly 1M investors have lost $3.8B buying Trump's $TRUMP memecoin, analysis shows (NY Times)
  ^{_{More: Seattle Times, TechCrunch}}

  • Crypto analytics firm Nansen found 988,905 accounts, around two-thirds of buyers, lost money on $TRUMP.

  • The token traded at $1.69 Sunday, down nearly 98% from its $75.35 peak in 2025.

  • Trump earned $636M from the memecoin, nearly half his $1.4B crypto industry income last year.

• Castlelake's fifth bid wins EasyJet board backing in £5.2B takeover push (BBC)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, AOL, Investing.com}}

  • EasyJet rejected four earlier offers from the U.S. firm, accusing it of buying 'on the cheap.'

  • Sunday's agreement in principle values shares at £6.90, up from bids ranging from £5.60 to £6.50.

  • Castlelake must satisfy EU ownership rules and confirm a firm offer by the August 3 deadline.

MARKETS

WORLD

• Khamenei's sons appear at funeral while new supreme leader stays hidden (AP)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, CNN, Al Jazeera}}

  • Top officials attended prayers for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in a February 28 attack that triggered war.

  • Hundreds of thousands chanted anti-U.S. slogans, with some hard-liners calling for Trump's assassination.

  • New leader Mojtaba Khamenei remains in hiding, reportedly wounded in the strike that killed his father.

• Uber halts five planned European launches amid Delivery Hero takeover pursuit (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Tech Buzz}}

  • Uber has paused five of seven planned 2026 European launches, including Austria, Norway, and Greece.

  • The company says it wants to build on "momentum" after successful launches in Finland and Denmark.

  • Pausing expansion could ease antitrust concerns around Uber's rejected €10B bid to acquire Delivery Hero.

• Pegasus spyware targeted EU lawmaker probing surveillance abuses, Citizen Lab finds (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: The Guardian, WIRED, TechCrunch}}

  • Citizen Lab says Stelios Kouloglou's phone was hacked at least three times between 2022 and 2023.

  • The Greek journalist-turned-lawmaker served on European Parliament's PEGA committee investigating abusive surveillance practices.

  • Pegasus, distributed by Israeli company NSO Group, was the spyware tool used against him.

FUTURISM

• Amazon's Mechanical Turk to close its doors to new customers soon (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Firstpost, Crypto Briefing}}

  • Starting July 30, 2026, Amazon's crowdsourcing marketplace will stop accepting new customers after 'careful consideration.'

  • Existing users can continue as normal, but AWS won't introduce new features beyond security improvements.

  • Launched in 2005, the service paid workers small sums for simple tasks and sparked labor ethics debates.

• Hyundai workers in South Korea vote to strike over humanoid robots (Futurism)
  ^{_{More: Firstpost, Yahoo!}}

  • Union members demand a say over automation and AI, plus a bonus of roughly $27k each.

  • Hyundai announced in January it would deploy Boston Dynamics' Atlas robots at its Georgia factory in 2028.

  • The automaker told investors in May it plans over 25k humanoids across its vehicle manufacturing facilities.

• Dune's tiny three-key keypad adapts its controls to your active app (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!, MSN}}

  • The $119 aluminum gadget plugs into a MacBook's USB-C port and changes functions per app.

  • In meetings it toggles mic and video; in Chrome it refreshes or jumps to the URL bar.

  • Each unit is built to match your specific Mac model, drawing power directly without batteries.

• Explore the essential startup reading database*

  • Learning from the best is how you become the best. We've curated a list of top-notch articles, blogs, and readings that are pivotal for startup founders.

  • And here's the kicker: we've organized it all in a user-friendly Notion database for easy access and tracking. Double win!

  • As aspiring leaders and innovators, this list serves as a bridge to absorbing the knowledge that has propelled others to success.

CONTENT

• a16z leaders unpack global expansion strategy & technology's role in power (a16z)

  • Ben Horowitz hosts Anne Neuberger, Raghu Raghuram, and Jen Kha on a16z's expanding international strategy.

  • The conversation covers AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, defense technology, and building enduring innovation ecosystems worldwide.

  • Priority regions include Japan, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and the Indo-Pacific, with trusted partnerships emphasized.

• Sierra co-founder Clay Bavor on open models versus frontier intelligence (20VC)

  • Sierra is valued at roughly $15.8B, has raised over $1.5B, and serves 40% of the Fortune 50.

  • The company recently surpassed $150M ARR, among the fastest-growing enterprise software businesses in history.

  • Bavor explains why Sierra skipped training foundation models and why token costs are rising, not falling.

• Digitas CEO Amy Lanzi on why AI won't save the advertising industry (The Verge)

  • Lanzi spoke with Decoder before a live audience at the Cannes Lions advertising festival in France.

  • Topics include DigitasAI's restructure, the 'creative is the new targeting' debate, and industry bundling.

  • The conversation also covers Google Zero, the creator economy, rising rates, and the 'Influencer Cliff.'

EXTRAS

• FIFA lifts Balogun's World Cup suspension after Trump call to Infantino (AP)
  ^{_{More: NY Times, Washington Post}}

  • Balogun received an automatic one-game ban for stepping on a Bosnian player's ankle Wednesday.

  • Trump personally called FIFA president Infantino requesting a review of the red card decision.

  • The reversal, apparently the first since 1962, drew praise from Trump and outrage from Belgium.

• Fortescue faces class action over alleged sexual harassment & discrimination claims (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: AOL, Investing.com}}

  • The Federal Court filing covers alleged workplace misconduct spanning February 1, 2006 to December 5, 2025.

  • Female employees allege widespread harassment and assault at the company's remote fly-in, fly-out work sites.

  • Fortescue says proceedings are at an early stage, with compensation unspecified, and declined to comment.

• Delta pilot reports 'big bang' after firework apparently strikes plane over Chicago (CNN)
  ^{_{More: TOI, CNBC}}

  • The flight was descending at 200 to 250 feet when struck during Fourth of July celebrations.

  • The Airbus A319, carrying 52 passengers and six crew, landed safely with no injuries or damage.

  • The FAA is investigating; an air traffic controller mentioned 'multiple reports' of similar encounters that night.

AND MORE

• Five key takeaways from Donald Trump's wide-ranging CNBC interview.

• Meet Bending Spoons, the obscure AOL & Vimeo owner now public.

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

• Russian missile & drone strike on Kyiv kills at least 10 people.

• Five desk gadgets that could genuinely improve your daily workflow.

• Samsung's chip results to offer early taste of earnings season ahead.

• Trump administration drops new bidding plans for Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool repairs.