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

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

🧠 Google reportedly developing new AI chip to boost Gemini's efficiency.
🛡️ Head of Trump administration's AI safety agency resigns after three months.
⚖️ Anthropic's landmark $1.5B copyright settlement over pirated books approved.
🎬 Judge issues 14-day pause on Paramount & WB’s $110B merger.
🚢 Houthis announce Saudi naval blockade, opening new front in U.S.-Iran war.

TECHNOLOGY

• Google reportedly developing new AI chip to boost Gemini's efficiency (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Firstpost, CNBC, TechCrunch}}

  • Google is designing a new server chip, internally dubbed 'Frozen v2,' to make Gemini models more efficient.

  • The chip could be six to 10 times more efficient than Google's current AI chips, The Information reported.

  • AI firms increasingly build custom chips to cut costs and reduce dependence on NVIDIA's dominant hardware.

• Head of Trump administration's AI safety agency resigns after three months (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: Axios, TOI, TechCrunch}}

  • Chris Fall, head of the Center for AI Standards and Innovation, has resigned from his role, CNBC confirmed.

  • Arvind Raman, director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, will serve as acting CAISI director.

  • CAISI aims to help the government facilitate 'testing and collaborative research' around commercial AI systems.

• Colossal Biosciences reportedly in talks to raise funding at $20B-$30B valuation (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: NewsBytes, Tech Buzz, Yahoo!}}

  • Colossal Biosciences is reportedly in talks to raise new funding at a $20B-$30B valuation, per Axios.

  • The five-year-old de-extinction startup has started generating revenue and recently secured a $60M investment from the UAE.

  • Colossal has spun out three startups, including Astromech, an AI-driven biology firm valued at $2B in March.

BUSINESS

• Anthropic's landmark $1.5B copyright settlement over pirated books approved (NY Post)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, TechCrunch}}

  • A federal judge gave final approval Monday, clearing Anthropic to pay authors and publishers over copyright infringement.

  • The payout delivers $3k per work across roughly 500k works, the largest settlement in U.S. copyright history.

  • Judge Alsup ruled AI training on copyrighted text is fair use, but downloading pirated books stayed illegal.

• Judge issues 14-day pause on Paramount Skydance's $110B Warner Bros. Discovery merger (Washington Post)
  ^{_{More: NY Post, USA Today, TechCrunch}}

  • Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín paused the $110B Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger for 14 days Monday.

  • A coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by California's Rob Bonta, filed the lawsuit.

  • The states argue the merger would harm competition in theatrical distribution and basic cable licensing.

• Trump imposes 50% tariffs on Canada over autos, alcohol, cheese disputes (AP)
  ^{_{More: PBS, NBC}}

  • Trump imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, citing unfair treatment of U.S. autos, alcohol, and dairy.

  • The tariffs, signed under Section 338 of the 1930 Trade Act, exclude energy, potash, fish, and critical minerals.

  • The move includes goods once protected by USMCA, a 2020 pact the U.S. didn't renew.

MARKETS

WORLD

• Houthis announce Saudi naval blockade, opening new front in U.S.-Iran war (AP)
  ^{_{More: NBC, Reuters, Al Jazeera}}

  • Yemen's Houthis announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, opening a new front against the U.S.

  • The Pentagon identified two U.S. soldiers killed in Friday's Iranian attack on a base in Jordan.

  • A fourth service member died in northern Iraq during detonation of an unexploded Iranian drone.

• China deploys broad state support to halt tech stock selloff (Bloomberg)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!, Investing.com, Reuters}}

  • China's 'national team' intervention can slow forced selling but cannot fix earnings or investor confidence.

  • Beijing's focus on state-owned enterprises suggests it's defending the index floor, not the speculative tech trade.

  • The key test ahead is whether private capital follows, with the STAR 50 and yuan signaling true recovery.

• SBI Funds Management shares list at 7% premium in muted debut (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, Business Standard, Financial Times}}

  • SBI Funds Management, India's largest asset manager, listed shares at a 7% premium to its IPO price.

  • The $1B IPO drew bids worth $30.7B, oversubscribed 41.6 times amid strong institutional investor demand.

  • The muted debut reflects a broader cooling trend, with average Indian IPO premiums falling from 28% to 8%.

FUTURISM

• Adobe's Project Indigo adds AI feature that critiques your photos (Engadget)
  ^{_{More: Adobe, The Verge, TechCrunch}}

  • Adobe is adding AI features to its Project Indigo camera app, including photo critiques and editing suggestions.

  • New tools also include advanced object removal, depth of field generation, and photo style transformations.

  • Unlike prompt-based AI editing, Project Indigo uses deterministic buttons for more predictable, descriptive results.

• Samsung Electronics shares rise on new robotics division push into AI (Tech in Asia)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, Reuters, Yahoo!}}

  • Samsung Electronics created a new robotics division, RX, to be directly overseen by CEO TM Roh.

  • Samsung shares rose 6.76% after the announcement, outpacing the benchmark Kospi index's roughly 4% gain.

  • The move follows Samsung's plan to invest $40.7B in physical AI infrastructure and humanoid robot manufacturing.

• Humanoid robot cage match ends abruptly after one robot's head detaches (Futurism)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!, MSN, NDTV}}

  • The inaugural Ultimate Robot Knock-out Legend (URKL) competition in Shenzhen, China, delivered a brutal robot cage match.

  • One robot's head was knocked off by a flying kick but kept fighting until it collapsed.

  • The victorious robot danced over its opponent's unmoving body after the severed head's cable disconnected.

• 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

• Are OpenAI & Anthropic overvalued as token costs plunge & usage soars (20VC)

  • Fireworks AI, led by CEO Lin Qiao, raised $1.5B last week at a $17B valuation.

  • The 200-person company has already hit $1B in ARR and expects to reach $2B by year-end.

  • Qiao, a former Meta and PyTorch founding team member, discusses AI valuations and open versus closed models.

• What experts really think about writing with AI, from Altman to Pinker (David Perell)

  • Dozens of writers weighed in on AI and creativity, ranging from enthusiastic support to sharp criticism.

  • The piece features 12 responses from award-winning authors, tech builders, and journalists like Ezra Klein.

  • Contributors include Sam Altman, Steven Pinker, Marc Andreessen, and Robert Macfarlane, among others.

• An AI that watches your every click may define work's future (This Week in Startups)

  • Ent founder Brandon Dixon raised a $100M seed round for AI that flags risky clicks before breaches happen.

  • The on-device AI agent aims to catch leaked files and rogue behavior before damage occurs.

  • David Im's Sumi Labs unveiled Sume's Avatar, generating 60-second UGC videos correctly from a single prompt.

EXTRAS

• Japan raises safety concerns over Chinese destroyer's live-fire drills near Okinotorishima (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: The Independent, Japan Times, AP}}

  • A Chinese destroyer conducted live-fire drills inside Japan's exclusive economic zone near Okinotorishima Island over the weekend.

  • This marked the first time Tokyo publicly reported a live-fire drill by China's military within Japan's EEZ.

  • The flotilla included two other Chinese warships and one Russian frigate, highlighting growing Beijing-Moscow defense ties

• Five die in Ohio river after attempt to save struggling swimmer (ABC)
  ^{_{More: NBC, AP, The Guardian}}

  • Five people died after several adults entered Ohio's Scioto River to help a struggling swimmer.

  • A motorist spotted a distraught child on a highway Sunday night, leading to a search and rescue effort.

  • First responders recovered two women alive, who later died, and found three men's bodies Monday.

• Spain celebrates World Cup win despite Trump's lingering trophy photo-op (CBS)
  ^{_{More: Al Jazeera, CNBC}}

  • Spain celebrated its 2026 World Cup victory over Argentina in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter on Monday.

  • Some fans found humor in Trump's presence on stage, while others felt he lingered too long.

  • Trump remained beside Spain's team during photos despite apparent gentle nudging from FIFA's Gianni Infantino.

AND MORE

• Hugging Face confirms breach exposed internal datasets and credentials, urges action.

• China's AI sensation Moonshot sees its bet on big models pay off.

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

• AI's most important protocol becomes a little easier to use.

• Weight-loss drugs may soon target your overweight pet, too.

• X relaunches its rebuilt Android app after a year-long effort.

• Andy Burnham faces key challenges as U.K.'s new prime minister.

• OpenAI is scared of open-weight models. Should the U.S. be too?