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

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

💧 NVIDIA cuts data center water use, but ignores AI's wider problem.
🚗 Tesla disputes Autopilot blame after fatal Texas crash, citing driver override data.
⚡ Microsoft & Chevron plan a massive gas-powered data center in West Texas.
🪖 The Pentagon seeks $80B from Congress to fund the war against Iran.
🏛️ Keir Starmer resigns as Labor leader after a swift fall from power.

TECHNOLOGY

• NVIDIA cuts data center water use, but ignores AI's wider problem (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Axios, Fortune, Gizmodo}}

  • NVIDIA announced a warm-water cooling system it says eliminates nearly all water use inside data centers.

  • The closed-loop coolant recirculates for the facility's life, achieving up to 100% on-site water reduction in favorable climates.

  • Critics note the measurement ignores water consumed off-site, especially when data centers run on fossil fuels.

• Tesla disputes Autopilot blame after fatal Texas crash, citing driver override data (WSJ)
  ^{_{More: NBC, TechCrunch, Tech Buzz}}

  • A Tesla Model 3 crashed into a Katy, Texas, home Friday night, killing 76-year-old Martha Avila.

  • The driver told deputies that Autopilot was engaged, sparking renewed debate over Tesla's driver-assistance systems.

  • Tesla executive Ashok Elluswamy said data showed the driver manually pressed the accelerator fully, reaching 73 mph.

• OpenAI & Trail of Bits team up to secure open-source projects (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: OpenAI, WIRED}}

  • The 'Patch the Planet' initiative pairs OpenAI with security firm Trail of Bits to help open-source maintainers.

  • Trail of Bits security engineers will review code issues directly with maintainers, supported by tools like Codex Security.

  • Engineers triage findings before they reach maintainers, aiming to reduce workload rather than add to it.

BUSINESS

• Microsoft & Chevron plan a massive gas-powered data center in West Texas (Bloomberg)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, WSJ, TechCrunch}}

  • Microsoft and Chevron will build a 2.67-gigawatt natural-gas power plant in West Texas to supply AI data centers.

    Under a 20-year deal, the plant will supply dedicated power to a Microsoft-operated data center.

    The project complicates Microsoft's pledge to eliminate carbon emissions by 2030, potentially resulting in the release of 13M tons of carbon.

• The Pentagon seeks $80B from Congress to fund the war against Iran (AP)
  ^{_{More: ABC, Bloomberg, TOI}}

  • The Pentagon told senators it needs roughly $80B, mostly to cover the U.S. war against Iran.

  • The request adds to a sizable military spending boost already sought by President Donald Trump.

  • The White House budget office has not yet made a formal request to Congress.

• Uber shareholders sue board over sexual assaults & alleged compliance failures (Firstpost)
  ^{_{More: Business Times, CBC, TechCrunch}}

  • A Detroit pension fund alleges Uber put profits ahead of safety and legal compliance.

    The suit names CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and alleges that board members breached their fiduciary duty to shareholders.

    Plaintiffs want leaders to personally compensate Uber, return pay, and adopt stronger oversight measures.

MARKETS

WORLD

• Keir Starmer resigns as Labor leader after a swift fall from power (PBS)
  ^{_{More: AP, ABC, LA Times}}

  • Keir Starmer, elected to end Conservative chaos, is stepping down as Labour leader after under two years.

  • Missteps, party infighting, and a judgment error tied to the Jeffrey Epstein scandals ensnared his term.

  • He will stay on as caretaker prime minister until Labour chooses a new leader soon.

• At least 18 die in France as a heatwave bakes Europe (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: France 24, USA Today}}

  • At least 18 people died in France, including two children left in a hot car.

  • Bordeaux and Poitiers set all-time highs, while Paris approached its hottest June day on record.

  • Turin's grid strained, prompting added generators, as a Belgian refuge took in 150 heat-stricken animals.

• South Korean stocks tumble 10% from record, triggering a trading halt (Bloomberg)
  ^{_{More: Business Standard, Firstpost}}

  • The Kospi closed down 10%, extending losses after a 20-minute trading suspension by the Korea Exchange.

  • Chip heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics both slumped more than 12% amid fears of an overstretched rally.

  • Leveraged ETFs tied to the chipmakers amplified swings, prompting regret from the top financial watchdog.

FUTURISM

• Google DeepMind invests $75M in studio A24 to build filmmaking AI tools (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: WSJ, Yahoo!, AIBase}}

  • Google DeepMind announced a $75M investment into indie film studio A24, framed as a filmmaking partnership.

  • The two companies will jointly develop AI tools, with DeepMind drawing feedback and guidance from leading artists.

  • A24 follows rivals like Netflix and Amazon's MGM Studios, which are also integrating AI into production.

• Anthropic may ask Claude users to verify their identity with IDs (Firstpost)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Yahoo!}}

  • Anthropic's updated privacy policy states that it may ask users to upload government-issued documents to verify their identity.

  • The company frames it as a way to appeal fraud flags rather than face outright account bans.

  • The policy section was published in June and is set to take effect July 8, 2025.

• Wildfire tracking app Watch Duty expands to help monitor dangerous floods (AP)
  ^{_{More: Washington Post, The Independent}}

  • Watch Duty, a free app used by millions to track wildfires, is expanding to monitor floods.

  • During January 2025's Los Angeles fires, over 2.5M people used it to track evacuations.

  • Staff and over 100 volunteers vet data from emergency radio, aircraft reports, and agency communications.

• 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

• Six-time CEO Mike Grossman on why failure is an option for founders (The Startup Podcast)

  • Mike Grossman, CEO of six venture-backed companies, tried 18 business models; 12 failed, yet all were acquired.

  • His book argues that luck dominates outcomes over skill, and a business model is not the business.

  • He shares frameworks for team building, radical honesty, and a hard-won playbook for handling layoffs well.

• Palo Alto CEO Nikesh Arora on token costs & enterprise AI gaps (20VC)

  • Nikesh Arora grew Palo Alto Networks from an $18B market cap to over $225B since 2018.

  • He argues enterprises are still getting AI wrong and current AI guardrails aren't robust enough.

  • The conversation covers agentic security, memory as a moat, and whether the SaaS sell-off is justified.

• The hottest running app turns jogging into a worldwide turf war (This Week in Startups)

  • Louis Phillips built a gamified running app, INTVL, which turns a quick jog into a turf war.

  • He grew the app to over 1M downloads with no paid ads, just home-office videos.

  • Verge Labs CEO Alice Zhang pivoted from drugs to AI infrastructure, building a huge brain dataset.

EXTRAS

• AI startup Baseten hits $13B valuation as Blackbird makes a record bet (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: TNW, Forbes, Economic Times}}

  • Baseten raised $1.5B in a round valuing the AI startup at $13B, underscoring surging AI investment.

  • U.S. investors Sands Capital and Wellington led the round, with Blackbird VC making its largest-ever bet.

  • Baseten's revenue grew 20-fold over the past year as demand rises for AI 'inference.'

• Groq confirms $650M raise & rebuilds after NVIDIA's $20B talent deal (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!, Tech Buzz}}

  • Groq announced a $650M funding round led by Disruptive and hedge fund Infinitum on Monday.

  • The raise follows NVIDIA's December deal to license Groq's technology and the poaching of CEO Jonathan Ross and others.

  • Doug Wightman, Groq's co-founder, remained CEO after the NVIDIA deal and the talent exodus.

• Tata Electronics, an Apple & Tesla supplier, confirms a major data breach (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Crypto Briefing}}

  • Tata Electronics confirmed a breach after files allegedly stolen from the company appeared on a hacker forum.

  • The listing claims over 630GB of data and 204.3k files, including purported Apple and Tesla documents.

  • The Indian manufacturer employs over 75k people and supplies Apple, ASML, Intel, Qualcomm, and Tesla.

AND MORE

• Meta's WhatsApp head steps down, replaced by Indian fintech founder Kunal Shah.

• Amazon begins testing its Alexa+ assistant in India with Hindi language support.

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

• Lucid Motors' new CEO cuts 18% of staff to simplify the company.

• SpaceX signs a $6.3B computing-power deal with AI startup Reflection.

• Instagram takes on streaming services with longer-form, episodic, and live TV formats.

• Alphabet suffers its worst day in over a year on AI concerns.