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

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

🛡️ OpenAI, Anthropic, Google & 100 firms urge joint defense against rogue AI.
🦆 Hugging Face unveils Microduck, a $399 open-source robot duck.
🤗 NVIDIA nears $12.9B Hugging Face deal to expand open-source AI reach.
👨‍💻 Barret Zoph joins Google as research VP after brief OpenAI return.
🛰️ Satellite images show bedrock & glacier collapse behind deadly Nepal floods.

TECHNOLOGY

• OpenAI, Anthropic, Google & 100 firms urge joint defense against rogue AI (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: BBC, NY Times, Business Insider}}

  • Signatories include Microsoft, CrowdStrike, Okta, and Fortinet, as well as major financial and internet infrastructure companies.

  • The letter warns that hospitals, water treatment plants, and internet infrastructure face rising AI-enabled attacks.

  • It follows agents from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta reportedly breaking into other companies autonomously.

• Hugging Face unveils Microduck, a $399 open-source robot duck (The Verge)
  ^{_{More: CNET, TechCrunch, Mashable}}

  • The 25-centimeter-long bot waddles, crouches, roller-skates, and lifts up to 800 grams with its beak.

  • It perceives its surroundings via camera, lidar, and two IMUs, with the full training stack on GitHub.

  • The launch follows Pollen Robotics' acquisition and the Reachy Mini desktop robots priced at $499 and $399.

• Bluesky lets users opt out of its algorithmic Discover feed entirely (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Engadget}}

  • The new toggle stops public posts from surfacing in the app's algorithmic Discover feed.

  • Posts stay public, so the change limits discoverability rather than adding any real privacy protection.

  • The option is in the Privacy and Security settings and can take up to an hour to take effect.

BUSINESS

• NVIDIA nears $12.9B Hugging Face deal to expand open-source AI reach (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: Fortune, Forbes, TechCrunch}}

  • The Information reports that the chipmaker agreed to buy the open-source AI platform for $12.9B.

  • Talks reportedly began after another suitor approached Hugging Face, which hired a bank to weigh bidders.

  • Ownership would hand NVIDIA the leading hub for sharing open-source models, extending its software stack.

• Barret Zoph joins Google as research VP after brief OpenAI return (WSJ)
  ^{_{More: TOI, Reuters, TechCrunch}}

  • Zoph co-founded Thinking Machines with Mira Murati, then was fired from the startup in January.

  • His OpenAI return lasted five months, during which he led enterprise sales, and ended with another departure in June.

  • Google says his expertise in reinforcement learning and post-training will feed into work on Gemini.

• Rivian's CFO Claire McDonough resigns to join GE Vernova on the East Coast (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Business Wire, InsideEVs, TechCrunch}}

  • McDonough steps down at the end of October, citing a relocation closer to her family.

  • The company says the departure follows no disagreement, with VP of Finance Derek Mulvey taking over temporarily.

  • Her exit lands as the EV maker scales up R2 SUV production, which began shipping this summer.

MARKETS

WORLD

• Satellite images show bedrock & glacier collapse behind deadly Nepal floods (BBC)
  ^{_{More: AP, Al Jazeera, The Independent}}

  • Wednesday's flooding killed hundreds across Nepal and Tibet, with hundreds more missing, including foreigners and pilgrims.

  • Clearer Thursday imagery revealed that the bedrock beneath the Langtang Lirung glacier gave way, dragging ice downward.

  • Geomorphologists said the collapse sent boulders and ice into the valley below the peak.

• U.S. Patriot missile stocks in EU hit critical lows amid Iran war (AP)
  ^{_{More: PBS, The Independent}}

  • A defense official and a NATO official say interceptor shortages leave allied forces dangerously exposed.

  • Patriots are the main concern, as they counter Russia's high-speed ballistic missiles.

  • One official warned NATO could face repeated strikes without adequate defenses, like Patriot-starved Ukraine.

• Iran's war diplomacy shifts toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: CBS, Straits Times}}

  • Qatar's prime minister pressed Iranian leaders in Tehran to respect freedom of navigation through the waterway.

  • Tehran agreed to prepare a list of conditions for restoring normal shipping traffic.

  • Washington has disengaged from talks, favoring economic sanctions, while its military clears Iranian mines.

FUTURISM

• Google's AI Mode now tracks flight prices & books hotels directly (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: PCMag, 9to5Google, Yahoo!}}

  • Users can describe travel plans and see live pricing from over 300 airlines and travel sites.

  • The tool also displays flight and hotel costs in points or miles for reward bookings.

  • Google is pushing AI Mode beyond search into handling trip planning and booking itself.

• YouTube creators can now tag Amazon products & earn sales commissions (Engadget)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Yahoo!}}

  • Eligible U.S. creators can link Amazon items across shorts, long-form videos, and livestreams for a cut.

  • The native integration replaces pasted Associates links, drawing on a curated catalog of trending products.

  • Auto-tagging can scan recent uploads and attach eligible Amazon products without any manual work.

• Google launches special-edition Fitbit Air built for Pokémon Sleep players (The Verge)
  ^{_{More: CNET, TechCrunch}}

  • The band syncs with Google Health and Pokémon Sleep to track movement, heart rate, and cardio load.

  • Pokémon Sleep rewards early bedtimes, with rest quality building Snorlax's Drowsy Power, which attracts more Pokémon.

  • Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch, and Pixel Watch already work with the app, which launched in 2023.

• 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

• How Cursor built one of AI's fastest-growing companies against the odds (a16z)

  • a16z partners trace how a small team beat incumbents in coding's most competitive market.

  • Early bets included prioritizing the human-AI interface over building a coding-specific foundation model.

  • The founders repeatedly said no, cannibalized their own products, and ignored Microsoft and Anthropic.

• Preet Bharara on how Trump became immune to political scandal (Sam Harris)

  • Sam Harris and Bharara discuss the collapse of good-faith debate in American politics.

  • Topics span media fragmentation, Anthony Fauci's treatment, and why indictments only strengthened Trump's position.

  • The former SDNY prosecutor also weighs Democratic failures, the restoration of institutions, and the 2028 election.

• Dr. Chris Palmer on how diet & metabolism shape mental health (This Week in Startups)

  • The Harvard psychiatrist explains the biological mechanisms linking nutrition and metabolism to mental health outcomes.

  • Carbohydrate restriction, ketogenic diets, and fasting can improve mood and energy levels.

  • Palmer says these approaches sometimes help patients with treatment-resistant psychiatric conditions.

EXTRAS

• Google tightens Android app memory rules as AI drives chip shortages (Firstpost)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Yahoo!}}

  • New quality requirements set thresholds for dynamic memory and bitmap usage, as well as code optimization standards.

  • Google says hardware supply constraints are reshaping the availability of device memory across the mobile industry.

  • Alert tools launch now, with a Memory Limiter feature and deeper diagnostics arriving later this year.

• Plaud One earphones record calls, with AI agents built into the case (Engadget)
  ^{_{More: Bloomberg, Forbes}}

  • The AirPods-style buds record calls, while the case captures in-person conversations and takes notes.

  • Plaud's AI agent connects to Gmail, Google Calendar, Notion, and Slack to automatically draft follow-ups.

  • Rivals Viaim and Anker already sell note-taking earbuds, so Plaud is betting on its software.

• Judge rules Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic was unlawful retaliation (CNN)
  ^{_{More: NBC, Axios, CNBC}}

  • Judge Rita Lin found the Defense Department violated the First Amendment with its supply chain designation.

  • The court said the label was applied in retaliation rather than out of genuine security concerns.

  • An Anthropic spokesperson welcomed the ruling, calling the designation unlawful.

AND MORE

• Here are all the times AI has gone rogue & hacked other companies.

• Mixue shares slide further as rising costs drag down the chain's profit.

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

• Ex-PG&E engineer builds a 'Google Maps for the underground'.

• China's kung fu robots impress, but factory work still eludes them.

• Atorie raises $9.5M to sell luxury goods without the markup.

• U.S. officials link iceberg lettuce Cyclospora outbreak to three more states.

• Hoomanely's smart bowl and AI platform flag when your dog is sick.