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

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

🚀 Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes on launch pad in Florida.
📱 The world's most luxurious foldable phone has arrived for the 1%.
💸 Google engineer charged with insider trading after earning $1.2M on Polymarket.
⛽ Costco reported 'record-breaking' gas volumes amid rising fuel prices.
🕊️ U.S. & Iranian reach tentative deal extending ceasefire, restarting nuclear talks.

TECHNOLOGY

• Blue Origin New Glenn rocket explodes on launch pad in Florida (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: BBC, CBS, Al Jazeera}}

  • Blue Origin's New Glenn mega-rocket exploded during a static fire test at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday.

  • Likely fully fueled, it ranks among the largest rocket explosions in U.S. history and Blue Origin's worst failure.

  • All personnel were safe; Bezos called it a "very rough day" but vowed to rebuild and fly again.

• The world's most luxurious foldable phone has arrived for the 1% (CNET)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, WIRED}}

  • Luxury phone maker Vertu launched the Alphafold, a foldable phone starting at $6,880 and aimed at the 1%.

  • The device uses materials like calf skin, alligator skin, 24 karat gold and actual diamonds in its construction.

  • Vertu offers bespoke customization with 'effectively uncapped' pricing; some projects for the ultrarich reached six-figure sums.

• YouTube adds new podcast features, including AI recommendations & 'Auto speed' (Engadget)
  ^{_{More: Firstpost, TechCrunch, Yahoo!}}

  • YouTube announced new podcast features for Premium users, including AI recommendations, an 'Auto speed' setting, and on-the-go listening.

  • The tool suggests podcasts by genre, mood, or shows users already enjoy, building on its 'Ask Music' feature.

  • 'Auto speed' adjusts playback during slow or dense segments, helping YouTube compete with Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

BUSINESS

• Google engineer charged with insider trading after earning $1.2M on Polymarket (Washington Post)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, BBC, The Guardian}}

  • The U.S. Justice Department charged Google engineer Michele Spagnuolo with insider trading, alleging $1.2M in Polymarket profits.

  • Prosecutors say Spagnuolo, known as 'AlphaRaccoon' online’ used Google's confidential business information during his 12 years there.

  • Insider trading is illegal on prediction markets; the DOJ recently charged a soldier who similarly made $400k.

• Disney's ABC filed early broadcast license renewals 'under protest' against the FCC (LA Times)
  ^{_{More: CNN, WSJ, CNBC}}

  • Disney filed renewal applications for eight broadcast station licenses on Thursday after the FCC launched an early review.

  • The company called the FCC's late-April order "unlawful, arbitrary, and unconstitutional," filing the applications under protest.

  • The FCC said it launched the early renewal review over concerns about Disney's diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

• Costco reported 'record-breaking' gas volumes amid rising fuel prices last quarter (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: AOL, WSJ, Yahoo!}}

  • Costco reported 'record-breaking' gas volumes late in its third quarter as the war in the Middle East lifted fuel prices.

  • The company posted higher net sales for the period, beating Wall Street's revenue expectations.

  • CEO Ron Vachris said Costco began filing tariff refund claims and expects refunds on approved claims gradually.

MARKETS

WORLD

• U.S. & Iranian negotiators reach tentative deal extending ceasefire, restarting nuclear talks (AP)
  ^{_{More: BBC, Euronews, Al Jazeera}}

  • U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative deal Thursday to extend the ceasefire by 60 days.

  • The deal would also start a new round of talks on Iran's nuclear program.

  • Vance confirmed the tentative agreement but said it's unclear whether Trump will approve it amid a wavering ceasefire.

• A Russian drone targeting Ukraine crashed in Romania, injuring two people (CNN)
  ^{_{More: AP, BBC, ABC}}

  • A Russian drone from an overnight attack on Ukraine crashed into a Romanian apartment building, injuring two people.

  • The drone, tracked over Galati, sparked a fire; Romania scrambled two F-16 jets and evacuated several residents.

  • NATO member Romania asked the alliance for faster-response anti-drone capabilities, calling it a serious international law violation.

• China is targeting offshore billions in its biggest crackdown in decades (Bloomberg)
  ^{_{More: Business Times, Yahoo!}}

  • China launched its biggest cross-border tax shake-up in decades, cracking down on illegal overseas stock trading.

  • Regulators threatened three popular brokers with at least $330M in penalties and shut down channels for trading abroad.

  • The crackdown hits Hong Kong's market and advisers who help Chinese citizens manage money abroad.

FUTURISM

• Domino's-partnered robotics startup built to replace pizza chefs just shut down (Futurism)
  ^{_{More: MSN, Yahoo!}}

  • Picnic, a Seattle startup that raised over $53M to build restaurant robots, has shut down after becoming insolvent.

  • It liquidated its assets and sold all intellectual property to an unnamed buyer, according to legal documents.

  • Its Pizza Station, partnered with Domino's in 2022, aimed to make 100 pizzas hourly with one worker.

• Oura unveiled its thinner, lighter Ring 5, starting at $399 (NY Post)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, The Guardian, The Verge}}

  • Oura unveiled the Ring 5 on Thursday, calling it the world's smallest smart ring, with a starting price of $399.

  • It's 40% smaller than the Ring 4, with more accurate sensing and longer battery life.

  • New software adds blood pressure signals, live activity tracking, and on-demand care, also reaching Ring Gen3 and later.

• Leaked Siri app renders reveal Apple's plans to rival ChatGPT & more (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Decrypt, Yahoo!, MSN}}

  • Ahead of WWDC in June, Bloomberg published leaked renders of Apple's planned AI upgrade for iPhone.

  • The leak includes a new Siri app meant to rival ChatGPT and other AI chatbots.

  • In iOS 27, pressing the Siri button triggers responses from the iPhone's Dynamic Island for quick queries.

• Hunting for AI roles eats hours across careers pages, internal referrals, group chats, & 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

• Gavin Newsom discusses why Americans are losing faith in their institutions (The Prof G Pod)

  • Gavin Newsom joins Scott to discuss why Americans are losing faith in institutions and Democrats' ability to govern.

  • Topics include California's housing crisis, homelessness, AI's threat to white-collar jobs, wealth taxes and healthcare reform.

  • Newsom says Democrats are often seen as "slow, weak, and ineffective," and they discuss capitalism, masculinity and parenting.

• Legendary investor Dan Loeb discusses AI, credit & Third Point's $25B strategy (Invest Like The Best)

  • Patrick O'Shaughnessy interviews Dan Loeb, the legendary investor and founder of Third Point, on his investing evolution.

  • Loeb shifted from deep-value credit investing to allocating across equities, venture capital and private credit over time.

  • They discuss AI, semiconductors and energy, plus his activist campaigns at Sotheby's and Sony, and FTX lessons.

• Harvard professor explains how to get real leverage in a negotiation (The Science of Scaling)

  • Harvard Business School professor Leslie John answers real-world questions to sharpen your sales negotiation skills.

  • She covers whether to make the first offer, when to walk away and how to use silence.

  • John shares research-backed tactics like anchoring and BATNA, calling genuine relationships an underrated source of leverage.

EXTRAS

• Sesame, the AI startup from Oculus' founders, launched its iOS app (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!}}

  • AI startup Sesame, co-founded by Oculus' founders, released a public preview of its conversational AI agents on Thursday.

  • Its new iOS app rethinks the chatbot experience, keeping conversation flowing even when the AI needs thinking time.

  • Sesame runs parallel searches while speaking, weaving fresh information in and even pivoting mid-sentence like a human.

• Foxconn's chairman said AI demand gives the company immense confidence in growth (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Business Standard, Economic Times}}

  • Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, has immense confidence in growth from soaring AI demand.

  • Chairman Young Liu said the traditional mid-year tech slump has ended and the second half looks very good.

  • Cloud providers' AI spending hit $700B this year and could reach $1T next year, fueling Foxconn's optimism.

• Rivian is under investigation over rear suspension failures on its R1 models (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: AOL, MSN, East Bay Times}}

  • The NHTSA is investigating how Rivian services rear suspension parts after two owners lost control while driving.

  • In March 2025, Rivian found that the rear toe link was sensitive to service procedures and to updated repairs.

  • Regulators will assess Rivian's repair procedure and other 2023-2024 R1 vehicles; nearly 115k could be affected.

AND MORE

• These are the key themes at Asia's biggest AI tech show.

• Asana acquired StackAI, a no-code platform for building AI agents.

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

• Lenovo doubled in its best month since 1999 on an AI rally.

• Slate Auto will announce pricing & open EV preorders on June 24.

• Tesla's Texas robotaxi fleet is under one-tenth of Waymo's, filings reveal.

• Bluesky is embracing long-form content to counter X's Articles feature.

• NVIDIA is investing billions in emerging technology that could reshape AI.