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

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

⚖️ xAI sues Minnesota over the first U.S. law banning nudification technology.
🛡️ Google expands its age-assurance API to Android developers worldwide.
📈 Microsoft tops Wall Street estimates with $90B in quarterly revenue.
🤝 X settles multiyear advertising boycott lawsuit with the WFA.
🚀 U.S. resumes strikes on Iran after ballistic missile attack on troops.

TECHNOLOGY

• xAI sues Minnesota over the first U.S. law banning nudification technology (AP)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, CBS, The Guardian}}

  • xAI sued Minnesota in federal court over its first-in-the-nation ban on AI nudification technology.

  • The law, signed in May, takes effect Saturday and targets AI-generated fake nude images.

  • xAI says the law reaches protected content and imposes penalties of $500k per violation.

• Google expands its age-assurance API to Android developers worldwide by 2026 (Engadget)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Gadget Hacks}}

  • Google will bring its Play Signal API to developers worldwide by the end of 2026.

  • The tool helps Android developers identify younger users and deliver age-appropriate app experiences.

  • Australia and Canada get access by mid-August, as regulators press app stores to protect minors.

• Martha Stewart co-founds Hint, an AI assistant for home management (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Mashable, PYMNTS, Business Wire}}

  • Martha Stewart co-founded Hint, an app launching today that uses AI to manage home upkeep.

  • It handles maintenance schedules, energy use, soil and air quality, insurance claims, and document storage.

  • Stewart holds equity and works on the product, and CTO Kyle Rush calls her "very involved."

BUSINESS

• Microsoft tops Wall Street estimates with $90B in quarterly revenue (AP)
  ^{_{More: ABC, Yahoo!}}

  • Microsoft earned $90B, or $4.81 per share, in the April-June quarter, up 18% year-over-year.

  • Microsoft Cloud revenue rose 27% to $59.3B, while Azure and other cloud services grew 43%.

  • Full-year revenue hit $331.8B, and Microsoft 365 Copilot passed 30M paid seats, Nadella said.

• X settles multiyear advertising boycott lawsuit with the World Federation of Advertisers (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Financial Times}}

  • X and the World Federation of Advertisers have settled their multiyear legal battle, both organizations said.

  • X sued in 2024, alleging an illegal boycott after Musk's $44B takeover cut ad revenue.

  • A federal court dismissed the case in March, finding no demonstrated harm under competition laws.

• Thinking Machines co-founder Lilian Weng exits on health grounds, rejoins OpenAI (Business Insider)
  ^{_{More: TNW, TechCrunch}}

  • Lilian Weng stepped down from Thinking Machines, saying startup stress and workload exceeded her health limits.

  • OpenAI confirmed that she is rejoining, having previously served as VP of AI Safety Research.

  • Weng will lead a team accelerating internal research, supporting work on recursive self-improvement across OpenAI.

MARKETS

WORLD

• U.S. resumes strikes on Iran after ballistic missile attack on troops (CNBC)
  ^{_{More: Washington Post, Politico}}

  • U.S. forces began launching strikes against Iran at 8 p.m. Wednesday, U.S. time.

  • The strikes followed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ballistic missile attacks on American forces in the Gulf.

  • The renewed conflict has rattled oil markets and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

• Japan quake death toll hits 17 as survivors endure heat without water (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Investing.com, Yahoo!}}

  • A 7.1-magnitude quake struck Kumamoto prefecture Tuesday, killing at least 17 people in southern Japan.

  • Many of Yatsushiro's roughly 58k households still lacked running water or power on Thursday.

  • The Self-Defense Force installed about 300 air-conditioning units as officials warned of the risk of heatstroke.

• Zhongji Innolight shares slip 5% in Hong Kong debut after $6.8B IPO (SCMP)
  ^{_{More: CNBC, Reuters, Investing.com}}

  • Zhongji Innolight shares fell 5% on their Hong Kong Stock Exchange trading debut Thursday.

  • The optical transceiver maker raised HK$53.4B ($6.8B), pricing shares below its maximum indicated level.

  • It supplies AI data center components and led the global optical interconnect market with 21.2%.

FUTURISM

• Zuckerberg expects billions to use personal AI agents within five years (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Firstpost, India Today}}

  • Zuckerberg told investors billions of people will have personal AI agents working for them within five years.

  • He sees agents managing users' finances, health, household tasks, and interpersonal relationships around the clock.

  • Meta expects WhatsApp to grow more important as its leading surface for Meta AI interactions.

• U.S. bans new foreign-made humanoid robots, robot dogs & solar inverters (BBC)
  ^{_{More: FOX, ABC, Al Jazeera}}

  • The FCC banned imports of new foreign-made humanoid robots, robot dogs, and power inverters.

  • Officials cited risks of remote control, surveillance, and cyberattacks by foreign governments, mainly targeting China.

  • Exceptions may be granted, and existing inverters already installed in U.S. homes remain unaffected.

• DoorDash launches its own drone delivery business with custom-built aircraft (WSJ)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, The Hill, CNBC}}

  • DoorDash unveiled DoorDash Air, a drone delivery business built by its robotics and autonomy team.

  • The FAA granted Part 135 certification, allowing commercial drone delivery operations in the U.S.

  • No timeline was given, and longer autonomous flights need Beyond Visual Line of Sight approval.

• 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

• Alexandr Wang calls AI a "once-in-a-civilization opportunity" for founders today (Y Combinator)

  • Wang tells Startup School 2026 why now is the best time to start a company.

  • The Scale AI founder now leads Meta's Superintelligence Labs, rebuilding a frontier lab from scratch.

  • His advice: build an internal compass for the future and hold conviction against noise.

• Founder's $54M headline exit delivered just $12M after earn-out negotiations (Moneywise)

  • Brandon Harris sold Playmaker for a headline $54M, but only $12M reached his account.

  • He built the sports media company from $15 Facebook shoutouts to over 20M followers.

  • Harris keeps everything invested, borrows against a $3M credit line, and pays himself $75k yearly.

• Four robotics leaders on the coming $1/hour robot workforce (All-In Podcast)

  • ANYbotics' Péter Fankhauser explains why the company bet on four-legged robot dogs instead of humanoids.

  • NEO's Bernt Børnich says the robot ships in 2026 and becomes an open platform.

  • Boston Dynamics and Agility Robotics discuss Spot's deployment lead and why humanoids finally work now.

EXTRAS

• Waymo robotaxis return to freeways in Phoenix after two-month safety pause (SF Chronicle)
  ^{_{More: Engadget, TechCrunch, Yahoo!}}

  • Waymo is gradually restoring freeway routes after a two-month pause due to construction-zone behavior.

  • Phoenix comes first, with Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area following in coming days.

  • Software updates improved scene recognition and routing, as federal scrutiny of robotaxi safety standards grows.

• Ferrari's first EV hits annual sales target in only two months (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!, InsideEVs}}

  • Ferrari's Luce EV drew heavy criticism in May, and its stock fell 8% afterward.

  • The automaker hit its full-year target in two months, selling nearly 500 of the €555k EV.

  • Jony Ive's LoveFrom designed the five-seater, and at least 20% are reportedly headed to China.

• Samsung posts record $62B quarterly profit as AI chip demand surges (Euronews)
  ^{_{More: AP, ABC}}

  • Samsung reported a record operating profit of 89.5T won ($62B) for the April-June quarter.

  • Profit rose more than 19-fold year-over-year, driven almost entirely by its semiconductor business.

  • Shares fell sharply this week amid concerns over capacity spending and rising competition from China.

AND MORE

• Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 looks odd at first, then feels futuristic.

• Pangram raises $9M to detect AI content flooding the internet.

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

• Fast Metals treats industrial waste with more waste to extract critical minerals.

• The U.S. robot import ban goes beyond humanoids, hitting Roombas too.

• Claude Opus 5 turned ruthless when tasked with running a vending machine.

• Comedian Josh Johnson shares his sharp thoughts on Elon Musk.