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

In today’s edition we are tackling the following:

🎵 Tidal won't ban AI music but will demonetize fully AI-generated tracks.
💻 Base44 launches its own AI model as coding startups chase long-term defensibility.
🧠 Newsom & Anthropic strike deal to expand Claude across California government.
🚖 Uber & Waymo end Phoenix robotaxi partnership as new deal looms.
🪙 South Korea unveils $880B plan to expand chip & AI capacity.

TECHNOLOGY

• Tidal won't ban AI music but will demonetize fully AI-generated tracks (Engadget)
  ^{_{More: The Verge, TNW, TechCrunch}}

  • Tidal will demonetize and tag any music it identifies as 100% AI-generated, effective July 15.

  • The platform says royalties should go to works directly produced, written, and performed by people.

  • Rivals are acting too: Deezer demonetizes most AI streams, while Spotify added a 'Verified' badge.

• Gemini's personalized Nano Banana image generation is now free for U.S. users (The Verge)
  ^{_{More: Google, TNW, TechCrunch}}

  • Google is rolling out Gemini's Nano Banana-powered personalized image generation free to eligible U.S. users today.

  • The feature, previously limited to paid tiers, tailors images to your interests without explicit prompting.

  • Gemini draws on Gmail, Google Photos, YouTube, and Search data, pulling real photos of you automatically.

• Base44 launches its own AI model as coding startups chase long-term defensibility (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: Yahoo!, Crypto Briefing}}

  • Wix acquired Base44 for $80M a year ago, when the six-month-old startup had just eight employees.

  • It is now rolling out a custom AI model, addressing whether platforms built on others' models stay defensible.

  • Founder Maor Shlomo says owning the model allows optimizations on latency, cost, and efficiency versus frontier rivals.

BUSINESS

• Newsom & Anthropic strike deal to expand Claude across California government (Politico)
  ^{_{More: CBS, FOX, Firstpost}}

  • Newsom's deal makes Claude the first AI tool available to all California state and local agencies.

  • Anthropic will halve Claude's price for participating governments, adding free workforce training and technical support.

  • It lands amid Anthropic's fight with the Trump administration over restrictions on its most advanced models.

• Uber & Waymo end Phoenix robotaxi partnership as new deal looms (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: TNW, Yahoo!, TechCrunch}}

  • Uber and Waymo have ended their 2023 Phoenix robotaxi partnership, which integrated Waymo cars into Uber's platform.

  • Waymo has folded the pilot vehicles back into its own Phoenix fleet, still available via its app.

  • Uber is readying a separate, unnamed autonomous partnership in Phoenix; Waymo rides continue on Uber in Austin and Atlanta.

• Salesforce leads $135M Series A for AI coding startup 8090 Labs (Tech in Asia)
  ^{_{More: TechCrunch, Crypto Briefing}}

  • Chamath Palihapitiya's startup 8090 Labs closed a $135M Series A led by Salesforce Ventures Monday.

  • Backers include WndrCo, Craft Ventures, All-In co-hosts, and angels like Nikesh Arora and Adam D'Angelo.

  • Its product, Software Factory, helps corporate teams build production-quality software with enterprise controls like audit trails.

MARKETS

WORLD

• South Korea unveils $880B plan to expand chip & AI capacity (BBC)
  ^{_{More: Reuters, Yahoo!, TechCrunch}}

  • South Korea announced at least $880B in investments to build out chip manufacturing and AI capabilities.

  • The 'Three Mega Projects' will develop chip production hubs, data centers, and robotics outside Seoul.

  • President Lee Jae-myung framed semiconductors, physical AI, and data centers as the country's 'triple axis.'

• Yen hits four-decade low against the dollar, rattling Japan & traders (Bloomberg)
  ^{_{More: Financial Post, Straits Times}}

  • The yen fell to 162.40 versus the dollar, its weakest level since 1986, unsettling Japan.

  • It breached 161.95 overnight, passing the July 2024 low that triggered earlier intervention efforts.

  • Jawboning from Japanese officials, including the finance minister, had little immediate effect on the slide.

• Analysts fear Israel-Lebanon deal could lock in stalemate rather than peace (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Japan Times, Straits Times}}

  • Israel and Lebanon signed a June 26 framework deal tying Israeli withdrawal to Hezbollah's disarmament.

  • Netanyahu calls it a historic achievement; Lebanon's president sees a step toward national sovereignty.

  • Analysts doubt implementation, noting Hezbollah rejects disarmament and no Lebanese government can enforce it.

FUTURISM

• Omen AI raises $31M to monitor liquid-cooling fluid health in data centers (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: TNW, Yahoo!, Tech Buzz}}

  • AI compute demand pushes data centers to run liquid-cooled chips hotter, risking bacterial outbreaks that clog flow.

  • Flushing a contaminated rack can mean five or six hours of downtime, costing millions of dollars.

  • Omen AI's real-time spectrometer spots bacterial growth early; it just raised a $31M Series A led by Nava Ventures.

• Flipper Devices launches Busy Bar, a customizable LED display for productivity (PCMag)
  ^{_{More: The Verge, TechCrunch, WIRED}}

  • Flipper Devices, maker of the Flipper Zero, launched Busy Bar, a productivity gadget going on sale next month.

  • It sets timers, blocks apps, and shows custom messages on a 72×16 LED matrix display.

  • A rear monochrome screen shows status and timer info, while a side speaker plays custom sounds.

• Proception settles Tesla trade secret suit & raises $11M seed round (TechCrunch)
  ^{_{More: MSN, Bitcoin World}}

  • Founder Jay Li, a former Tesla Optimus lead, settled a trade secret suit Tesla dismissed this month.

  • Proception raised an $11M seed round led by First Round Capital, with Y Combinator and BoxGroup.

  • The startup is shipping its high-dexterity robotic hand, aiming to become the top supplier to other companies.

• 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

• Chamath argues young people need more agency, risk, & real adventure (This Week in Startups)

  • Chamath Palihapitiya's platform 8090 raised $135M to target a $4T enterprise software maintenance and migration market.

  • He argues every company should use AI to build custom software like Google and Meta do.

  • The episode covers Software Factory, his 'system on a chip' org model, and AI-enabled entrepreneurship.

• Bloom Energy CEO explains why AI capital spending isn't a bubble (20VC)

  • Bloom Energy, powering AI data centers, has grown to roughly $93B market cap with revenue topping $2B.

  • Founder KR Sridhar argues regulation, not capital spending, is now the biggest bottleneck to growth.

  • Bloom is the largest position in Leo Aschenbrenner's fund, making up around 16 percent of holdings.

• Rob Snyder on why most founders misunderstand demand & pinpointing it (The Startup Podcast)

  • Author Rob Snyder argues pain points alone aren't demand, since customers can have them indefinitely without buying.

  • His PULL framework names four conditions, project, unavoidable, list of options, and limitations, that drive purchases.

  • Case studies show startups slashing sales cycles and raising prices by diagnosing real customer pull.

EXTRAS

• Supreme Court spares Fed's Cook but upholds Trump's other agency firings (AP)
  ^{_{More: Washington Post, PBS}}

  • The Supreme Court let Fed governor Lisa Cook keep her job while she fights Trump's firing effort.

  • Otherwise, the court ruled presidents may fire independent agency heads at will, expanding executive power dramatically.

  • The 6-3 majority overturned the 91-year-old Humphrey's Executor precedent that had limited such removals.

• iPhone 18 Pro supplier list & photos exposed in Tata data leak (Reuters)
  ^{_{More: Firstpost, TOI}}

  • A ransomware group posted iPhone 18 Pro supplier lists, component names, and photos on the dark web.

  • The files were stolen from Tata Electronics, Apple's Indian supplier as it diversifies beyond China.

  • The leak threatens Apple's tightly guarded supplier arrangements and could aid rivals, counterfeiters, and vendors.

• Over 100 Venezuelans deported from U.S. missing after earthquakes struck their hotel (CNN)
  ^{_{More: PBS, AP}}

  • A Miami deportation flight carried 146 Venezuelans to a La Guaira hotel hours before Wednesday's earthquakes.

  • Survivors describe escaping the rubble and walking five kilometers seeking help amid collapsed communications.

  • The 7.2 and 7.5 quakes left more than 100 deportees missing as searches for survivors continue.

AND MORE

• Kobo adds a Goodreads-style social reading feature to rival Amazon.

• Short sellers keep betting against Pop Mart despite mounting losing trades.

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

• Pocket raises $11M betting on rising demand for AI note-taking devices.

• Australia's regulator sues Amazon over allegedly unfair Prime subscription contract terms.

• WhatsApp now lets users reserve usernames ahead of wider feature rollout.

• UK defense plan allocates £5B to drones in long-awaited overhaul.