Everyone is using that new ChatGPT image generator to make Miyazaki memes. Google is taking Android development private. Are we seeing signs of an AI datacenter pullback? Now even you can do extra gig work for Instacart. And quantum computers seem to have cracked truly random random number generators.

Sponsors:

• Get the right life insurance for YOU, for LESS, at SELECTQUOTE.COM/RIDE
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Links:

• OpenAI’s viral Studio Ghibli moment highlights AI copyright concerns (TechCrunch)
• OpenAI CEO Responds to ChatGPT Users Creating Studio Ghibli-Style AI Images (Variety)
• Exclusive: Google will develop the Android OS fully in private, and here's why (AndroidAuthority)
• Microsoft Abandons Data Center Projects, TD Cowen Says (Bloomberg)
• China built hundreds of AI data centers to catch the AI boom. Now many stand unused. (MIT Technology Review)
• Apple chips will be made in US at faster pace, says TSMC (9to5Mac)
• Instacart will pay shoppers to take videos of store shelves (The Verge)
• JPMorgan Says Quantum Experiment Generated Truly Random Numbers (Bloomberg)

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It’s all AI today basically. New Gemini “thinking” models. New “deep reasoning” agents for Copilot. But the really big news is the new image generator from OpenAI. Fidelity wants to get in the stablecoin business. And if Europe wants to create its own Starlink, it’s got some serious hurdles to overcome.

Links:

• OpenAI rolls out image generation powered by GPT-4o to ChatGPT (The Verge)
• Gemini 2.5 Pro is Google’s ‘most intelligent AI model’ with thinking built-in (9to5Google)
• Microsoft adds ‘deep reasoning’ Copilot AI for research and data analysis (The Verge)
• Fidelity plans to launch stablecoin in digital assets push (FT)
• ‘No substitute’: Europe’s battle to break Elon Musk’s stranglehold on the skies (FT)

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Looks like the EU is bringing down the hammer on Meta. Waymo’s next city is Washington DC. Napster continues to live! And it has a new owner! Maybe domestic chip production can be cost competitive? And what happens if Europe decouples from Silicon Valley?

Sponsors:

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Links:

• European Union to slap Meta with fine up to $1B or more for breaching strict antitrust rules: sources (NYPost)
• EToro Files for IPO Showing Commissions Jumped 46% Last Year (Bloomberg)
• Waymo plans robotaxi launch in Washington, DC in 2026 (The Verge)
• Napster pioneered music sharing over 25 years ago. It just got bought for $207 million (CNBC)
• Producing wafers at TSMC Arizona is only 10% more expensive than in Taiwan: TechInsights (Toms Hardware)
• Trump’s Aggression Sours Europe on US Cloud Giants (Wired)

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23andMe files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Are mergers and acquisitions officially back on the menu of Silicon Valley? Are cameras coming to the Apple Watch? Devs, does your AI experience line up with your peers? And how Broadway is using AI live translation to reach new audiences.

Sponsors:

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Links:

• DNA Tester 23andMe Files Bankruptcy to Sell Firm, CEO Quits (Bloomberg)
• Big Startup Deals Soar to $55 Billion, Passing Quarterly Record (Bloomberg)
• Ticket reseller StubHub files for an IPO (Axios)
• AI Chip Startup FuriosaAI Rejects Meta’s $800 Million Offer (Bloomberg)
• Google is rolling out Gemini’s real-time AI video features (The Verge)
• Apple Working on Turning Watches Into AI Devices With Cameras (Bloomberg)
• How Software Engineers Actually Use AI (Wired)
• New York’s longest-running play offers AI-powered live translations to attract new audiences (Semafor)

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That whole thing with Meta allegedly scraping all the world’s books using LibGen is back in the news. Cloudflare is fighting AI scraping with AI slop. A super interesting executive shakeup at Apple. And, of course, the Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Sponsors:

• FreshBooks.com

Links:

• The Unbelievable Scale of AI’s Pirated-Books Problem (The Atlantic)
• Cloudflare builds an AI to lead AI scraper bots into a horrible maze of junk content (The Register)
• Apple Shuffles AI Executive Ranks in Bid to Turn Around Siri (Bloomberg)
• Gmail rolling out AI-powered ‘Most relevant’ search update (9to5Google)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• How the AI Boom Created the Most Valuable Monopolies in History (Bloomberg)
• One Man’s Crypto Windfall Is Funding a $1 Billion Space Station Dream (Bloomberg)

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SoftBank acquires a chip making startup. Nvidia says it hasn’t been approached to help save Intel. OpenAI announces another expensive AI tier. Apple TV+ is losing more than a billion dollars a year. And do Apple’s recent stumbles indicate their where Microsoft was in the Windows Vista era?

Sponsors:

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Links:

• SoftBank Seals $6.5 Billion Deal for Chip Designer Ampere (Bloomberg)
• Nvidia CEO says company has not been asked to buy a stake in Intel (Reuters)
• Nvidia to spend hundreds of billions on US supply chain, says chief (FT)
• A First Look at How Apple’s C1 Modem Performs With Early Adopters (Ookla)
• OpenAI’s o1-pro is the company’s most expensive AI model yet (TechCrunch)
• Apple Streaming Losses Top $1 Billion a Year (The Information)
• Apple innovation and execution (Benedict Evans)

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The EU Commission has brought the hammer down on Apple and Google at the same time. All the big news from Nvidia’s big event yesterday. More details on that Google/Wiz deal. Two new Pebble smartwatches and Google’s new entry-level Pixel… that you can’t preorder yet.

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Links:

• EU sends Apple first DMA interoperability instructions for apps and connected devices (TechCrunch)
• Google Search charged with breaking EU antitrust rules (The Verge)
• Nvidia announces Blackwell Ultra and Rubin AI chips (CNBC)
• The key takeaways from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s GTC keynote (SiliconAngle)
• NVIDIA GTC 2025 – Built For Reasoning, Vera Rubin, Kyber, CPO, Dynamo Inference, Jensen Math, Feynman (SemiAnalysis)
• Google's $32 billion deal for Wiz accelerated under Trump, sources say (Reuters)
• The first new Pebble smartwatches are coming later this year (The Verge)
• The Pixel 9A is a midrange phone that actually looks like a good deal (The Verge)

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We get that first big test of M&A I was looking for as Alphabet acquires Wiz. Is Roku going to force us to watch ads just to turn on our TVs? The AI coding assistant space continues to be hot. The breakthrough in electric vehicle charging that could really change the game. And what exactly does Lumon Industries do?

Sponsors:

• Robinhood.com/gold

Links:

• Google Strikes $32 Billion Deal for Cybersecurity Startup Wiz (WSJ)
• “Awful”: Roku tests autoplaying ads loading before the home screen (Ars Technica)
• Critical RCE flaw in Apache Tomcat actively exploited in attacks (Bleeping Computer)
• Cognition AI Hits $4 Billion Valuation in Deal Led by Lonsdale’s Firm (Bloomberg)
• BYD Shares Jump to Record on Five-Minute EV Battery Charging (Bloomberg)
• They Named Their Companies Lumon. Then ‘Severance’ Aired. (WSJ)

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Europe wants to ween itself off of foreign big tech. Could this be the sign of a future rift with Silicon Valley? The weird case of Rippling versus Deel. Klarna lands a big fish. What the Coreweave IPO could mean for tech. And how the new iPhone Air signals a big hardware design change at Apple.

Sponsors:

• QualiaLife.com/ride and promocode RIDE

Links:

• European tech industry coalition calls for ‘radical action’ on digital sovereignty — starting with buying local (TechCrunch)
• Accusations of Corporate Espionage Shake a Software Rivalry (NYTimes)
• Klarna, nearing IPO, plucks lucrative Walmart fintech partnership from rival Affirm (CNBC)
• CoreWeave serves as bellwether for AI in soft IPO market (Semafor)
• Apple’s iPhone 17 ‘Air’ Is a Step Toward a Slimmer, Port-Free Era (Bloomberg)

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The new RCS messaging standard makes encryption universal, and even Apple is getting on the bandwagon. OpenAI calls for a US ban of DeepSeek. Is Apple about to turn your AirPods into the Universal Translator from Star Trek? And, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions.

Sponsors:

• FactorMeals.com/factorpodcast and code FACTORPODCAST

Links:

• Apple will soon support encrypted RCS messaging with Android users (The Verge)
• OpenAI calls DeepSeek ‘state-controlled,’ calls for bans on ‘PRC-produced’ models (TechCrunch)
• Apple Plans AirPods Feature That Can Live-Translate Conversations (Bloomberg)
• Gemini can now personalize its answers based on your search history (The Verge)
• Sony’s new RGB backlight tech absolutely smokes regular Mini LED TVs (The Verge)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:

• ‘Ne Zha 2’s $2B+ Box Office Run: How It Happened And What Does Blockbuster Behemoth Mean For China & Hollywood Ahead (Deadline)
• The End Of Children (The New Yorker)

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