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Morning Brew

Silicon Valley's water cooler podcast. A tech news summary every day... 15 minutes and you're up to date. From Tech Brew, Morning Brew's tech hub.

  1. 6h ago

    China (AI) Rising

    Chinese AI models grabbed over 30% of US token use as Beijing weighed curbing access. Anthropic expanded Cowork to mobile and web, Meta launched its first AI image generator on Instagram and WhatsApp, and Xbox's $80B Game Pass bet failed. OpenRouter: Chinese AI models have drawn 30%+ of token use by US companies each week since February 8, peaking at 46%, up from 11% over the previous 12 months (CNBC) Chinese authorities have held meetings with top tech firms about potentially restricting overseas access to China's most advanced AI models, sources say (Reuters) Anthropic is bringing Claude Cowork to mobile and web, letting tasks run in the cloud and continue working even when no device is online (9to5Mac) Anthropic is bringing Claude Cowork to mobile and web, letting tasks run in the cloud and continue working even when no device is online (ZDNet) Meta launches Muse Image in Meta AI, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and previews Muse Video, the first media generation models from its Superintelligence Labs (Meta) Meta's new Muse Image tool lets users generate AI photos similar to what they'd normally post, including vacation selfies and photo-booth style shots (NYT) Public Instagram profiles are automatically opted into being used as material for others' AI image generations via Meta AI, unless users adjust their settings (Wired) Xbox spent nearly $80B over a decade on content deals betting gamers would flock to Game Pass, but most gamers prefer sticking to a handful of favorite games (Bloomberg) Subscribe to the ad-free feed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    21 min
  2. 21h ago

    Xbox Decimated By Layoffs

    Microsoft laid off ~4,800 employees and gutted Xbox by 3,200 jobs while divesting five studios. Samsung's profit rocketed past Nvidia's, Meta faced a $1.4 trillion lawsuit demand, xAI rebranded to SpaceXAI, and Anthropic researchers found a hidden "J-space" inside Claude. Microsoft is laying off ~4,800 employees, or ~2.1% of its workforce; most are in sales or Xbox, where ~20% of jobs are set to be cut by the end of FY 2027 (The Verge) Microsoft's Xbox to Cut 3,200 Jobs, Divest Five Studios in Major Overhaul (Bloomberg) Samsung estimates Q2 operating profit of ~$58.44B, a 19-fold jump from a year earlier and above a ~$57.02B estimate, and revenue up 129% YoY to ~$111.7B (Reuters) Samsung estimates Q2 operating profit of ~$58.44B, a 19-fold jump from a year earlier and above a ~$57.02B estimate, and revenue up 129% YoY to ~$111.7B (WSJ) Court filing: Meta says four US states seek $1.4T over claims it designed Facebook and Instagram to addict youth and misled the public; its market cap is ~$1.5T (Reuters) xAI rebrands to SpaceXAI and unveils a new logo; Elon Musk said in May that xAI would be dissolved as a separate company and become the AI products from SpaceX (Business Insider) Anthropic researchers detail J-space, a small set of neural patterns in Claude that reveals internal thoughts that don't appear in the model's output (Anthropic) Anthropic researchers detail J-space, a small set of neural patterns in Claude that reveals internal thoughts that don't appear in the model's output (VentureBeat) Subscribe to the ad-free feed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    22 min
  3. 5d ago

    OpenAI To Give It Away?

    OpenAI floated giving the US government a 5% stake to court the Trump administration. Nvidia promised to backstop cloud providers for a revenue cut, SpaceX showed investors an xAI phone prototype, Apple ramped foldable iPhone orders, and Z.ai launched ZCode. Sources: OpenAI has discussed giving a 5% stake to the US government, seeking to clear political obstacles by securing buy-in from the Trump administration (FT) Nvidia promises to financially backstop young cloud providers like Firmus that rent out its AI chips, in exchange for a revenue share through a new program (The Information) Sources: SpaceX showed investors a handset-like device prototype with AI tech from xAI, a proprietary OS, a Snapdragon chip, and a design slimmer than an iPhone (WSJ) Sources: Apple has told suppliers to prepare to produce ~10M foldable iPhones in 2026, up from 7M to 8M previously, and 80M iPhones in total across new models (Nikkei Asia) Apple reportedly orders 10M foldable iPhone Ultra models, which could sell for around $2500 (9to5Mac) Sources: Apple is in negotiations to buy chips from CXMT and YMTC, two Chinese semiconductor makers on a Pentagon blacklist, for use in devices sold in China (Bloomberg) Z.ai launches ZCode, an "Agentic Development Environment" optimized for its new GLM-5.2 model; Z.ai's GLM Coding Plan costs from $16.20 to $144 per month (VentureBeat) Subscribe to the ad-free feed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    22 min
  4. 6d ago

    NOW Fable's Back?

    Anthropic said Commerce lifted export controls on Fable 5 and Mythos 5, restoring access Wednesday, and launched Sonnet 5. Sony is ending PlayStation game discs in 2028, a 140-company group unveiled Open USD, and Meta's building a cloud business. Anthropic says the Department of Commerce has lifted export controls on Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 and that it will begin restoring access Wednesday (X) Anthropic says the Department of Commerce has lifted export controls on Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 and that it will begin restoring access Wednesday (BleepingComputer) Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 5, saying it nears Opus 4.8 performance at lower prices and is substantially better than Sonnet 4.6 for agentic work (Anthropic) Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 5, saying it nears Opus 4.8 performance at lower prices and is substantially better than Sonnet 4.6 for agentic work (The New Stack) Sony says all new PlayStation games from both first- and third-party developers will be sold in digital formats from January 2028, ending physical game discs (Game File) Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, Coinbase, and 140+ companies join Open Standard to launch Open USD, a stablecoin that shares earnings from its reserves (The Block) Sources: Meta is developing plans for a cloud infrastructure business that will sell access to AI computing power and models, to compete with AWS and Azure (Bloomberg) SpaceX cuts monthly Starlink prices in half in the Memphis area, as it endures blowback and legal challenges from opponents of its Colossus data centers (Bloomberg) Subscribe to the ad-free feed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    21 min
  5. Jun 30

    Comcast Spins Out

    Comcast moved to spin off NBCUniversal and Sky into a new public company. The Supreme Court limited geofence warrants, Australia sued Amazon over Prime Video ads, Chamath returned to lead his AI coding startup, and Gemini's image generation went free. Comcast plans to spin off its media and entertainment assets, including NBCUniversal and Sky, into a new publicly traded entity, set to close by mid-2027 (Variety) SCOTUS limits the law enforcement use of "geofence" warrants, saying people have "a reasonable expectation of privacy" in their cell-phone location data (TechCrunch) Australia's ACCC sues Amazon for allegedly introducing ads to Prime Video under unfair contract terms and forcing existing subscribers to pay more to avoid them (Bloomberg) AI coding startup 8090 raised a $135M Series A led by Salesforce Ventures; founder Chamath Palihapitiya announces that he will lead the company as CEO (TechCrunch) The DOD seeks to recruit engineers experienced in frontier AI, machine learning and automation, and data systems, to embed them "down to the unit level" (Bloomberg) Google says the Gemini app now offers personalized Nano Banana image generation, previously limited to Plus, Pro, and Ultra users, to eligible US users for free (TechCrunch) Hotels, tour operators, and travel agencies rush to launch proprietary online tools and loyalty schemes to fend off future competition from AI travel agents (FT) Subscribe to the ad-free feed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    20 min
4.7
out of 5
959 Ratings

About

Silicon Valley's water cooler podcast. A tech news summary every day... 15 minutes and you're up to date. From Tech Brew, Morning Brew's tech hub.

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