The Brutalist Report - tech
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- Sources: AI inference chip startup Etched is raising funds at a ~$20B valuation and is raising capital at a $10B valuation in a separate round led by Sequoia (Wall Street Journal) [2d]
- Sources: Trump Media pitched a monthly fee of as much as $100K for the Truth API, with fast access to Trump's posts, for banks, algorithmic traders, and others (Reuters) [2d]
- Sources: the Trump administration is considering plans for an independent regulator to vet the safety of AI models; the regulator would report to the SEC (Bloomberg) [2d]
- Filings: a group of major music publishers has agreed to end a copyright infringement dispute with X over the use of their music on the social media platform (Blake Brittain/Reuters) [2d]
- The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index sank ~10% for the week, its largest weekly fall in over a year, and is now down ~20% from its late-June all-time high (Reuters) [2d]
- Sources: Valar Atomics, which makes small nuclear reactors intended to power data centers, is in talks to raise $1B at a ~$5B pre-money valuation (The Information) [2d]
- Apple raises iPhone prices in Japan by up to 11%, likely due to the Japanese yen's depreciation against the US dollar over the past year (Joe Rossignol/MacRumors) [2d]
- Amazon apologizes after some AWS users received bills as high as $1.5T due to "an issue with unit pricing within the estimated billing computation subsystem" (Robert Booth/The Guardian) [2d]
- Sources: OpenRouter has discussed a potential sale to a bigger tech company that could value it at billions of dollars, a premium to its $1.3B valuation in May (The Information) [2d]
- Sources: SpaceX is in talks with the DOD about providing the agency with access to data-center capacity worth billions of dollars for running AI models (Wall Street Journal) [2d]
- Apple raises the price of Apple Music, with the individual plan up by $1 to $11.99, and some Apple One bundles, the first price hike for Apple Music since 2022 (Chance Miller/9to5Mac) [2d]
- Sources: Apple and the DOJ are in early discussions about settling a 2024 antitrust lawsuit alleging that Apple violated antitrust laws (Bloomberg) [2d]
- Sources: Meta is in talks to rent computing power from its data centers to Anthropic in a deal that could be worth ~$10B over two years (New York Times) [2d]
- Models like Kimi K3, Grok 4.5, and Muse 1.1 may prevent the dominance of 2-3 frontier labs with 90% inference margins from hurting other AI ecosystem layers (Gavin Baker/@gavinsbaker) [2d]
- Kimi K3 hype shouldn't alarm the US about "losing the AI race" to China as K3 is strong but not frontier-level and likely lacks dangerous cyber capabilities (Transformer) [2d]
- ASML plans to give its ~45K employees globally a €20,000 bonus, issued as a share award vesting in 2030, joining other chip industry companies offering payouts (Sarah Jacob/Bloomberg) [2d]
- AI inference startup General Compute gets a $400M loan from tech investment firm Upper90, seemingly the first deal using inference-specific chips as collateral (Tim Fernholz/TechCrunch) [2d]
- Sources: the EU is set to approve the $55B acquisition of EA under its subsidy rules on July 30; the deal includes Saudi Arabia's PIF, Silver Lake, and more (Foo Yun Chee/Reuters) [2d]
- San Francisco sends legal notices to Apple and Google demanding they take down 13 AI apps used to make deepfake nude images; Google says it has deleted the apps (Matt Burgess/Wired) [2d]
- Sources: Apple has sent personal legal warnings to ~40 former employees who now work at OpenAI, asking them to preserve documents and meet with its lawyers (Michael Acton/Financial Times) [2d]
- At the World AI Conference, Xi Jinping touts open-source AI, pledges to help the Global South build AI capabilities, and calls unequal AI access an "injustice" (Reuters) [2d]
- The Alphabet Workers Union sends a layoff protection petition with 4,500+ signatures to Sundar Pichai, calling for guaranteed severance and buyout options (Sanya Mansoor/The Guardian) [2d]
- Sources: Z.ai is on track to achieve an annual recurring revenue of $1B, a first for a Chinese AI company, after achieving its full-year sales target in July (Bloomberg) [2d]
- Sources: Dave Brown, former SVP of AWS Compute, AI, and Platform, will join Meta in the coming weeks, where he will work on the company's data center build-out (Anissa Gardizy/Wall Street Journal) [2d]
- Sources: Tata plans India's first large-scale chip fab in Dholera, Gujarat, mostly using 90nm nodes, a far humbler start than the 28nm node it touted earlier (Bloomberg) [3d]
- During an internal meeting, Satya Nadella criticized Claude Fable 5 for being "editorially controlled", saying its refusal to do "random things" makes no sense (Jordan Novet/CNBC) [3d]
- Source: Demis Hassabis plans to hold meetings with US policymakers in Washington next week about his proposed US-based Standards Body for "Frontier-class" AI (Shirin Ghaffary/Bloomberg) [3d]
- Court doc: a US federal jury says Japanese chipmaker Kioxia owes Viasat $229M for infringing Viasat's flash-memory patent that helps devices use less energy (Blake Brittain/Reuters) [3d]
- Source: Microsoft plans to release an AI security tool this month using models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and itself, as a cost-effective Mythos alternative (Aaron Holmes/The Information) [3d]
- Kalshi is offering wagers on the outcomes of late-stage clinical drug trials and regulatory decisions, launching a pilot of 13 new biotech contracts (Madison Muller/Bloomberg) [3d]
- Sources: Coatue is leading a $3B investment in Databricks that values the data analytics software company at $188B, a 40% increase from its December valuation (Wall Street Journal) [3d]
- US chip, memory, and storage stocks fell sharply on Thursday, with Sandisk down 13%, Seagate 10%, Western Digital 9%, and Intel and Micron 6% each (George Steer/Financial Times) [3d]
- Memo: MLB bans the use of league-provided dugout iPads to access GenAI for in-game strategy calls; sources say at least a third of teams used AI this way (Eno Sarris/The Athletic) [3d]
- Filing: South Korean authorities conducted an on-site search of Chinese chipmaker Montage's offices in connection with potential competition law violations (Nikita Maria Jino/Reuters) [3d]
- Sources: Dassault Systèmes is in talks to buy drug trial software maker ArisGlobal from Nordic Capital for about $2B, extending its push into life sciences (Financial Times) [3d]
- The EU accepts X's plan to meet DSA transparency obligations and give researchers access to data, giving X six months to implement it, following a €120M fine (Foo Yun Chee/Reuters) [3d]
- Millions of Netflix viewers are abandoning shows after their first season — and I think I know the reasons why [2d]
- More and more US employees back forcing AI companies to transfer half of their stock into a public wealth fund [2d]
- NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, July 18 (game #1133) [2d]
- Quordle hints and answers for Saturday, July 18 (game #1636) [2d]
- NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, July 18 (game #867) [2d]
- 'My soul left my body': customers see bills in the billions after AWS billing system goes haywire — but don't go emptying your bank accounts [2d]
- 'You're giving ballistic missiles to individuals with Mythos': JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says Anthropic's AI model poses some serious risks [2d]
- 'Superb for most home uses in an emergency': Jackery HomePower 3000 combines a huge 3,072Wh battery with enough power to run almost every appliance — and it's on sale right now [2d]
- Nvidia RTX 5000 Super GPUs rumored to be ready — but they're on hold, and the reason why makes me nervous about pricing [2d]
- Meta’s AI bots drain publisher pockets with 9 billion Q2 2026 requests at host expense while returning ZERO traffic — as ChatGPT claims 88% of AI referrals [2d]
- The Samsung S99H is one of the best OLED TVs I've ever tested, even if it does feature a controversial design [2d]
- The Samsung S95H is one of the best OLED TVs I've ever tested, even if it does feature a controversial design [2d]
- Hackers breached DHS after alarms were twice ruled 'false positives' [2d]
- This super-bright Xgimi Horizon smart projector packs built-in Harman Kardon audio — and it’s $370 off [2d]
- Healthier recipes for your Ninja Creami — how I eliminated artificial sweeteners and still made the richest, creamiest ice cream of the summer [2d]
- 'Whoever came up with this is a massive idiot': LG's gaming monitors and TVs are facing a user revolt, due to seemingly installing adware on PCs — and telling you to warn guests they may be recorded by AI features, to comply with 'wiretapping' laws [2d]
- Kodak's new point-and-shoot 35mm film camera comes in 7 vibrant colors, costs just $35, and brings back one of my favorite pieces of camera design [2d]
- Moonshot reveals new AI model, and it's a big surprise — here's why Kimi K3 is a threat to the likes of OpenAI [2d]
- 'You know who isn’t the hero? The killer of physical' — Angry PlayStation fans are flocking to the new Wolverine trailer [2d]
- 'macOS users may face real, sophisticated threats that require neither exploits nor any elevated access to succeed': ClickLock Stealer tries to trick Apple users into revealing their passwords [2d]
- RugOne Xlink 7 review: A sophisticated rugged 4G walkie-talkie for populated wilderness, but not truly remote regions [2d]
- Fallout 3 and New Vegas are getting remastered, and Bethesda just promised more Starfield support [2d]
- HP's 20-core Elite Mini 800 G9 is a heavy-duty desktop replacement — and it’s $700 off at Amazon [2d]
- Dangerous new GoSerpent malware is apparently on the hunt for government secrets [2d]
- US sanctions on rogue VPN accidentally break Telegram's short links worldwide [2d]
- Ex-MBDA engineer builds $1,100, 40g AI micro-drone using AMD phased-array sonar for YC-backed startup Tornyol to eradicate mosquitoes, currently restricted to 3-minute flights [2d]
- Europe’s tech reset gives the UK a chance to lead on security and sovereignty [2d]
- Elegoo's emoji-branded Centauri Carbon 2 3D printer gets a price cut for World Emoji Day (yes, really) — and we called it one of the most reliable multifilament machines on the market [2d]
- Surfshark’s FastTrack now covers more than 2.000 servers — your city might be on the list too [2d]
- Claude can now enter all your passwords for you - if you give it permission [2d]
- Netflix has admitted to using AI on '300 movies and shows' in 2026 — and I've never been more disappointed [2d]
- 7 new movies and TV shows to watch on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and more this weekend (July 17) [2d]
- 'This is the right call' — VPN industry praises the UK’s decisions to leave VPN alone [2d]
- Is sovereignty threatening your resilience? [2d]
- Two 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM kits just dropped in price — choose V-Color's low-latency Manta XSky or Corsair's Vengeance [2d]
- The Chat Control gambit: The EU's 'undemocratic' revival of chat scanning may have long term consequences for digital privacy [2d]
- Coca-Cola shuts down Fairlife dairy production lines following ransomware attack [2d]
- What is the release date for House of the Dragon season 3 episode 5 on HBO Max? [2d]
- The biggest barrier to AI success isn't AI [2d]
- 'Maybe there could be more to tell there' — Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced director says staff have DLC ideas, but is unsure if Freedom Cry will get remade yet [2d]
- The Mission 1 Pro isn’t just GoPro's flagship action cam, it’s a fantastic all-round vacation camera with the point-and-shoot grip — I just wish it was cheaper [2d]
- Ugreen's 'exceptionally powerful' NASync DXP4800 Plus NAS drops in price — and its 10GbE speed is a win for small businesses [2d]
- Experts warn software budgets could be set to soar as AI bills are on the rise [2d]
- Taylor Sheridan's 'most underrated series' finally releases explosive full trailer — but Lioness season 3 has already impressed me in a completely different way [2d]
- 'I thought it was satire': Sam Altman mocks Anthropic's latest AI ad that's getting widely blasted for being 'dystopian marketing slop' [2d]
- Viaim OpenNote review: I wore this open-ear voice recorder all day, and its AI meeting summaries proved invaluable [2d]
- Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced director says the team scrapped the original hidden blade combat because it 'prioritized core combat' but is 'listening to the community' and is 'interested in what people want the most' [2d]
- iPhone fans aren't happy as Apple closes a popular money-saving loophole — but there’s better news for iPad buyers [2d]
- GameStop CEO says Sony's axing of physical games 'doesn't matter at all' in a statement sure to enrage gamers [2d]
- This clever Anker portable projector is 19% off at Amazon — and its flippable speakers are a win for presentations and screenings [2d]
- What is the Codex Micro? OpenAI's first hardware gadget explained [2d]
- The Medion Signium 27 S1 isn't going to turn the computing world upside down, but it's a surprisingly capable all-in-one desktop with a sensible price tag [2d]
- Teenage TfL hackers sentenced to years in prison following Scattered Spider attacks [2d]
- This sneaky Lenovo promo code combo cuts almost $400 off the ThinkPad T14 Gen 7 AMD — and it works on other PCs, too [2d]
- Human-led, AI-assisted testing: Why AI won’t replace penetration testers...yet. [2d]
- How to watch Belgian Grand Prix 2026 F1: live stream from anywhere [2d]
- You can't deny it any more: physical music is back in a big way with new sales figures proving it... and no, this time it's not vinyl [2d]
- Windows 10 still powers one in six PCs around today — and that could be a major security issue very soon [2d]
- How to watch Ann Droid online from anywhere – it's *FREE* [2d]
- 'The first week of pre-orders brought in $180 million' — Analysts report that GTA 6 has 'the strongest pre-order campaign ever recorded' [2d]
- Nothing Phone (3) gets another price cut at Amazon — is this under-rated phone now a better buy than the Pixel 10, Galaxy S25, or iPhone 17? [2d]
- Who decides what runs on your website? [2d]
- A unified front against fraud: Securing the UK's payments future [2d]
- HP hit with massive 1.4 billion rupees fine for running 'cartel' of ink cartridges, toner, PCs in India [2d]
- Enterprise AI has a trust problem, and guarantees are how we fix it [2d]
- Why brokers need clean data to execute in the age of AI [2d]
- Report warns UK is falling behind Europe on modernizing its mobile networks [2d]
- More Garmin Cirqa smart band leaks have appeared — this time on a Garmin website [3d]
- Heartstopper Forever is the best farewell that fans could have hoped for as new Netflix movie makes Nick and Charlies the most vulnerable — and adult — they've ever been [3d]
- Heartstopper Forever ending explained: are Nick and Charlie still together, who breaks up, Easter eggs you might have missed and where the gang will end up next [3d]
- Prime Day might be over but these 21 deals under AU$50 prove you don't need a major sale to upgrade your tech [3d]
- Hurry, these 55 Prime Day deals are still going strong — up to 68% off headphones, appliances, fitness tech and more [3d]
- Google takes aim at Canva and Adobe as its AI image editor Pics gets an official rollout date [3d]
- Missed Prime Day? Robot vacuum deals are still going strong on Amazon, with prices from just AU$299 [3d]
- Space mirrors get FCC approval — orbiting mirrors will look to extend daylight to the darkness, but wasn't this the plot of a Bond film? [3d]
- MacBook users are filing off the sharp corners of their laptops for better wrist comfort [3d]
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