1 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
Skip to main content

Business Archive

Archives for July 2025

Apple shipped its 3 billionth iPhoneApple shipped its 3 billionth iPhone
Allison Johnson
Why AI researchers are getting paid like NBA All-Stars

The Verge’s Hayden Field and I chat about how AI researcher became the most lucrative tech job of all time.

Alex Heath
Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
A crypto tycoon and a VC funded an experiment to literally block sunlight in California.

A University of Washington experiment with “a machine to create clouds” was shut down by the city of Alameda — because the scientists didn’t bother to tell the locals what they were up to, Politico writes. They were 20 minutes into the test when city officials ended the experiment.

Donors to the Marine Cloud Brightening Program include “cryptocurrency billionaire Chris Larsen, the philanthropist Rachel Pritzker and Chris Sacca, a venture capitalist.” Can’t wait to find out what new conspiracy theories this spawns!

ChatGPT can be a disaster for lawyers — Robin AI says it can fix that

Robin AI CEO Richard Robinson on hallucinations, facts versus truth, and how lawyers can use generative AI today.

Jon Fortt
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Elon Musk says Samsung’s mystery $16.5 billion AI chip deal is for Tesla.

A regulatory filing surfaced Monday morning in Korea showing the underperforming electronics giant won an order to build chips for an unnamed large global tech company in a contract that runs through 2033.

Then, a few hours later, Elon Musk tweeted the arrangement was for Tesla’s “next-generation AI6 chip,” built at Samsung’s plant in Texas, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg.

Update: Added info from Elon Musk’s tweet.

Tweet by Elon Musk reading “Samsung’s giant new Texas fab will be dedicated to making Tesla’s next-generation AI6 chip. The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate. Samsung currently makes AI4. TSMC will make AI5, which just finished design, initially in Taiwan and then Arizona.”
Image: Elon Musk (X)
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Astronomer CEO Andy Byron has resigned.

Days after two execs for a data analytics firm were embarrassingly shown on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert, one of them has resigned, with cofounder Pete DeJoy taking over as interim CEO.

An Astronomer post on social media says, “Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI. While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not.”

As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met. Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted. The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO. Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI. While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not. We’re continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems.
Image: Astronomer
Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
Sickos.jpg

I imagine this will get either thrown out entirely or settled — Murdoch often settles — but truth is an absolute defense in a defamation case. The WSJ isn’t Fox News. It’s Murdoch’s crown jewel — one he refused to tamper with, even when it cost him a $125 million investment. A settlement could permanently damage the paper’s reputation. Who ya got?

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
How about Jeffrey Epstein and AI?

After The Wall Street Journal’s scoop last night on Epstein’s relationship with Donald Trump, I was inspired to go look at some old stories about the sex criminal’s buddies.

On reread, one thing stuck out to me: how close Epstein was to the pioneers, commercializers, and money men of AI. The WSJ scoop suggests there are still new stories out there; I wonder what’s lurking in the field of artificial intelligence — surely I am not the only person who’d like to learn more.