1 The Pentagon says it used Grok in strikes on Iran
Its AI chief said it helped fire over 2,000 munitions. (Le Monde)
+ He spoke in defense of xAI in a data center pollution lawsuit. (NYT $)
+ Officials claim the company is essential to national security. (AP News)
+ Conversational AI has entered the war room. (MIT Technology Review)  
 
2 Apple will raise prices due to the memory chip shortage
Tim Cook said price increases are “unavoidable.” (WSJ $)
+ AI’s demand for data centers has led to dwindling supplies. (Reuters $)
+ iPhone prices could rise by $200 or more. (WSJ $)
 
3 Strikes beyond battlefields are pumping demand for counter-drone tech
The market for airport and infrastructure defenses is booming. (Reuters $)
+ Worried by China, Taiwan is teaching its citizens to fly drones. (Guardian)
+ Europe has a drone-filled vision for future war. (MIT Technology Review)
 
4 Anthropic and DeepMind’s CEOs have called for a US-led AI coalition
They want the alliance to shape AI rules and standards. (CNBC)
+ Anthropic’s CEO told G7 leaders to “resist the temptation to splinter.” (FT $)
 
5 American developers are turning to cheaper Chinese AI
They say DeepSeek is good enough for a fraction of the cost. (Rest of World)
+ What’s next for Chinese open-source AI? (MIT Technology Review)
 
6 Two-thirds of Americans think AI is advancing too quickly
Pew Research found increasing use but negative views. (The Verge)
+ AI is sprinting, and we’re struggling to keep up. (MIT Technology Review)
 
7 Elon Musk’s next move may be a megamerger of SpaceX and Tesla
Shareholders might object, but there’s little they could do. (NYT $)

8 White House aims for Anthropic to block jailbreaks may be impossible
Security experts say it simply isn’t technically feasible. (Wired $)
 
9 Ancient DNA is rewriting the history of plague
Genomic data suggests it emerged thousands of years earlier. (Economist $)

10 AI image generator Midjourney is shifting to full-body ultrasound scans
It also plans to build a spa in San Francisco. (The Verge)

Quote of the day

“We had a great meeting with AI.” 

—President Trump says negotiations with Anthropic over restoring access to the company’s latest AI models are going well, the Wall Street Journal reports.

One More Thing

GETTY IMAGES

Why can’t tech fix its gender problem?

Women remain grossly underrepresented in the technology industry. At the core of the problem is money: tech has generated enormous personal fortunes, and most of that wealth has gone to men.

White and Asian men manage 93% of venture dollars. In 2021, only 2% of venture capital funding went to startups founded solely by women.

The lack of investor and founder diversity doesn’t only determine who gets rich. It also shapes the kinds of problems technology companies set out to solve.

Discover why tech’s gender problem has proved so hard to fix—and why a new generation of activists believes change is finally possible.