Tech Pulse Daily

🧠 Thinking Machines open sources first multimodal language model, Inkling, focused on low cost and 'resistance to censorship'

VentureBeat reports: Thinking Machines open sources first multimodal language model, Inkling, focused on low cost and 'resistance to censorship'. Enterprises looking to move more of their agentic AI workloads to open weights models they can customize, control and run on-premises or in virtual private clouds have a strong new contender to consider. Today, Thinking Machines—the highly capitalized American AI startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati—… Read Deep Dive →

🧠 Report: Apple looking into buying chip startups to strengthen its AI infrastructure

9to5Mac reports: Report: Apple looking into buying chip startups to strengthen its AI infrastructure. The Information reports that Apple has been in talks with bankers and semiconductor startups as it explores acquisitions to strengthen its AI server capabilities. Here are the details. Read Deep Dive →

🧠 Anthropic is giving teachers free access to premium Claude features, details here

9to5Mac reports: Anthropic is giving teachers free access to premium Claude features, details here. Anthropic is providing free access to premium Claude AI features to K-12 teachers in the United States. The effort is part of a new Claude for Teachers initiative. Read Deep Dive →

🧠 Sam Altman didn’t need another lawsuit

The Verge reports: Sam Altman didn’t need another lawsuit. OpenAI has spent the better part of the year involved in lawsuit after lawsuit, including one from the world's richest man. But last Friday, the company was hit with one of the highest-profile legal actions yet - from Apple. OpenAI's expensive hardware bet is what's on the line. Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI, filed… Read Deep Dive →

🧠 Hermes agent maker Nous Research in talks for new funding at $1.5B valuation

TechCrunch reports: Hermes agent maker Nous Research in talks for new funding at $1.5B valuation. The company is raising at least $75 million, led by Robot Ventures, with significant participation from USV and other prominent investors. Read Source →

🛡️ Microsoft patches record number of security vulnerabilities, citing its use of AI

TechCrunch reports: Microsoft patches record number of security vulnerabilities, citing its use of AI. Microsoft's monthly release of security fixes, dubbed Patch Tuesday, resolved a record 570 security vulnerabilities across the company's product line, thanks to discoveries with AI. Read Source →

🧠 Report: How an email mistake derailed talks between Apple and OpenAI ahead of the lawsuit

9to5Mac reports: Report: How an email mistake derailed talks between Apple and OpenAI ahead of the lawsuit. NBC News reports that talks between Apple and OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft broke down after an outside lawyer for Apple mistakenly emailed the wrong OpenAI employ Read Source →

🔎 More Interesting News

• Safety regulator says Apple needs to do more to combat sextortion — 9to5Mac
• Pinwheel launches a retro-inspired landline phone for kids — TechCrunch
• Video-generation startup PixVerse raises $439M, valuation soars past $2B — TechCrunch
• Amid hardware legal battle, OpenAI releases a $230 keyboard for Codex — TechCrunch
• Apple Maps won’t allow ads from these categories at launch — 9to5Mac
• Whatnot acquires Shaped to power real-time live shopping recommendations — TechCrunch
• GPT-Red: Unlocking Self-Improvement for Robustness — OpenAI News
• Lawsuit claims Meta's layoff decisions were made by AI, not humans — Ars Technica
• .NET and .NET Framework July 2026 servicing releases updates — .NET Blog
• Canva launches Code 2.0, offering AI website building to every user — including free accounts — VentureBeat
• The first sunlight reflecting space mirror has been cleared for launch — The Verge
• How Gemini is speaking the language of Southeast Asia — Google Keyword Blog
• How sales teams use ChatGPT Work — OpenAI News
• Agentic orchestration: Enterprise AI organizations have a deployment problem, not a platform problem — and most are calling chatbots agents — VentureBeat
• Daniel Ek’s body-scanning startup Neko Health raises another $700M — TechCrunch
• SpaceX falls to $135 IPO price ahead of Starship launch — TechCrunch
• Apple Intelligence approved for launch in China with Alibaba’s Qwen AI — TechCrunch
• OpenAI Staffers Are Funding a Rival Super PAC to Take on Their Boss — Wired
• Iran abused mobile networks’ vulnerabilities to locate US military in the Middle East, report says — TechCrunch
• The real AI race may no longer be at the frontier — TechCrunch
• Spotify expands its AI push with a ChatGPT-like music assistant — TechCrunch
• The Chatbot That Foretold Why People Share Secrets With ChatGPT — Wired
• Sotheby’s Big T. Rex Auction Raises Concerns Hype and Wealth Are Upending Science — Wired
• Hundreds rally at Bethesda HQ to protest Xbox layoffs, and Ars was there — Ars Technica
• xAI sues a man for using Grok to generate CSAM ‘deepfakes’ — The Verge