Nikon Takes on 3D Printing for US Defense, Maxis Explores U Mobile Buyout, and More!

Nikon Ventures into Defense 3D Printing; Maxis Eyes U Mobile Buyout; Tesla's Robotaxi Future & More Business Headlines

Nikon Expands Into 3D Printing With Eye on US Defense Market - Bloomberg

• Nikon Corp. is receiving interest from defense and aerospace companies in the US for its metal 3D printers.

• Nikon is expanding into military-use products as the country boosts defense spending and is known for its cameras and chipmaking lithography equipment.

• The company has signed an agreement to develop a handheld camera for NASA for use on the moon’s south pole and has taken a 5% stake in Silchester International Investors.

Malaysian Cellular Firm Maxis Said to Explore U Mobile Buyout - Bloomberg

• Maxis Bhd. is considering buying out rival U Mobile Sdn. to expand in Malaysia, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

• U Mobile is seeking a valuation of more than 10 billion ringgit ($2.1 billion) and is planning to file for an IPO at the end of July

• The buyout offer is rejected by U Mobile, which is focused on delivering innovative 5G products and services to its customers.

Tesla Stock Will Surge 10-Fold on Robotaxi, Ark’s Wood Says - Bloomberg

• Tesla’s move into the autonomous taxi platform business could lead to a 10-fold increase in its share price

• The autonomous taxi ecosystem is a $8 trillion to $10 trillion global revenue opportunity, with platform providers like Tesla taking up to half of it

• Investors are shifting away from valuing Tesla purely as an electric vehicle maker and pricing in some of its autonomous taxi potential

• Autonomous taxi networks will be a winner-takes-most opportunity with a 30% to 50% share of revenue generated by fleet owners on its platform

• Network providers will have recurring revenue with explosive cash flows and a profit margin north of 50%

• Tesla delayed its planned robotaxi unveiling by two months to October to allow teams more time to build additional prototypes

• Many investors believe it will eventually bring the technology to market and have bid the stock up alongside Elon Musk.

Andreessen, Horowitz Latest Tech VCs to Throw Support to Trump - Bloomberg

• Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz plan to donate to Donald Trump’s campaign for president

• The donations will be personal and not from the firm itself

• Other partners at the firm are also considering making their own contributions

• Andreessen Horowitz has become more involved in politics and seeks to back candidates who support an optimistic, technology-enabled future

• They rank among the 10 biggest donors in the 2024 election cycle, giving more than $24 million to Fairshake

• Trump entered July with $285 million cash on hand, topping Biden’s $240 million.

Former OpenAI Researcher to Launch AI Education Company - Bloomberg

• Andrej Karpathy is launching a company called Eureka Labs, which will use AI teaching assistants to support and expand course materials.

• The company’s first product will be an undergraduate-level class that will teach students to train their own AI systems.

Is It Silicon Valley’s Job to Make Guaranteed Income a Reality? - New York Times

• OpenAI has contributed $10 million towards the Unconditional Income Study, the biggest direct income program to date.

• The tech community has been testing no-strings-attached payments of $500 or $1,000 a month to those in dire need for the past couple of years

• Silicon Valley has supported the idea of a guaranteed income, but political consensus around the movement is fracturing

• A proposal for a statewide basic income program is likely to be on the ballot in Oregon this fall

• Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, has been touted as the chief cheerleader of a boom in artificial intelligence and the need for guaranteed income

• Basic income is not a panacea and does not solve the problem of unaffordable housing, but the payments have helped to stabilize families who live on the edge

• Members of the basic income community are now focused on establishing the programs on a wider scale

• Tech leaders should play a more forceful role in bridging the divide between rich and poor.

Elon Musk Enters Uncharted Territory With Trump Endorsement - New York Times

• Elon Musk, the owner of X, has endorsed Donald Trump’s bid for the US presidency, breaking with tradition set by other social media platforms.

• He wrote on his own social media platform, X, that he fully supports Trump and hopes for his rapid recovery after his shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

• Musk further endorsed Trump after Trump announced Senator J.D. Vance as his Republican running mate on Monday, saying it was an “excellent decision by @realDonaldTrump.”

• This is a first for the billionaire, who had previously held back on sharing his political beliefs due to his controlling interest in SpaceX

• No senior executive at one of the tech industry companies has openly expressed a preference for a Democratic candidate, unlike Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Satya Nadella, and Sundar Pichai

• A new super PAC designed to help Trump could draw support from wealthy tech entrepreneurs from Musk’s social circle, according to The New York Times

• The founding donors of the group, America PAC, include several from his social circle

Fed’s Powell Welcomes Cooler Inflation but Steers Clear of Rate Cut Timing - New York Times

• Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, avoided signaling when the Fed would cut rates.

• Powell suggested that the economy was headed for a gentle economic comedown, one in which inflation fades without a big weakening in the job market.

• The Fed has been keeping rates high since last July to make it expensive to borrow money, slowing demand and helping to wrestle down price increases.

Caterpillar Factory in Mexico Draws Complaint of Labor Abuses - New York Times

• The Biden administration has declined to pursue a union complaint of labor abuses in Mexico, raising concerns about offshoring of American jobs.

• The United Automobile Workers union criticized the decision not to pursue accusations of labor violations by a Mexican subsidiary of Caterpillar, citing blacklisting as a form of retaliation against striking union members. The government’s ability to police such violations is meant to reduce the incentive for American employers to move jobs to Mexico in search of weaker labor protections.

• Caterpillar workers in Mexico face harassment and blacklisting for daring to stand up and report labor violations, according to the U.S.M.C.W.A.

To Protect Against Wildfires, Insurers Try to Change Construction Standards - New York Times

• Property insurers are trying to force changes in construction standards to protect against wildfires

• Insuring homes in some parts of the US has become a money-losing proposition for the industry due to catastrophic storms and fires

• Major insurers like State Farm, Allstate, and Farmers have pulled back from writing new policies and canceling some existing policies in California

• The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (I.B.H.S.) is advocating for new standards for landscaping, fencing, and building materials to help prevent wildfires from ripping through a neighborhood

• They are staging side-by-side burn demonstrations to compare fire-resistant designs and materials with traditional structures

• This could be the biggest overhaul of building standards in more than 30 years

• After Hurricane Andrew, pressure from the insurance industry compelled homeowners and builders in Florida to switch to stronger windows and roof ties

• Insurance customers will have to do something to keep the business model going

TSMC shares fall after Trump questions Taiwan commitment - Financial Times

• Donald Trump Jr says Rupert Murdoch’s influence over the Republican party has waned

• Murdoch’s preferred pick for Trump’s running mate is North Dakota governor Doug Burgum

• Klarna is lining up financial advisers for a long-awaited US listing, with Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs among the lead banks

• Chinese businessman Guo Wengui convicted of $1bn fraud on his online followers

• Trump says he would not remove Federal Reserve chair Powell before the end of his term

• US stocks rallied on Tuesday with the S&P 500 reaching a fresh record and small caps surging

• Treasury yields dropped, with the biggest moves at the long end of the curve

Island of riches: Taiwan reaps benefits of AI boom - Financial Times

• Quanta Computer, a contract electronics manufacturer in Taiwan, is receiving a huge boost from the global AI boom.

• The company is sharing NT$3.9bn in cash bonuses paid to staff this year, up 30% from 2023, while lower-down employees are also benefiting from the wealth-creating effects of the industry.

• Taiwan is expected to have 47% more millionaires by 2028, mainly driven by growth in its semiconductor industry, according to a UBS forecast. The benefits of the AI boom are spreading beyond senior managers and engineers at technology companies and reaching a broader swath of society. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is Asia’s most valuable listed company and a main driver of wealth creation in the AI supply chain. The AI industry is driving the boom, with many senior and mid-level employees receiving bonuses worth more than two annual salaries. The rise of electric vehicles and the demand for homeworking has also contributed to demand for AI-supplied products.

India shifts its strategy on tech - Financial Times

• Indian start-up Koo failed to emulate US social media company Twitter and folded after a bailout fell apart

• Koo raised money from Tiger Global and became known as India’s “nationalist Twitter” due to its BJP-friendly user base

• India toughened its rules to include criminal liability for social media executives after conflict with Twitter over farmers’ protests

• Modi’s government is preparing new laws to rein in foreign tech monopolies and create a “fourth path” for regulating the internet

• Indian tech policy seeks to be lighter touch than Europe and take consumer protection more seriously than the US

• Critics argue that India’s approach resembles neighboring China more than fellow democracies and creates an erosion of checks and balances

• American tech companies like Meta and OpenAI lead cutting-edge research and large-language model development for AI tools in India

• Facebook and YouTube have more users in India than anywhere else, but are mostly US companies.

Venture capitalists in line for windfalls from Google’s $23bn Wiz deal - Financial Times

• Alphabet parent Alphabet is considering acquiring cyber security start-up Wiz for $23bn, setting a record for the largest acquisition of a venture capital-backed company.

• Venture capital firms Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, Insight Partners, and Cyberstarts are among the investors set to make billions of dollars if the deal closes

• The acquisition would be a rare bright spot for venture capitalists who have been largely restricted in the past few years

• A deal was not finalised and could fall apart, but could lead to record-breaking returns for investors

• Wiz helps companies secure programs in the cloud and has seen a surge in revenue as corporations move their software and data online

• Index Ventures is Wiz’s biggest shareholder with more than a 12% stake, worth more than $2.7bn at the current price under discussion

• All four investors bought into Wiz before it hit its first $1mn in annualised revenue and could make each billionaire if a deal close.

Musk says he will move SpaceX and X headquarters to Texas from California - Financial Times

• Elon Musk’s companies X and SpaceX will move their headquarters from California to Texas in response to a new gender identity law in California.

• Newsom signed a bill banning California school districts from disclosing information about a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity to their parents to prevent “forced outing”.

• Musk had communicated to Newsom a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children, and now SpaceX and X will move to Texas to Starbase and Austin respectively.

• The departure of two large tech companies would mark a loss for the Silicon Valley ecosystem amid increasing disenchantment with local politics, regulation, and rising crime and homelessness in San Francisco

• Texas has seen a surge in corporate headquarters relocations in recent years, especially from California, due to low tax and low regulation

• Tesla shareholders approved Musk’s proposal to reincorporate the company in Texas last month after a court struck down his record pay package from Delaware

• X has already opened an office in Austin as part of its plan to create a 100-person trust and safety team based in the city.

Google Near $23 Billion Deal for Cybersecurity Startup Wiz - Wall Street Journal

• Alphabet is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz for $23 billion, its largest acquisition ever.

• The acquisition could boost Alphabet’s efforts in cloud computing and come at a time of intense antitrust scrutiny of the search company and other tech giants

• Wiz raised $1 billion earlier this year at a valuation of $12 billion, one of only a few startups outside the artificial-intelligence industry to raise money at a higher valuation in 2024

• Tech startups are still suffering from the hangover effects of the tech boom that peaked earlier this decade

• If a deal for Wiz comes together, it would be one of the largest technology deals of late

• Alphabet has been a more conservative acquirer than some of its big-tech peers in recent years

• Google is currently awaiting a verdict in a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit over claims that it used illegal means to bolster its dominance in internet search.

Microsoft Quits OpenAI’s Board Amid Antitrust Scrutiny - Wall Street Journal

• Microsoft has resigned its observer position on the board of OpenAI, as regulators scrutinize the partnership between the tech giant and the AI startup.

• Microsoft had invested $13 billion in OpenAI in exchange for a 49% stake in its for-profit arm, which is now facing antitrust scrutiny in the US and Europe.

• The tech giant had gained a nonvoting observer position after the formation of the new board following the abrupt firing and reinstatement of Sam Altman as CEO in late last year. (

• Apple had been set to have a board observer seat after signing a partnership to put ChatGPT on its iPhones and other devices as part of a broader AI initiative called Apple Intelligence).

• OpenAI is establishing a new approach to informing and engaging key strategic partners, such as Microsoft and Apple, and will no longer have board observer seats for any partner.

Samsung Electronics Union Launches Indefinite Strike - Wall Street Journal

• Samsung Electronics unionized workers have launched an indefinite strike in South Korea.

• The union demands an extra one day of leave, an average 3.5% wage increase, and a change to an unfair bonus pay system.

For AI Giants, Smaller Is Sometimes Better - Wall Street Journal

• Tech giants and startups are using small or medium language models to make AI software cheaper, faster, and more specialized. These models are trained on less data and often designed for specific tasks. Smaller models cost less than $10 million to train and use fewer than 10 billion parameters. Microsoft, Google, and Apple have all released smaller models this year. OpenAI recently released a version of its flagship model that it says is cheaper to operate. Businesses and consumers are looking for ways to run generative AI-based technology more cheaply. Small models can answer questions for as little as one-sixth the cost of large language models in many cases. Fine-tuning small models on specific sets of data allows them to perform as effectively as large models at a fraction of the cost.

In an Era of Fakes, How to Know When Someone Online Is Real - Wall Street Journal

• Personalized schemes to dupe internet users are on the rise

• The single best step to determine someone’s identity online and protect yourself is to slow down

• Tech companies are beginning to help, with Google, LinkedIn and Bumble introducing features to detect suspicious messages and users

• Guidelines for operating online are changing, some old rules still apply

• Before transferring funds, ask for your prearranged secret word.