☕️ Apple explores Intel and Samsung for US chips

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In today's Techpresso:

🍎 Apple explores Intel and Samsung for US chips

🛡️ White House considers tighter regulation of new AI models

💼 Coinbase cuts 14% of staff citing AI

💰 Brockman discloses $30 billion OpenAI stake

🪧 DeepMind UK staff unionize over military AI deals

👦 Meta deploys AI to detect underage users

🎁 + 14 other news & articles you might like

🧰 + 6 trending tools

📚 + 3 trending papers & reports

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• Apple is in early talks with Samsung and Intel to make chips in the US, hoping to secure backup options if TSMC cannot keep up with its demand for main chipsets in its devices.
• TSMC handles roughly three-fourths of global chip fabrication, but the surge in AI chip orders is straining its capacity, pushing phone makers like Qualcomm to already lean on Samsung for parts of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6.
• Apple executives have reportedly toured Samsung's $17 billion fabrication plant in Taylor, Texas, which is expected to come online by late 2026, though Bloomberg notes the discussions with both chipmakers are far from finalized.

• The Trump administration is weighing an executive order that would set up a working group of tech executives and officials to review new AI models before release, a sharp turn from its earlier hands-off stance on the technology.
• The shift followed Anthropic's announcement of Mythos, a model so strong at finding software security flaws that the company withheld it from the public, prompting White House worries about a possible AI-enabled cyberattack on its watch.
• Susie Wiles and Scott Bessent have taken over AI policy after David Sacks left in March, and they are also trying to repair ties with Anthropic after the Pentagon cut off its technology in a fight over a $200 million contract.

• Coinbase is laying off roughly 700 workers, about 14% of its staff, as CEO Brian Armstrong pushes a restructuring tied to crypto market volatility and a bigger push to use AI tools across the company.
• The reorg flattens the company to five layers below the CEO and COO, lets leaders manage more than 15 direct reports, and asks managers to contribute more work themselves rather than just oversee others.
• Coinbase will try "one-person teams" blending engineering, design, and product management roles using AI tools, and expects to take $50 million to $60 million in severance costs, according to an SEC filing.

• OpenAI president Greg Brockman testified Monday that his equity stake in the company is worth close to $30 billion, while also revealing financial links to Sam Altman through investments in Altman-backed ventures and his family office.
• Court records showed Altman gave Brockman an interest in his personal investment fund in 2017, which Musk's lawyers argue may have hurt Brockman's independence, citing an email from Musk associate Jared Birchall.
• Brockman also acknowledged holdings in AI chipmaker Cerebras and fusion startup Helion Energy, both tied to Altman's investment network, as Musk's lawsuit seeks $150 billion in damages and OpenAI's return to nonprofit status.

• Google DeepMind workers in London have voted to unionize, asking the company to recognize the Communication Workers Union and Unite the Union as joint representatives in a push to stop the AI lab from supplying its tech to the US and Israeli militaries.
• The effort started in February 2025 after Alphabet dropped a pledge against using AI for weapons and surveillance, and gained urgency after a reported Google deal letting the Pentagon use its AI for "any lawful government purpose."
• If unionization succeeds, staff plan to demand Google exit its contract with the Israeli military, share more details on how its AI products will be used, and offer some assurance about layoffs driven by automation.

• Meta is rolling out AI age-detection technology to Facebook users in the U.S. for the first time, along with 27 European Union countries and Brazil, as part of new measures announced during a child safety trial.
• Parents in the U.S. on Facebook and Instagram will get a notification linking to a blog post explaining how to check and confirm their teens' ages, sent to all users Meta has identified as a parent.
• The announcement lands during the second phase of a New Mexico trial where the state seeks $3.75 billion in damages and policy changes, prompting Meta to threaten pulling Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp from the state.

Other news & articles you might like

• Elon Musk settles with the SEC for $1.5 million after years-long dispute over his Twitter investment LINK

• Sierra raises $950M as the race to own enterprise AI gets serious LINK

• iOS 26.5 Finally Adds End-to-End Encrypted RCS Between iPhone, Android LINK

• Palantir lifts annual revenue forecast on robust US government demand LINK

• Microsoft’s new research finds an AI ‘paradox’ holding companies back LINK

• The creator of Roomba is back with a furry robot companion LINK

• Data centers at sea: Oregon’s Panthalassa nets $140M led by Peter Thiel for wave-powered AI LINK

• Someone Built an Open-Source 'Theoretical Mythos' to Reverse-Engineer Anthropic's Most Dangerous AI LINK

• Hackers are still exploiting the cPanel bug to gain control of thousands of websites LINK

• Image AI models now drive app growth, beating chatbot upgrades LINK

• Explosion Rocks SpaceX’s Test of Water Deluge System Ahead of Starship Launch LINK

• A college student is suing a dating app that allegedly used her TikTok videos to target men in her dormitory LINK

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