⛵ The Gamble of the Century
Good Morning, Early Adopters!
Companies are gambling not just on growth, but on survival in a world being rewritten by machines.
CHIPS
Anthropic Just Bought one million Google TPUs
👀 What’s the move: Anthropic has struck a multibillion-dollar deal with Google to secure access to up to one million TPUs by 2026, promising over a gigawatt of compute to train and run Claude. The company praised Google’s chips for their price and efficiency, positioning this as part of its broader multicloud strategy alongside AWS and Nvidia. On paper, it is a massive win for Google Cloud and a validation of its TPU technology.
💡 Why it’s not boring: Behind the glossy announcement lies a practical concern: can Google truly scale TPU production and data center capacity fast enough? Unlike Nvidia, Google still depends on Broadcom for design and manufacturing and has limited public proof of delivering such enormous capacity on time. For Anthropic, this looks less like a technical choice and more like a hedge against Amazon’s slower Trainium roadmap. The real test will be whether those promised TPUs materialize before Claude hits its next frontier.
⛵ Key takeaway: Anthropic just bought into Google’s hardware dream, but in the AI arms race, promises of compute are not the same as power in hand.
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COPYRIGHT
Reddit Declared War on The AI Data Laundromat
👀 What’s the move: Reddit has filed another lawsuit, this time targeting Perplexity AI and three proxy-based scraping firms for “data laundering” its copyrighted posts to train AI models. The company even planted a hidden “test post” visible only to Google’s crawler, which later showed up in Perplexity’s search results within hours, confirming its suspicion.
💡 Why it’s not boring: Reddit is not simply defending user privacy; it is turning its data into a weaponized asset. After striking multimillion-dollar licensing deals with OpenAI and Google, Reddit’s business model is evolving from community building to data monetization. Every comment thread now represents potential licensing revenue, and litigation has become part of the commercial strategy. This is not just a legal battle but a playbook for turning free speech into a revenue stream.
⛵ Key takeaway: The new platform war is no longer about users. It is about their words, and Reddit has decided that every sentence has a price tag.
RETAIL
Macy’s Bets $640M on Robots to Save Its Crumbling Empire
👀 What’s the move: Macy’s has opened a $640 million, 2.5-million-square-foot robotic warehouse in North Carolina, which is the largest and most automated in its history. Under new CEO Tony Spring, the 167-year-old retailer is closing legacy distribution centers and investing heavily in automation to accelerate online fulfillment and reduce shipping costs. Orders that once took a day and a half are now completed within twenty-four hours.
💡 Why it’s not boring: This is more than a logistics upgrade; it is a survival strategy in a market where Amazon dictates delivery speed and Shein defines the price floor. Macy’s is quietly transforming into a technology-driven fulfillment engine, turning from a traditional department store into a mid-tier logistics network supported by its retail footprint. If the plan succeeds, it could redefine the final chapter of legacy retail by proving that automation is the last viable defense before extinction.
⛵ Key takeaway: When you cannot beat e-commerce, you automate yourself into it.
STARTUP SPOT
🏛️ Starbridge
“AI for winning public contracts.”
Scans government budgets, RFPs, and meeting notes to surface opportunities and auto-draft proposals for vendors.
→ Founded by Justin Wenig (ex-Coursedog CEO); raised $10M seed (2025) from Owl Ventures & Autotech; fast traction across U.S. education and municipal markets.
🪐 Lumen
“Building the AI internet.”
Runs one of the world’s largest edge fiber networks, linking data centers and AI clusters for low-latency compute and storage.
→ Legacy telco turned infra player under CEO Kate Johnson; landed $5B+ in new AI connectivity contracts (2024) and a $200M Palantir partnership (2025) to power enterprise AI traffic.
🎬 Wonder Studios
“AI-first studio for the next Hollywood.”
Lets creators produce films, ads, and music videos with generative tools that cut costs and speed from script to screen.
→ Founded 2024 by Xavier Collins & Justin Hackney; raised $3M pre-seed (2025) from LocalGlobe, Blackbird, and angels from ElevenLabs, DeepMind & OpenAI.
BAY AREA MEMOS
- David Sacks’ Craft Ventures led a $42M Series A for Starbridge, which uses AI to predict government purchasing intent and streamline public sector sales.
- Intel posted its first profit in six quarters, showing its turnaround is gaining traction amid cost cuts and strong PC chip demand.
- OpenAI, Oracle, and Vantage are investing $15B to build the “Lighthouse” Stargate data center in Wisconsin, scheduled for completion in 2028.
- Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, signaling a renewed wave of political backing and legitimacy for the crypto industry in the U.S.
- Rivian is cutting about 600 jobs, or 4% of its workforce, in its third round of layoffs this year to reduce costs ahead of the 2026 launch of its R2 SUV.
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