WHAT’S INSIDE

• Tech In The News: Tariff Truce, Debt Deadline, AI IP, Drug Cuts FDA AI

• Companies Watch: AI21 Labs, InventWood, Humain_, Classiq, Slate Auto

• Feature: Apple's 1-2 Combo Glasses + AI Search Shakes Google Pre I/O

• Buzzy Tools: Latest Buzzy tech, AI and financial tools

• Deep Tech: The latest in deep tech, biotech, futurism and more

• Space Tech: Latest news in the space race and aerospace tech

• Crypto: Blockchain and crypto policy and startups or protocols to watch

TECH IN THE NEWS

Tariff Truce — Global stock markets soared as the U.S. and China agreed to pause tariffs for 90 days, but long-term economic uncertainty remains.

Debt Deadline Looms — Treasury Sec. Bessent warned that special accounting measures to manage the federal debt limit may expire by August.

AI IP — President Trump dismissed Shira Perlmutter, head of the U.S. Copyright Office, for opposing Elon Musk's AI training on copyrighted works.

Drug Price Cuts — A Trump exec order requires drugmakers to lower prices within 30 days, targeting a 30% to 80% reduction in order aligning with global price lows.

FDA's AI Leap — The FDA appoints Jeremy Walsh (ex-Booz Allen Hamilton) as its first chief AI officer to boost internal IT, speed up medical product reviews.

Middle East Mission — President Trump seeks to secure $1T in US investments during a pivotal trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.

US Pope on AI — Pope Leo XIV, the first US-born pope, aims to uphold Pope Francis' legacy, highlighting AI as a major challenge for human dignity and labor.

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COMPANIES TO WATCH

Big Movers

OpenAI — Renegotiating Microsoft partnership terms leading up to an IPO. MS may accept a smaller equity stake for extended tech access. OpenAI aims to reduce revenue sharing.

Apple — Contemplating raising prices for its upcoming iPhone lineup without directly linking the price hikes to tariffs.

Google Settles— Google agreed to pay Texas $1.375B to settle lawsuits over unauthorized user tracking. The largest privacy enforcement settlement yet.

X — Elon Musk is set to launch its XMoney payment service in 2025, says CEO Linda Yaccarino, aligning with the comprehensive financial, social ecosystem.

Making Waves

AI21 Labs — The LLM hallucination-focused startup is raising a $300M Series D and has garnered $636M in total funding, with backing from Google and Nvidia.

InventWood — Set to mass-produce Superwood, a wood-based material stronger than steel. It raised $15M to build a commercial plant focused on sustainable, fire-resistant materials.

Humain — Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman has launched Humain, an AI company aimed at enhancing Saudi Arabia's AI sector, with support from the U.S. PIF Fund. Aims for U.S. investments.

Classiq — The Israeli quantum computing startup has secured $110M and 3xd its customer base, ARR, partnering with BMW and Microsoft.

Slate Auto — The EV startup has garnered over 100,000 refundable reservations for its affordable EV pickup truck just two weeks post-launch. Aiming to produce 150,000 by 2027.

SignalFires — Read the Top signals, Startups + Deals From Last Week

Apple's Glasses + AI Search Shakes Google Pre I/O 

Apple is mounting a two-pronged attack that could fundamentally reshape the online world  within two years. The innovator is simultaneously developing revolutionary smart glasses powered by its new N401 chip while exploring AI search alternatives that could end its longstanding deal with Google and change the way we search online. This strategic pivot sent Google shares plummeting 9% last week — their steepest single-day decline since 2023.

During testimony in Google's antitrust trial, Apple SVP of Services Eddy Cue revealed AI-powered upstarts like OpenAI and Perplexity could replace Google as Safari's default search engine. More shockingly, Cue testified that Safari experienced its first-ever decline in search volume last month, attributing this directly to users embracing AI alternatives. Google disputes this claim, but investor reaction suggests genuine concern about the search giant's vulnerability.

Beyond Smartphones With N401 Vision Chips + Glasses

Apple's smart glasses ambitions appear equally transformative in combo with the new AI search approach. Its in-house Silicon, the N401 chip reportedly enables advanced real-time AI processing and environmental scanning without overheating, potentially replacing many iPhone functions by 2026-2027. Unlike failed predecessors in the wearable computing space, Apple's approach prioritizes practical utility and all-day wearability, potentially making traditional smartphones increasingly obsolete.

Meta isn't ceding the wearable space, advancing its own smart glasses with "super-sensing" vision software including facial recognition and behavior-based reminders. While current models manage only 30 minutes of active AI use, Meta aims to extend this to hours on a single charge, setting up another front in the tech giants' battle for the next computing platform.

Google Fights Back on Multiple Fronts

Google's response is multifaceted. Beyond rolling out Gemini 2.5 and expanding AI-enhanced search features nationwide, the company is preparing for Google I/O 2025 this month, where it will unveil significant updates to the Gemini project and Android 16. Reports suggest Google may demonstrate its Gemini AI chatbot and its currently in domo Software development AI agent in voice mode working with Android XR glasses, directly countering Apple's wearable and search strategy. It will also see this as shoring up its flank against Apple’s partnership with Anthropic last week to build an MCP and Claude Code-powered software engineering agent and coding tool.

Alibaba Changes The Game

The search landscape also faces additional disruption from an unexpected quarter this week too. Alibaba's innovative new ZeroSearch technique enables AI to develop search capabilities without relying on external engines, reducing training costs by 88% while reportedly outperforming Google Search in tests. This breakthrough could democratize advanced AI development, allowing smaller companies to challenge established search players.

Strategic Pricing and Market Positioning

Meanwhile, Apple is reportedly considering price increases for its upcoming iPhone lineup, carefully avoiding direct links to tariffs but potentially signaling confidence in its long-term strategy beyond smartphones. It claims this has nothing to do with tariffs, OK sure. It will cost a bundle to achieve both the search and wearables goals so it will need every bit of that extra revenue to pull this if it cuts off its Google revenue.

Apple is essentially playing a sophisticated game across multiple dimensions. Cue's testimony undermines the government's case to prohibit the Google search deal while positioning Apple for an AI-driven future. Simultaneously, their wearable strategy prepares for a post-smartphone era where traditional search itself may become less relevant.

Economics and User Experience Transformed

The economic realities remain challenging for immediate search market change. No AI alternative currently generates revenue comparable to Google's advertising machine, and the $20 billion isn't easily replaced by Apple. However, as wearable computing platforms evolve and AI becomes more integrated into everyday experiences, traditional search behaviors could fundamentally transform.

For users, these shifts promise more intuitive ways to access information. Whether through conversational AI interfaces or seamlessly integrated wearable experiences, the future of information discovery looks increasingly ambient and contextual rather than query-based.

The New Computing Battlefield

The convergence of wearable computing and AI could represent the most significant shift in how we interact with technology since smartphones. While Google maintains significant infrastructure and economic advantages today, Apple's dual strategy of revolutionizing both hardware form factors and information discovery methods could fundamentally reshape the tech landscape. The battle for the future of computing has never been more fiercely contested, with traditional boundaries between search, personal computing, and wearable technology rapidly dissolving. Your next iPhone could well be a pair of AI-enabled Smart Glasses.

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BUZZY TOOLS

Buzzy Tech Tools To Watch & Use

Google I/O 2025 — Gemini + Android 16 updates for AI, security.+ Gemini 2.5 implicit caching save 75% tokens + Demoing a SWE AI agent + AndroidXR.

iOS 18.5 — Satellite emergency contact on iPhone 13 without cellular signal.

Meta Smart Glasses — Super-sensing vision w/ facial recognition, reminders.

Shopify Magic — Automates image editing, product descriptions for businesses.

Remote Agent — Cloud-based development agents w/ full-codebase context.

BUZZY TECH

The Latest Deep Technology & Trends To Watch

Neuralink Patient — Brain implant enables ALS patient to edit videos.

CERN Alchemy — Particle accelerator creates gold nuclei from lead in ion study.

Seawater Uranium — China hits 100% uranium extraction, boosting nuclear.

Alibaba ZeroSearch — AI trains search w/out engines, 88% cost cut, beats Google.

Absolute Zero — Novel AI training autonomously reasons, enhances coding, math.

World's Fastest Transistor — Bismuth-based, 40% faster, 10x energy, skirts bans.

CRYPTO WATCH

Coinbase Joins the S&P 500 — To be added to the S&P 500 index next Monday, replacing Discover Finance due to its acquisition by Capital One. On the news Coinbase shares jumped over 7%.

American Bitcoin IPO — American Bitcoin, a BTC miner backed by Eric Trump, aims to debut on Nasdaq via an all-stock merger with Gryphon Digital Mining.

Global Dollar Network — Welcomed 19 new partners to boost adoption of its USDG stablecoin on Solana, broadening the its impact in the stablecoin market.

SPACE_RACE

Nuclear Rocket Blueprints_1960s propulsion designs for Mars missions found.

James Webb Telescope_Jupiter's auroras are 100s of times brighter than Earth's.

Starlink United_Free Wi-Fi on UA flights with 217 Mbps speeds from May 15, 2025.

Rocket Lab Neutron_USAF partners to test cargo reentry for global logistics 2026.

Kosmos 482_Soviet spacecraft debris lands harmlessly in the Indian Ocean.

MEMETICS

Do we really think reading our own emails will even still be a thing in 18 years?

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