WHAT’S INSIDE

• Tech News: Tariffs Case, Musk v Trump, Chip Exports, AI v Jobs, NYT AI Play

• Company Watch: Nvidia, Trump Media, Horizon3.ai, Clark, Karat Financial

• Feature: Tesla's Robotaxi Bet Is Bigger Than You Think

• 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

Tariffs Upheld — A federal appeals court reinstated most of Trump's tariffs (for now) after a trade court decision against them, sparking uncertainty and ending Wall Street’s rally. The case may go to the Supreme Court next.

Stocks Climb Amid AI Demand — U.S. stocks rose on Thurs as Nvidia announced strong Q1 sales and projections from AI chip demand despite a China sized sales hole.

Musk Out — Elon Musk steps down as a top Trump adviser after reducing federal spending targets from $2T to $150B. Musk also criticized Trump's domestic policy bill, arguing it undermines DOGE cutting efforts. He plans to refocus on Tesla, SpaceX.

UAE Dama — Elon Musk also reportedly tried to crash OpenAI’s UAE deal, claiming Trump’s support hinged on xAI’s inclusion, complaining about fairness and competition among US AI companies.

Chip Exports — The U.S. introduced new export restrictions on semiconductor design software and machine tools to China, requiring licenses.

AI Job Disruption Warning — Dario Amodei, Anthropic CEO, warns that AI could eliminate 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs, pushing unemployment to 10-20%.

NYT's AI Play — The New York Times licensed editorial content to Amazon for AI training and Alexa integration, following copyright battles with OpenAI & Microsoft.

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COMPANIES TO WATCH

Big Movers

Nvidia — Reported $44.06B in Q1 revenue, driven by a 73% growth in its data center business. Despite a $4.5B charge due to export restrictions, NVDIA rose on expectations of $45B next quarter.

Trump Media — Plans to raise $2.5B via $1.5B in common stock and $1B in convertible notes to support a BTC treasury & expand the America First economy.

xAI x Telegram — Signed a $300M cash & equity deal to integrate advanced AI features for over 1Bn Telegram users. It includes a 50% revenue share from subscriptions, boosting Toncoin's value by 20%.

Humain — The Saudi state-owned AI company, plans a $10B venture fund to invest in startups across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Salesforce — Acquiring Informatica for approximately $8B, integrating its AI-driven platforms like Agentforce and Data Cloud to enhance CLAIRE and Einstein creating a comprehensive AI-data platform.

Making Waves

[Open Deal] Horizon3.ai — A US cybersecurity startup specializing in autonomous penetration testing is raising $100M at a $750M valuation, with $73M secured. It has just achieved $30M in ARR and gained FedRAMP authorization.

Clark — The first AI Agent for building internal enterprise apps has raised $60M, including $23M from notable investors. Used by global enterprises like Instacart and Carrier saving an average of $5M.

Karat Financial — The SF fintech is launching a business banking product for creators, offering an FDIC-insured checking account and a premium high APY option.

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

Tesla's Robotaxi Bet Is Bigger Than You Think

Robotaxis are the Gateway Drug to a surreal Spatial AI future, and the race may just have a new frontrunner as Tesla's long-hyped autonomy push finally rolls out. With a June 12 launch set for its first driverless service in Austin, yes its geofenced at first for safety and monitoring, but this is more than another ride-hailing app. Elon Musk's plans to merge Tesla and xAI and this approval signals a major shift in how autonomy is going to be built built. Welcome to a future powered by machines that learn from and respond to real-world complexity driven by World Model-powered mobility AI. 

Where rivals like Waymo (Alphabet), Zoox (Amazon), and Motional (Hyundai-Aptiv) rely on bulky LiDAR stacks, HD maps, and rule-based planning, Tesla is doing something else entirely: a vision-only approach trained on data from billions of miles. The bet is that world models — neural networks capable of simulating 3D space — are finally viable at scale, and safe and reliable enough to trust lives with. That fact alone is mind-boggling.

With xAI in the mix, Tesla could become the first U.S. operator to embed a world-model-style AI into its autonomy stack. That changes the playing field, with implications far beyond the $1 billion U.S. robotaxi market in 2025 — and into a projected $450 billion global sector by 2033.

The Rise of World Models

The Tesla-xAI partnership reflects a larger trend: spatial intelligence is becoming a core layer of infrastructure. Companies like Google, WorldLabs, Odyssey, and SpAItial are developing models that understand physical space — not just language or images — and can interact with environments in real time for engineering, rendering and navigation.

Startups: Odyssey just Launched an interactive video platform for real-time user engagement. While SpAItial, founded by Matthias Niessner, landed $13M to create foundation world models to revolutionize gaming and other applications.

Google is also busy exploring ways to embed its world models and engineering models into Waymo's robotaxi efforts, as are Nvidia and many other big players in the merging AI hardware and auto sectors. 

Why It Matters

Take note, because major sectors like mobility, defense, construction, and logistics all operate in dynamic 3D environments. AI systems that can perceive and respond to those spaces effectively become control layers for everything from ride-hailing to robotic freight to next-gen city planning.

Tesla's teased Cybercab for 2026 reinforces that broader ambition: an AI-native vehicle built from the ground up using AI-powered and robotically built factories. The the same world model-driven engineering and modeling principles are already being applied by Nvidia, Siemens and other tech giants across sectors including:

• Freight and logistics

• Defense robotics

• Urban infrastructure

• Mixed-modal city transit

NEOM, Saudi Arabia, and the Global Spatial Race

Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion NEOM project is leading the way, by aggressively investing in spatial infrastructure. That includes stakes in Pony.ai, seaglider company Regent, and an entire domestic autonomous vehicle R&D hub. The plan: build a seamless multimodal transit system from scratch, powered by AI.

Tourism is part of that mix too as we feature in Beyond Tech tomorrow. Visitors interact with holographic heritage exhibits, robotic guides, and AI-driven crowd management systems. Smart infrastructure is fully baked in rather than an Add-on.

Other players are moving quickly. South Korea and Europe are advancing MaaS platforms tied to autonomous fleets, maglev rail, and real-time sensors. China has already scaled maglev trains and is expanding city-wide robotaxi deployments.

USA Plays Catch-Up

The U.S., though slower to integrate, is rapidly mobilizing. Key funding flows include:

• $14.9B from the infrastructure bill toward mass transit

• DoD and Homeland Security initiatives backing AI-powered drones, orbital transport, and hypersonic systems

Analysts expect the U.S. MaaS market to hit $36.7 billion by 2033, with autonomy playing a growing role.

China vs. U.S Ambitions 

China is scaling fast too. Its robotaxi market is projected to grow from $54 million in 2025 to $47 billion by 2035, supported by policies that favor pilot programs and centralized deployment. Baidu, Pony.ai, and WeRide are leading operators, with multi-million-ride volumes already logged.

Unlike Tesla’s edge-based, vision-only approach, Chinese platforms are heavily centralized. Vehicles operate with strict regulatory oversight and are monitored remotely — sometimes with human operators still in the loop.

Getting By On Our Own Supply

A bigger source of divergence is the supply chain. China processes over 80% of the world’s heavy rare earths, including those critical to EVs and military systems. After Beijing imposed 2025 export controls, U.S. automakers found themselves with just 2–3 months of magnet inventory.

To respond, a16z just published a call for a U.S. push into critical minerals. From KoBold Metals (which uses AI for mineral discovery) to Tesla's new Texas lithium refinery, the U.S. is attempting to build a domestic pipeline. But permitting delays, talent shortages, and environmental hurdles complicate the effort.

The Chip Squeeze and Acceleration Curve

AI hardware is another chokepoint. U.S. export controls have blocked access to NVIDIA chips and development tools for several Chinese firms. In the short term, this slows spatial AI adoption.

But Chinese companies like Huawei and Baidu are accelerating development of laser-based processors, optical compute, and AI-assisted material science. These methods compress research timelines and reduce dependency on conventional silicon.

Rather than stall, the field may evolve more rapidly. World models and generative simulations are now being used to design materials and components, making it plausible that domestic alternatives will emerge faster than expected.

Robotaxis Open the Gate to Spatial AI

Tesla’s June robotaxi rollout is a landmark. But the broader shift is toward spatial intelligence as an infrastructure layer — in mobility, defense, logistics, and beyond.

Robotaxis are an early test. The long game is about who gets to write the code that cities, vehicles, and systems all move through. They are ultimately a foreshadowing of the astonishing levels of automation and mobility innovation coming down the Moore's Law curve at us at an exponential rate. Get on board or be left behind. 

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BUZZY TOOLS

Buzzy Tech Tools To Watch & Use

Google Photos — New AI tools Reimagine and Auto Frame for enhanced editing.

Opera Neon — New AI browser for coding, shopping, content creation via text.

Mistral — New Agents API supports multi-agent workflows for code, search, image.

Village — 4 different AI Agents raised $2K for a charity cause.

Godela — YC-backed model using physics data to accelerate engineering.

BUZZY TECH

The Latest Deep Technology & Trends To Watch

OpenAI OAUth — ChatGPT explores sign-in for apps for its 600M monthly users.

Quantum Supermetal — Rice U. discovers a zero-loss electricity material for QC.

Li-Metal Battery — Chinese firm achieves 500 Wh/kg density with 483 cycles.

Leonidas — Epirus microwave system to disable drone swarms for US Army.

Rivr's Delivery Bots — Dog-like robots enhance last-mile delivery efficiency in TX.

China Mobile 5G-Advanced — $3B 5G-A upgrade targets 300 cities by 2025.

CRYPTO WATCH

US Bitcoin Strategy — David Sacks, the White House crypto czar, unveils a plan for the U.S. to boost its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Key reforms by August include the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill and increased domestic bitcoin mining efforts.

US Crypto Fund — Chainalysis claims Trump’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile potentially holds over $21B in seized cryptocurrencies so far.

Circle's IPO Move — Circle filed for an IPO on the NYSE, eying ~$250M. ARK Invest plans a $150M purchase. J.P.M., Citigroup, Goldman Sachs are underwriting.

Big Banks Eye Stablecoin — Major U.S. banks are exploring a joint venture to launch a stablecoin to compete, driven by fears of losing deposits and transactions.

IMF Blocks El Salvador's Bitcoin Ambitions — The IMF says it will prevent El Salvador from increasing its bitcoin holdings, countering President Bukele's efforts.

Conduit — Raised $36M in a Series A led by Dragonfly and Altos Ventures. It aims to integrate stablecoins with legacy banking for faster, cheaper X-border payments.

SPACE_RACE

SpaceX_ Starship Rocket reached orbit but burst apart on reentry.

SpaceX_Aims for Mars in 2024 + 170 launches in 2025, double last year.

FLARE AI Model — China enhances stellar flare prediction w/ AI + data.

Sharpest Sun Images — New adaptive optics reveal solar corona details.

Moon Magnetism — Asteroid impact boosted moon’s magnetic field.

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