Tech Brew

TL;DR: Starting this week, Uber is offering robotaxi rides in London—beating rival Waymo to the punch in one of the largest ride-hail markets in the world. Yet, confusingly, the company is also trying to slow down the spread of robotaxis in the US (and partnering with drivers to do so). It shows what a strange moment the company is in as it tries to gain the upper hand in this nascent market.

TL;DR: AI will be banned in the largest public school system in the country starting next week—unless you’re in high school. But New York City’s one-year ban comes with some asterisks, and it’s unclear how it’ll be enforced. What happened: You may remember that Kentucky middle school that recently went viral for the mistake-ridden AI-generated materials it gave students—including maps with mangled state names like “Lookoong” (that’s Louisiana, in case you don’t speak AI).

TL;DR: A resident of Pflugerville, Texas, recently requested public Flock data—and discovered something disturbing: Outside agencies accessed this data 1.6 million times in a six-month period, compared to just 5,078 searches from its own police department during that span. The town is now no longer using Flock—and it’s not alone.

TL;DR: Tomorrow, John Ternus takes over as Apple’s CEO. He inherits what’s likely to be a larger leadership exodus amid a crucial AI push for the company—one that’s going surprisingly well so far. What happened: Ternus is stepping into the chief executive role amid a gradual “changing of the guard” that’s been happening since 2024, per Bloomberg.

TL;DR: After almost six months, a California federal court has overturned the government’s blacklisting of Anthropic, calling the move “illegal and baseless.” But, we regret to inform you the Pentagon vs. Anthropic saga still isn’t quite over. What happened: The court ruled yesterday that the Pentagon designating Anthropic a “supply chain risk” was unlawful. And not just that: It found that the government had violated Anthropic’s First Amendment rights.

TL;DR: Yesterday, Meta settled a landmark trial around teen social media addiction—and it might be popping champagne right about now. The settlement lets Meta avoid a drastic redesign of its apps and could potentially give it an edge over rivals. The cherry on top: Meta gets to paint itself as an industry leader on protecting kids—while pushing much of the onus onto parents.

High-density flash should be a high priority. Solidigm’s eSSDs pack 122TB in a fraction of the space of older drives. Big number of data points that live in a smaller world: smaller footprint, higher efficiency, and higher performance mean ROI is there for the taking. Not to mention, it’s the future. Start thinking data-centric. A few years into the AI boom, and the math has exploded. Between 2021 and 2023, the scale of AI training datasets skyrocketed.

TL;DR: Bill Gates, in his own words, might now be the “shrillest voice” on AI risk. He’s done a flurry of interviews (which all dropped today) sounding the alarm on a technology he thinks could destabilize the world, posted a 5,900-word blog post on how it could be the “worst source of injustice”—and says he’s been talking about it with leaders in government and the tech industry, too. The question is, will people listen?

TL;DR: The world’s most sci-fi-looking robotaxi is hitting the roads soon—without a steering wheel or brake pedal. But while Tesla’s been promoting the big public debut of the Cybercab, there are a lot of outstanding questions about how they will actually operate. What happened: Almost two years after Tesla first revealed the Cybercab, the company’s about to start opening them up to customers.

TL;DR: There might be nothing more politically unpopular right now than being a data center cheerleader. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are taking note—and changing their stance—as the midterm elections approach, while AI companies are desperately trying to buy back some goodwill. What happened: In an interview this past Sunday, Texas Gov.