Thursday, June 18, 2026

MapTap, a daily geography game, is my new Wordle

MapTap has gained popularity as a geography game, especially among fans of Wordle, by presenting players with five daily questions that require them to tap on a map to identify cities or historical sites. Each question's difficulty increases, and players score between 0 and 100 based on their proximity to the correct location. The final score can reach up to 1000, thanks to multipliers for later, more challenging questions. After each game, players receive informative content about the locations, making it both entertaining and educational.

US tech billionaire issues stark China warning: American companies have been ‘hollowed out’ by the Red Dragon

Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, has issued a stark warning regarding America's dependence on China, stating that many U.S. companies have been 'hollowed out.' In a Hoover Institution interview, he noted that while American firms design products, they increasingly lack the capability to manufacture them, relying instead on Chinese engineers who excel in critical fields like battery and optical engineering. Luckey's comments reflect a broader anxiety about national security and economic relevance, as he likened the current situation to a Cold War scenario where the U.S. depends on its geopolitical rival for essential manufacturing.

General Intuition in talks to raise $300M at around $2B valuation

General Intuition, a New York-based startup focused on training AI agents to navigate space and time, is negotiating to raise approximately $300 million, which would elevate its valuation to over $2 billion. This funding round follows an earlier $134 million seed round eight months ago after General Intuition spun out from Medal, a platform for sharing video game clips. The startup's unique dataset, consisting of 2 billion videos annually from 10 million active users, is designed to enhance AI's spatial-temporal reasoning capabilities. Notable investors include Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt, alongside existing backers Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst. The funds will be used to expand compute capacity and support a new product launch expected by late summer or early fall 2026.

Cantor Fitzgerald Maintains Neutral Rating on GitLab Inc. (GTLB)

Cantor Fitzgerald has upheld its Neutral rating on GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLB) with a price target of $35, as the company unveiled four new capabilities at its recent Transcend event. These features include the Next Generation Source Code Management in private beta, GitLab Orbit context graph in public beta, and Governance for Agents in private beta, alongside GitLab Flex. The enhancements are designed to tackle limitations faced by users in Git-based workflows, particularly those managing large codebases and increasing automated activity. Cantor Fitzgerald noted that these developments could accelerate enterprise adoption amid uncertainties regarding agent consumption patterns.

Cloudflare (NET) Market Perform Rating Maintained by Citizens

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET) has received a maintained Market Outperform rating from Citizens, with a price target of $270.00, following its Investor Day presentation on June 9. Analysts from Truist and UBS also raised their price targets to $250, indicating a positive outlook on Cloudflare's transition from a traditional edge security and content delivery network provider to a comprehensive platform that includes security, network services, and AI-related workloads. Additionally, TD Cowen reiterated its Buy rating with a price target of $265, emphasizing Cloudflare's role in securing AI agents through its cloud-native architecture. Earlier this month, Cloudflare announced its acquisition of VoidZero to enhance its AI-native web capabilities.

Godfather of AI blasts Musk's xAI as 'failure,' says labs are risking a 'big bubble explosion'

Yann LeCun, founder of AMI Labs and a prominent figure in AI, criticized Elon Musk's xAI as a 'failure,' asserting it cannot compete with established players like OpenAI and Anthropic. He pointed to significant leadership issues, noting that several co-founders have departed, which complicates Musk's ability to attract top talent. LeCun also warned that the AI sector is at risk of a 'big bubble explosion' unless companies cut costs and raise prices, citing the $2.5 billion operational loss reported by SpaceX's AI segment in the first quarter of 2026. His own AMI Labs recently secured $1 billion in funding to focus on developing 'world models,' which he believes are crucial for advancing AI capabilities.

Three Saudi oil tankers carrying 6 million barrels cross Strait of Hormuz

Three Saudi supertankers loaded with a total of 6 million barrels of oil have successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz, following a recent deal between U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian aimed at reopening the strait. The tankers, which had concealed their positions for over two months, activated their transponders on Thursday in the Gulf of Oman. Despite this development, ship traffic through the strait remains cautious, with no significant increase in crossings since the agreement was signed. Experts note that shippers are still hesitant to navigate the region due to ongoing security concerns.

Trump bid to fire Fed's Lisa Cook cost her more than $1M in legal, security costs: Filing

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has faced over $1.3 million in legal and security costs due to President Donald Trump's attempt to fire her in August 2025, as revealed by a recent ethics filing. The filing indicates that these expenses were covered by third parties, including the Democracy Defenders Fund and Contina Impact. Cook, who denies any wrongdoing related to Trump's allegations of mortgage fraud, has remained on the board while her lawsuit against the firing is pending, with a Supreme Court decision expected soon.

The midterms are going to be a data security nightmare

As the 2026 midterm elections approach, the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE Program, originally created to verify public benefit eligibility, is raising alarms among election and privacy experts. The program's expansion under the Trump administration mandates states to provide complete voter information for cross-referencing against immigration status, potentially disenfranchising thousands. Critics argue that this unprecedented federal involvement in state elections lacks authority and expertise, with Texas alone identifying 2,724 registered voters as potential noncitizens from an audit of over 18 million records, highlighting the risks of data leaks and voter intimidation.

Who decides when AI is too dangerous?

The US government has imposed export controls on Anthropic's newly released AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos, just days after their public launch. This decision restricts access to these models for foreign nationals, including Anthropic employees in the US. The move follows concerns raised by Amazon researchers about a potential jailbreak that could exploit vulnerabilities in the models. In response, Anthropic took both models offline to comply with the government's directive, highlighting the complexities of AI regulation under the Trump administration.

AI systems rival doctors in new Nature studies, but one result suggests the tech won't age well

Two studies in Nature reveal that AI systems MIRA and AMIE can diagnose diseases and create treatment plans with accuracy comparable to, and in some cases better than, human physicians. MIRA, developed at TUD Dresden and Heidelberg University, achieved an 88.9% accuracy rate in diagnosing conditions from a dataset of over 500 emergency cases. Meanwhile, Google's AMIE system excelled in treatment planning, with 95% of its plans deemed appropriate compared to just 72% for a group of 21 primary care physicians. Both systems, however, rely on outdated AI models, raising concerns about their long-term viability in clinical settings.

Adobe’s redesigned AI studio remembers what your creations look like

Adobe has launched a redesigned Firefly AI studio in private beta, introducing features aimed at enhancing design workflows. The new interface allows users to edit and generate designs seamlessly, offering 'persistent context' and 'reusable assets.' Key features include 'Elements,' which lets users save and name characters or objects for easy reuse, and 'Projects,' which organizes assets and creative context. Additionally, Firefly can now create brand kits and assist in video editing, including generating storyboards and assembling clips into draft cuts.

Adobe adds its AI assistant to Premiere, Illustrator and InDesign

Adobe has expanded its Firefly AI assistant to include Premiere, Illustrator, InDesign, and Frame.io, enhancing its functionality with new capabilities like creating brand kits, product videos, and storyboards. In Premiere, the AI can sort assets, batch-rename clips, and identify interview questions, while in Illustrator, it can reorganize layers and check for missing fonts. Firefly is already integrated with Express, Photoshop, and Acrobat, and Adobe plans to add support for Google Gemini and Slack soon, indicating a broader strategy to automate creative processes across its suite of applications.

Yann LeCun warns AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic face a "big bubble explosion"

Yann LeCun, founder of AMI Labs, cautioned that AI labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic are at risk of a 'big bubble explosion' unless they either cut costs or increase prices. He highlighted that while prices for AI services are rising, operating costs are not declining sufficiently, leading to financial losses across the sector. LeCun criticized Elon Musk's xAI as a 'kind of failure,' citing difficulties in recruiting top talent and the departure of the founding team. His own company, AMI Labs, recently secured $1 billion in funding to focus on developing 'world models' that understand real-world dynamics, positioning itself against the dominant large language models of competitors.

Midjourney, known for AI image generation, unveils a full-body ultrasound scanner and its own spa

Midjourney, primarily known for its AI image generation, is venturing into healthcare with a full-body ultrasound scanner developed in collaboration with Butterfly Network. The innovative device utilizes underwater sensors to emit ultrasound waves, generating a radiation-free 3D body image in approximately 60 seconds. Initially, the scans will focus on body composition maps, which do not require FDA approval. The company has ambitious plans to have over 50,000 scanners operational globally by 2031, with the first spa set to open in San Francisco by late 2027.

Intel surges 9% after Trump says company will partner with Apple on U.S. chip design

Intel's stock rose 9% in premarket trading following President Donald Trump's announcement on Truth Social that the company will partner with Apple to design and manufacture chips in the U.S. Trump criticized previous administrations for allowing semiconductor manufacturing to shift overseas, asserting the importance of bringing chip production back to America. This news comes as Intel's stock has rebounded significantly, increasing 464% over the past year, with the company now boasting a market capitalization of $608.7 billion.

Here’s why I think the AI photo features in iOS 27 are so well considered

Apple's iOS 27 introduces advanced AI photo features that enhance user photography capabilities. Key tools include an improved Clean Up tool, which allows for the effective removal of unwanted elements, and two new features: Reframe, which lets users adjust the composition of images, and Extend, which enables changes to aspect ratios by adding content. These tools address practical needs in photography, reflecting Apple's commitment to integrating thoughtful AI solutions into its products.

Using AI to help physicians diagnose rare genetic diseases affecting children

A study published in NEJM AI reveals that researchers from Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard University, and OpenAI utilized the OpenAI o3 Deep Research model to reanalyze 376 previously unsolved genetic cases. This AI-assisted approach surfaced candidate explanations for 18 diagnoses, resulting in a diagnostic yield of 4.8% after expert review. The model provided evidence-linked hypotheses rather than direct diagnoses, enabling specialists to revisit complex cases that had evaded resolution for years. This study underscores the potential of AI to enhance diagnostic workflows as scientific knowledge evolves.

HSBC expands AI banking partnership with Google Cloud

HSBC has announced a multi-year partnership with Google Cloud to enhance its artificial intelligence capabilities across its global operations, unveiled at the Google Cloud Summit London 2026. The collaboration will focus on developing AI tools for wealth management, financial crime risk management, and internal decision support, with an expectation to support over 200 AI use cases in the next two years. Each initiative is projected to generate more than $100 million through direct revenue or efficiency improvements. HSBC already has over 600 active AI use cases, including fraud detection and customer service, and screens more than 1.2 billion transactions monthly for signs of financial crime.

Microsoft sells OpenAI models in China. OpenAI and Anthropic won’t.

Microsoft has emerged as the primary supplier of OpenAI models in China, providing technology to major internet firms while OpenAI and Anthropic abstain from the market due to concerns over intellectual property and potential misuse. ByteDance, Microsoft's largest AI customer, is expected to spend over $1 billion annually on Microsoft's AI and cloud services. This strategic arrangement allows Microsoft to leverage its exclusive contract with OpenAI, positioning it uniquely in a market that both OpenAI and Anthropic have deemed too risky to enter directly.

Kingboard’s 570% Rally Is Being Powered by Mainland Investors

Kingboard Laminates Holdings Ltd. has experienced a remarkable 570% increase in its stock price since the beginning of January 2026, driven primarily by a surge in investment from mainland Chinese investors. These investors have more than doubled their stake in the company to 13% this year, reflecting confidence in Kingboard's strategic shift from a traditional industrial manufacturer to a critical supplier of components for printed circuit boards utilized by artificial intelligence firms. This transformation positions Kingboard favorably in the rapidly growing AI sector.

Apple and Intel are working together to build chips in America, says President Trump

President Trump confirmed on TruthSocial that Apple and Intel have formed a partnership for chip manufacturing in the U.S., utilizing Intel's fabrication facilities. While the specifics of the agreement remain vague, it is anticipated that Intel will produce legacy chips for older Apple products rather than the latest high-end devices. This collaboration is seen as a strategic move for Apple to diversify its supply chain and enhance its made-in-America initiatives, especially as Intel begins production for older iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Intel's stock surged by 9% in pre-market trading following the announcement.

Europe Bets Industrial AI Can Salvage Its Manufacturing Edge

Kellanova's plant in Kutno, Poland, produces 100 million cans of Pringles annually, ensuring each can meets consumer expectations through AI-driven consistency. The facility employs Siemens AG's software, which integrates data from sensors, lasers, and cameras to adjust recipes based on variations in raw materials like humidity and protein content. This application of industrial AI exemplifies Europe's potential to maintain a competitive edge in manufacturing, with companies like Trumpf also leveraging AI for predictive maintenance to optimize production efficiency.

Athena Coalition Brings Coordinated Defence to Open Source Security

Chainguard has launched the Athena Coalition, an initiative aimed at using artificial intelligence to identify and remediate vulnerabilities in open-source software before they can be exploited. With over two dozen founding members, including major financial institutions like BNY and JPMorgan Chase, as well as tech companies such as Cisco and Cloudflare, Athena targets critical components like libraries and containers that underpin essential digital services. The coalition's efforts are a direct response to the rapid evolution of Frontier AI models, which can quickly identify complex vulnerabilities that have previously gone undetected.