Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Tradeweb Executes Onchain U.S. Treasury Transaction on Canton Network

Tradeweb Markets Inc. has successfully executed a real-time onchain U.S. Treasury transaction on the Canton Network, marking a significant institutional test for tokenized Treasuries within traditional market infrastructure. The transaction involved Franklin Templeton transferring a tokenized Treasury security to Virtu Financial, with Tradeweb overseeing execution and price discovery. This operation utilized USDCx for tokenized cash, allowing synchronized settlement between the two assets. The collaboration included major players like Blockdaemon and Societe Generale, highlighting the growing interest in integrating tokenized assets into established financial workflows.

Lime raises $167M in IPO after years of teasing a public debut

Lime, the micromobility company backed by Uber, has successfully raised $167 million in its IPO by selling 6.68 million shares at $25 each, marking the mid-point of its price range. Shares began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker 'LIME' and saw a 9% increase within the first hour. This long-anticipated IPO, which values the company at approximately $1.66 billion, comes as Lime faces significant financial challenges, including $1 billion in liabilities, necessitating the funds raised to ensure its continued operation.

New York City educators and industry leaders gathered at Google’s offices to shape the future of AI in classrooms.

At a recent AI summit in New York City, Google, the New York Jobs CEO Council, and Urban Assembly convened 150 educators and industry leaders to discuss preparing students for future careers. Participants engaged in hands-on sessions, including aiEDU's 'Vibe Coding' and Google's 'Meet LEA', to explore how tools like Google AI mode and NotebookLM can enhance AI literacy. A key theme was the importance of human skills—such as adaptability and collaboration—as technology continues to evolve. Attendees stressed the necessity of maintaining privacy and equitable access while integrating AI into education, asserting that innovation must happen collaboratively with schools.

Former retail giant has closed over 1,000 locations

Office Depot has closed over 1,000 locations since 2013, continuing a trend of decline in the office supply sector, which is projected to shrink by 2% annually through 2026. The company, which merged with Office Max in 2013, reported having 822 stores as of November 2025 but has since ceased public reporting on store counts. Recent closures include locations in High Point, NC, Fresno, CA, and Ballard, WA, as competition from online retailers like Amazon intensifies. Analysts note that the office supply industry has faced consistent revenue declines since 2005, driven by the shift to online shopping and the digitization of work.

Meta pops 10% as company makes cloud push to sell excess AI compute power capacity

Meta's stock jumped 10% following the announcement of a new cloud business aimed at selling excess AI computing power to external customers. This strategic move is expected to help the company recoup some of the billions invested in AI infrastructure, with plans to spend up to $145 billion on capital expenditures this year. The initiative is seen as a response to the surging demand for computing power in the AI sector, which has outpaced supply since the rise of technologies like OpenAI's ChatGPT. By entering this competitive market, Meta hopes to generate revenue while addressing investor concerns about its heavy spending on infrastructure.

Palantir's Karp bashes OpenAI, Anthropic token model: 'Something has gone completely wrong'

Palantir CEO Alex Karp criticized the token-based pricing structure employed by AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic, stating, "something has gone completely wrong" as costs continue to soar. He noted a growing frustration among enterprises over skyrocketing AI token expenses, leading them to explore open models that allow for greater control over data and costs. Karp pointed out that many companies are now opting to develop their own AI tools rather than relying on expensive, closed models. Additionally, he warned that advancements in Chinese AI capabilities could soon challenge U.S. frontier labs.

Meta follows SpaceX's playbook and builds a cloud business to sell its spare AI compute to outside customers

Meta is launching a cloud business aimed at selling its surplus AI compute resources to external customers, a strategy inspired by SpaceX's successful GPU rental model. This move allows Meta to monetize its significant investment in AI infrastructure, which is projected to reach $145 billion this year. Following the announcement, Meta's stock surged by approximately 10 percent. The company plans to offer access to AI models on its infrastructure, indicating a shift in focus from solely developing in-house models. Muse Spark, the first model under this initiative, is led by Alexandr Wang, who was previously with Scale AI.

Venice AI becomes a unicorn with $65M Series A as its privacy-first AI platform takes off

Venice AI has become a unicorn after raising $65 million in a Series A funding round led by Dragonfly, achieving a valuation of $1 billion. The startup, which offers access to over 200 AI models while prioritizing user privacy, boasts more than 3 million active users and an impressive daily average of 1.7 million API calls. CEO Erik Voorhees, known for his advocacy of privacy in the crypto space, highlighted the company's profitability with an annualized revenue run-rate exceeding $70 million. Investors are drawn to Venice AI's rapid growth and commitment to providing an uncensored AI experience.

Meta's non-invasive brain-to-text AI is closing the gap with surgical implants

Meta's FAIR research team has unveiled Brain2Qwerty v2, a non-invasive brain-to-text AI model that reconstructs sentences from brain recordings with a significant average word error rate of 39 percent, down from 55 percent in its predecessor. This advancement is crucial for individuals who have lost the ability to communicate due to brain injuries, as it offers a safer alternative to surgical implants. The model utilizes magnetoencephalography (MEG) to capture brain activity from nine volunteers during typing exercises, enabling it to learn from a dataset of 22,000 sentences. Notably, the new version processes signals asynchronously, allowing for real-time applications in the future.

Gemini Spark, Google’s agentic assistant, is now available on Mac

Google's AI assistant, Gemini Spark, is now available on Mac, enhancing its capabilities to assist users with their digital tasks. This launch integrates Spark into the existing Gemini desktop app and introduces features such as real-time topic tracking and connections to more applications, including Google Tasks and Google Keep. The macOS version allows Spark to work directly with files on users' computers and will soon enable multi-step task assignments from mobile devices. Currently, the beta version is accessible only to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the U.S.

Tech leads first half stock gains — but the biggest winners weren't in the U.S.

In the first half of 2026, the tech sector emerged as a significant winner, with emerging markets leading the charge. The MSCI Emerging Markets technology index posted a remarkable gain of over 90%, far surpassing the U.S. tech sector's 19.4% increase, which includes major players like Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft. The pan-European Stoxx 600 Technology index also outperformed the S&P 500 Information Technology index, rising by 23.4%. Despite strong gains, U.S. tech stocks faced volatility, with Microsoft experiencing a notable 22.9% decline.

Here’s everything new for Apple Mail in iOS 27

iOS 27 introduces major enhancements to Apple Mail, including a revamped search feature that prioritizes relevant results, addressing long-standing user complaints. The update also improves Smart Reply, allowing it to generate responses that better match a user's writing style. Additionally, Siri integration has been expanded, enabling users to delete spam messages from specific senders with voice commands. These updates, alongside various bug fixes, aim to enhance overall performance and user experience in Apple Mail.

Daily Spotlight: Investors Beware, 3Q is Here

Stocks managed to post modest gains in the first half of 2026 despite concerns over war, high oil prices, inflation, and tech bubbles. However, as the market enters the third quarter, it faces historical underperformance, with an average return of just 0.5% since 1980. While the quarter has a 63% chance of yielding positive returns, significant losses have occurred in the past, including declines of up to 18%. Last year, the market defied expectations with a 7.5% gain in 3Q, but investors remain cautious about the potential for downturns this time around.

Trump Accounts for kids launch July 4: What parents need to know

Trump Accounts, a new type of tax-advantaged savings and investing vehicle for children under 18, will officially launch on July 4, 2026. These accounts, also known as 530A accounts, will provide eligible children with a one-time $1,000 contribution from the federal government, with families allowed to contribute up to $5,000 annually until the child turns 18. Managed by the Bank of New York Mellon, the funds will grow tax-deferred and can only be accessed upon reaching adulthood, converting into a traditional IRA.

Google Health CLI now available to access your data & build tools

Google Health has introduced a command-line interface (CLI) that allows users to access their health data and create custom tools, such as dashboards. This tool is designed for both commercial developers and individual health enthusiasts, enabling access to over 40 metrics like Activity, Sleep, and Heart Rate from devices including the Fitbit Air and Pixel Watch. Users can export their data in various formats, including streamlined JSON and CSV files, and the CLI comes equipped with two starter skills to facilitate setup and integration with AI agents.

UAE's MGX raises one of the biggest AI funds ever as it closes at $49 billion

Abu Dhabi's MGX has successfully closed a $49 billion fund dedicated to investing in AI companies, positioning it as one of the largest investment vehicles in the sector. This fund is part of a broader trend where AI companies have raised a record $416.6 billion in 2026, nearly doubling the total from 2025. MGX has emerged as a key player, backing major firms like OpenAI and Anthropic, and co-leading significant funding rounds, including a $30 billion raise for Anthropic and a $122 billion raise for OpenAI. The fund aims to invest across the AI tech stack, including semiconductors and AI-enabling technologies.

OpenAI paper reveals three GPT-5.6 Pro models, breaking with single top-tier strategy

OpenAI's recent paper introduces a significant shift in its GPT-5.6 Pro offerings, unveiling three distinct models: Luna Pro, Terra Pro, and Sol Pro. This marks the first time Pro has diverged from a single top-tier model structure, allowing users to select options based on speed, throughput, or maximum reasoning power. In benchmark tests, Sol Pro achieved a 31.5% pass rate, outperforming both its standard counterpart and the best non-GPT model, Claude Opus 4.8. The paper does not confirm whether these models will be integrated into ChatGPT, nor does it disclose token usage for the Pro models.

Cleared by the US, derailed by the UK: Getty’s Shutterstock merger falls apart

Getty is set to terminate its $3.7 billion merger agreement with Shutterstock due to conditions imposed by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, which mandated that Shutterstock sell its global editorial business, including the Backgrid and Splash agencies. Despite receiving unconditional antitrust clearance from the US Department of Justice in February, Getty stated it is 'not required to accept' the UK’s approval conditions. The decision to walk away from the deal comes as both companies face increasing competition from AI image generators, prompting Getty's board to unanimously vote for termination on July 6, 2026.

HeroUI v3 Lands as a Ground-Up Rewrite for React and React Native, Built on Tailwind CSS v4

HeroUI v3, a complete rewrite of the React component library formerly known as NextUI, has been launched, offering a unified design system for both web and native applications. Released in March 2026, it features over 75 web components, including 21 new ones, and introduces a new React Native library with 37 components built from scratch. The library leverages React Aria Components for accessibility and Tailwind CSS v4 for styling, while all animations are now handled via CSS, eliminating the need for JavaScript runtime. Notably, the core @heroui/react package has achieved approximately 341,000 weekly downloads on npm, reflecting its growing adoption.

Apple Hide My Email bug seemingly allows 100% of real email addresses to be discovered

A security flaw in Apple's Hide My Email feature has been revealed, enabling attackers to uncover users' real email addresses. Tyler Murphy, a security researcher, reported this vulnerability to Apple over a year ago, but it remains unresolved. Despite Apple's claims of a fix in March 2026, Murphy's tests confirmed that the issue persists, prompting him to go public. He emphasized that users of Hide My Email deserve to know their hidden addresses may be at risk. Apple recently announced a new domain, private.icloud.com, for these addresses, which could face restrictions from companies.

Jamf launches Beacon premium threat hunting service for enterprise Mac fleets

Jamf has unveiled Beacon, a premium threat hunting and analysis service aimed at enhancing security for enterprise Mac fleets. As enterprise adoption of Mac systems accelerates, Jamf addresses the need for specialized tools to monitor advanced threats targeting Apple environments. Beacon combines the expertise of Jamf Threat Labs with native telemetry from the Apple Endpoint Security API, allowing IT teams to detect and respond to Apple-specific attack techniques while retaining control over their security operations.

Presentation: The Infrastructure Challenge Behind Production AI

During a recent InfoQ panel, experts highlighted the significant infrastructure challenges faced by organizations deploying AI systems at scale. While model development has advanced, maintaining production databases under increasing loads remains problematic. Panelists, including Meryem Arik from Doubleword and Alex Infanzon from Cockroach Labs, noted that token costs have surged dramatically, with some companies reporting increases of 100x. Additionally, traditional databases are struggling to meet the high demands of AI applications, prompting a shift towards distributed SQL solutions.

Scientists find no link between Tylenol and autism, again, after Trump warning

A recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine has reaffirmed that there is no link between the use of Tylenol (acetaminophen) during pregnancy and the development of autism or ADHD in children. This research analyzed electronic health records from over 700,000 mother-child pairs in Hong Kong, with approximately 43% of children having been exposed to acetaminophen in utero. The sibling-matched design of the study, which included over 124,000 children for autism and 97,000 for ADHD, showed no correlation between prenatal acetaminophen use and these neurodevelopmental conditions, regardless of dosage or timing during pregnancy.

My favorite Kindle alternative is $30 off after a recent price increase

The Kobo Libra Colour e-reader has reverted to its previous price of $229.99 after a recent increase to $259.99. This discount is available at retailers including Best Buy and Target, making it an attractive option for those seeking an alternative to Amazon's Kindle. The Kobo Libra Colour boasts a waterproof design, a seven-inch color display, and supports various file formats, including EPUB. Additionally, it features physical page-turning buttons and supports the optional Stylus 2 for note-taking and annotations, making it a versatile choice for readers.