Tech news digest for Sunday, July 12, 2026

Musk and Altman feud escalates on X

Elon Musk and Sam Altman clashed on X following Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI for alleged trade secret theft. Musk intensified the feud by repeatedly referring to Altman as 'Scam Altman,' highlighting their ongoing rivalry over OpenAI's shift to a for-profit model.

• $75 billion IPO completed by Musk's SpaceX recently.
• OpenAI has confidentially filed for its own IPO amid the rivalry.

Claude Code now has a built-in browser that lets the AI read, click, and type on external websites

Anthropic has integrated a browser into Claude Code, allowing the AI to read, click, and type on external websites directly within the app. This feature supports interaction with documentation sites and issue trackers, functioning like a tab-based browser. Enhanced safety measures ensure that Claude cannot perform actions such as purchasing items or creating accounts without user consent. Organizations have the option to restrict access to external sites through an allowlist or disable the browser entirely, while users requiring access to their own logged-in sessions are advised to utilize the Chrome extension.

TechCrunch Mobility: A robotaxi ultimatum

Uber has terminated its partnership with Waymo for robotaxi services in Phoenix, leaving only collaborations in Atlanta and Austin. This development signals increasing tensions, as Uber executives have begun to openly criticize Waymo. Concurrently, NHTSA administrator Jonathan Morrison has issued a directive demanding that autonomous vehicle developers address their vehicles' failure to respond appropriately to emergency situations, a significant concern given Waymo's history of incidents with first responders. The agency has requested solutions from AV companies by the end of the month.

• Waymo operates the largest robotaxi fleet in the U.S. with vehicles in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco.
• Rivian expects to raise $1.32 billion from the sale of 86.25 million shares at $15.50 each.

Apple developing new Apple Pencil models for release next year, possibly with replaceable batteries

Apple is working on a new lineup of Apple Pencil models, expected to be unveiled in spring 2027 alongside new iPad Pro versions. These models may include a USB-C Apple Pencil and a wireless-charging Apple Pencil Pro, both featuring user-replaceable batteries. This change is in response to the EU Batteries Regulation, which mandates that batteries in portable devices must be easily removable by users, effective February 2027. Currently, Apple Pencils are not designed for battery replacement, as they are held together with adhesive, making repairs impractical.

S&P Global sees OpenAI as a "key credit risk" for Oracle and cuts its credit rating

S&P Global has downgraded Oracle's credit rating from 'BBB' to 'BBB-', citing OpenAI as a significant credit risk. The agency highlighted that Oracle's AI division is consuming more cash than anticipated, with capital expenditures now expected to reach $95 billion by 2027, a substantial increase from the previous estimate of $60 billion. OpenAI constitutes roughly 50% of Oracle's $638 billion in contractual obligations, and if OpenAI were to collapse, Oracle would be left with excess data center capacity. This situation places Oracle at a disadvantage compared to competitors like AWS, Google, and Microsoft, which have more robust internal workloads and financial reserves.

• Projected capital spending for Oracle's AI business has increased to $95 billion by 2027.
• SoftBank reduced a loan backed by OpenAI shares from $10 billion to $6 billion.

Meta kills Muse Image feature that let anyone generate AI photos of Instagram users without consent

Meta has discontinued its Muse Image feature, which allowed users to generate AI images of Instagram users simply by mentioning their public accounts without consent. This feature, which was enabled by default, faced significant backlash for its lack of user privacy controls, prompting Meta to admit that it 'missed the mark' just days after its announcement. Users who wanted to prevent their images from being used had to manually opt out through Instagram's settings. The feature's potential non-compliance with European data protection laws further complicated its viability, leading to its swift removal.

• Meta's Muse Image drew inspiration from OpenAI's now-defunct Sora app.

Claude Cowork's biggest use case is the mundane office work nobody wants to own, Anthropic says

Anthropic's analysis of Claude Cowork indicates that approximately half of its usage is directed towards administrative tasks, with business operations and content creation being the primary categories. Specifically, 33.4% of sessions involve organizing business processes, such as compiling reports and creating checklists, while 16.4% pertain to content generation like drafting proposals and presentations. This data, derived from 1.2 million anonymized sessions across over 600,000 organizations, underscores the tool's utility in managing routine office work rather than technical tasks, which are better suited for Claude Code.

• Software development comprises only 8.7% of Claude Cowork's usage, with developers preferring Claude Code for coding tasks.