Investors love AI, as long as you’re a cloud host

Source: Tech Crunch

Investors love AI, as long as you’re a cloud host

Startups

Amazon's second-quarter earnings beat expectations, with net sales rising 20% and AWS revenue growing 37% to $42 billion. This drove shares up nearly 10%. Despite negative free cash flow, Amazon is aggressively increasing infrastructure spending, raising its 2026 capex forecast to $220 billion. While investors currently favor cloud hosts over AI labs, the long-term stability of this revenue depends on sustained AI demand.

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Apple stockpiles inventory as it braces for ‘significant supply constraints’

Startups

* Role: Professional editor. * Task: Summarize a news article. * Length: Exactly 60 to 70 words. * Tone: Neutral. * Focus: Key facts. * Constraints: * No introductory phrases. * No conclusions. * Wrap in `<summary>` and `</summary>` tags. * No bullet points, lists, or metadata inside tags. * Clean text paragraph only. * Generative AI boom is driving demand for hardware/memory. * Apple (and others) facing "a hundred-year flood" in memory pricing/shortages ("RAMageddon"). * Impacts iPhones, MacBooks, and Apple silicon chips. * Apple's June quarter was strong (iPhone +22%, Mac +29%), but supply constraints are increasing. * Apple increased inventory to $11.1 billion (from $5.7 billion) to hedge against shortages. * Prices for Macs and iPads were raised. * Other companies (Meta, Samsung, Microsoft, Sony) also raising prices. * Revenue growth forecast for next quarter is 9-11% (down from ~16%). * Stock dropped 6% in after-hours trading. * CEO transition: John Ternus taking over in September. * *Draft 1:* Apple is facing severe memory supply constraints and rising costs driven by the generative AI boom, which CEO Tim Cook described as a "hundred-year flood." Despite strong June sales for iPhones and Macs, Apple has doubled its inventory to mitigate shortages and reluctantly raised device prices. Consequently, the company predicts slower revenue growth, causing its stock to drop 6% as it prepares for a leadership transition. (68 words) * *Word Count Check (Draft 1):* 1. Apple 2. is 3. facing 4. severe 5. memory 6. supply 7. constraints 8. and 9. rising 10. costs 11. driven 12. by 13. the 14. generative 15

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AI hedge fund Situational Awareness may have sold its public portfolio, but it still has its Anthropic shares

Startups

Situational Awareness, a hedge fund founded by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, sold most of its public stock portfolio to Ken Griffin’s Citadel following significant losses in AI infrastructure investments. After peaking at $45 billion in assets, the fund's public holdings plummeted due to market declines and leverage. Despite these losses, the fund retains private investments, including a $5 billion stake in AI startup Anthropic.

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Reddit reports a solid quarter but shows signs of AI’s impact

Startups

"Reddit reported strong second-quarter results, with revenue jumping 61% to $805 million and net income rising 183%. Despite beating Wall Street expectations and providing positive future guidance, the company's stock fell over 10%. Investors are concerned about "choppy" search engine traffic and a slight decline in U.S. users, fearing that AI-driven search summaries are reducing referrals and threatening Reddit's long-term audience growth and partnerships.".

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Apple says gaming slowdown and App Store changes hurt services growth

Startups

Apple's services business reached 1.5 billion subscribers, yet revenue of $30.74 billion missed analyst expectations, contributing to a 4% stock drop. CFO Kevan Parekh attributed the shortfall to foreign exchange rates, a mobile gaming slowdown, and App Store regulatory changes. Despite this, the segment achieved record revenue in developed markets and June quarter highs for Apple TV and Apple Ads, with future growth expected from new payment features.

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Judge says Trump admin still lacks evidence for Anthropic ‘supply chain risk’ label

Startups

"A judge has questioned the Trump administration's lack of evidence for labeling AI firm Anthropic a supply chain risk and banning its technology from federal use. The dispute follows stalled Department of Defense contract negotiations over AI ethics and military application. Judge Rita Lin criticized the government's claims that Anthropic could disable models during war and warned against retaliating against contractors who disagree with the administration.".

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CareCloud begins to notify hundreds of thousands after hackers stole medical records

Startups

The health tech data giant, which handles vast amounts of patients' medical data, said hackers struck one of its protected health data stores.

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SEBI Rolls Out ‘GARUDA’ Framework To Expedite Fund Launches

Business

"SEBI has introduced the GARUDA green channel framework to expedite the launch of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). Regular schemes can now launch within ten working days of filing their private placement memorandum via a merchant banker. Specialized vehicles, including angel funds and large value funds, receive lighter regulatory treatment and faster launch timelines. This shift emphasizes post-facto supervision and fund manager accountability over pre-launch regulatory scrutiny.".

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Friend, the lonely AI wearable, returns with a new voice and a much bigger price tag

Startups

Tech founder Avi Schiffmann has launched Friend 2.0, an updated AI wearable designed to combat loneliness. The new version features a built-in speaker, allowing the necklace to provide voice interaction and a consistent personality. The retail price has increased from $99 to $249. While Schiffmann describes the device as a confidant rather than an assistant, the product enters a challenging market where similar AI wearables have struggled.

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Google says it fixed more Chrome bugs in June than over the past two years, thanks to AI

Startups

As experts have warned for the last two years, some companies — like Microsoft and now Google — are finding and patching an exponential number of bugs in their products, thanks to the use of LLMs and AI tools.

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Florida plans to build air taxi pads using $200M intended for EV chargers

Startups

"Florida is redirecting nearly $200 million in federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funding toward an electric air taxi network instead of traditional EV chargers. Despite having fewer chargers per vehicle than the national average, state officials claim private companies have sufficiently built out the network. The Florida Department of Transportation plans to construct 32 landing pads for eVTOL aircraft at airports and luxury sites to alleviate traffic.".

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LinkedIn adds a button to report AI-generated ‘slop’

Startups

LinkedIn is introducing new ways to reduce low-quality AI-generated posts, including a “seems like AI slop” reporting option. It's also replacing its own AI writing feature with a proofreading tool.

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Synthetic-user startup Simile raises $200M at $2B valuation 5 months after $100M Series A

Startups

"AI startup Simile has reached a $2 billion valuation after closing a $200 million Series B funding round led by Greenoaks. Founded by Stanford PhD Joon Sung Park, the company provides simulated users for product and marketing research. While its ambitious goal of simulating all eight billion people is viewed skeptically, the venture joins other high-valuation AI firms like Aaru in transforming how companies conduct user research.".

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Spotify launches ‘User notes’ to let users add memories to songs

Startups

Spotify says the new feature is designed to let users add personal captions to their favorite songs, such as noting why a track was added to a playlist or when they first discovered it.

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Okta buys AI security startup Permiso; source says for about $200M

Startups

Okta has agreed to acquire AI identity security startup Permiso Security in a deal valued at just under $200 million. The almost all-cash transaction, expected to close in fiscal 2027's third quarter, aims to strengthen Okta's ability to secure AI agents and machine identities. Permiso specializes in detecting suspicious cloud activity and monitoring non-human identities, helping Okta move toward continuous monitoring of authorized network access.

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IPO-Bound PhonePe Bets On Transaction Data Monetisation With PulsePro

Business

PhonePe has launched PulsePro, a paid enterprise intelligence platform that monetizes aggregated and anonymized transaction data. Targeting FMCG, retail, and D2C sectors, the platform provides hyperlocal insights for market expansion, site selection, and distribution planning. This move aims to diversify revenue streams beyond UPI as the company strengthens its business fundamentals ahead of a potential IPO, leveraging actual transaction behavior over traditional survey-based market research.

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Tesla made its 10 millionth EV

Startups

"Tesla has produced its 10 millionth electric vehicle, reaching the halfway point toward a 20 million target required for CEO Elon Musk’s massive pay package by 2035. While this milestone is a key achievement, Tesla faces challenges including declining U.S. sales and shrinking profits. To unlock his full compensation, Musk must also meet ambitious goals for FSD subscriptions, robotics, robotaxis, and a significant increase in adjusted EBITDA.".

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When will fusion power startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems go public?

Startups

There are fresh signs that fusion power startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems will list in the next two to three years.

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Meta says AI is making it easier to build new apps — and more are coming

Startups

Meta is leveraging large language models to accelerate the development and launch of new consumer applications. CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted recent releases, including standalone apps for Marketplace and Groups, noting that AI enables faster testing and scaling. While previous attempts at standalone apps failed, Meta credits AI-powered recommendations for the growth of Threads. The company plans to release more novel products soon, utilizing AI to improve user relevance.

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Netflix lands global streaming deal for ‘The Walking Dead’

Startups

"Netflix has signed a $500 million multi-year licensing agreement with AMC Global Media to bring The Walking Dead Universe to a global audience. The deal provides co-exclusive rights to the original series and six spin-offs, totaling 371 episodes. While Netflix previously held exclusive U.S. rights, it will now share access with AMC+. This strategic investment aims to drive viewer engagement through an established, binge-worthy franchise.".

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