Seoul opened bidding for a free AI chatbot and public-service agent for all citizens, requiring 50% domestic models. Beta launches in September. Runs through 2030.

A DeepSeek IPO could come as soon as this year. First the Chinese AI lab wants a fresh round at a $71bn valuation, up from $50bn six weeks ago.

ASML is reducing EUV cycle time from 22 weeks to 15-16 weeks. It is nearly fully booked for 2027 with substantial 2028 orders already in hand. Guidance raised.

Monumental has raised a $32m Series B led by Khosla Ventures to expand its fleet of 150+ bricklaying robots in the UK and launch its first US pilots.

The Cyberspace Administration approved Apple AI services alongside Huawei. A Khosla-backed startup compressed Qwen from 54GB to under 4GB to run on-device.

Stripe and Advent International have bid $60.50 a share for PayPal, backed by $50bn of committed bank financing. PayPal has not replied.

Apple is in early talks with PrismML, whose on-device AI compression shrinks a 27B model to under 4GB to run on an iPhone. Apple has not commented.

London fintech Velocity has raised a $38M Series A, led by Dragonfly and FirstMark, to bring stablecoin treasury and settlement tools to enterprises.

Modi's cabinet approved $13.3B for semiconductors and $6.5B for smartphones. The minister said Modi wants India to "create an Indian mobile brand." ...

Abu Dhabi’s AI-native government runs on one app, TAMM, that renews your ID and pays your fines. The catch is a model no democracy can copy.

Publishers and author Scott Turow filed a Google Gemini lawsuit, claiming the company trained its AI on millions of copyrighted books without permission.

Lucid shares plunged after a report said AlixPartners was reviewing Chapter 11 and going-private options. Lucid denied the claims. It closed down 16% at $4.62.