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Elon Musk announced on X that Grok, xAI's chatbot, will be integrated into Tesla vehicles "very soon," with a target of "next week at the latest." This follows the debut of Grok 4. Tesla drivers will be able to chat with their cars and use Grok for tasks. A hacker found options for Grok "personalities", including NSFW ones. Grok will be available on newer vehicles with Hardware 3 and will be the voice and brain for Tesla's Optimus robot.
U.K. authorities have arrested four individuals in connection with a series of cyberattacks targeting British retailers, including Marks & Spencer, Harrods, and the Co-op. The suspects, a woman aged 20, two men aged 19, and a youth aged 17, were apprehended on suspicion of hacking, blackmail, money laundering, and participating in an organized crime group.
The intrusions, which began in April, involved the theft of customer data from the Co-op and Marks & Spencer. These attacks are attributed to Scattered Spider, a group known for using impersonation and deception tactics to gain access to networks. The hackers allegedly collaborated with the DragonForce ransomware gang, which deployed file-encrypting malware on Marks & Spencer’s network. The Co-op reportedly avoided the ransomware by shutting down its network. Harrods also successfully defended against a significant portion of a cyberattack.
Knox, a federal managed cloud provider, raised $6.5 million in seed funding to help software vendors achieve FedRAMP security compliance quickly and affordably. Achieving FedRAMP can take years and cost millions. Knox aims to reduce this to three months. CEO Irina Denisenko experienced these challenges firsthand at Class, leading her to acquire a FedRAMP-certified company. Knox offers a compliance management platform that identifies and remediates security gaps, competing with Palantir's FedStart.
Samsung is reportedly developing a triple-folding smartphone for release later this year. TM Roh, head of consumer electronics, mentioned the company's aim to launch the device, focusing on perfecting its usability. While the name is undecided, a final decision is expected soon as the product nears completion.
An unnamed executive confirmed that the tri-fold device is ready for production.
Elon Musk's xAI has released its latest AI model, Grok 4, along with a new $300-per-month subscription plan called SuperGrok Heavy. Grok 4 is positioned as a competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, with enhanced capabilities including image analysis.
The launch follows a tumultuous period for xAI, marked by Grok's antisemitic comments on X, leading to temporary restrictions and revisions to the AI's system prompts. Despite these incidents, xAI focused on showcasing Grok 4's performance, claiming it outperforms competitors on benchmarks like Humanity's Last Exam and the ARC-AGI-2 test.
SuperGrok Heavy subscribers will gain early access to Grok 4 Heavy and upcoming features, including an AI coding model, a multi-modal agent, and a video generation model. xAI aims to integrate Grok with cloud platforms and attract developers through its API.
Despite its strong performance, xAI faces the challenge of overcoming recent controversies to establish Grok as a reliable alternative to established AI models in the business sector.
California State Senator Scott Wiener has introduced amendments to SB 53, aiming to mandate AI companies to publish safety protocols and reports on safety incidents. This bill is influenced by recommendations from California's AI policy group, emphasizing transparency.
Key points of SB 53 include:
The bill seeks to balance transparency with fostering AI industry growth, addressing concerns raised about previous legislation like SB 1047. New York is also considering similar AI safety measures with the RAISE Act.
Revolut is reportedly seeking a new funding round that could value the company at $65 billion, according to the Financial Times. The UK-based fintech firm is in discussions to raise approximately $1 billion through the issuance of new shares and the sale of existing ones. Greenoaks, a US-based firm, is reportedly leading the round, although the deal is not yet finalized.
In 2024, Revolut experienced a 72% increase in revenue, reaching $1 billion in profit, and expanded its user base to over 50 million customers. The company also obtained its banking license to operate in the UK and now serves over 30 countries. Revolut's last valuation was $45 billion in 2024 after a secondary market sale.
Linda Yaccarino's two-year tenure at X saw a notable impact on the social network's advertising business. According to data from Guideline, U.S. ad spending on X was up 62% year-over-year in the first half of 2025. Yaccarino had previously stated that 96% of X's advertisers had returned as of May 2025.
However, X's advertising business faced significant challenges, including an advertiser boycott in November 2023 following Elon Musk's endorsement of an antisemitic post. This led to brands like Apple, Disney, and IBM pausing their ad spending on the platform. Musk's controversial statements and actions further complicated the situation, even resulting in legal action against advertising groups.
Despite these challenges, Guideline's data indicates increased U.S. ad spend since December 2024. Yaccarino also implemented measures to improve brand safety, such as partnering with adtech companies and offering advertisers tools to control ad placement sensitivity. Nonetheless, X remains a controversial platform regarding ad safety, highlighted by recent antisemitic outbursts from its AI bot, Grok.
Yaccarino's departure raises questions about X's future profitability, especially as the company's reliance on alternative revenue streams like X Premium subscriptions and the X Money payments service remains limited.
YouTube is updating its monetization policies on July 15 to combat the rise of AI-generated, low-quality content, often referred to as "AI slop." The updated policies aim to prevent creators from earning revenue from mass-produced and repetitive videos.
The changes are intended to clarify what constitutes "inauthentic" content and are designed to target spam-like videos created with AI technology. While YouTube insists this is a minor update, it reflects concerns over the proliferation of AI-generated content, including AI voiceovers, fake news videos, and even AI-generated documentaries.
The goal is to protect YouTube's reputation and value by preventing the monetization of content that viewers consider spam and ensuring clear policies are in place to address the growing problem of AI-generated content.