The TikTok saga continues, but it sounds like things are getting close for a US version of TikTok managed by US interests. 9to5mac.com reports that the latest iteration of the deal, ByteDance would lease a version of their algorithm to a consortium of US investors, and Oracle would recreate and provide security for the algorithm. In addition, the US version would be retrained ‘from the ground up.’ Besides Oracle, Fox is reportedly one of the investors, so that makes one wonder how exactly the thing would be retrained…if it might somehow end up like X. 

Nvidia will drop some $100 billion into OpenAI and provide it with data center chips, the companies said today in a joint statement. According to Reuters.com, Nvidia will be delivering the chips as soon as late 2026. Nvidia will invest in OpenAI for non-controlling shares. OpenAI just signed a non-binding deal with investor Microsoft which allows for OpenAI to restructure as a for-profit company. 

Not exactly the kind of start Elon Musk would have hoped for…as Tesla launched its robotaxis in Austin, Texas, they had 3 crashes the first day! Arstechnica.com notes that the testing started on July 1st, and that later that month, the Teslas had only logged some 7,000 miles of testing. For comparison, Waymo logged only 60 crashes in over 50 million miles of driving. Waymo is not up to 96 million miles. All the crashes happened with a safety operator aboard. Musk has been saying for nearly 10 years that Tesla Full Self Driving is capable of driving coast to coast unaided. A couple owners made an attempt. They planned to go from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, Florida in a Model Y. After just 60 miles, they crashed into road debris, and the car’s suspension broke! 

Blue Origin has scored a major NASA contract to ferry a lunar rover to the the South Pole of the moon. Techcrunch.com reports that the VIPER…which stands for ‘Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover’ will eventually see the surface of the moon. The program was in a bit of limbo last year due to delays and cost overruns. The contract with Blue Origin is about $190 million. They hope to have it land by late 2027.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.