Tuesday 21 July 2026
Top stories today:
Anthropic wins approval for $1.5B copyright settlement with authors
Foreign open AI model curbs eyed again by Trump officials
Canadian goods face 50% U.S. tariffs under Trump plan
Google to develop āFrozen v2ā AI server chip integrating Gemini
Colossal Biosciences seeks funding at $20B+ valuation
0. Data & Calendar
All values as of 6 AM ET / 3 AM PT, other than S&P500 and NASDAQ close (4 PM ET / 1 PM PT).
No major events today.
Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing todayās newsletter (beware of hallucinations):
1. Anthropic wins approval for $1.5B copyright settlement with authors
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted final approval of the settlement.
Some authors and publishers opted out of the settlement and have filed separate lawsuits against Anthropic that remain ongoing.
The case is part of a wave of copyright lawsuits against AI companies.
2024: writers sued Anthropic, alleging the startup used pirated copies of their books without permission to train Claude.
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3. Foreign open AI model curbs eyed again by Trump officials as China advances
Chinaās Kimi K3 ranked behind only Anthropicās Fable 5 and OpenAIās GPT-5.6 Sol on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index:
Kimi K3ās release has reportedly revived discussions of de facto curbs on foreign open-source AI models.
Procurement curbs, Entity List designations, and pressure on U.S. users are under consideration.
Rather than an outright ban, officials are also weighing security, backdoor, and governance concerns over Chinese models.
Moonshot AI, Kimi K3ās maker, is finalizing a $30B+-valuation funding round ahead of a Hong Kong IPO within 6 months.
Relatedly, China is weighing tighter export controls on AI models and chip technologies.
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5. Canadian goods face 50% U.S. tariffs under Trump plan
Canadaās exports to the U.S. are largely driven by energy, but oil and gas are exempt from Trumpās new tariffs:
Milk, hockey equipment, beer, and plywood are among the affected products.
Autos and steel already subject to separate duties will be spared.
No USMCA exemptions.
In 30 days, the tariffs will take effect.
The Canadian dollar briefly weakened before recovering.
6. Meet the Future of Farming*
What Replaces Roundup?
The next agricultural transition may not be bigger tractors. It may be autonomous robots replacing herbicides entirely. Greenfield Robotics is building commercial systems designed for that future.
Greenfield Robotics is Testing The Waters under tier 2 of Regulation A. No money or other consideration is being solicited, and if sent in response will not be accepted. No offer to buy the securities can be accepted and no part of the purchase price can be received until the offering statement filed by the company with the SEC has been qualified by the SEC. Any such offer may be withdrawn or revoked, without obligation or commitment of any kind, at any time before notice of acceptance given after the date of qualification. An indication of interest involves no obligation or commitment of any kind. āReservingā shares is simply an indication of interest. There is no binding commitment for investors that reserve shares in this manner to ultimately invest and purchase the shares reserved of the company, or to purchase any shares of the company whatsoever.
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7. Google said to develop āFrozen v2ā AI server chip integrating Gemini for 2028
The chip would be 6-10x more efficient than Googleās existing TPUs.
The Frozen project would create a new family of in-house chips separate from Googleās TPU lineup.
No plans to produce Frozen v2 chips at the same scale as Googleās TPUs.
Googleās AI compute constraints are reportedly a key target of the project.
8. Colossal Biosciences, de-extinction startup, said to seek funding at $20B+ valuation
$20B to $30B is the expected valuation for the funding round.
The startup has reportedly begun generating revenue.
Some investors see its technology as foundational for drug discovery, climate technologies and longevity.
9. Samsung seen as cheapest bet after memory chip selloff
Samsung is trading at 4x book value, less than half the multiple of SK Hynix and Micron:
Samsung shares are ~+300% over the past year, vs. ~+700% for Micron and SK Hynix.
+4,781% YoY in Q1 operating profit at Samsungās semiconductor unit, accounting for 94% of the companyās total operating profit.
3 years ago, the semiconductor unit was loss-making despite generating 22% of Samsungās revenue.
10. New media
11. Other headlines
AI
Google AI search cuts website traffic by ~40%: Cloudflare.
AMD to ship first rack-scale AI system later in 2026.
CAISI Director Chris Fall to resign.
Z.ai completes 1 GW AI data center using Chinese chips: report.
Open Source CEO: Explore all the tools to outperform the competition.*
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Tech
Anduril, Archer unveil autonomous aircraft platform.
Tencent holds talks for $1B+ SuperPlay deal: sources.
Samsung Galaxy Card debuts for U.S. customers.
Elonās X relaunches Android app after year-long rewrite.
Ant International raises $1.2B from Ant, Alibaba.
Memorandum: Smarter insights on technology, business, markets, world, and culture.*
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Law
Snap settles social media harm lawsuit over minors.
Sony Music files second copyright suit against Udio.
Alibabaās AliExpress fined ā¬550M by EU over illegal products.
Biotech
Haut.AI expands AI skin analysis to whole body.
Eternal calls time on its longevity clinics.
Stress-hardened stem cells target tissue repair.
Business
Paramount-Warner merger faces legal delay risk.
Taco Bell traffic sinks after lettuce scare.
Rokoās Basilisk: Skip buzzwords. Focus on markets, products, and careers.*
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Crypto
U.S. politics
Hegseth faces lawmakers as Iran conflict widens.
World
Iran, U.S. strikes enter 10th day amid truce push.
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