Apple's Epic Fail

Welcome back!

Here’s your must-read news this morning:

• Apple WWDC 2025 disappoints

• U.S.-China trade talks “going well”

• POTUS promotes $1,000 “Trump Accounts” for newborns

I’ve got all the details for you, so let’s dive in.

MARKETS

💰 Lutnick Says U.S.-China Talks “Going Well” as Second Round of Negotiations Begins

The Scoop: Delegations from Washington and Beijing are in London today for another round of trade talks to ease escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

The Details:

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, and trade negotiator Li Chenggang on Monday at Lancaster House.

• Lutnick told reporters ahead of the latest round of talks that negotiations were ”going well.”

• The talks build on a Geneva agreement last month for a 90-day suspension of most 100%-plus tariffs.

• Tensions persist as China delays rare earth mineral exports, vital for industries like automaking, while the U.S. restricts advanced AI semiconductors and Chinese student visas.

• President Donald Trump has authorized Bessent’s team to potentially lift U.S. restrictions on chipmaking software, jet engine parts, and ethane sales, the WSJ reports.

What’s Next: The London talks are poised to chart a path toward stable trade relations, with the U.S. pressing for guaranteed rare earth mineral supplies to bolster industries and China expected to push for eased tech and visa restrictions. Both nations aim to lock in agreements that prevent a resurgence of tariffs, fostering economic resilience and averting global market disruptions.

Markets Roundup

🏦 Economy & Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: UK unemployment surged to a four-year high of 4.6%, with employers slashing payrolls by 109,000 in May, the steepest cut since 2020, and hesitating to hire due to higher payroll taxes and minimum wage, as pay growth slowed to 5.2%. (YF)

• The New York Fed’s Survey of Consumer Expectations reported a significant drop in the one-year inflation outlook to 3.2% in May, down 0.4 percentage points from April. (NYF)

• Under 30% of CEOs now anticipate a mild or severe recession in the next six months, a sharp drop from over 60% in April, according to Chief Executive Group’s latest survey. (CNBC)

• Bulgaria is poised to become the 21st euro zone member, despite a recent EU survey indicating that half its population opposes adopting the euro, with many, particularly in poorer rural areas, fearing a loss of purchasing power. (CNBC)

📈 Stock Market

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Trump struck an evenhanded tone toward Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday, affirming he would keep his Tesla Model S and Starlink service despite their public rift, boosting Tesla shares by 4.6% at close. (INV)

• Global stocks climbed and the dollar ticked up as U.S.-China trade talks extended into a second day, with EUROSTOXX 50 and FTSE futures each rising about 0.1%, and Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures signaling a higher open. (RTS)

🏢 Industry & Deals

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Warner Bros. Discovery will split into two publicly traded entities: “Streaming & Studios,” led by CEO David Zaslav and centered on HBO Max and Warner Bros., and “Global Networks,” headed by CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels, focusing on CNN and other TV networks. (WB)

• Disney will acquire Comcast's stake in Hulu for $438.7 million, consolidating its control over the streaming service. (VAR)

• Rolls-Royce secured U.K. government support to construct the nation’s first small modular nuclear reactors. (UKG)

💵 Energy & Commodities

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: The EU’s new sanctions package will lower the Russian oil price cap from $60 to $45 per barrel and ban the use of Russian energy infrastructure, including Nord Stream. (FT)

• Chinese rare earth exports, comprising of 17 minerals that are central to the U.S. trade dispute, jumped 23% in May from April, reaching a one-year peak. (BBG)

• The U.K. government pledged £14.2 billion ($19.3 billion) to fund the 3.2-GW Sizewell C nuclear power plant, developed by France’s EDF, to enhance energy security. (BBC)

• Spot platinum surged 2.7% to $1,200.95 per ounce, a four-year high. (MN)

• Oil prices rose 0.3% on Tuesday, with Brent crude at $67.26 and WTI at $65.47, as investors anticipated U.S.-China trade talks could boost fuel demand. (RTS)

🌕 Crypto

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: BlackRock’s IBIT spot Bitcoin ETF, the largest of its kind, hit $70 billion in assets in just 341 days, shattering the prior record set by GLD, which took 1,691 days to reach that milestone. (EB)

• Societe Generale, through its subsidiary SG-FORGE, will launch a dollar-pegged stablecoin, making it the first major European bank to issue such a crypto. (CD)

• Plasma, a stablecoin issuer, swiftly raised $500 million for its stablecoin in just one hour via an initial coin offering on the Sonar platform. (TD)

• OpenSea’s active monthly users surged to 467,322 in May, the highest since mid-2023 and rivaling mid-2022 levels, though its $81 million trading volume remains a fraction of the $5 billion peak in January 2022. (TB)

• Strategy expanded its bitcoin portfolio with a $110.2 million acquisition of 1,045 BTC at $105,426 per coin, increasing its total holdings to 582,000 BTC, now valued at over $62 billion. (STR)
  

TECH

💻 Apple's WWDC 2025: Software Overhaul Overshadowed by AI Siri Delay

The Scoop: The WWDC 2025 keynote unveiled Apple’s vision for its devices, showcasing major updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and more, but disappointed investors after delaying its AI-powered Siri to 2026.

The Details:

• Apple unveiled Liquid Glass, a semi-translucent design with updated widgets, unifying iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe, watchOS 26, visionOS 26, and tvOS 26.

• Operating systems now use year-based names, like iOS 26, replacing arbitrary version numbers.

• iOS 26’s Phone app revamp features scrolling for contacts/calls and Hold Assist to mute hold music; Messages gains backgrounds, polls, spam filters, and AI-driven Genmoji.

• Apple Intelligence brings live translation, Visual Intelligence, and macOS Tahoe Shortcuts, but the AI-powered Siri is delayed until 2026 for quality.

• The Siri delay disappointed Wall Street, with Apple’s stock falling 1.2%.

What’s Next: The fall rollout of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and other OS updates will bring Liquid Glass and AI-driven features to millions of devices. However, Apple faces pressure to accelerate its AI strategy, particularly with Siri, to meet investor expectations and compete with rivals such as OpenAI.

Tech Roundup

🧠 AI

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Meta plans to form a "Superintelligence" AI division to develop artificial general intelligence, investing over $10 billion in Scale AI, with founder Alexandr Wang joining to lead it, while allocating additional billions to attract top AI talent. (NYT)

• Mistral launched its first reasoning model, Magistral, on Tuesday, targeting European language proficiency to compete with OpenAI and China’s DeepSeek. (CNBC)

• Amazon will invest $20 billion in Pennsylvania to expand AI data centers, creating 1,250 high-skilled jobs, with Salem and Falls Townships as initial campus sites. (AA)

• OpenAI reached $10 billion in annual recurring revenue in under three years since launching its widely used ChatGPT chatbot. (CNBC)

• Chinese AI firms, including Alibaba and ByteDance, have disabled certain chatbot features like photo recognition during college entrance exams to curb cheating. (TV)

🤖 Hardware & Robotics

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Uber has partnered with Wayve to trial fully autonomous rides in the U.K., which could enable self-driving vehicles on British roads as early as 2026. (BW)

• Waymo halted its robotaxi service in downtown Los Angeles after rioters, opposing ICE raids on illegal aliens, set five of its vehicles ablaze. (BI)

• China has initiated a pilot program to expedite robot deployment for elderly care, addressing pressures from a rapidly aging population and labor shortages. (SCMP)

• IBM plans to build Quantum Starling, the world’s first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer, by 2029 in Poughkeepsie, New York, aiming for 20,000 times the performance of current quantum systems. (NW)

• NVIDIA unveiled the JUPITER supercomputer, powered by its Grace Hopper platform, as Europe’s fastest, offering over twice the speed for high-performance computing and AI workloads compared to the next-fastest system. (NN)

• Huawei’s chips lag one generation behind U.S. rivals, but CEO Ren Zhengfei said the firm is boosting performance through techniques like cluster computing. (RTS)

🚀 Defense & Space

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space company, has postponed the second launch of its New Glenn rocket from late spring to at least mid-August. (X)

• The Commerce Department relaxed restrictions on Starlink and other satellite providers in new rules governing the distribution of $42.5 billion in Biden-era rural broadband funding. (SN)

• SpaceX’s Ax-4 mission, set to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station, is scheduled for Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. EDT from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. (SP)

💰 Venture Capital & Deals

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Morgan Stanley is arranging a $5 billion debt package for Elon Musk’s xAI, with a floating-rate loan at a 7% spread over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) and fixed-rate bonds at 12%, as xAI seeks $20 billion in equity funding at a potential $200 billion valuation. (RTS

• IonQ is acquiring U.K.-based quantum computing startup Oxford Ionics for nearly $1.1 billion. (CNBC)

• Swedish AI startup Lovable, renowned for its pioneering “Vibe Coding” software development approach, is negotiating a $100 million funding round at a $1.5 billion valuation. (BBG)

• Sundance Growth, a software growth equity firm targeting emerging global B2B SaaS companies, raised $125 million for its debut fund. (WSJ)

• Turnkey, a crypto key management startup founded by ex-Coinbase employees, secured $30 million in a Series B round led by Bain Capital Crypto, bringing its total funding to over $50 million. (FM)

FREEDOM

👶 Trump Touts $1,000 “Trump Accounts” for Newborns at White House

The Scoop: Trump hosted top CEOs at the White House on Monday for the ”Invest America” roundtable to promote ”Trump Accounts,” a $1,000 investment account for newborns.

The Details:

• The program, part of the House-passed ”Big, Beautiful Bill,” would provide $1,000 in index fund accounts for U.S. newborns from January 2025 to January 2029, managed by guardians with up to $5,000 in annual private contributions.

• Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell pledged to match the government’s $1,000 for employees’ newborns.

• CEOs from Uber, Goldman Sachs, Altimeter Capital, Arm Holdings, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Robinhood attended, expected to commit billions to their employees’ kids’ accounts.

What’s Next: The Trump administration is pushing for Senate approval of the “Big, Beautiful Bill” before July 4, despite some Republican resistance. Michael Dell told attendees the accounts could build “substantial nest eggs” for education and homeownership, with corporate backing set to boost the program’s reach if passed.

Freedom Roundup

🏛️ Economic Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Trump, joined by CEOs from Dell, Uber, and Goldman Sachs, pitched “Trump Accounts” as part of his “Big, Beautiful Bill,” proposing $1,000 tax-deferred investment accounts for newborns at a White House roundtable.(CNBC)

• House Speaker Mike Johnson is confident Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” can pass by July 4, but urged the Senate to keep the SALT provision to maintain New York House Republicans’ support. (SLN)

• Sen. Josh Hawley will introduce a bill Tuesday to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. (CBS)

💻 Business & Tech Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: The House Appropriations Committee’s draft fiscal 2026 defense spending bill allocates nearly $30 billion to the U.S. Space Force, surpassing the OMB’s roughly $26 billion outline. (SP)

• Crypto advocacy groups praised a bill revision exempting non-custodial crypto platforms and developers from money transmitter or unlicensed money services classifications. (TB)

• SEC Chairman Paul Atkins heralds self-custody as a "foundational American value," signaling a shift in the agency's perspective. (CT)

• Gen. Dan Caine, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, urged stronger Pentagon ties with tech innovators at the AI+ Expo, stressing that AI, cyber, and other emerging technologies, not legacy systems, will secure future U.S. military dominance. (DS)

💬 Free Speech & Woke Overreach

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: The FTC is probing major ad firms, including Omnicom, WPP, Dentsu, and Interpublic, for potential antitrust violations, requesting information on whether they coordinated boycotts of sites like Musk’s X. (WSJ)

• Boeing, Expedia, and Amazon’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group are among Seattle-area organizations not returning as sponsors for the Seattle Pride Parade. (ST)

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