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Here’s the most important news to kick off your morning: Elon Musk’s xAI launches a $5 billion debt sale aiming for a $113 billion valuation, the U.S. presses nations for top trade proposals by Wednesday to dodge tariff hikes, and major brands scale back Pride Month merchandise amid conservative pushback.

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

TECH

Report: Musk's xAI Launches $5 Billion Debt Sale, Eyes $113 Billion Valuation

The Scoop: Elon Musk’s xAI is aiming for a $113 billion valuation with a $300 million share sale and a $5 billion debt package led by Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg reports.

The Details:

• Floating-rate and fixed-rate loans to fund xAI’s infrastructure, focusing on its AI model, Grok, a rival to OpenAI’s models.

• The debt sale has attracted over $3.5 billion in demand.

What’s Next: The proceeds from the debt raise will go toward “general corporate purposes,” sources told Bloomberg, and are expected to support Musk’s Memphis Supercomputer site. Meanwhile, an alleged leak suggests xAI is preparing to release Grok 3.5, with code references indicating an imminent launch and a potential screen-sharing feature for Grok's voice mode on iOS.

Top Stories

🧠 AI

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Meta plans to fully automate ad creation and targeting on Facebook and Instagram using AI by the end of 2026, disrupting traditional media. (WSJ)

• AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio’s new non-profit, Honest AI, claims it will develop systems to stop AI from deceiving humans. (TG)

• Laurene Powell Jobs, investor and Steve Jobs’s widow, described the ideation process of Jony Ive and Sam Altman's secretive AI device as "wondrous" in an interview, suggesting she is privy to it. (FT)

• Microsoft Bing unveiled the Bing Video Creator on Monday, integrating OpenAI’s Sora model to enable users to create videos from text prompts within its app. (TC)

• Researchers from Sakana AI and UBC unveiled the Darwin Gödel Machine, an AI that self-improves by rewriting its code, boosting task performance by up to 150% without human intervention. (TD)

🤖 Hardware & Robotics

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Neuralink rival Paradromics successfully implanted its first human brain-computer interface at the University of Michigan, paving the way for clinical trials to aid severe motor impairment. (YF)

• Zerith Robotics' Zerith H1, a Shenzhen-designed humanoid robot, automates hotel housekeeping tasks like cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, and restocking, addressing labor shortages with AI efficiency. (IE)

• Persona AI (U.S.), HD Hyundai Robotics (South Korea), and Vazil Co. (South Korea) are developing bipedal humanoid welding robots to automate LNG carrier and mega yacht construction, enhancing shipyard productivity and safety. (AM)

• Robotera's Chinese humanoid robot is the first to skillfully use chopsticks, cook dumplings, and pour wine. (IE.)

🚀 Defense & Space

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Ukrainian startup Buntar Aerospace launched the Buntar-3, an AI-powered reconnaissance drone with vertical takeoff, 3.5-hour flight, 50 mile range, and electronic warfare resistance. (OJ)

• Voyager Technologies announced plans on Monday to raise up to $319 million through an IPO, potentially valuing the defense and space company at up to $1.6 billion. (TI)

• U.S. Space Force awarded BAE Systems a $1.2 billion contract to build 10 missile-tracking satellites for a medium Earth orbit constellation to counter hypersonic threats. (SN)

• Neros Technologies CEO Soren Monroe-Anderson warns drone warfare threatens U.S. infrastructure, notes absent defenses over Air Force bases, and urges a multi-layered system to control satellite and cellular communications. (TBPN)

📱 Business

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Google will pay $500 million over 10 years to revamp its compliance structure, settling shareholder lawsuits alleging antitrust violations, per settlement documents. (IJ)

• Germany's Federal Cartel Office warned Amazon that its algorithmic price controls on third-party sellers may violate national and EU competition laws. (CNBC)

• Microsoft laid off over 300 workers in Washington, weeks after cutting 6,000 jobs, balancing AI investment with cost-cutting in the tech sector. (BBG)

• Delivery Hero and its Spanish unit Glovo were fined $376 million by the EU for participating in an online food delivery cartel from 2018 to 2022. (RTS)

• Snowflake will acquire Crunchy Data for $250 million to enhance its AI capabilities and attract customers building AI agents. (WSJ)

• Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky details how he aims to transform the company into an “everything app” for travel and beyond. (TV)

• Chime, a fintech last valued at $25 billion, is targeting an $11 billion valuation in its upcoming IPO. (TC)

💰 Venture Capital

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Neuralink, Elon Musk’s company developing brain-computer interface technology, raised $650 million in a Series E funding round, with key investors including ARK Invest, Founders Fund, and Sequoia Capital. (NL)

• TAE Technologies, a fusion energy company developing commercial nuclear fusion power, raised $150 million in an ongoing funding round to advance its fusion technology, with investments from Google, Chevron, and NEA. (VCD)

• Netic, led by ex-Scale AI and Palantir team, raised $20 million from Greylock, Founders Fund, and other investors to bring AI automation to the $500B service industries like plumbing. (PMC)

• Jeffrey Katzenberg, former DreamWorks CEO, co-leads a $15.5 million Series A for Creatify, an AI-driven video advertising platform, through WndrCo. (TC)

🧬 Biotech

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Amgen's Imdelltra reduced the risk of death by 40% compared to chemotherapy in small cell lung cancer patients, with a median survival of 13.6 months versus 8.3 months. (RTS)

• Gilead's Trodelvy with Keytruda slowed aggressive breast cancer by 35%, keeping it in check for 11.2 months vs. 7.8 months with Keytruda + chemo.

• Kura Oncology and Kyowa Kirin's oral leukemia drug ziftomenib achieved a 23% remission rate in a phase 2 trial. (FB)

• Ernexa Therapeutics' "Trojan Horse" stem cell therapy, engineered to produce IL-7 and IL-15, infiltrates and shrinks ovarian tumors in mice by boosting T cell activity. (FB)

🔒 Cybersecurity

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Coinbase's data breach was linked to TaskUs employees in India leaking customer data, with one caught photographing data. (RTS)

• An anonymous leaker, GangExposed, is exposing identities of major cybercriminals behind Conti and Trickbot ransomware, aiming to combat global organized crime. (TR)

• A bug in Vanta's compliance platform exposed private data of some customers to others, affecting less than 4% of its users. (TC)

• Cartier disclosed a data breach where hackers accessed client names, email addresses, and countries of residence, but no passwords or financial data were compromised. (SW)

MARKETS

U.S. Pressures Nations to Submit Top Trade Proposals by Wednesday Ahead of Tariff Deadline

The Scoop: The Trump administration is pressing countries to submit their best trade proposals by Wednesday, per a Reuters report citing a draft letter, aiming to accelerate talks with multiple partners before a self-imposed five-week deadline.

The Details: 

• U.S. draft seeks countries’ best offers on tariffs, quotas for U.S. products, non-tariff barrier fixes, digital trade, and economic security commitments.

• U.S. to assess offers within days, proposing a “landing zone” with potential reciprocal tariff rates, per the letter.

What’s Next: Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender reports “very good progress” in trade talks, with several deals nearing completion. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated a potential Trump-Xi Jinping call this week could advance U.S.-China negotiations.

Top Stories

🏦 Economy & Public Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Trump administration is pressing countries for their best trade offers by Wednesday to avoid looming tariffs. (YN)

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick expressed strong optimism Monday, stating, "You should expect a deal between the United States and India in the not-too-distant future. (FP)

• Markets anticipate U.S. job openings to edge down to 7.1 million for April's last business day, per JOLTS data expectations. (FXS)

• Euro zone inflation dropped to 1.9% in May, cooler than expected and below the ECB's 2% target. (FT)

• OECD forecasts weakest global growth since COVID, with 3.2% projected for 2025 and 2026. (FT)

• China's May manufacturing PMI fell to 48.3, the lowest since September 2022, signaling contraction as U.S. tariffs hit exports. (CNBC)

📈 Stock Market

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: U.S. stock futures dipped 0.5%, with Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 futures down 204, 28, and 99 points, respectively. (INV)

• Japanese equity funds saw $7.49 billion in net outflows, the largest since July 2007, driven by profit-taking after a May rally and concerns over yen strength and earnings. (RTS)

• Citigroup predicts a bullish U.S. equities rally, driven by heightened investor allocations to major indexes. (INV)

• Hewlett Packard is scheduled to announce its second quarter fiscal year 2025 earnings, with analysts projecting earnings per share of $0.33, a 21.4% decrease year-over-year, and revenue of $7.5 billion, a 4.2% increase year-over-year. (GF)

• Dollar General is scheduled to announce its first quarter fiscal year 2025 earnings today, with analysts projecting earnings per share of $1.47, a 10.9% decrease year-over-year, and revenue of $10.28 billion, a 3.7% increase year-over-year. (SS)

• DocuSign today will report Q1 FY26 earnings, with analysts expecting $0.81 EPS (down 1.2% Y/Y) and $746.34 million in non-GAAP billings (up from $709.54 million). (TR)

💵 Currencies & Commodities

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Alberta, Canada, faces a severe early-season wildfire crisis, with over 50% of its oil production halted as fires devastate critical infrastructure, industry officials reported Monday. (OP)

• A 12-year Australian government bond auction saw the lowest demand in six years, overshadowed by increased domestic corporate bond issuances and recent market outperformance. (BBG)

• Crude oil rose nearly 3% as OPEC+ maintained its July output hike at 411,000 barrels per day, easing market fears, with Brent at $65.06 and WTI at $63.02. (INV)

• U.S. dollar edges up from six-week low, while euro dips as markets await ECB rate decision. (INV)

• Gold prices fell 0.3% to $3,369.98/oz, retreating from a near four-week high, as a modest U.S. dollar recovery offset safe-haven demand. (CNBC)

🌕 Crypto

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Robinhood finalizes $200 million acquisition of crypto exchange Bitstamp, expanding its global crypto presence and targeting institutional markets. (FXL)

• Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX) becomes Norway’s first publicly listed company to hold 6.0 BTC in its treasury, with plans to expand to 10.0 BTC. (BM)

• Michael Saylor’s Strategy plans to issue 2.5 million "Stride" preferred shares with 10% dividends to fund Bitcoin purchases and corporate needs. (BM)

• Ethereum Foundation cuts staff and rebrands R&D team to "Protocol" to streamline L1/L2 scaling and UX improvements. (C)

• Circle upsizes IPO to sell 32 million shares at $27-$28 each, targeting a $7.2 billion valuation and up to $896 million in funds. (RTS)

FREEDOM

Major Brands Scale Back Pride Merchandise and Events

The Scoop: A Gravity Research survey of over 200 corporate executives shows 39% plan to scale back public Pride Month engagements in 2025, reflecting alignment with conservative activists’ push for more neutral corporate messaging.

The Details: 

• 61% of executives highlight the Trump administration’s policies as the key reason for recalibrating Pride strategies, alongside input from conservative activists and GOP leaders.

• Target's sales fell 5.4% in the second quarter of 2023, partly due to conservative backlash against its LGBTQ+ Pride merchandise, prompting a reevaluation of future Pride campaigns.

• In 2024, Target offered approximately 75 Pride items, available in select stores based on historical sales performance, with the full collection accessible online.

• For 2025, Target plans to sell approximately 53 in-store Pride items, expanding to about 115 items including online-only products, with many labeled for “Adults.”

What’s Next: Most companies (65%) are bracing for backlash, with more companies such as Kohl’s silent on 2025 plans. Nordstrom, Gap, and other brands that prominently featured Pride Month campaigns last year have not visibly repeated those efforts this June, CNN reports.

Top Stories

🏛️ Economic Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: House Freedom Caucus urges immediate vote on Trump’s $9.4B DOGE spending cuts targeting NPR, PBS, and USAID foreign aid. (FOX)

• Trump administration requested the Supreme Court’s intervention to proceed with plans to significantly reduce the federal workforce, arguing an appeal that the district court's ruling caused "ongoing and severe harm." (FBN)

• Rand Paul remains opposed to Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, citing the debt limit increase as a deal-breaker. (FOX)

• Maxine Waters’ 2020 campaign fined $68K by FEC for violating finance laws, including $19K in excessive donations and $7K in prohibited cash disbursements. (NR)

📚 Healthcare & Education Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Harvard seeks federal judge's summary judgment to restore $2.5 billion in funding, alleging illegal freeze by Trump administration threatens critical research. (BBG)

• Education Department halts plan to garnish Social Security benefits for student loan defaulters. (CNBC)

• CMS Deputy Stephanie Carlton reaffirms that Trump administration aims to control, not reduce, Medicaid spending through GOP-led reconciliation bill. (FH)

💬 Free Speech & Woke Overreach

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Major corporations, including DuPont, PNC Bank, and Fulton Bank, have withdrawn sponsorship from the 2025 Delaware Pride Festival, reflecting a broader national trend of reduced corporate support for Pride events. (DO)

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