ChatGPT Agent Can Control Your Computer, Automate Tasks

Welcome back!

Here’s your must-read news for this morning:

• Trump suing Murdoch

• OpenAI’s ChatGPT Agent

• Congress passes DOGE cuts 

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

— Josh

MARKETS

💰 Trump Vows To Sue Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch over Epstein Report

The Scoop: President Donald Trump has pledged to sue the Wall Street Journal and its owner, Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp, over a report claiming he sent a risque birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003, which Trump vehemently denies as false.

The Details:

• The Wall Street Journal claimed the note, part of a leather-bound album for Epstein’s 50th birthday, was written by Trump, but he dismissed it on Truth Social as “FAKE,” insisting the words and style don’t match his and denying he draws pictures.

• Trump accused Murdoch, whose News Corp owns the Journal’s publisher, of ignoring his warning not to run the story, promising a major lawsuit against the “third-rate newspaper.”

• Trump denied the claims, stating, “I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn't print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I'm going to sue his ass off.”

• The development comes as Trump continues to call the allegations of an “Epstein client list” a Democrat-led “hoax,” prompting criticism from some supporters.

What's Next: Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to unseal grand jury testimony from Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal case. Bondi stated that her team is ready to file a motion tomorrow to release the transcripts, potentially shedding new light on the Epstein saga.

Markets Roundup

🏦 Economy & Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller strongly advocated for a July rate cut, arguing tariff-induced inflation is temporary. (MW)

• U.S. retail sales surged 0.6% in June, exceeding expectations of a 0.1% rise, signaling robust consumer spending. (YF)

• U.S. initial jobless claims fell 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 221,000 for the week ending July 12, signaling steady job growth in July. (RTS)

• Homebuilders cut prices at the highest rate in three years, with 38% reporting reductions averaging 5% amid high interest rates. (NAHB)

• Kevin Warsh, a potential successor to Chair Jerome Powell, called for a "regime change" in monetary policy and a new Fed-Treasury accord to manage debt issuance. (CNBC)

📈 Stock Market

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Netflix reported a second quarter earnings beat with revenue up 16% to $11.08 billion, exceeding the $11.04 billion estimate, and raised its full-year 2025 revenue forecast to $44.8 billion-$45.2 billion from $43.5 billion-$44.5 billion. (CNBC)

• 3M reported second quarter earnings per share of $2.16, beating the $2.01 analyst estimate, with revenue of $6.3 billion, surpassing the $6.1 billion consensus, driven by strong performance in electronics. (INV)

• Interactive Brokers reported second quarter earnings per share of $0.51, beating the $0.46 analyst estimate, with revenue rising to $1.48 billion from $1.23 billion year-over-year. (YF)

🏢 Industry & Deals

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: CBS will cancel "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in May 2026, citing financial pressures in late-night television. (VAR)

• Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg settled an $8 billion privacy lawsuit with investors, with no details of the agreement disclosed. (RTS)

• Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer will sell their blood thinner Eliquis to uninsured or underinsured patients at a 40% discount amid Trump’s efforts to lower drug prices. (WSJ)

• Jaguar Land Rover to cut up to 500 management jobs, following backlash over its controversial woke rebrand. (SUN)

• Amazon Web Services implemented layoffs of an undisclosed number of employees in its cloud computing unit. (CNBC)

💵 Energy & Commodities

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: China quietly issued its first 2025 rare earth mining and smelting quotas without public announcement, signaling tighter control over the sector. (RTS)

• BP agreed to sell its U.S. onshore wind business to LS Power in a move to refocus on oil and gas. (BBG)

• China is threatening to block the $23 billion sale of over 40 ports, including two at the Panama Canal, from Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison to BlackRock and MSC unless Cosco gets an equal stake. (WSJ)

• Coal is resurging in the U.S. under Trump, with relaxed regulations and increased demand from AI data centers and steelmaking boosting production. (OP)

• The USDA fired 70 foreign contract researchers after a national security review intended to secure the U.S. food supply from adversaries, including China and Iran. (YF)

🌕 Crypto

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: The House passed the GENIUS Act 308-122, establishing a regulatory framework for stablecoins, now awaiting Trump’s signature after Senate approval. (CD)

• The crypto market cap surpassed $4 trillion for the first time, driven by institutional demand and U.S. legislative progress. (TB)

• Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, plans to offer custodial services for crypto assets. (RTS)

• Tether's USDT stablecoin surges to a record $160 billion market cap, a "mind-blowing milestone," CEO Paolo Ardoino said. (TB)

• BitMine's Ethereum holdings soar to 300,657 ETH, valued at $1 billion, doubling from $500 million in just three days. (TB)
  

TECH

💻 OpenAI's ChatGPT Agent Controls Your Computer, Handling Tasks For You

The Outlook: OpenAI has introduced ChatGPT Agent, a sophisticated AI tool designed to execute complex, multi-step tasks autonomously, marking a significant advancement in the rapidly evolving field of AI agents.

The Details:

• ChatGPT Agent, powered by a new model developed through reinforcement learning, integrates OpenAI’s Operator and Deep Research capabilities to perform tasks such as scheduling meetings, planning meals, and generating competitive analysis slide decks.

• In a demonstration, employees showcased the tool’s ability to access Google Calendar for scheduling and OpenTable for restaurant bookings, with tasks taking 15-30 minutes to optimize for complexity over speed.

• Safety protocols require user approval for irreversible actions like bookings, while a “Watch Mode” restricts financial transactions, addressing potential risks in sensitive operations.

• The tool is now available to Pro, Plus, and Team users, with Enterprise and Education access slated for later this summer.

What’s Next: ChatGPT Agent positions OpenAI at the forefront of the AI agent race, aiming to redefine productivity with tools reminiscent of fictional assistants like J.A.R.V.I.S., though European rollout details remain pending.

Tech Roundup

🧠 AI

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT Agent, a new AI tool powered by a specialized model to autonomously handle tasks like calendar briefings, meal planning, and competitive analysis. (VER)

• Sam Altman outmaneuvered Elon Musk to become Trump’s key AI ally by leveraging ties with Doug Burgum and Larry Ellison, a new report claims. (WSJ)

• Mistral's Le Chat chatbot enhances productivity with a new "deep research" mode, native multilingual reasoning, and advanced image editing, positioning it as a rival to OpenAI and Google. (TC)

  Delta Air Lines aims to replace fixed ticket prices with AI-driven personalized pricing, targeting 20% of fares by year-end. (FM)

• Congero, a new AI-powered web service, lets small business owners launch mobile-ready websites in under 60 seconds by answering plain-English questions. (PRZ)

🤖 Hardware & Robotics

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: China's "dark factories" use near-full automation to build electric cars around the clock, transforming the Chinese EV industry into an existential threat to American and global automakers. (WSJ)

• Anduril founder Palmer Luckey joined the Reindustrialize Summit via telepresence, using a Foundation humanoid robot named Phantom to discuss U.S. manufacturing. (X)

• Researchers developed an artificial sensory nervous system using memristors, enabling robots to mimic human touch responses, distinguishing between a pat and a punch. (IE)

• Shenzhen-based UBTECH Robotics unveiled a video on Thursday demonstrating its Walker S2 industrial humanoid robot autonomously swapping batteries in three minutes. (CDA)

• Disney’s BDX “Duckling Droids” launched at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disney World’s Hollywood Studios, delighting fans with their lively, expressive movements. (TR)

🚀 Defense & Space

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Trump and Zelensky are negotiating a "mega-deal" where the U.S. would purchase Ukraine's battle-tested drones in exchange for Kyiv buying U.S. weapons. (NYP)

• China's fast-evolving military space tech, including hypersonic weapons and satellites, is outpacing U.S. capabilities, sparking concerns about defense vulnerabilities. (TS)

• German AI defense startup Helsing aims to bolster Europe's military strength with AI-piloted fighter jets and attack drones to create "drone walls" for border defense. (WSJ)

• BAE Systems successfully test-fired an APKWS laser-guided munition from a TRV-150 multi-rotor UAV, achieving the first air-to-air engagement of its kind. (DP)

• NASA's X-59 supersonic jet, designed to fly faster than sound with a quieter sonic boom, began tests in Palmdale, California. (IE)

💰 Venture Capital & Deals

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Perplexity AI raised $100 million in an extension round, valuing the company at $18 billion. (FT)

• Uber partnered with Lucid, investing $300 million to deploy over 20,000 autonomous robotaxis starting in 2026. (CNBC)

• Substack secured $100 million in Series C funding led by The Chernin Group, along with Andreessen Horowitz and Skims CEO Jens Grede, valuing the newsletter platform at $1.1 billion. (THR)

• Hadrian, a Los Angeles-based startup, secured $260 million in a Series C round led by Founders Fund and Lux Capital, to scale its AI-driven factories. (X)

• Lovable, a Swedish AI startup that allows users to create apps using plain language, raised $200 million at a $1.8 billion valuation in a Series A funding round led by Accel. (TC)

FREEDOM

🪚 Congress Passes $9 Billion DOGE-Inspired Spending Reduction Package for Trump's Desk

The Scoop: Congress has delivered a $9 billion rescissions package to President Donald Trump’s desk, slashing funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting in a late-night House vote.

The Details:

• The House passed the bill 216-213 on Friday, with only Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Mike Turner (R-OH) breaking GOP ranks, meeting the deadline to avoid re-obligating the funds under the Impoundment Control Act.

• The package cuts $8 billion from USAID and $1 billion from NPR and PBS.

• This marks the first rescissions package signed into law since 1999, with Republicans bypassing the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to secure passage with a 51-vote majority.

• House Rules Committee negotiations sidelined Democrat attempts to tie the bill to Jeffrey Epstein transparency demands, with Republicans advancing a separate nonbinding measure instead.

What’s Next: Trump is expected to sign the bill on Friday, solidifying a DOGE victory in curbing federal spending, with plans for more rescissions to follow as part of the White House’s push to eliminate waste.

Freedom Roundup

🏛️ Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Leaked emails reveal judges secretly collaborated with climate activists via a private Climate Judiciary Project listserv, sharing litigation updates and raising judicial ethics concerns. (FOX)

• The White House is drafting an executive order requiring AI companies with federal contracts to ensure politically neutral and unbiased AI models, targeting woke bias in tech. (WSJ)

• The FCC is moving to ban Chinese technology and companies from undersea internet cables connected to the U.S. (ENG)

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will reduce its workforce by over 25% through Trump administration financial incentive programs. (INV)

• ALFA Institute’s report urges FERC to modernize its Blanket Certificate Program by raising cost caps and expanding project eligibility to accelerate energy infrastructure development. (ALFA)

💬 Free Speech & Woke Overreach

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: The EU's AI standards mandate tech firms to censor AI content for "hate" and "discrimination," targeting populist views on transgender and immigration policies, potentially escalating censorship. (CFAM)

• AI bots generated nearly 30% of social media posts boycotting Amazon and McDonald’s for scrapping DEI programs, a cybersecurity firm found. (NYP)

  America First Legal filed a DOJ complaint alleging Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine illegally discriminates via DEI in admissions, scholarships, hiring, curricula, residencies, and grants. (AFL)

• Vanguard will liquidate its U.S. dollar-denominated ESG corporate bond ETF due to insufficient assets under management. (ETFS)

• The Palm Beach County School Board voted to repeal DEI policies. (PBP)

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