Marc Andreessen: Universities Will "Pay the Price" for DEI

Welcome back! I hope you had a great weekend.

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

• U.S. tariffs on EU and Mexico

• OpenAI-Windsurf deal implodes 

• Andreessen’s DEI warning 

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

— Josh

MARKETS

💰 Trump Announces 30% Tariffs on EU and Mexico, Starting August 1

The Scoop: President Donald Trump announced a 30% tariff on goods from Mexico and the European Union starting August 1, citing trade deficits, national security, and Mexico’s failure to combat drug cartels.

The Details:

• Trump raised Mexico’s tariff from 25% to 30%, blaming insufficient action against cartels and fentanyl, with goods being transshipped to evade tariffs subject to the higher rate.

• The EU tariff targets “large and unsustainable” trade deficits, with Trump warning that retaliatory tariffs from either party will increase the 30% base rate.

• EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen criticized the tariffs as harmful to both economies but expressed openness to negotiations to avoid countermeasures.

• French President Emmanuel Macron backed the EU’s stance, urging “credible countermeasures” if no agreement is reached by August 1.

What’s Next: The European Union will suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods scheduled for Monday, aiming to reach a trade deal with the Trump administration by the end of the month.

Markets Roundup

🏦 Economy & Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: U.S. customs duties soared in June, exceeding $100 billion in a fiscal year for the first time, driven by Trump’s tariffs, yielding a $27 billion monthly budget surplus. (RTS)

• Canada has paused its planned retaliatory tariff hike on U.S. steel and aluminum after Trump extended trade talks to August 1. (POL)

• Brussels plans to impose a new tax on companies with net turnover above €50 million ($58.44 million) to boost funding for the EU’s budget. (FT)

• White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Trump has the authority to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell "if there’s cause." (ABC)

• U.S. equity futures dipped early Monday, with Dow futures dropping 140 points, or 0.3%, alongside similar declines in S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures. (CNBC)

🏢 Industry

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: U.S. online spending hit $24.1 billion during “Black Friday in Summer,” surpassing Adobe’s forecast with 30.3% growth, driven by back-to-school discounts during Amazon Prime Day. (CNBC)

• JPMorgan Chase will charge fintechs hundreds of millions in fees for customer bank data access, a move that could raise costs for payment platforms like PayPal and Coinbase. (BBG)

• Texas is aggressively courting Hollywood with a $300 million biennial film tax incentive, promoting its business-friendly environment and traditional values to challenge California’s dominance in the entertainment industry. (LAT)

• Skydance CEO David Ellison is in early talks to acquire Bari Weiss’s The Free Press, as he awaits regulatory approval for his $8.4 billion merger with Paramount Global. (NYT)

• Elon Musk said that he opposes a merger between xAI and Tesla. (CNBC)

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang praised the U.S.'s push to reindustrialize manufacturing as “exactly the right thing” to bolster domestic production. (CNN)

💵 Energy & Commodities

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Wyoming’s Brook Mine, opened by Ramaco Resources, marks the first U.S. rare earth mine in 70 years and the state’s first new coal mine in decades. (CBSD)

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has privately urged Iran to accept a U.S.-proposed nuclear deal banning uranium enrichment. (AX)

• Trump’s proposed 50% tariffs on copper are expected to encompass all refined metal. (BBG)

• India boosted crude oil imports from the U.S. by 51% in the first half of 2025. (OP)

• Oil prices surged to a three-week peak, with Brent crude rising 0.8% to $70.94 a barrel and WTI crude climbing 0.9% to $69.04. (BIS)

• Gold prices hit a three-week peak rising 0.5% to $3,371.34 per ounce, with U.S. gold futures up 0.7% to $3,386.20. (BT)

🌕 Crypto

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Bitcoin soared to a record high of $122,600, becoming the world’s fifth-largest asset with a $2.4 trillion market cap, trailing only Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and gold. (TB)

• BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) set a record as the fastest exchange-traded fund to reach $80 billion in assets under management, achieving the milestone in just 374 days. (BIT)

• Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey cautioned major global banks against issuing their own stablecoins. (BBG)

• Memecoin launchpad Pump.fun secured $600 million in a public sale of its PUMP tokens, with the offering fully subscribed in a mere 12 minutes. (TB)

• Binance founder Changpeng Zhao threatens to sue Bloomberg over a report tying the exchange to Trump-affiliated USD1 stablecoin, calling it a “hit piece” with factual errors. (CR)
  

TECH

💻 OpenAI’s Windsurf Deal Collapses, CEO Joins Google

The Scoop: OpenAI’s $3 billion deal to acquire AI coding startup Windsurf collapsed Friday, with Google DeepMind hiring Windsurf’s CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and key researchers while licensing the startup’s technology for $2.4 billion, according to The Verge.

The Details:

• Google DeepMind will not acquire Windsurf but gains a nonexclusive license to its AI coding technology, allowing Windsurf to license it to others.

• The deal, a reverse-acquihire, follows a trend where Big Tech hires startup talent without full acquisitions, avoiding regulatory scrutiny.

• Windsurf’s interim CEO Jeff Wang will lead the remaining 250-person team, focusing on enterprise AI coding tools after losing key leaders.

• OpenAI’s failed acquisition, driven by tensions with Microsoft over intellectual property, left Windsurf free to explore other offers.

What’s Next: Google DeepMind aims to bolster its AI coding tools with Windsurf’s talent, while Windsurf faces uncertainty as it navigates leadership changes and potential loss of momentum in the competitive AI market.

Tech Roundup

🧠 AI

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Chinese startup Moonshot AI launched Kimi K2, an open-source model claiming to surpass OpenAI and Anthropic with superior coding and agentic capabilities, at a fraction of the cost. (VB)

• Meta has acquired Play AI, a startup specializing in AI-generated human-like voices, for an undisclosed amount. (BBG)

• OpenAI has postponed the release of its open-source AI model for the second time, citing the need for further safety testing and refinement. (TC)

• Pittsburgh aims to transform its shuttered steel mills into a $2 billion AI hub, featuring a power plant and data centers to create 3,000 jobs. (WSJ)

• xAI’s SuperGrok subscription unveiled Companions, a group of AI assistants built to deliver responses across diverse queries. (X)

• Elon Musk’s xAI is poised to raise additional funds in a deal valuing the AI company between $170 billion and $200 billion. (FT)

🤖 Hardware & Robotics

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Figure AI founder Brett Adcock predicted that humanoid robots will soon match human numbers. (BI)

• Construction’s grueling tasks are increasingly being handled by robots, as advanced automation tackles the industry’s dirty work with greater efficiency and precision. (AM)

• Chinese researchers claim to have developed the world’s first laser-based, AI-powered cotton topping robot. (IE)

• Caltech researchers have developed cyborg jellyfish, enhanced with electronics, to autonomously explore the Pacific Ocean, advancing marine data collection. (LAT)

• University of Florida researchers deployed robotic rabbits in South Florida to lure invasive Burmese pythons. (PBP)

🚀 Defense & Space

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Trump pledges to supply Ukraine with Patriot air defense missiles, with the European Union reimbursing the costs. (F24)

• The U.S. Space Force conducted its largest-ever orbital warfare training, simulating satellite defense and offense in a contested space environment. (SP)

• French President Emmanuel Macron committed to boosting military spending by €6.5 billion ($7.6 billion) over the next two years. (FT)

• Lockheed Martin partnered with HavocAI to advance autonomous unmanned surface vehicles, aiming to revolutionize U.S. military maritime operations with crewless, weaponized drone boats. (DP)

• SpaceX launched a secretive satellite, believed to be Israel's Dror-1 communications satellite, into geostationary transfer orbit from Florida's Space Coast. (SP)

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that China's military is unlikely to use U.S. AI chips due to potential limitations from U.S. export controls. (BBG)

💰 Venture Capital

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: SpaceX will invest $2 billion in xAI as part of a $5 billion equity round. (WSJ)

• Former Sequoia Capital partner Matt Miller is closing a $400 million fund to back European AI and B2B startups. (FT)

• eSIM provider Airalo secures $220 million in funding, achieving unicorn status with a valuation exceeding $1 billion, led by CVC Capital Partners. (SEM)

• Vellum, a top enterprise platform for developing, testing, and deploying AI-powered applications, raised $20 million in Series A funding, led by Leaders Fund. (SA)

• AI debt servicing platform Murphy emerged from stealth, raising $15 million in pre-seed and seed funding led by Northzone, with ElevenLabs among key investors. (SC)

FREEDOM

🏫 Marc Andreessen Warns Universities Will "Pay the Price" for DEI

The Scoop: Billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen warned that universities like Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology face dire consequences for their DEI policies, while accusing them of stifling American innovation and talent, according to leaked screenshots published by the Washington Post.

The Details:

• Andreessen called DEI and immigration policies “politically lethal,” asserting that universities have “declared war on 70% of the country” by limiting access for rural Americans.

• He criticized Stanford for ousting his wife, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, from a philanthropy role, predicting a $5 billion loss in future donations due to the decision.

• In a recent interview with billionaire Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, Andreessen highlighted untapped potential in regions like rural Wisconsin, excluded by current admissions practices.

What’s Next: Andreessen’s comments come as Columbia University nears a deal with the Trump administration to restore over $400 million in federal funding, agreeing to a multimillion-dollar settlement for civil rights violations, DEI policy changes, and enhanced campus safety for Jewish students.

Freedom Roundup

🏛️ Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: The House launched "Crypto Week," aiming to advance the GENIUS Act, CLARITY Act, and Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act to regulate digital assets, stablecoins, and block a digital dollar. (GGF)

• A group backing New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, “Jews for Zohran,” is led by Alicia Singham Goodwin, niece of a China-based billionaire with ties to leftist causes. (NYP)

• The White House is examining federal agency layoff plans to minimize legal challenges following a Supreme Court ruling enabling broad government workforce reductions. (RTS)

• Mark Cuban criticizes Democrats for relying on a "Trump sucks" message, arguing their lack of a proactive platform undermines their electoral strategy. (MED)

• The FCC, under Chairman Brendan Carr's "Delete, Delete, Delete" push, eliminated 41 regulations, including Biden-era net neutrality and network interconnection rules. (LR)

💬 Free Speech & Woke Overreach

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Columbia University nears a deal to restore $400 million in federal funding, agreeing to settle civil rights claims, revise DEI policies, increase transparency, and enhance Jewish student safety. (ABC7)

• France launched a criminal probe into X, alleging algorithmic manipulation to enable "foreign interference," escalating scrutiny of Elon Musk's platform. (RTW)

• In a New York Times op-ed, former Obama speechwriter David Litt recounted how surfing bridged the ideological chasm with his unvaccinated brother-in-law, revealing that shunning right-wing family members often backfires. (NYT)

• U.S. investor support for climate and social reform resolutions dropped to 16% in the year, half the level from three years ago, Morningstar data shows. (RTS)

• Harvard's graduate schools are shuttering DEI offices, replacing them with rebranded "community and culture" initiatives. (CRIM)

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