Trump Moves to Save Israel-Iran Ceasefire

Welcome back!

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

• Iran violates Israel ceasefire 

• China’s chip breakthrough

• Ad industry collusion deal

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

— Josh

MARKETS

💥 Iran Violates Ceasefire, Trump Says Israel Won’t Respond

The Scoop: President Donald Trump announced that Israel will not attack Iran despite Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz ordering strikes on Tehran after Iran fired two ballistic missiles toward northern Israel, violating a U.S.-brokered ceasefire.

The Details:

• No injuries were reported in Israel; air defenses intercepted the missiles, with uncertainty over whether Iran’s launch was deliberate or a miscommunication.

• Trump called on Israel not to respond, writing on Truth Social: “Do not bomb Iran. If you do, it will be a serious violation of the ceasefire. Call the pilots home now.”

• The president expressed frustration with Iran and Israel, saying they "don't know what the f**k they're doing."

• Yesterday, he declared a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, praising both nations for ending what he called “The 12 Day War.”

• Before the ceasefire announcement, Iran launched a missile attack on a U.S. base in Qatar, claiming retaliation for the U.S.’s strike on its nuclear facilities.

What’s Next: Markets showed resilience despite the ceasefire breach. Oil prices fell to a two-week low. Brent crude futures dropped $2.48, or 3.5%, to $69 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate crude fell $2.37 to $66.14. Stock futures climbed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rising 350 points, S&P 500 futures gained 0.9%, and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 1.2%.

Markets Roundup

🏦 Economy & Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman signaled Monday she supports an interest rate cut at the July policy meeting if inflation remains subdued. (RTS)

• Argentina’s economy surged 5.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, the strongest growth since 2022, as President Javier Milei’s reforms drive recovery. (LDD)

• U.S. existing home sales rose unexpectedly by 0.8% in May to a 4.03 million-unit annual rate, though high mortgage rates continued to dampen the market. (YF)

• Trump pressed oil producers to prevent crude price surges after airstrikes hit Iran’s nuclear sites, urging on Truth Social to “DRILL, BABY, DRILL” to counter market volatility risks. (OP)

• Trump on Tuesday urged interest rates be cut by “two to three points” and criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as “dumb” and “hardheaded.” (INV)

• South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol expressed optimism that Korea and the U.S. will achieve a “mutually satisfactory outcome” on trade. (KT)

📈 Stock Market

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Tesla shares closed 8.2% higher at $348.63 on Monday after the company launched its Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. (INV)

• Trump Media & Technology Group, parent of Truth Social, Truth+, and Truth.Fi, announced Monday its board approved a $400 million stock buyback program. (CNBC)

• Vultr, a cloud infrastructure provider, raised $329 million in debt from major Wall Street banks to expand its AI model hosting and operations. (CNBC)

• The Trump Organization paid off the $160 million loan on its 40 Wall Street office tower in Manhattan in cash, underscoring how the business' fortunes have improved since Trump's re-election last year. (RTS)

🏢 Industry

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Amazon plans to invest £40 billion ($54 billion) in the U.K. over three years to construct new warehouses and upgrade existing operations. (TI)

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Tesla after videos surfaced online showing a robotaxi allegedly driving in the wrong lane and speeding past another driverless vehicle. (TC)

• Arena Magazine’s Maxwell Meyer wrote a tribute to Fred Smith, the visionary founder of Federal Express, now FedEx, celebrating his legacy as a pioneering entrepreneur and American patriot. (AM)

💵 Energy & Commodities

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: New York will build one of the first U.S. nuclear power plants in over 15 years, with the state’s public electric utility directed to add at least 1 gigawatt of new nuclear capacity. (WSJ)

• U.S. grid operators ordered power plants to boost output Monday as wholesale electricity prices surged amid a severe heat wave gripping the eastern U.S. (RTS)

• Ford continues to struggle with securing rare-earth magnets for its electric vehicles despite a U.S.-China deal to ease export controls, a company executive said. (WSJ)

• Gold dropped 0.6% to $3,349.89 per ounce, its lowest in nearly two weeks, after Trump’s proposed ceasefire to end the 12-Day War between Iran and Israel. (ALB)

• Scott Nolan, founder of nuclear fuel startup General Matter and Founders Fund partner, told podcaster Shawn Ryan why energy production will shape the U.S.-China rivalry in AI, economics, and manufacturing over the next decade. (X)

🌕 Crypto

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Mastercard joined the Global Dollar Network stablecoin consortium, which includes Robinhood and Kraken, and added support for PayPal and Fiserv tokens to bolster its payment network. (FM)

• Investor Anthony Pompliano's ProCap BTC will merge with SPAC Columbus Circle Capital, forming ProCap Financial with up to $1 billion in Bitcoin on its balance sheet upon closing, offering lending, trading, and capital markets services. (CD)

• Hedge fund executives plan to launch a crypto treasury venture to invest in Binance’s BNB token, aiming to raise $100 million and go public via a reverse stock buyback. (BBG)

• Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino outlined plans to preserve the company’s lead in the stablecoin market amid rising competition from Wall Street and Big Tech. (BL)

• Arthur Britto, Ripple’s reclusive co-founder, made his first public post since 2011 on X, sharing a cryptic speechless emoji. (CT)
  

TECH

💻 China Unveils First Parallel Optical Chip to Rival Nvidia

The Scoop: Chinese scientists have unveiled Meteor-1, the world’s first highly parallel optical computing chip, poised to challenge Nvidia’s advanced AI GPUs, the South China Morning Post reported, signaling a breakthrough in China’s quest for semiconductor independence amid U.S. export controls.

The Details:

• Developed by Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics and Nanyang Technological University, Meteor-1 achieves 2,560 tera-operations per second (TOPS) at 50GHz.

• Its performance rivals Nvidia’s RTX 4090 and approaches the RTX 5090’s 3,352 TOPS.

• The chip’s multi-wavelength design enables simultaneous processing of over 100 tasks.

• Optical computing offers ultra-high speed, low latency, and minimal power consumption, ideal for AI and data centers.

• The fully homegrown system underscores China’s response to U.S. restrictions on advanced semiconductor access.

What’s Next: Meteor-1’s development could accelerate China’s push for self-reliance in AI and computing technologies, potentially reshaping global semiconductor competition as Beijing invests heavily in optical computing to bypass traditional electronic chip limitations. AI and crypto czar David Sacks has warned that the U.S. must remain vigilant in the AI race against China to maintain its technological edge.

Tech Roundup

🧠 AI

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Leaked code indicates xAI is building an advanced file editor for Grok with spreadsheet capabilities, signaling a push to rival OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft in AI-driven productivity tools. (TC)

• Goldman Sachs launched its GS AI Assistant, a generative AI tool for employees, with features like document summarization, data analysis, regulatory drafting, and translation. (RTS)

• Thinking Machines founder Mira Murati told investors that her startup is developing custom AI models to boost business revenue based on KPIs and plans a consumer product. (TIN)

• Legal filings submitted this month by attorneys for OpenAI and Jony Ive’s io reveal their joint AI hardware project is not a wearable or in-ear device like headphones, with an unfinished prototype at least a year from market. (TC)

• Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg explored acquiring video startup Runway AI Inc. to bolster the company's artificial intelligence initiatives. (BBG)

🤖 Hardware & Robotics

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: DHL’s Stretch robot, dubbed "Johnny 5," unloads 580 cases per hour—nearly twice a human’s rate—marking a breakthrough in automating the injury-prone task of truck unloading. (WSJ)

• Vancouver startup Intelligent City is using robots to streamline prefabricated mass-timber housing construction, aiming to address Canada’s housing crisis. (VS)

• University of Bristol scientists developed soft robots from rice paper that biodegrade safely in 32 days, offering a sustainable alternative to silicone for prototyping. (TX)

• The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute unveiled a video showcasing RobotEra's Xingtu, a humanoid robot that lifts 88-pound barbells. (IE)

• SWARM Biotactics, a German bio-robotics startup, raised €13 million ($15 million USD), led by Vertex Ventures, to develop insect-based bio-robotic systems for defense, security, and disaster response. (BW)

🚀 Defense & Space

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Israel’s Mossad covertly smuggled First-Person View (FPV) drone components into Iran via commercial channels over years, establishing secret launch bases for its military campaign against the regime. (DL)

• The U.S. Navy tested the Yellow Moray, the world’s first reusable underwater robot, launched from a nuclear submarine’s torpedo tube to enhance covert surveillance. (IE)

• The world’s first photonic quantum computer launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9, enabling edge computing for tasks like forest fire detection to save energy and speed responses. (IE)

• Amazon launched its second batch of Kuiper internet satellites on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, aiming to build a constellation rivaling Starlink. (SP)

• In an interview with Pirate Wires, Meta CTO Andrew "Boz" Bosworth discusses joining the Army Reserve to address military tech challenges, Silicon Valley’s new embrace of defense work, and the industry’s pivot from wokeness. (PW)

• Japanese startup H2L introduced its “Capsule Interface,” a device that lets users control robots remotely with their body movements. (MK)

💰 Venture Capital & Deals

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Abridge, an AI startup automating medical note-taking, has raised $300 million in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, valuing the company at $5.3 billion. (WSJ)

• Harvey AI, a legal automation startup, raised $300 million in Series E funding at a $5 billion valuation, co-led by Kleiner Perkins and Coatue. (FM)

• Decagon, an AI customer service startup, raised $131 million in a Series C round at a $1.5 billion valuation, led by Accel and Andreessen Horowitz. (RTS)

• LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman is leading a $12 million funding round for Sanmai Technologies and joining its board, backing the startup’s AI-powered ultrasound device to treat mental health conditions. (BBG)

• New Zealand agtech startup Halter raised $100 million in Series D funding at a $1 billion valuation, led by Bond. (INV)

• Decentralized trading platform GTE, self-described as the "world's fastest decentralized exchange," raised $15 million in a Series A round led by Paradigm. (X)

FREEDOM

⚖️ FTC Reaches Agreement to Halt "Political Collusion" in Advertising Industry

The Scoop: The Federal Trade Commission approved a $13.5 billion Omnicom-IPG merger Monday, extracting a key concession: the ad giants will halt coordination to divert ad dollars from publishers based on political views, a practice tied to the now-defunct Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), the Daily Wire reports.

The Details:

• The merged firm, poised to dominate global advertising, will end viewpoint discrimination and undergo FTC compliance reviews for five years.

• GARM’s “anticompetitive” blacklisting targeted conservative outlets like The Daily Wire, controlling 90% of U.S. ad spending.

• Needham’s Laura Martin calls the concession a “trust rebuilder” for an industry criticized for biased “misinformation” tools like NewsGuard.

What’s Next: Omnicom and IPG must assist FTC probes into past ad collusion, signaling broader industry scrutiny. Meanwhile, the FTC is investigating Media Matters over claims it and other advocacy groups coordinated ad boycotts of Elon Musk’s X.

Freedom Roundup

🏛️ Economic & Business Policy

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) will unveil a framework today for a major digital assets bill, defining crypto as a commodity or security, enabling exchange registration with the CFTC, and limiting SEC oversight. (CNBC)

• The House of Representatives' chief administrative officer banned WhatsApp on congressional staffers' government devices Monday due to data vulnerability concerns. (AX)

• Apple is in final EU talks to modify its App Store and avoid fines due this week, with sources expecting “steering” concessions. (FT)

• Senate Republicans cannot force the U.S. Postal Service to scrap thousands of electric vehicles and charging equipment in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the Senate parliamentarian ruled. (INV)

• BlackRock CEO Larry Fink endorsed the Trump’s “MAGA accounts” proposal to fund $1,000 tax-advantaged investment accounts for newborns. (SF)

• The Federal Housing Finance Agency will explore how cryptocurrency holdings could factor into mortgage qualifications, Director Bill Pulte announced. (DC)

💬 Free Speech & Woke Overreach

• ⭐ Editor’s Pick: The Federal Reserve announced Monday it will stop considering "reputational risk" in bank examinations, eliminating a metric long criticized by the industry. (RTS)

• Media Matters sued the Federal Trade Commission, alleging the agency is targeting it in retaliation for criticizing social media platform X, violating its First Amendment rights. (EG)

• McDonald’s faces a boycott starting June 24, led by the leftwing group The People’s Union USA, over the chain’s rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. (FBN)

• Major federal contractors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and RTX may still maintain DEI policies despite President Trump’s executive order to eliminate such programs, a 1792 Exchange report found. (TB)

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