🧶 Silicon Ambitions

Happy Wednesday, it’s July 30, 2025.

First time reading? Join millions of future readers who like their business news without a side of yawn. Sign up here.

Help us reach those millions by sharing this email with your friends.

Got thoughts? Praise? Rants? Just reply to this email. We read everything. Just don’t count on it.

🔦 Spotlight

🧵 Tesla strikes $4.3B battery deal. Tesla locked in a $4.3B deal with LG Energy for U.S.-made LFP batteries, aiming to dodge China tariffs and boost its energy storage business. The batteries, sourced from Michigan, won’t go into cars but will power Tesla’s growing grid side hustle. With rivals lagging, LG grabs first-mover advantage in the U.S. LFP space. It’s a quiet but crucial move in the battery arms race. (More)

🧵 Microsoft seeks OpenAI access post-AGI. Microsoft’s trying to rewrite the fine print so it doesn’t get ghosted once OpenAI hits its AGI milestone. Their current deal gives OpenAI an exit ramp if it hits major tech or profit milestones. Talks now focus on keeping Microsoft plugged into the AI pipeline, even as OpenAI eyes a more independent, for-profit future. The two are still tangled in tech, turf wars, and trust issues, but both know a breakup would cost billions. (More)

🧵 Ambience hits $1B with AI scribe tech. Ambience Healthcare just landed $243 million, pushing its valuation past unicorn status. Its pitch? Kill doctor paperwork with AI. The startup’s tools transcribe, summarize, and code medical convos so clinicians can focus on patients, not forms. Backers like Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI’s fund are betting big on its future. Next steps: expand its tech, staff up, and keep cozying up to hospitals, and OpenAI. (More)

👀 Next Up

🧵 Palo Alto eyes $20B CyberArk deal. Palo Alto Networks is reportedly close to snapping up CyberArk for over $20 billion. The move would plug a big hole in its cybersecurity lineup: identity security. As AI-powered tools ramp up, so does the need to know who’s doing what. It's consolidation season in cyberland. (More)

🧵 Apple claps back at DOJ antitrust case. Apple officially fired back at the DOJ’s “smartphone monopoly” lawsuit, calling it a misfire on five fronts, from super apps to digital wallets. Apple insists its design choices boost user experience, not crush rivals, and warns that forcing changes could harm competition, not help it. Buckle up, the courtroom drama’s just heating up. (More)

🧵 Bitmain bringing crypto hardware to US. Bitmain is setting up shop in Texas or Florida, launching its first U.S. HQ and assembly line to dodge tariffs and woo American miners. With China’s chip supply chains under fire and Trump-era trade heat rising, Bitmain’s U.S. bet is about speed, security, and survival in crypto’s new home turf. (More)

🧵 Anthropic eyes $170B in new raise. Anthropic’s reportedly close to snagging up to $5B at a jaw-dropping $170B valuation, nearly triple its March price tag. Iconiq’s leading the deal, with sovereign wealth funds possibly joining, despite internal queasiness over ethical concerns. CEO Dario Amodei summed it up: “Purity’s expensive.” Capital-hungry AI waits for no idealist. (More)

🧵 SEC greenlights in-kind crypto ETF swaps. The SEC now allows crypto ETFs to do in-kind creations and redemptions, meaning investors can swap shares directly for Bitcoin or Ethereum. It's a big shift from the previous cash-only rules and could lower costs, boost efficiency, and deepen the ETF market. Crypto funds just got more tax-friendly. (More)

🎭 Backstage

🧵 UK court rejects Uber VAT appeal. The UK Supreme Court ruled rival taxi firms don’t need to charge 20% VAT outside London, handing Uber a legal defeat. (More)

🧵 Lumana raises $40M for AI surveillance. Lumana bagged $40M to make security cameras smarter, using AI agents that don’t just watch, they predict, identify, and respond to threats in real time. (More)

🧵 Mars invests $2B in U.S. factories. Mars is dropping $2 billion to beef up its U.S. manufacturing by 2026, eyeing more snacks, speed, and resilience. Nature’s Bakery leads the charge. (More)

🧵 Publishers rally to block AI freeloaders. Media execs are crafting a “no free lunch” framework to block AI firms from scraping content without pay. OpenAI and Anthropic ghosted the talks. (More)

🧵 Quince doubles valuation to $4.5B. Viral sensation Quince just pulled in $200M, doubling its value in six months. Affordable cashmere and TikTok buzz are proving a killer combo. (More)

🧵 Reliance eyes $6B Jio mini-IPO. Reliance plans to float just 5% of Jio, aiming to raise over $6B while skirting India’s usual 25% listing rule. Small slice, big money. (More)

🧵 Meta tests AI-assisted coding interviews. Meta is piloting interviews where candidates can use AI helpers, aiming to reflect real dev workflows and weed out cheat hacks. Code meets vibe check. (More)