☕️ China imposes restrictions on US rare earth companies

Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.

In today's Techpresso:

🇨🇳 China imposes restrictions on US rare earth companies

📱 WhatsApp gets a new chief

👀 Microsoft may host China's DeepSeek

🚨 New report warns AI could topple governments

📈 Getty Images soars 120% on OpenAI deal

Plus: 🎁 15 other news you might like, 🧰 6 tools, and 📚 2 papers.

🇨🇳 China imposes restrictions on US rare earth companies LINK

China placed 10 U.S. industrial suppliers on its export control list and barred 46 American firms, mostly defense contractors, from government procurement, retaliating against the Pentagon adding Chinese companies to its 1260H military blacklist.

The export control list targets rare earth miners MP Materials and USA Rare Earth, drone makers Teal Drones and Jaia Robotics, plus Oshkosh Defense and Ball Aerospace, blocking exports of any dual-use items originating in China to them.

Analysts called the countermeasures largely symbolic since most targeted firms have little business in China, while the Pentagon's 1260H list bars the Defense Department from awarding direct contracts to listed companies starting June 30.

📱 WhatsApp gets a new chief LINK

Meta is putting $900 million into the Indian fintech startup Cred and plans to make its founder, Kunal Shah, the new head of WhatsApp, replacing Will Cathcart after roughly seven years.

The deal gives Meta about a 20% stake in Cred, which runs an app that rewards customers for paying credit card bills on time, valuing the company at $4.5 billion post-money.

Shah, recruited by product chief Chris Cox and relocating from Bangalore to Menlo Park, will lead efforts on WhatsApp's advertising, subscriptions, and the work of adding AI agents to the messaging app.

👀 Microsoft may host China's DeepSeek LINK

Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella said the company is weighing whether to host a version of DeepSeek, the ultra-low-cost Chinese model that OpenAI and Anthropic accuse of copying their work.

Hosting DeepSeek would send much more traffic to the Chinese model-maker and add pressure on OpenAI and Anthropic, two rivals already caught in a long price war over their proprietary models.

The move fits Microsoft's recent push, which included rolling out a suite of low-cost models aimed at customers hit by soaring AI bills, while Nadella argued value should not flow to only a few models.

🚨 New report warns AI could topple governments LINK

The Five Eyes intelligence agencies from Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand, and Canada issued a rare joint statement warning that AI models powerful enough to take down governments and businesses are only months away, urging leaders to "act now".

The statement said frontier AI models would accelerate the speed, scale, and sophistication of cyber threats, lowering barriers for bad actors, and called for a whole-of-society response treating cyber risk as a core business and leadership responsibility.

No companies were named, but attention centres on Anthropic's models Mythos and Fable 5, both suspended for use by "foreign nationals" in June by the US government, which cited advice from national security authorities.

📈 Getty Images soars 120% on OpenAI deal LINK

Getty Images saw its shares climb roughly 120 percent after announcing a multi-year deal with OpenAI to display its licensed photo libraries inside ChatGPT's search and discovery features.

Under the agreement, when a user asks ChatGPT a question that calls for an image, the chatbot can return a licensed Getty photograph rather than a synthetic one generated by AI.

The companies disclosed no financial terms, no revenue split, and nothing about whether Getty's images may train future OpenAI models, with the deal limited to display rather than training.

Other news you might like

• OpenAI wants an all-knowing personal AI agent for everyone on EarthLINK

• Polymarket reportedly paid creators to post deceptive videos about fake betsLINK

• TikTok Has Been Completely Taken Over by AI SlopLINK

• Microsoft turns to Chevron’s gas to power a Texas data centreLINK

• Bank of England backs down from 'overly conservative' regime for stablecoin issuersLINK

• NYU finance professor Damodaran warns an AI crash could hit harder than the dot-com bustLINK

• Can Tesla beat Nvidia? New trademark reveals ambitious ‘megapod’ infrastructure planLINK

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says electricians and plumbers will be needed by the hundreds of thousands in the new working worldLINK

• Tencent tests AI assistant in China's most popular app as it looks to catch up with rivalsLINK

• Why Amazon hates 'human-in-the-loop' AI governanceLINK

• Vibecoding is becoming a deal-breaker test for software acquisitionsLINK

• JD.com says robots will replace its 700,000 couriersLINK

• Google Deepmind and A24 team up on AI filmmaking researchLINK

• Viral 'Europe 2031' Scenario Pegs Europe's AI Compute at 5% of WorldLINK

🧰 Trending tools

Skybridge: a React framework that lets you build MCP-compatible tools with server logic, UI rendering, and AI assistant integration configured automatically.LINK

AgentX: a multi-agent platform that automates complex document workflows by organizing AI agents into collaborative teams with built-in performance evaluation.LINK

Alai 2.0: automates slide layout, typography, and color adjustments so you can focus on content instead of manual design tweaks.LINK

readywhen: automatically captures decisions and commitments from Slack, email, and meetings, then drafts the next required action for your approval.LINK

HAQQ Legal AI on Mobile: analyze contracts, flag legal risks, and get jurisdiction-aware legal guidance directly from your phone without hiring a lawyer.LINK

uwait: a Chrome extension that turns AI tool loading screens into ad revenue, splitting earnings between users and content publishers automatically.LINK

📚 Trending papers & reports

Data center electricity costs actually lowered average power bills across the US from 2015 to 2024, because their large, steady demand spreads fixed grid costs across more users.LINK

GitHub Copilot makes software engineers 40.5% more productive, completing more code reviews in the same working time, according to a large study of over 16,000 Microsoft engineers across 43 weeks.LINK

Want to get the latest news differently? Find us on:

See you tomorrow for a new dose of ☕️ Techpresso!