Just when it’s starting to feel like a slow news day . . .(!).

Apple said Tim Cook will step down as CEO on September 1st after nearly 15 years in the role, with longtime hardware chief John Ternus set to take over while Cook transitions to executive chairman. TechCrunch has more here.

Amazon plans to invest up to $25 billion more in Anthropic, deepening a partnership that will see Anthropic spend over $100 billion on AWS infrastructure over the next decade as the AI arms race drives massive capital commitments. CNBC has more here.

Speaking of Amazon, in a newly unsealed court filing, California has accused the company of price fixing by pressuring brands like Levi’s and Hanes to persuade their other retail partners to raise prices on sites that compete with Amazon. The New York Times has more here.

A federal jury found Uber liable for a sexual assault by a driver in 2019, marking its second consecutive loss in early bellwether trials among more than 3,000 pending lawsuits. The New York Times has more here.

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By Amanda Silberling

After 15 years, Tim Cook will hand off the Apple CEO role to John Ternus, the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering. Starting on September 1, Ternus will lead one of the world’s most valuable companies, but if you’re not a dedicated Apple enthusiast, you’ve probably never heard of this man, who has largely remained out of the spotlight until now.

Ternus has worked at Apple for nearly half of his life — now 51 years old, he has been with the company for 25 years.

He joined Apple’s product design team in 2001 as only his second job out of college (his first was at a small maker of virtual-reality devices called Virtual Research Systems). By 2013, Ternus was a VP of hardware engineering and was promoted to the SVP role in 2021.

Ternus — who is 15 years younger than Cook — was among the youngest of top Apple executives who had been rumored as a possible successor, implying that Apple could be looking for someone to lead the company for a long time. After all, Apple has only had two CEOs in this millennium, so it seems that leadership continuity is important to the company.

Ternus reports to Cook, who he considers a mentor, and leads all of hardware engineering at Apple. That’s a pretty big deal for a company that’s known for ubiquitous hardware like the iPhone and the MacBook.

In his 2024 commencement speech at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania’s engineering school, Ternus reflected on the lessons he learned at Apple, which perhaps can tell us a bit about his character — or at least a sanitized version of it.

CuspAI, a two-year-old Temasek-backed startup based in Cambridge, UK, that uses AI to discover new materials, is reportedly in discussions to raise a $200+ million round that would value it at $1+ billion. Bloomberg has more here.

Polymarket, a six-year-old New York startup that operates a decentralized prediction market where users trade on the outcomes of real-world events, is in the market to raise a $400 million round at a $15 billion valuation, according to a report in The Information. The company has so far raised a total of $600+ million. The Block has more here.

Project Prometheus, a five-month-old San Francisco startup co-founded by Jeff Bezos that builds AI systems that simulate physical processes for engineering and industrial design, is reportedly close to finalizing a $10 billion round at a $38 billion valuation. JPMorgan and BlackRock are expected to participate. The Financial Times has more here.

Coral, a two-year-old New York startup that automates administrative workflows in specialty healthcare, including patient intake, prior authorization, and payer communication, raised a $12.5 million seed round co-led by Lightspeed and Z47. Tech Funding News has more here.

Terrahaptix, a two-year-old Nigerian startup that builds drones and counter-drone systems for military use, raised a $34 million round from investors including Joe Lonsdale and Lux Capital. Bloomberg has more here.

Caruso, a three-year-old Auckland startup that provides fund administration software and services for private markets managers, including investor reporting, compliance, and registry management, raised a $6.5 million Series A round at a $55 million valuation. The deal was co-led by Icehouse Ventures and GD1, with Balmain also participating. More here.

Ethermed, a five-year-old Philadelphia startup that aims to streamline prior authorization workflows by analyzing clinical documentation and generating compliant submissions for providers and payers, raised an $8.5 million Series A round co-led by Enfield Capital Partners and Blue Marlin Partners, with Jumpstart Ventures, Healthliant Ventures, Woodard Family Office, and Gaingels also participating. The company has raised a total of $15+ million. The SaaS News has more here.

Ideally, a three-year-old Sydney startup that provides market research software that lets companies test ideas, gather feedback, and develop products in real-time without relying on external agencies, raised a $16 million Series A round at a $100 million valuation. The deal was led by Shearwater Capital, with Altered Capital and Ecliptic VC as well as previous investor Icehouse Ventures also taking part. The NZ Herald has more here.

Schematik, a recently founded Amsterdam startup that uses AI to generate code, wiring diagrams, and component lists for hardware projects, raised a $4.6 million pre-seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with Puzzle Ventures also joining in. More here

Morningstar is joining Nasdaq and S&P Dow Jones in exploring ways to revamp its market indexes to include massive IPOs like SpaceX, raising concerns about relaxed requirements. Reuters has more here.

Elon Musk ignored a summons from French prosecutors investigating X, escalating a standoff over alleged illegal content on the platform and widening a broader trans-Atlantic clash over how aggressively to regulate U.S. tech companies. The New York Times has more here.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin told DeepMind staffers that Google needs to catch up with Anthropic on AI coding agents, and “every Gemini engineer must be forced to use internal agents for complex, multi-step tasks.” The Information has more here.

With Salesforce shares down 28% year-to-date, co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff is continuing to pushback on fears that AI will gut his company, arguing the “SaaSpocalypse” narrative is overblown. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

A humanoid robot developed by a Chinese phone company won a Beijing half-marathon in 50 minutes, beating the human world record despite briefly crashing near the finish line and underscoring China’s rapid progress in robotics. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Hackers believed to be linked to North Korea stole more than $290 million from crypto protocol Kelp DAO, marking the largest crypto theft of the year and underscoring the regime’s growing role in large-scale digital heists. TechCrunch has more here.

Music streamer Deezer said 44% of the songs uploaded to its platform each day are now AI-generated. TechCrunch has more here.

This weekend, Palantir published a 22-point manifesto arguing Silicon Valley has a “moral debt” to support national security and criticizing “hollow pluralism,” drawing fresh scrutiny as the company deepens ties with defense and immigration agencies. TechCrunch has more here.

A hot-air balloon carrying about 10 people made an emergency landing in a Southern California backyard after winds died mid-flight.

Coachella has morphed into a social media-driven spectacle where surprise guest appearances (92 this year) now drive headlines, with performances increasingly engineered for livestream audiences over the in-person crowd.

What it’s like to live with an experimental brain implant.

Radiohead has turned its Kid A era into a traveling immersive installation featuring a 75-minute film, large-scale artwork, and a custom surround-sound experience.

Cool cabins.

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