Morning Scan

OpenAI is building hardware while fighting Apple in court. Meta is defending an AI-driven layoff process in federal court. IBM just warned that customers are pulling back from AI spending. The contradictions are accumulating.

$7B — The valuation Spotify founder Daniel Ek's Neko Health just commanded after raising $700M for AI-powered full-body scans — which tells you something about where health-tech money is going right now. (New York Times)

Machines & Minds

OpenAI's First Hardware Device Is a Screenless Speaker That Can Move

The "mechanical elements that can move on their own" detail is either genuinely interesting or a red flag, depending on your priors about hardware startups. (TechCrunch)

OpenAI: No Evidence Apple's Trade Secret Complaint Has Merit

The subplot is funnier than the lawsuit: an Apple lawyer apparently mixed up two OpenAI staffers in the original outreach, which OpenAI is now using as Exhibit A. (MacRumors)

OpenAI Researcher in Talks to Launch AI Drug Discovery Startup Valued at $2B

Miles Wang hasn't left yet and is already in talks to raise $200M — the life sciences AI funding window is wide open. (TechCrunch)

Machines & Minds

Meta Sued by 26 Employees Alleging AI Targeted Workers on Medical Leave for Layoffs (paywall)

The lawsuit argues Meta's AI-driven selection process for May's 8,000-person layoff disproportionately flagged employees on disability or protected leave — exactly the kind of disparate-impact case that keeps employment lawyers busy for years. (Wall Street Journal)

IBM Stock Collapses After a Grave Warning About AI

IBM warned that customers are abruptly shifting their AI spending priorities. Whether that's a company-specific problem or a canary worth watching is an open question. (Slashdot)

Cybersecurity Stocks Rallied After IBM CEO Flagged Cyber Fears

CrowdStrike jumped 12% and Okta rose 11% — the market read IBM's warning as customers redirecting AI spend toward security, not pulling back from AI altogether. (CNBC)

"Customers' sudden shift in priorities" — IBM's explanation for missing Q2 expectations, which is a polite way to describe a stock plunge. *IBM / Slashdot

Connected World

Daniel Ek's Neko Health Raises $700M at ~$7B Valuation

Lightspeed and O.G. Venture Partners co-led the round for the AI full-body scan company — preventive health is apparently where the Spotify money goes after Spotify. (New York Times)

GOP Governors and Utilities Expected to Join Trump's Data Center Energy Pledge (paywall)

The arrangement would have data center developers cover their own energy infrastructure costs — a shift in how AI buildout gets financed at the state level. (Politico)

Oracle Leads Race to Sell Air-Gapped Cloud Services to Japan (paywall)

The US has flagged secure cloud infrastructure as key to intelligence sharing with Tokyo, making this less a commercial deal and more a geopolitical one with a procurement process. (Financial Times)

Google and Epic Withdraw Injunction — Third-Party Android App Stores Coming Next Week

Years of antitrust litigation culminate in a settlement that cracks open the Android app economy — watch how fast developers move to stand up alternatives. (The Verge)

Connected World

Samsung Finally Figured Out How to Make a Crease-Free Foldable Screen

Seven years and multiple generations of Galaxy Z Fold devices later, the headline kind of writes itself. (Android Central)