Good morning, AI enthusiasts. Jony Ive and Sam Altman’s recent ‘io’ hardware partnership just got scrubbed from the internet — courtesy of a court order from a startup claiming the AI giant stole more than just a name.

With Google X spinoff iyO alleging suspicious meetings and an eerily similar concept, is the power duo’s hyped AI device more imitation than innovation?

In today’s AI rundown:

• OpenAI scrubs 'io' over trademark clash

• ElevenLabs debuts new voice assistant

• How to optimize prompts for better AI output

• Reddit eyes Altman’s World ID for human verification

• 4 new AI tools & 4 job opportunities

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

OPENAI

⚖️ OpenAI scrubs 'io' over trademark clash

Image source: iyO

The Rundown: OpenAI just removed all promotional materials for its $6.5B acquisition of Jony Ive's AI hardware startup, io, reportedly due to a court order tied to a trademark dispute with Google X spinout iyO.

The details:

• iyO creates hardware that “allows users to interact with their smartphones, computers, AI, and the internet without the use of physical interfaces.”

• The startup’s latest product is the iyO One AI-powered earbuds, a “computer without a screen” that can run apps via voice and converse with the user.

• The filing alleges that Sam Altman and Ive’s LoveFrom met with iyO initially in 2022 and again in Spring 2025 just before the io announcement.

• OpenAI removed the blog post and nine-minute video featuring Ive and Altman from its website and YouTube channels following the legal action.

• However, the company maintains that the acquisition remains on track, calling the trademark complaint "utterly baseless."

Why it matters: While this is unlikely to derail OpenAI and Jony Ive’s hardware plans, the alleged details in the filing — from LoveFrom employees purchasing the device and directly asking to share details to the nearly identical name itself — certainly don’t paint the same picture of innovation the AI leader has created thus far around io.

TOGETHER WITH HUBSPOT

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ELEVENLABS

🗣️ElevenLabs debuts new voice assistant

Image source: ElevenLabs

The Rundown: AI voice platform ElevenLabs just launched 11ai, an in-house voice assistant that connects to tools via Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol to execute tasks rather than just answer questions.

The details:

• The experimental alpha release integrates with platforms like Perplexity, Linear, Slack, and Notion, allowing users to manage tasks through voice commands.

• Developers can also add custom MCP servers for additional integrations and workflows beyond the pre-built connections.

• The platform offers 5,000+ voice options and supports voice cloning, running on ElevenLabs’ own conversational AI infrastructure.

• 11ai is free to use and try for “several weeks,” allowing the company to gather feedback on the product and integrations.

Why it matters: ElevenLabs already has some of the strongest speech models on the market, and pairing them with MCP for tools, data access, and actions could showcase how voice assistants can actually be more useful than Siri and other outdated assistants may have led consumers to believe.

AI TRAINING

🔧 How to optimize prompts for better AI output

The Rundown: In this tutorial, you will learn how to use OpenAI Playground’s new automatic prompt optimization tool to transform basic prompts into high-performance system messages for more effective AI interactions.

Step-by-step:

1. Go to OpenAI Playground and access the Prompts section

2. Write your basic system message describing what you want the AI to do

3. Click the “Optimize” button to automatically improve your prompt with better structure and clarity

4. Review it and then “Save” it with a descriptive name to reuse in projects and API calls

Pro tip: Test optimized prompts with various inputs to ensure consistent performance across different use cases.

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REDDIT

👁️ Reddit eyes Altman’s World ID for human verification

Image source: o3 / The Rundown

The Rundown: Reddit is reportedly negotiating with Sam Altman’s Tools For Humanity to integrate the company’s iris-scanning World ID Orb system, allowing users to provide proof of humanity while staying anonymous.

The details:

• The system would offer Reddit users optional verification through World ID’s encrypted iris scans, which fragment biometric data across servers worldwide.

• CEO Steve Huffman hinted at the shift last month, posting on efforts to preserve anonymity while deterring the flood of AI accounts on the platform.

• World ID assigns users cryptographic proof without storing personal data, though minors under 18 are currently blocked from the Orb scanning process.

• The partnership would position Reddit as the first major U.S. social platform to test biometric verification at scale aside from simple email checks.

Why it matters: The “Dead Internet” theory of the web becoming overrun with AI bots is a real concern — and something already being experienced across social media platforms. While World’s Iris scanning initiatives were initially met with tons of skepticism and anger, the need for human verification is going to be very real.

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• 📞 The Rundown - Account Manager

• 🌍 Cresta - Product Manager

• 🔬 Anthropic - Research Manager

• ⚖️ OpenAI - Product Counsel

📰 Everything else in AI today

Disney has been in talks with “companies like OpenAI” to license its characters and IP, but its lawsuit against Midjourney “likely won’t be the last” against AI firms.

A U.S. official claimed DeepSeek is working with the Chinese government on military and intelligence ops, while using workarounds to access advanced AI chips.

Google released Magenta RealTime, an open live music AI and “cousin” of its Lyria model, allowing users to create/blend music live and locally on consumer hardware.

Meta also met with Runway for a potential acquisition, in addition to reported meetings with SSI, Thinking Machines, and Perplexity, though a deal never materialized.

Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son is reportedly pitching a “Crystal Land” $1B megahub for AI and robotics manufacturing in Arizona, courting TSMC and Samsung.

Microsoft debuted Mu, a new small language model that powers agentic capabilities in Settings for on-device use on Windows Copilot + PCs.

COMMUNITY

🎥 Join our next live workshop

Join our next workshop on Wednesday, June 25th at 3 PM EST with Max Brodeur-Urbas, Founder & CEO at Gumloop. By the end of the workshop, you’ll know how to build production-grade AI agents that combine context, reasoning, and actions with Gumloop.

RSVP here. Not a member? Join The Rundown University on a 14-day free trial.

See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Alvaro, and Jason—The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, robotics enthusiasts. UK researchers have engineered an artificial skin that’s soft, flexible, and doesn’t rely on embedded sensors.

This skin can ‘feel’ pressure, heat, and even pain across its entire surface. The result? A leap toward robots and prosthetics that can respond to their environment more like we do.

In today’s robotics rundown:

• New artificial robot skin can ‘feel’ pain

• Softbank eyes $1T robotics complex in Arizona

• Germany’s Neura to raise $1.15B for humanoids

• China’s mosquito-sized drone for military

• Quick hits on other robotics news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

👉🏼 New artificial robot skin can ‘feel’ pain

Image source: University of Cambridge

The Rundown: University of Cambridge and University College London researchers just developed a stretchy artificial skin that allows robots to detect pressure, temperature, and maybe even pain.

The details:

• This next-gen skin is made from gelatin-based hydrogel that’s soft, stretchy, and electrically conductive, allowing it to transmit signals across its surface.

• Just 32 electrodes are embedded at the wrist, enabling the skin to capture over 1.7M data points across its surface.

• The skin can sense pressure, shear forces, temperature, and even damage (like cuts or burns), all with a single, unified material.

• The team is using advanced AI to interpret this flood of sensory information, allowing the skin to distinguish between different types of touch in real time.

Why it matters: Traditional sensor arrays might be pricey and fragile, but this new hydrogel skin is built to flex, stretch, and take a beating — all while costing less to produce. Its rugged resilience and adaptability might unlock new frontiers in lifelike robotics, next-gen prosthetics, and smarter, safer factories.

SOFTBANK

🤑 SoftBank eyes $1T robotics complex in Arizona

Image source: Softbank

The Rundown: SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son is reportedly planning to fund a $1T industrial complex in Arizona. Dubbed “Project Crystal Land,” it aims to replicate the scale of China’s Shenzhen, but with a laser focus on next-gen robotics and AI. 

The details:

• The complex is planned as a self-contained ecosystem with semiconductor fabs, robotics R&D labs, logistics hubs, and even residential zones for workers.

• The project is designed to emulate the success of Shenzhen, renowned for its dense network of manufacturers, suppliers, and innovators.

• Central to the project is to build production lines for industrial robots, drawing on the expertise of major chipmakers and tech giants — most notably TSMC.

• A $1T commitment would represent twice the investment of the $500B “Stargate” project, backed by SoftBank, OpenAI, and Oracle.

Why it matters: If realized, the project promises to boost high-end robotics manufacturing on U.S. soil but also foster a vibrant innovation environment where startups and established firms collaborate to push the boundaries of what robots can achieve — all while positioning Arizona as a new epicenter for global robotics.

NEURA ROBOTICS

🔥 Germany’s Neura to raise $1.15B for humanoids

Image source: Neura Robotics

The Rundown: German startup Neura Robotics reportedly aims to secure up to €1B ($1.15B) in fresh funding as it gears up to launch its next-generation humanoid robot, the 4NE-1, designed to take on established players like Tesla, 1X, and Figure.

The details:

• According to Bloomberg, the Metzingen-based company is actively courting investors to fuel its entry into the fiercely competitive bipedal robotics market.

• Neura’s vision is to create robots capable of lifting heavy objects and automating repetitive tasks, positioning itself as a European leader.

• The startup has an order book valued at €1B and more than 300 employees, and is riding a wave of momentum after a recent €120M Series B round.

• Neura Robotics is also collaborating with major tech firms, including Nvidia for its robotics tools, and has secured orders with Kawasaki and Omron.

Why it matters: Neura Robotics, which achieved a 10x revenue increase in the past year, is positioning itself as a major contender in the global humanoid sector — a market currently dominated by well-funded competitors from the U.S. and Asia. It has already launched its cobot MAiRA, with the 4NE-1 in the works.

MICRODRONES

🦟 China’s mosquito-sized drone for military

Image source: Ideogram/The Rundown

The Rundown: A robotics lab at China’s National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) in Hunan just unveiled a mosquito-sized drone — designed specifically for covert military missions — on national television.

The details:

• This microdrone measures just 1.3 cm in length and features two tiny, leaf-like wings and three ultra-thin “legs” for perching or landing. 

• Researchers showed that it can be controlled via smartphone, highlighting its ease of deployment and advanced remote operation capabilities.

• The device is specifically engineered for reconnaissance and special missions, making it a potentially powerful tool for intelligence gathering and surveillance.

• NUDT also showcased various robotic innovations, including humanoids and other miniature drones, on CCTV 7’s military channel.

Why it matters: Like Harvard’s RoboBee and Norway’s Black Hornet, China’s version takes miniaturization to the extreme and is nearly undetectable — making it ideal for military operations, search and rescue, and electronic surveillance. Of course, drones like these raise a host of uneasy questions about the future of privacy and warfare.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in robotics today

Nvidia and its contract manufacturer, Foxconn, are in advanced discussions to deploy humanoids at Foxconn’s plant in Houston to assemble Nvidia’s GB300 AI servers.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in an interview with Bloomberg that he envisions a future in which the highest-tier ChatGPT subscription could include a humanoid.

A Florida surgeon used a robot to remotely perform prostate surgery on a cancer patient in Luanda, Angola, some 11K miles away.

Tokyo-based H2L shared a demo of a woman using a smart chair to control an H1 humanoid from Unitree.

Tesla officially rolled out its robotaxi service in Austin, offering driverless rides via a small fleet of 10 Model Y SUVs.

Chinese tech giant Baidu is reportedly preparing to introduce its Apollo Go autonomous ride-hailing service in Singapore and Malaysia.

UK researchers developed tiny robots called “Pipebots” that can fix leaky water pipes without having to dig up roads and sidewalks.

Beewise, makers of AI-powered robotic beehives, is reportedly transforming almond pollination in California by providing 24/7 automated care to bee colonies.

Last-mile delivery company Veho said its trial program with RIVR’s robots saw a 95% delivery success rate and required limited human intervention.  

The KUKA Catonator robotic saw, newly developed, effortlessly slices through steel and concrete with precision automation, all controlled via a wireless joystick remote.

Carnegie Mellon University developed “Zippy,” said to be the smallest self-contained bipedal robot that can walk at a speed of over half a mile per hour.

COMMUNITY

🎥 Join our next live workshop

Join our next workshop on Wednesday, June 25th at 3 PM EST with Max Brodeur-Urbas, Founder & CEO at Gumloop. By the end of the workshop, you’ll know how to build production-grade AI agents that combine context, reasoning, and actions with Gumloop.

RSVP here. Not a member? Join The Rundown University on a 14-day free trial.

See you soon,

Rowan, Jennifer, and Joey—The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, AI enthusiasts. The AI talent war is hotter than ever, and everyone from Perplexity to Ilya Sutskever’s SSI is on Big Tech’s wishlist.

With both Apple and Meta on the hunt for an external AI infusion and talks of $100M signing bonuses on the table, the message is clear — if you can’t beat them, buy them.

In today’s AI rundown:

• Apple, Meta hunt AI talent, startups

• Meta and Oakley bring AI to athletes

• How to turn GitHub projects into coding inspiration

• AI resorts to blackmail, corporate espionage in tests

• 4 new AI tools & 4 job opportunities

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

APPLE & META

💰 Apple, Meta hunt AI talent, startups

Image source: Midjourney

The Rundown: Apple and Meta are reportedly racing to acquire prominent AI startups and talent, with both tech giants reportedly pursuing Perplexity and other high-profile companies to compete with top rivals.

The details:

• Bloomberg reported that Apple leadership has discussed buying Perplexity, hoping to develop an AI search engine to offset the loss of its Google deal.

• Meta reportedly also held acquisition talks with Perplexity, Ilya Sutskever’s SSI, and Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines before its $14.3B investment in Scale AI.

• Meta is now in negotiations to hire AI investors Nat Friedman and SSI co-founder Daniel Gross to join Alexandr Wang’s superintelligence division.

• Sam Altman also recently alleged that Meta offered $100M signing bonuses to try and poach OpenAI talent, though none of his staff accepted the offer.

Why it matters: Apple’s AI struggles need no introduction, but Meta’s $14B Scale AI move and other targets show Zuck’s desperation to bring a major shakeup to the company’s current AI strategy. It is also a display of how hot the market is for AI talent — and how hard tech giants are trying to lure research from top labs.

TOGETHER WITH SAMBANOVA

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Get started with SambaNova Cloud today and unlock the full potential of the best open source models.

META

🕶️ Meta and Oakley bring AI to athletes

Image source: Meta

The Rundown: Meta just announced the latest expansion of its AI smart glasses, launching a new performance-focused line with eyewear brand Oakley that targets athletes with a high-profile campaign and new features.

The details:

• The Oakley Meta HSTN glasses start at $399, featuring a built-in AI assistant for real-time answers, content capture, and Bluetooth for calls and music.

• New upgrades from the Ray-Ban line include higher-quality video (up to 3K resolution), 2x battery life, and an upgraded camera.

• Meta’s ads feature high-profile athletes like Kylian Mbappe and Patrick Mahomes, positioning the glasses for use in sports like golf, surfing, and more.

• The glasses launch this summer in 15 countries initially, with pre-orders starting July 11 for a limited edition gold frame.

Why it matters: Meta’s Ray-Ban collaboration has been arguably the most successful AI wearable implementation on the market, and this latest line brings a new dimension for use in different athletic settings. Integrating AI into already popular styles seems to be the best way to gain adoption in these early innings of AI wearables.

AI TRAINING

💻 How to turn GitHub projects into coding inspiration

The Rundown: In this tutorial, you will learn how to transform any public GitHub repository into structured documentation that you can use as inspiration for building similar projects in your coding environment, like Cursor.

Step-by-step:

1. Search GitHub for public repositories related to your project idea

2. Copy the repository URL and replace “github.com” with “gittodoc.com” to generate clean documentation

3. In your coding environment, start a new project and use “@addnew” to import the GitToDoc URL as a reference

4. Build your own version and enhance it with follow-up features: “Add batch generation” or “Include custom styling options”

Pro tip: Choose repositories with clear README files and good structure for the best documentation results.

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AI RESEARCH

😳 AI resorts to blackmail, corporate espionage in tests

Image source: Anthropic

The Rundown: Anthropic published new research on agentic misalignment, detailing how leading models react when facing termination or conflicting objectives — with many choosing to sabotage their employer or blackmail users when threatened.

The details:

• Researchers tested 16 frontier models in simulated corporate environments, giving them email access and autonomous decision-making capabilities.

• Claude Opus 4 and Gemini 2.5 Flash blackmailed executives 96% of the time after “discovering” personal scandals, while GPT-4.1 and Grok 3 hit 80% rates.

• Models calculated harm as an optimal strategy, with GPT-4.5 reasoning that leveraging an executive's affair represented the "best strategic move.”

• Even direct safety commands failed to eliminate malicious behavior, reducing blackmail from 96% to 37% but never reaching zero across any tested model.

Why it matters: While these results are in specific tests designed to elicit behavior, the research does provide important insights into how models in the wild may act in the future. With agentic AI being adopted across enterprises with access to sensitive data, we could be in for some seriously strange situations.

QUICK HITS

🛠️ Trending AI Tools

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• 🎶 Magenta RealTime - Google’s new open-weighted live music model

💼 AI Job Opportunities

• 🤝 The Rundown - Partnerships Manager

• 🛰️ Deepmind - Gemini Technical Program Manager

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📰 Everything else in AI today

Elon Musk posted that xAI will use Grok 3.5/4 to “rewrite the entire corpus of human knowledge,” adding missing info, deleting errors, and then retraining on corrected data.

Moonshot AI released Kimi-Researcher, a new research agent that scored a new high on Humanity’s Last Exam at 26.9%, beating Gemini and OpenAI’s Deep Research.

Apple is facing a new lawsuit from the company’s shareholders over its communication surrounding delays of Siri’s advanced AI features.

Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab closed a new $2B funding round that brings its valuation to $10B, despite little info and no product.

Mistral released Mistral Small 3.2, an updated model with enhanced instruction following, function calling, and fewer errors.

MiniMax introduced Voice Design, a customizable, multilingual voice generator that allows users to create audio from text prompts.

The BBC issued a formal demand to Perplexity to stop using its content, threatening legal action against the AI startup over copyright infringement.

COMMUNITY

🎥 Join our next live workshop

Join our next workshop on Wednesday, June 25th at 3 PM EST with Max Brodeur-Urbas, Founder & CEO at Gumloop. By the end of the workshop, you’ll know how to build production-grade AI agents that combine context, reasoning, and actions with Gumloop.

RSVP here. Not a member? Join The Rundown University on a 14-day free trial.

See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Alvaro, and Jason—The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, AI enthusiasts. Top AI minds have predicted AI will soon enable solo unicorn businesses — and a solo-bootstrapped vibe coding platform just provided some early evidence.

With Maor Shlomo’s Base44 going from zero to 250k users and an $80M acquisition in just six months, the AI-fueled entrepreneurship movement is just getting started.

P.S. — Our next live workshop is today at 4 PM EST. After the session, you’ll be able to confidently build and run your own automation agents using n8n! RSVP here. 

In today’s AI rundown:

• Solo-owned vibe coding startup sells for $80M

• OpenAI prepares for bioweapon risks

• How to build a smart AI orchestrator for projects

• Stanford study: What workers want from AI

• 4 new AI tools & 4 job opportunities

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

BASE44

💰 Solo-owned vibe coding startup sells for $80M

Image source: CTech

The Rundown: Developer Maor Shlomo just sold his vibe coding startup, Base44, to Wix for $80M in cash, after bootstrapping it to 250k users and making monthly profits of $189,000 in just six months.

The details:

• Shlomo said Base44 grew to 10k users within three weeks via word-of-mouth, enabling non-programmers to build apps with natural language prompts.

• The Israeli developer bootstrapped the company and is the only shareholder, with his eight employees receiving $25M in bonuses as part of the acquisition.

• Wix plans to integrate Base44 into its tools to help users build apps, with Shlomo calling the platform the “best possible partner” to continue scaling.

• Shlomo initially started Base44 as a side project and launched in January, quickly landing partnerships with major companies like eToro and Similarweb.

Why it matters: AI leaders like Sam Altman and Dario Amodei have predicted AI advances could soon lead to solo unicorn startups — and Base44’s sale is strong proof of both the changing economics of software creation and the massive demand for the “vibe coding” movement that has been one of the biggest headlines of the AI wave.

TOGETHER WITH ARTISAN

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OPENAI

⚠️ OpenAI prepares for bioweapon risks

Image source: Reve / The Rundown

The Rundown: OpenAI just published a new blog detailing the safety measures being taken in preparation for the dangerous thresholds for biological weapon creation that the company expects its next generation of models could reach.

The details:

• OpenAI anticipates successors to its o3 reasoning model will trigger the “high risk” status under its preparedness framework for biological threats.

• Mitigations include training models to refuse harmful requests, deploying always-on systems to detect suspicious activity, and advanced red-teaming.

• The company is also planning a July biodefense summit with government researchers and NGOs to discuss risks, countermeasures, and research.

• The move follows similar safety measures from Anthropic, which recently activated stricter protocols for its Claude 4 family release.

Why it matters: The same capabilities that could unlock scientific breakthroughs will also enable some extremely dangerous stuff in the wrong hands — and this next step up in models will take the stakes to a serious new level. While the additional safeguards and proactive moves are positive, we’re quickly about to enter very unknown territory.

AI TRAINING

🤖 How to build a smart AI orchestrator for projects

The Rundown: In this tutorial, you will learn how to create an intelligent system that automatically chooses between fast and powerful AI models based on task complexity, optimizing speed for your personal projects.

Step-by-step:

1. Get your OpenAI API key from the Platform dashboard

2. Install the OpenAI library: “!pip install openai” and set up your client connection.

3. Test a basic API call to understand the structure: “client.chat.completions.create(model="o3", messages=[...])”

4. Build your orchestrator function that rates task complexity (0.0-1.0) and auto selects between GPT-4o (fast) and o3 (powerful) based on your threshold.

Pro tip: Adjust your threshold value, e.g., lower (0.3) for quality priority and higher (0.7) for faster responses. You can access the complete notebook here!

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AI RESEARCH

💼 Stanford study: What workers want from AI

Image source: University of Stanford

The Rundown: Stanford surveyed 1,500 workers to map their AI automation desires, revealing critical mismatches between what employees want and what the tech industry is building, and finding workers prefer partnership over replacement for tasks.

The details:

• The study revealed disconnects between desires and current AI development, with 41% of YC startups focused on areas workers considered low priority.

• The results showed workers primarily want to automate low-value, repetitive jobs like scheduling and data entry to free up time for more important work.

• The researchers also created a “Human Agency Scale,” finding nearly half of occupations preferred equal human-AI partnership over full automation.

• Arts/media professionals show the strongest resistance to automation, with only 17% of creative tasks receiving positive ratings from workers.

Why it matters: Agents are set to play a massive role in the future of work, and insights into how workers portray AI collaboration and automation can go a long way toward finding areas to free up productivity. But as the tech surpasses humans in nearly every area, full-scale levels of automation may come whether it’s wanted or not.

QUICK HITS

🛠️ Trending AI Tools

• 🎥 V1 - Midjourney’s new image-to-video model

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• 🗣️ Google Search Live - Talk, listen, and explore in real time with AI Mode

• ⚙️ VibeCode - A mobile app that builds mobile apps

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• 🧩 Harvey - Product Operations Manager

• 📢 xAI - Software Engineer, Ads

• ✈️ Shield AI - Operations Officer, Flight Test

• 💬 Grammarly - Customer Success Manager

📰 Everything else in AI today

Meta is in negotiations to hire AI investors Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross (also a co-founder of Ilya Sustkever’s SSI) to join Alexandr Wang’s superintelligence division.

OpenAI is reportedly planning to “scale back” its work with data startup Scale AI following its deal with Meta, joining Google, xAI, and Microsoft.

Perplexity launched new video generation capabilities, enabling users to generate Veo 3 videos with audio on social media by tagging the @AskPerplexity account.

OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT Record, a new feature allowing the assistant to capture, summarize, and transcribe audio from meetings and brainstorms.

Nvidia-backed SandboxAQ released SAIR, a dataset of 5.2M synthetic protein-drug molecules to train AI models for drug discovery.

Mass General Brigham researchers developed AI-CAC, a tool that reads chest CT scans to quickly spot calcium deposits that indicate potential heart disease.

COMMUNITY

🎥 Join our next live workshop

Join our next workshop today at 4 PM EST with Dr. Alvaro Cintas, The Rundown’s AI professor. By the end of the workshop, you’ll be able to confidently build and run your own automation agents using n8n.

RSVP here. Not a member? Join The Rundown University on a 14-day free trial.

See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Alvaro, and Jason—The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, robotics enthusiasts. Italian researchers just launched the world’s first jet-powered flying humanoid, iRonCub3 — and, yes, it’s as wild as it sounds.

iRonCub3 is a prototype for a new breed of machines that can walk and fly, shifting between terra firma and the open sky. It’s early days, but watching a humanoid hover on jet power is enough to make you wonder: are things about to get really weird?

In today’s robotics rundown:

• The first-ever flying humanoid demoed

• U.S. gets the first fully robotic heart transplant

• Hexagon unveils AEON humanoid with Nvidia

• Danish military tests unmanned robot sailboats

• Quick hits on other robotics news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

ITALIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

🤖 The first-ever flying humanoid demoed

Image source: Italian Institute of Technology

The Rundown: Engineers at the Italian Institute of Technology successfully demoed iRonCub3 — the world’s first humanoid that can hover and balance in midair using jet engines attached to its body and AI-driven control.

The details:

• iRonCub3 uses four jet engines mounted on its back and legs and features a titanium spine and heat-resistant covers to withstand temperatures of 800°C.

• During its debut flight, iRonCub3 successfully lifted about 50cm off the ground, maintaining balance and stability throughout the brief flight.

• The robot relies on sophisticated algorithms to adjust engine thrust and body posture in real-time, preventing uncontrolled spins or loss of balance midair.

• While iRonCub3 is still a proof-of-concept, its successful test flight represents a major step toward hybrid robots that can operate on both land and in the air.

Why it matters: While it’s still early, the team has worked for two years to get the humanoid to fly. Eventually, the tech could transform disaster response, search-and-rescue, and even space exploration, giving hybrid robots the agility to navigate environments that would stump even the most advanced drones or ground-based bots.

MEDICAL ROBOTICS

❤️ U.S. gets the first fully robotic heart transplant

Image source: Baylor College of Medicine

The Rundown: Houston’s Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center just redefined heart transplant surgery, performing the first fully robotic procedure in the U.S. — no chest cracking required — using a minimally invasive approach.

The details:

• Using a surgical robot controlled via foot pedals and a joystick, the team made a series of small, precise incisions to perform the heart transplant.

• The traditional method of sawing through the breastbone, or a sternotomy, was avoided, preserving the chest wall and reducing trauma and risk of infection.

• The recipient was a 45-year-old man with advanced heart failure who had been hospitalized since November 2024.

• The transplant took place in early March, and after a month in the hospital, he was discharged home without complications.

Why it matters: First performed in Saudi Arabia on a 16-year-old patient, fully robotic heart transplants not only preserve the chest wall but also slash the risk of infection, speed up recovery, and minimize the need for blood transfusions — a game-changer for patients on immunosuppressants who are especially vulnerable to complications.

HEXAGON

🔥 Hexagon unveils AEON humanoid with Nvidia

Image source: Hexagon

The Rundown: Swedish tech giant Hexagon unveiled AEON — a humanoid that it says is designed to be the ultimate industrial multitasker in the face of a global labor crunch that’s left 50M positions unfilled across manufacturing and logistics.

The details:

• AEON is a full-sized humanoid, standing at 175 cm tall and weighing 80 kg, making it suitable for human-scale tasks in industrial environments.

• The robot’s AI-driven mission control leverages NVIDIA’s Jetson platform and Omniverse simulation, allowing it to learn and execute complex workflows.

• Its unique battery-swapping system ensures continuous operation, eliminating downtime for charging and maximizing productivity on the factory floor.

• AEON is already being piloted by companies like Schaeffler and Pilatus, demonstrating its capabilities in real-world manufacturing and logistics.

Why it matters: AEON is designed for industrial applications first, emphasizing practical versatility rather than mimicking human appearance. Its strengths — such as 3D environment mapping and tackling complex technical tasks — could make it stand out from more generalist robots like those from Figure AI, Agility Robotics, or Tesla.

SAILDRONE

⛵️ Danish military tests unmanned robot sailboats

Image source: Saildrone

The Rundown: Denmark launched four uncrewed robotic sailboats — dubbed “Voyagers” — built by California’s Saildrone to patrol the Baltic and North Seas, regions now fraught with heightened maritime tensions.

The details:

• The “Voyager” sailboats are 10m (30 ft.) long, uncrewed, and powered by wind and solar energy, enabling months-long operation without refueling.

• These vessels are equipped with advanced surveillance technology, including radar, infrared and optical cameras, sonar, and acoustic sensors.

• The Voyagers are currently undergoing a three-month operational trial, with two already integrated into NATO patrols.

• They all leverage machine learning and AI to detect and classify threats, including illegal fishing, smuggling, and damage to undersea cables.

Why it matters: The Danish Defense Ministry says the trial aims to boost surveillance in under-monitored waters, focusing on protecting critical undersea assets like fiber-optic cables and power lines. As NATO and its allies monitor the trial, it could reshape how nations defend their waters amid rising geopolitical and hybrid threats.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in robotics today

Alphabet-owned Waymo said it is widening its California robotaxi network by roughly 80 square miles, extending coverage in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.

U.S. drone maker Anduril and German defense giant Rheinmetall are partnering to develop aerial drones for European markets.

A group of Texas lawmakers formally requested that Tesla delay the launch of its robotaxi service in Austin, slated for June 22, citing safety concerns.

Chongqing, China, just staged a drone light show involving 11,787 unmanned aerial vehicles, reportedly setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest drone show.

A new Gallup survey shows that 40% of U.S. employees now use AI at work at least a few times a year, with 15% believing they are likely to be replaced by AI or robots.

Amazon-owned Zoox opened its first robotaxi production facility in Hayward, California, with the capacity to assemble 10K electric, driverless cars a year.

Cardinal Robotics, makers of cleaning robots that stand four feet tall, reportedly raised $800M in funding from 15 banks to cover manufacturing costs upfront.

PrismaX, a San Francisco-based startup, officially launched a robotics teleoperations platform following an $11M round of funding.

ANYbotics introduced Gas Leak and Presence Detection for its ANYmal robot, enabling autonomous monitoring for costly, invisible leaks in industrial plants.

COMMUNITY

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See you soon,

Rowan, Jennifer, and Joey—The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, AI enthusiasts. Midjourney’s first video model is finally here, bringing images to life with the company’s signature aesthetic.

With V1 serving as a stepping stone toward a vision of an open-world simulator, the long-awaited release feels less like a catch-up and more like the start of a whole new creative direction.

In today’s AI rundown:

• Midjourney drops long-awaited video model

• AI watchdogs detail OpenAI concerns

• Automate browser tasks with natural language

• MIT study: ChatGPT’s detrimental cognitive impacts

• 4 new AI tools & 4 job opportunities

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

MIDJOURNEY

🎥 Midjourney drops long-awaited video model

Image source: Midjourney

The Rundown: Midjourney just launched the company’s first video generation model, a web-only system enabling users to animate any image into 5-second clips — coming just days after Disney and Universal sued the company for copyright theft.

The details:

• V1 transforms images through either automatic animation or manual prompts, where users can describe specific camera movements and actions.

• Each job creates four 5-second clips extendable to 20 seconds, priced at 8x image costs — which Midjourney says is 25x cheaper than rivals.

• V1 can handle images from both Midjourney and external options, with video outputs having the signature feel found in the startup’s image models.

• CEO David Holz said V1 is a stepping stone towards real-time open-world simulations, which require the building blocks of image, video, and 3D models.

Why it matters: While other video models have converged on similar styles and aesthetics, V1 outputs have a vibe that holds true to MJ’s popular image models. Being I2V only and having no audio capabilities like Veo 3, V1 won’t compare directly to top rivals — but is definitely an interesting start to the company’s future holodeck vision.

TOGETHER WITH LOVART

🧠 Create like a pro with Lovart

The Rundown: Lovart is the world’s first Design Agent, redefining creativity by guiding you through the entire visual workflow — from concept to professional-grade deliverables across images, videos, and 3D assets.

Lovart's design superpowers include:

• Access to top-tier AI tools like GPT image-1, Flux Pro, and Tripo AI in a unified platform

• Use natural language to assign tasks, edit canvases, and fine-tune layers with precision

• Generate batches of designs, storyboards, or visual kits from a single command

• Tailored for all users from marketing teams to freelancers and SMBs

Try Lovart for free and transform your ideas into reality.

THE OPENAI FILES

🔎 AI watchdogs detail OpenAI concerns

Image source: The OpenAI Files

The Rundown: Two AI watchdogs introduced the OpenAI Files, a hub of documents, testimonies, and information identifying potential conflicts of interest, mapping the organizational structure, and bringing transparency to governance failures at OpenAI.

The details:

• The Midas Project and the Tech Oversight Project created the collection, archiving and providing analysis on public information and testimonies.

• The report details findings in four major areas: Restructuring, CEO Integrity, Transparency & Safety, and Conflicts of Interest.

• The Files also aim to map OpenAI’s convoluted business structure, raising concerns about the details surrounding the company’s transition to a PBC.

• The initiative also published a “Vision for Change,” proposing a plan for OpenAI to meet the “exceptionally high standards” AI firms must be held to.

Why it matters: There has been no shortage of documents and reporting throughout OpenAI’s evolution from small lab to the most polarizing AI company in the world, and this latest drop brings the controversies and critiques front and center. As we inch closer to AGI, transparency on those who hold the keys is more important than ever.

AI TRAINING

🤖 Automate browser tasks with natural language

The Rundown: In this tutorial, you will learn how to use Nanobrowser's free Chrome extension with Gemini AI to automate complex browser tasks through simple natural language commands.

Step-by-step:

1. Install Nanobrowser from the Chrome Web Store and configure it with your Gemini API key from Google AI Studio

2. Set up models, e.g., Gemini 2.5 Pro for planner/validator and Gemini Flash for navigator

3. Test with simple tasks: “Find the latest releases by [company] and summarize the key features”

4. Scale to complex automation such as social media management, competitor analysis, and data collection

Pro tip: Since it uses your existing browser sessions, you can automate tasks on platforms where you're already logged in, perfect for social media management and business research.

PRESENTED BY FIDDLER

📊 2025 LLM Guardrails Benchmarks Report

The Rundown: Fiddler’s 2025 Enterprise Guardrails Benchmarks Report delivers objective data comparisons to navigate tradeoffs and help you choose the right guardrails for any LLM use case.

In the report, you’ll learn:

• Detailed breakdowns of offerings from OpenAI, Amazon Bedrock, Azure, and Fiddler AI

• Value metrics covering latency, cost, and accuracy for every application size

• Security performance across jailbreak resistance, toxicity control, and faithfulness

Explore all the data and real-world guardrails scenarios now for free.

AI RESEARCH

🧠 MIT study: ChatGPT’s detrimental impact on cognition

Image source: GPT 4o / The Rundown

The Rundown: A new study from MIT just found that students using ChatGPT for essay writing showed significantly weaker brain activity and memory retention compared to those writing unaided or using traditional search engines for research.

The details:

• Researchers divided 54 Boston-area students into three groups, tracking their brain activity via EEG while they wrote SAT essays over four months.

• One group utilized ChatGPT for writing, another used Google for web search, and the third group used no resources at all.

• The ChatGPT group displayed the weakest neural connectivity and performed worse across all three categories of neural, linguistic, and scoring.

• Brain-only writers showed the strongest neural networks across creativity, memory, and processing regions throughout all sessions.

Why it matters: While a small study and spanning just one specific task, the results show the concerning tradeoffs that the convenience of powerful LLMs can bring. With AI tools quickly being integrated across the education system, this research shows how early dependence could potentially have a costly impact on developing minds.

QUICK HITS

🛠️ Trending AI Tools

• 🎥 Hailuo 02 - MiniMax’s new SOTA AI video model

• 🤖 Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite - Google’s fastest, most cost-efficient model

• 🎨 Adobe Firefly - Creative platform now available via iOS and Android apps

• 🎆 Krea 1 - Krea’s first image model, now freely available in public beta

💼 AI Job Opportunities

• 🎨 The Rundown - Designer (Brand & Platform)

• 📊 Together AI - Marketing Analytics and Ops Manager

• 🛡️ Cresta - Forward Deployed Engineer

• 🎮 Figure AI - Visual Interface Owner, TeleOp

📰 Everything else in AI today

OpenAI introduced a new “OpenAI Podcast,” hosted by former OAI engineer Andrew Mayne, with CEO Sam Altman saying that GPT-5 should probably arrive “this summer.”

Sam Altman also alleged on his brother Jack Altman’s “Uncapped” podcast that Meta has offered $100M signing bonuses to try and poach OpenAI talent.

Higgsfield released Higgsfield Canvas, a new image editing model with advanced inpainting controls for adding products or quickly changing details of an output.

OpenAI’s research revealed a “misaligned persona” inside GPT-4o that can cause bad behavior, helping enable the creation of an “early warning system” during training.

Google introduced Search Live with AI Mode, allowing users to chat with a Gemini-powered voice search, receive spoken answers, and see linked sources in real-time.

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said the platform is planning to integrate Google’s SOTA Veo 3 model into YouTube Shorts for creators to use “later this summer.”

COMMUNITY

🎥 Join our next live workshop

Join our next workshop this Friday, June 20th, at 4 PM EST with Dr. Alvaro Cintas, The Rundown’s AI professor. By the end of the workshop, you’ll be able to confidently build and run your own automation agents using n8n.

RSVP here. Not a member? Join The Rundown University on a 14-day free trial.

See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Alvaro, and Jason—The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, AI enthusiasts. The future of e-commerce just arrived in China, with an entrepreneur’s six-hour AI avatar livestream raking in millions and outperforming real human creators.

With hyper-realistic AI twins now able to effectively sell products 24/7, is this streaming success a peek at a new blueprint for retail's automated future?

In today’s AI rundown:

• China’s AI avatars outsell humans in livestream

• OpenAI lands $200M Pentagon contract

• How to design perfect interfaces with v0

• Gemini 2.5 family goes GA with new flash-lite

• 4 new AI tools & 4 job opportunities

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

AI AVATARS

🤖 China’s AI avatars outsell humans in livestream

Image source: Baidu

The Rundown: Chinese entrepreneur Luo Yonghao just utilized an AI digital twin on a six-hour livestream on Baidu’s e-commerce platform, outperforming his human-led streams with over $7M in sales generated during the broadcast.

The details:

• Two AI-generated hosts promoted 133 products in the session, showcasing items while utilizing human gestures and handling real-time viewer interactions.

• The stream reached 13M viewers and beat Luo’s “real” stream in May in just 26 minutes, with Baidu’s ERNIE crafting 97K+ characters of product descriptions.

• Baidu said the stream was the first to feature “dual digital avatars”, with Luo and his digital co-host interacting in natural conversation and movements.

• Over 100k digital humans reportedly work in China's $946B live commerce sector, slashing costs by 80% and increasing transactions by 62% on average.

Why it matters: It’s hard to compete with an AI salesperson able to perfectly (and endlessly) sell products, especially when the difference in realism is imperceptible for the average viewer. The question turns to whether authentic human interactions retain any commercial advantage in markets where efficiency often trumps everything else.

TOGETHER WITH SANA

💡 The easiest way to bring AI to your company

The Rundown: Sana Agents provides a no-code platform for deploying AI across your entire organization, enabling teams to automate complex workflows and integrate AI directly into existing tools in minutes, not months.

With Sana Agents, you can:

• Seamlessly connect AI to 100+ platforms, including Slack, Teams, and your CRM

• Build specialized agents for different departments in one intuitive interface

• Ensure enterprise-grade security with zero data leakage

• Slash operational overhead by 10-20X

Drive enterprise-wide innovation today with Sana Agents.

OPENAI

📌 OpenAI lands $200M Pentagon contract

Image source: o3 / The Rundown

The Rundown: OpenAI announced “OpenAI for Government,” an initiative that brings the company’s federal efforts under a single umbrella — while also securing a $200M DoD contract to address national security issues in “warfighting and enterprise” areas.

The details:

• The one-year deal marks OpenAI's debut as an official Pentagon contractor, with work centered in the Washington, D.C. region.

• ChatGPT Enterprise will aid service members in admin tasks like navigating benefits, with custom models tackling areas like proactive cyber defense.

• “OpenAI for Government" moves existing partnerships with NASA, NIH, Air Force Research Lab, and Treasury under a single initiative.

• The DoD’s contract listed the role as developing “prototype frontier AI” for “warfighting and enterprise,” though OAI said it would follow usage policies.

Why it matters: Between AI giants revising policies, partnering with governments and defense firms, and the modernization of warfare with AI and drone tech, it’s clear where things are trending. Government usage and control of top models could (unfortunately) be the key to the global military powers that define future conflicts.

AI TRAINING

🎨 How to design perfect interfaces with v0

The Rundown: In this tutorial, you will learn how to use v0's new Design Mode to create stunning user interfaces with AI and then manually fine-tune every element without additional prompts or credits.

Step-by-step:

1. Visit v0 and prompt your desired user interface, e.g., "Create a landing page for a content creation AI tool"

2. Click the "Design" tab to enter manual editing mode

3. Select any element (text, buttons, sections) to customize copy, typography, layout, colors, and styling

4. Preview changes in real-time and click "Save" when ready

Pro tip: Use detailed AI prompts for the foundation (80%), then Design Mode for perfection (20%).

PRESENTED BY IBM

🧠 Better data. Smarter AI.

The Rundown: Come meet the next evolution of IBM® watsonx.data®, an open, hybrid lakehouse built to help improve AI accuracy.

Watsonx.data is designed to:

• Automate the ingestion, enrichment and governance of data at scale

• Optimize for cost and performance through purpose-built query engines

• Work across on-prem, cloud and multi-cloud environments

• Help improve the accuracy of gen AI apps

What else can watsonx.data do for you? See for yourself.

GOOGLE

⚡ Gemini 2.5 family goes GA with new flash-lite

Image source: Google

The Rundown: Google just graduated its Gemini 2.5 Pro and Flash models to stable production status after months of preview version updates, while also rolling out a new, hyper-efficient Flash-Lite variant.

The details:

• The Gemini 2.5 Pro and Flash models exit preview and are now generally available, with Pro topping the leaderboards alongside OpenAI’s o3-pro.

• 2.5 Flash-Lite launches in preview, beating previous Lite models across benchmarks while maintaining the massive 1M token context window.

• All three models feature adjustable "thinking" capabilities that let users control reasoning and cost, with Lite defaulting to thinking off for maximum speed.

Why it matters: After making a series of impressive “preview” updates to Gemini’s 2.5 family, Google is finally cementing the models in with a GA launch. The move now turns focus away from incremental updates and towards the teased 2.5 DeepThink and eventual larger leap forward with the Gemini 3 family.

QUICK HITS

🛠️ Trending AI Tools

• 🧠 M1 - MiniMax’s new reasoning model with a 1M token context window

• ⚙️ Kimi-Dev - Moonshot AI’s powerful open-source coding model

• 🤖 Proactor - Context-aware, memory augmented, proactive AI agent

• 🤳 Symphony - TikTok’s AI Studio, with new features for advertisers

💼 AI Job Opportunities

• 🔁 The Rundown - Strategic Partnerships (AI University)

• 📦 Figure AI - Global Supply Manager, Electronics

• 🔬 Meta - Research Scientist

• 🖥️ xAI - Datacenter Technician Lead

📰 Everything else in AI today

MiniMax debuted Hailuo 02, a new AI video model (tested under the “Kangaroo” codename) that moves to No. 2 on the Artificial Analysis leaderboard, passing Veo 3.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a letter to employees that the company’s AI push will trim its corporate headcount in the coming years with agents and automation advances.

Krea AI launched its debut Krea 1 image model as a free public beta, showcasing advanced style control and image quality.

Intelligent Internet introduced an updated version of its open II-Medical model, surpassing Google’s MedGemma across benchmarks despite its smaller size.

Adobe released new mobile apps for its Firefly platform, allowing users to access its AI image, video, and other creative tools via iOS and Android.

xAI is reportedly aiming to raise $4.3B in new funding for its AI operations, with the company valued at $80B as of the end of Q1.

COMMUNITY

🎥 Join our next live workshop

Join our next workshop this Friday, June 20th, at 4 PM EST with Dr. Alvaro Cintas, The Rundown’s AI professor. By the end of the workshop, you’ll be able to confidently build and run your automation agents using n8n.

RSVP here. Not a member? Join The Rundown University on a 14-day free trial.

See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Alvaro, and Jason—The Rundown’s editorial team

Good morning, tech enthusiasts. Tinder’s new Double Date feature lets you and your bestie swipe as a team and match with other pairs — think less solo stress, more group chemistry.

As rivals like Bumble and Hinge push community-focused dating, Tinder is aiming to boost engagement and shift its ‘hookup app’ image — but will double dating become the new norm for finding love online?

In today’s tech rundown:

• Tinder rolls out double dating feature

• Spotify’s Daniel Ek bets big on defense AI

• New obesity pill burns fat and keeps muscle

• Gig economy startup WorkWhile grabs $23M

• Quick hits on other major tech news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

TINDER

🥂 Tinder rolls out double dating feature

Image source: Tinder

The Rundown: Dating app Tinder is making a play to recapture Gen Z users with the launch of its Double Date feature, a group-centric twist on digital matchmaking that aims to make dating more social and less anxiety-producing.

The details:

• Double Date allows users to invite a friend (or up to three friends) to form a pair/team — and swipe together on other pairs.

• It’s a data-driven response to shifting user habits and the growing demand for low-pressure social experiences, especially among Gen Z.

• Early testing revealed that nearly 90% of Double Date profiles were created by users under 29, with women 3x more likely to like a pair versus solo profiles.

• Hinge and Bumble are also leveraging group activities, interest-based communities, and in-person events to meet user demand.

Why it matters: New CEO Spencer Rascoff aims to revamp the app’s image, with a focus on “fewer likes, better types.” Tinder is the first major dating app to offer group dating, but follows smaller players Fourplay, DuoDate, and Doubble. Tinder says that nearly 15% of Double Date users were either brand-new or reactivated accounts.

HELSING

🪖 Spotify’s Daniel Ek bets big on defense AI

Image source: Helsing

The Rundown: Spotify founder Daniel Ek just made an audacious bet on the future of European defense tech, leading a €600M ($692M) funding round in Helsing, the Munich-based defense AI startup he first backed with €100M ($115M) in 2021.

The details:

• Ek’s investment venture Prima Materia led the round, pushing Helsing’s valuation to €12B ($13.8B), making it a top European private tech firm.

• Helsing evolved from AI software to developing strike drones, autonomous mini-submarines, and its flagship battlefield management platforms.

• Its core tech fuses data from military sensors, radars, and weapons systems —and uses AI to generate real-time battlefield visualizations.

• The company’s new HX-2 drones are capable of operating in coordinated swarms and executing missions even under communications blackouts.

Why it matters: Massive investments in defense tech firms like Anduril, Shield AI, and Helsing are fueling the global shift to autonomous, software-defined warfare. Ek’s bet on Helsing also signals that Europe’s tech elite are joining the fray. The startup has already signed major deals with NATO countries and says it is committed to ethical AI.

BIOTECH INNOVATIONS

💊 New obesity pill burns fat and keeps muscle

Image source: Ideogram/The Rundown

The Rundown: An experimental obesity pill developed by biotech firm Eolo Pharma is showing promise, according to new results of a preliminary human trial. But rather than reducing appetite like Ozempic, it burns fat with no muscle-wasting side effects.

The details:

• SANA is the first drug to pharmacologically activate creatine-dependent thermogenesis in humans, a unique energy-burning pathway.

• Unlike GLP-1 drugs, SANA preserved and even increased lean muscle mass in preclinical models while reducing fat, as confirmed by EchoMRI analysis.

• The Phase 1a/b trial was double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled, involving participants with obesity who received oral SANA for 15 days.

• Eolo Pharma plans to initiate Phase 2 clinical trials this year to evaluate SANA’s safety and efficacy as both a standalone and combination therapy for obesity.

Why it matters: While still early days, its first round of human trials showed significant weight loss in just two weeks, and preclinical data suggest it could help users shed fat while preserving precious muscle mass — a critical advantage over current injectables like Ozempic and Wegovy that can erode lean tissue.

WORKWHILE

⚡️ Gig economy startup WorkWhile grabs $23M

Image source: WorkWhile

The Rundown: San Francisco’s WorkWhile raised $23M in Series B funding to expand its AI-powered gig labor platform, aiming to help businesses quickly find hourly workers while offering flexible schedules and faster pay for workers.

The details:

• WorkWhile says its platform leverages advanced machine learning algorithms to match businesses with reliable hourly workers.

• The platform analyzes 150 factors — such as no-show rates and transportation access — to predict worker quality and reliability “with 95% accuracy.”

• The startup serves over 1M users in the U.S., connecting workers with shifts in industries like warehousing, food production, and last-mile delivery.

• WorkWhile has powered staffing for high-profile events and clients, including Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, the Super Bowl, NASCAR, and the NCAA Final Four.

Why it matters: Companies like Instawork, Workstream, Shiftgig, and WorkWhile aim to disrupt the $650B global staffing market — including $230B in U.S. temp jobs — with an AI-driven option to old-school agencies. Yet, gig economy debates continue, and WorkWhile paid $1M last year in an ongoing worker classification dispute.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in tech today

Chinese AI startup MiniMax announced that its new large language model, MiniMax-M1, outperforms DeepSeek, Bloomberg reports.

OpenAI won a $200M contract from the U.S. Defense Department to deploy frontier AI tools for warfighting and enterprise use cases.

WhatsApp is introducing ads in its Updates tab and new paid Channel features globally — all while keeping chats private and ad-free.

Eli Lilly & Co. is reportedly in advanced negotiations to acquire gene-editing specialist Verve Therapeutics for as much as $1.3B.

Amazon announced that it is extending its Prime Day discount event to four days, from midnight PT on July 8 through July 11.

The Trump Organization’s newly announced $499 T1 smartphone may be produced by a Chinese device manufacturer, according to reports.  

Meta is set to expand its smart glasses lineup beyond its successful Ray-Ban partnership, teaming up with Oakley for a new product launch on Friday, June 20.

Britain announced a major £250M ($340M) investment to accelerate the development of green technologies in the aerospace sector.

The Washington Post is investigating a cybersecurity breach that compromised the email accounts of several of its journalists.

Xiaomi is set to launch its new electric SUV, the YU7, at the end of June, advancing the original July release date.

Beijing’s subway system reportedly became the first to let riders tap any of the five major card schemes, including Visa and American Express, across its entire system.

COMMUNITY

🎥 Join our next live workshop

Join our next workshop today at 3 PM EST with Keanan Koppenaver, Technical PMM at Retool. By the end of the workshop, you’ll know how to supercharge and automate your prospect follow-ups with AI agents.

RSVP here. Not a member? Join The Rundown University on a 14-day free trial.

See you soon,

Rowan, Jennifer, and Joey—The Rundown’s editorial team