0:08
Google, Microsoft offer specs to help you prove your AI is behaving nicely
Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and others want to help enterprises demonstrate that their AI applications are behaving themselves through the creation of a new foundation.
The Appia Foundation will, it explained rather impenetrably, “establish modular specifications that provide a connecting layer to bridge foundational global standards with practical, trusted assessments across the global AI value chain.”
Those specifications will help AI users ascertain whether the systems they are using meet all the obligations that apply to them in the form of standards and regulations, it said.
0:47
Google, Microsoft offer specs to help you prove your AI is behaving nicely
Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and others want to help enterprises demonstrate that their AI applications are behaving themselves through the creation of a new foundation.
The Appia Foundation will, it explained rather impenetrably, “establish modular specifications that provide a connecting layer to bridge foundational global standards with practical, trusted assessments across the global AI value chain.”
Those specifications will help AI users ascertain whether the systems they are using meet all the obligations that apply to them in the form of standards and regulations, it said.
1:26
Google, Microsoft offer specs to help you prove your AI is behaving nicely
Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and others want to help enterprises demonstrate that their AI applications are behaving themselves through the creation of a new foundation.
The Appia Foundation will, it explained rather impenetrably, “establish modular specifications that provide a connecting layer to bridge foundational global standards with practical, trusted assessments across the global AI value chain.”
Those specifications will help AI users ascertain whether the systems they are using meet all the obligations that apply to them in the form of standards and regulations, it said.
2:04
Rocket Report: Rebuild begins at Blue Origin launch pad; Relativity targets Mars
Welcome to Edition 8.46 of the Rocket Report! We don't mention Starship in the body of this week's report, so I'll give a brief update here. The next test flight of SpaceX's mega-rocket—Flight 13—could happen as soon as next month, according to Gwynne Shotwell, the company's president and chief operating officer, in a recent interview with CNBC. There's still a fair bit of work to go before Flight 13, so don't count on a launch next month just yet. What we do know, based on Shotwell's comments to CNBC, is the next Starship test flight will look a like like the previous one last month, with a suborbital flight path and a splashdown of the ship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX is holding off on an orbital flight until at least the following launch, Flight 14, after the ship was unable to complete a critical engine restart in space on the last flight.
As always, we welcome reader submissions. If you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
Isar test flight scrubbed again. Isar Aerospace still commands top position among a new generation of European rocket startups, but the company’s efforts to launch a critical test flight of its Spectrum rocket continue to encounter roadblocks, Ars reports. The latest delay came Monday, when Isar scrubbed a launch attempt after "detecting off nominal behavior in the vehicle’s fluid systems," according to a social media post. "The teams are analyzing the new data to isolate the root cause." Isar is flush with cash, having raised nearly $1 billion to date, but is still lacking in the critical currently of flight experience. The Spectrum rocket has flown just once to date, on a failed launch last year that lasted less than 30 seconds.
3:59
As global warming threatens corals, scientists search for reefs that can take the heat
MAJURO, Marshall Islands—Perched on the bow of an aluminum landing craft, Anne Cohen gazed a few yards ahead of the vessel toward a yellow robot gliding across the emerald Majuro lagoon.
The unmanned surface vehicle, called Yellowfin, was quickly becoming one of the coral researcher’s most dependable guides in these Central Pacific waters.
“She’s the best dive buddy,” said Cohen, a tenured scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Cape Cod. Programmed to navigate to a precise set of coordinates, the robot cut through small swells like a tiny sailboat without a mast, directing Cohen toward a destination she had traveled thousands of miles to revisit.
4:43
Before SpaceX IPO, investors in China secretly acquired stakes
A businessman with ties to Chinese military contractors was among the overseas investors who acquired stakes in SpaceX while it was still a private company. An entity linked to the Qatari royal family also took a stake.
The new details come from a private investor list obtained by ProPublica that sheds light on a particularly delicate issue for Elon Musk’s rocket company: which people in countries like China bought into the company, and how. SpaceX built its business off sensitive U.S. government work like making spy satellites for the Pentagon. While there is no ban on Chinese investment in U.S. military contractors, such investment is heavily regulated.
In a sign of its sensitivity to the concerns, SpaceX barred investors from China and Hong Kong from buying shares in its initial public offering last week due to “regulatory and compliance risks,” Bloomberg reported. The U.S. government alleges that China has a strategy of using investments in sensitive industries for espionage and to get access to cutting-edge technology.
The company’s IPO last week was the largest ever, making Musk the world’s first trillionaire. Musk has extensive business interests in China, where Tesla builds many of its cars.
The new records detail at least a dozen investors with addresses in mainland China, Hong Kong or Russia who acquired stakes in SpaceX years ago through a middleman firm in the U.S. called Tomales Bay Capital. The investments are relatively small, ranging from $800,000 to $40 million, and were made between 2018 and 2021.
One investment came from an entity owned by David Su, the co-founder of the prominent Beijing venture capital firm MPCi. The Su entity invested $15 million in a SpaceX fund in 2020, according to the investor list. It was not Su’s only foray into the space industry; his company has been a high-profile backer of some of SpaceX’s Chinese competitors. Two satellite companies that Su’s firm invested in were sanctioned by the U.S. government for allegedly assisting the notorious Russian mercenary organization the Wagner Group. One of the companies was sanctioned again last month for allegedly helping Iran attack U.S. military forces during the war.
MPCi has also worked with Chinese government investment funds. Last year, the website for China’s Ministry of Science and Technology named Su’s firm as a partner in a state-backed effort to develop the country’s aerospace industry.
There is no evidence that Su did anything improper. But the key question from the U.S. government’s perspective would be whether China-based investors got access to nonpublic information about SpaceX’s technology or strategies, said Sarah Bauerle Danzman, an Indiana University professor who has worked for the State Department scrutinizing foreign investments. “If an investor has conflicts of interests with other companies in China — if they could feed that information to competitors — it could be a national security concern,” she said.
In a statement, MPCi said that Su “has not received any nonpublic information of SpaceX.” The statement described Su as “a Singapore citizen who resides in Singapore,” adding: “MPCi is a brand name with different teams and funds. Mr. Su is responsible for the US dollar funds.” According to a 2024 profile of him, Su “spent almost 100 per cent of his time in China over the last 20 years.”
A lawyer for Tomales Bay Capital said in a statement that the firm “has not provided any non-public, sensitive information regarding SpaceX to investors.” He said the investors are passive limited partners: “Aside from fund financials that include quarterly valuations, Tomales Bay’s investors have not received any further information regarding SpaceX.”
“The vast majority, if not all, of the investors included on the unsealed Tomales Bay investor list are not citizens of any foreign adversary, including Russia or China,” said the lawyer, Ryan Stonerock, “and certainly none of them are agents of Russia or China, or any other foreign adversary.” He added that some of the investors “may have mailing addresses listed” in Russia or China but do not actually live there “and are in fact citizens and residents of the United States or other countries that are not foreign adversaries.”
SpaceX did not respond to questions. One of the Chinese space companies sanctioned by the U.S. government, Spacety, previously denied providing support to the Wagner Group.
All the investors located in China or Russia that ProPublica identified appeared to be either wealthy businesspeople or their children.
The new documents come from a corporate dispute in Delaware involving Tomales Bay Capital. The court records were unsealed this month after ProPublica moved to make them public, with the help of attorneys from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the law firm Shaw Keller.
9:17
As global warming threatens corals, scientists search for reefs that can take the heat
Anne Cohen is steering her research with a little yellow robot that skims the lagoon like a silent sail. The unmanned surface vehicle follows a set of coordinates, nudging her toward a reef she’s chased across the Pacific.
What’s surprising is how the machine’s simple navigation lets her repeatedly sample the same coral patches, revealing which colonies survive the hottest spikes. Those resilient spots aren’t just lucky; they host a mix of algae and microbes that seem to buffer heat stress, something the team hadn’t expected from a plain‑looking craft.
By mapping those hardy reefs, the scientists hope to flag natural refuges that could seed restoration elsewhere, giving coral a better shot as the ocean warms.
10:04
Bernie Sanders Unveils $7 Trillion Plan To Give Americans Control of AI Industry
Bernie Sanders just floated a plan that would turn the biggest AI firms into a public‑owned pool. Instead of a cash tax, the bill would seize half the stock of any AI company pulling in $200 million a year, swapping those shares into a sovereign wealth fund that could total around $7 trillion. A seven‑person commission, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, would hold the voting power, using it to steer corporate decisions toward broader public interests.
The fund’s design is to pay a modest 5 percent dividend each year, which Sanders says would hand every American more than $1,000 in direct cash. Any extra earnings would be earmarked for health, education and housing programs, while the commission would act as a watchdog to block moves that could harm everyday people.
Sanders argues the structure protects taxpayers from downside risk—if AI valuations tumble, the public still holds the shares, not a cash loss. The idea is to give ordinary citizens a seat at the table in an industry that’s reshaping the economy.
11:09
Wit on comedy · June 19th
From storyflo. This is your daily audio brief for June 19th.
It's Wit. June 19th. Seven things made me laugh out loud at my desk; we'll start with the worst one.
Let's get into it.
First, from The Hard Times. Picky Cat Will Only Chew on Cords Plugged Into Walls.
Paulie, a one‑year‑old tabby, has turned his kitchen into a power‑strip buffet, refusing wet food and any other cat fare in favor of chewing on cords that are actually plugged into the wall.
11:39
Brock on sports · June 19th
From storyflo. This is your daily audio brief for June 19th.
Brock, June 19th. Sports desk live — here's what matters this hour.
Let's get into it.
First, from PFT alt. Cowboys put Matt Hennessy on season-ending injured reserve, sign three UFL players.
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New Cowboys offensive lineman Matt Hennessy's season has ended before it began.
Hennessy, who left San Francisco for Dallas in free agency this year, recently had neck surgery and is going on season-ending injured reserve, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.
The 28-year-old Hennessy played in all 17 games for the 49ers last season, starti
