And third: If you\u2019re in the business of calling the top of the AI boom, you could do worse than SpaceX shares, which are down more than 30% from their June 16 peak amid market pressures on every Magnificent 7 tech company. (Suddenly those Anthropic and OpenAI IPOs don\u2019t seem so imminent!)<\/p>\n
More news follows. Have a productive day. \u2014Andrew Nusca<\/p>\n
Want to send thoughts or suggestions to\u00a0Fortune Tech?\u00a0Drop a line\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n China mulls limiting foreign access to advanced AI models Evan Vucci-Pool\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Top Chinese tech companies including Alibaba, ByteDance, and X.ai reportedly met with Chinese officials about the government\u2019s proposal to restrict overseas access to China\u2019s most advanced AI models\u2014including those not yet publicly released.<\/p>\n The meetings were led by China’s Ministry of Commerce, according to Reuters<\/a>, and those present discussed limiting both closed-source and open-source models. Penalties for leaking or stealing such technology would potentially be a national security offense. Those convened also discussed restrictions on who can fund domestic AI startups, according to the report.<\/p>\n \u201cAny decision by Beijing to limit access to those products could ripple across AI markets as \u200bcosts for many businesses would likely increase,\u201d Reuters notes.<\/p>\n This is only the latest in a long line of tit-for-tat trade restrictions between China and the U.S. With competitive sensibilities flaring, both nations have instituted myriad export controls on AI-related goods that would otherwise be destined for their geopolitical rival. Both governments also maintain blacklists of companies based or owned by the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n Until this year, the restrictions have largely been on semiconductors and other physical goods; now the constraints are moving into the realm of software. What remains to be seen: Whether any of it will actually matter as the global AI arms race continues. \u2014AN<\/p>\n Meta launches Muse Image, Video generative AI models<\/p>\n Speaking of AI models: Meta\u2019s Superintelligence Labs, led by Alexandr Wang, has launched a pair of its own.<\/p>\n The first, called Muse Image and accessible today, is an image generation model that can create realistic images for users on Instagram and WhatsApp.<\/p>\n \u201cIt follows instructions faithfully, edits with precision, composes from multiple references, and draws on Instagram for social context,\u201d the company wrote in a blog post<\/a>. \u201cIt also brings agentic tool use capabilities and integrates with Muse Spark,\u201d Meta\u2019s SL-built large language model.<\/p>\n The second, Muse Video, is an AI video generator\u2014but it\u2019s only in \u201cpreview,\u201d slated for availability in the Meta AI app in the coming months.<\/p>\n \u201cIt offers competitive performance in prompt adherence, visual fidelity, and temporal consistency,\u201d the company wrote. \u201cWe\u2019re investing in areas with current performance gaps, such as audio-video synchronization and physically accurate fast motion.\u201d<\/p>\n Both models arrive on the scene with plenty of rapidly developing competition from Adobe, Google, and OpenAI, among many others. But the Muse models\u2019 true potential is in Meta\u2019s distribution, thanks to the 3.58 billion daily active users it counts across its properties. \u2014AN<\/p>\n In a bid to cut costs, Microsoft reportedly drops Anthropic, OpenAI in favor of its own models<\/p>\n It was inevitable: As tech\u2019s largest corporations built their own AI chips and AI models to stand out from the pack and cut down on costs, they\u2019d ditch the third-party products on which they\u2019d spent a pretty penny.<\/p>\n That reality is now apparently happening at Microsoft.<\/p>\n Fresh off news of yet another round of layoffs, the folks in Redmond are reportedly looking at all that Anthropic and OpenAI integration in Excel and Outlook and thinking, well, why not use the homegrown stuff that\u2019s free?<\/p>\n In the old days, there might not have been parity in terms of capability. But things have changed, according to Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cTens of thousands of AI prompts in the widely used spreadsheet and email applications are now being completed each week with Microsoft\u2019s internally built MAI models,\u201d according to the report. It later adds: \u201cWhile still accounting for a small share of overall AI usage, the move shows Microsoft is making progress in its efforts to build competitive artificial intelligence models at a lower cost.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a sound strategic move in the long term. For example, as OpenAI\u2019s largest investor, Microsoft has enjoyed favored (read: discounted) access to its models. But the terms of their relationship have changed, and will continue to change, as the younger company plows toward an IPO\u2014positioning Microsoft for a substantial bill if it doesn\u2019t make alternate plans.<\/p>\n Or as Beyonc\u00e9, that Great Oracle of AI, once said: \u201cI don’t like to gamble, but if there’s one thing I’m willing to bet on, it’s myself.\u201d \u2014AN<\/p>\n More tech<\/p>\n \u2014Google Pixel event set for August 12.<\/a> Expected: Pixel 11 phones and Pixel Watch 5.<\/p>\n \u2014Four U.S. states seek $1.4 trillion from Meta<\/a> over claims it designed Facebook and Instagram to addict youth.<\/p>\n \u2014Kraken reportedly seeks a full banking license<\/a> in Lithuania, and therefore, Europe.<\/p>\n \u2014Netflix inks short-form programming deals<\/a> with BuzzFeed, Cond\u00e9 Nast, Hearst, Penske, People and Wonder\u2019s Tastemade.<\/p>\n \u2014China smartphone sales fall<\/a> as brands raise prices to offset memory costs.<\/p>\n \u2014The debut of a jointly developed Cursor-SpaceX AI model<\/a> is reportedly imminent.<\/p>\n![\"U.S.](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2275744006.jpg\"\/)
<\/a>(L-R) Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump on May 15, 2026 in Beijing, China.\u00a0<\/p>\n