July 20, 2025: NASDAQ and S&P Grind Higher, Moar!

Last week, Dow Jones declined less than 0.1%, S&P 500 rose 0.6%, and Nasdaq composite gained 1.5%. Investors aggressively allocated funds into U.S. tech stocks at the fastest rate in 16 years, despite geopolitical tensions and market volatility. Nvidia became the first company to reach a valuation of US$4 trillion. Crypto asset manager Grayscale confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO, following Circle’s successful public debut. Elon Musk suggested Tesla shareholders would vote on whether to invest in his AI initiative, xAI, after reports surfaced regarding SpaceX’s planned US$2 billion investment into the same entity. Uber unveiled plans for significant investments in Lucid Motors and Nuro, collaborating on the deployment of over 20,000 robotaxis by 2026. Apple committed a US$500 million investment toward rare earth magnet production, partnering with MP Materials. Meta Platforms announced expansive multi-gigawatt data center projects in Ohio and Louisiana. Robinhood reported that nearly half of its new coding is generated by AI tools, highlighting swift adoption in software engineering. The past few weeks saw a revival of financing announcements in the Canadian innovation sector totalling nearly $200 million following an extended period of low activity. Sophic Capital client Kraken Robotics successfully completed a $115 million bought deal. BTQ Technologies closed a $40 million brokered LIFE financing. Volatus Aerospace announced two separate fully subscribed LIFE offerings totaling $15 million. Gatekeeper Systems (GSI-TSXV) initiated a $10 million bought deal private placement. Sophic client Plurilock Security secured a major $2.54 million AI cybersecurity contract with a NASDAQ-listed enterprise and was named a Certified Services Partner by global cybersecurity leader Forcepoint. EMERGE Commerce’s newly acquired golf brand Tee 2 Green (T2G) exceeded expectations, achieving 34% revenue growth and rapidly surpassing its upfront acquisition cost, reflecting robust synergies and targeted marketing execution. The Company also issued a positive Q2 pre-announcement, and held an investor update call.

Sophic Client Kraken Robotics (PNG-TSXV, KRKNF-OTC) completes $115 million Bought Deal public offering.

Kraken Robotics closed its previously announced underwritten public offering of 43,240,000 common shares in the capital of the Company (the “Common Shares”) at a price of $2.66 per Common Share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $115,018,400 (the “Offering”), inclusive of the full exercise of the over-allotment option by the Underwriters (as defined below). The Offering was led by Desjardins Capital Markets as lead underwriter and sole bookrunner, on behalf of a syndicate of underwriters including Cormark Securities Inc., Scotia Capital Inc., Canaccord Genuity Corp., National Bank Financial Inc. and Raymond James Ltd. (collectively, the “Underwriters”). The Underwriters received a cash commission equal to 4.0% of the gross proceeds of the Offering, which is $4,600,736. Kraken expects the net proceeds of the Offering will be used to support the Company’s growth into a scalable global prime contractor, including: (1) enhancing the ability to consider larger accretive acquisitions particularly in the US and Europe given the Company’s strengthened global profile; (2) demonstrating a stronger balance sheet when bidding for larger governmental and commercial contracts; and (3) for general corporate purposes. “This successful equity offering shows strong support from investors and reflects confidence in our vision and strategy as we scale our business. With a fortified balance sheet, we are well-positioned to pursue strategic acquisitions, expand our global footprint, and deliver even greater value to our customers and shareholders.” commented Greg Reid, President and CEO of Kraken.. https://tinyurl.com/mwvys47c

BTQ Technologies Corp. (BTQ-NEO) Announces brokered LIFE financing of $40 million.

BTQ Technologies Corp., announced a best efforts private placement, of 5,555,555 common shares of the Company (“Common Shares”) at a price of $7.20 per Common Share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $40,000,000 (the “Offering”). A.G.P. Canada Investments ULC (“Agent”) is acting as the sole bookrunner and agent for the Offering and A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners is acting as sole U.S. placement agent for the Offering. The Company plans to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, working capital and to accelerate the development of both hardware and software products and potential acquisitions. https://tinyurl.com/2vytamm4

Volatus (FLT-TSXV) announces closing of fully subscribed LIFE Offering of $10,000,000.

Volatus Aerospace closed its previously announced fully subscribed non-brokered listed issuer financing exemption (LIFE) private placement (the ” LIFE Offering “). The Company issued 19,230,770 units of the Company (” Units “) at a price of $ 0.52 per Unit for gross proceeds of approximately $10,000,000. Each Unit is comprised of one common voting share in the capital of the Company (“Common Share”) and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant of the Company (each whole warrant, a “Warrant”). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share (each, a “Warrant Share”) at an exercise price of $0.76 per Warrant Share for a period of 36 months following the date of issuance. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the LIFE Financing for expansion into the defense business segment of the Company, increase inventory of drone systems to fulfill increased demand in the United States, Canada, and internationally, and for general working capital and corporate purposes. In connection with the LIFE Offering, the Company paid an aggregate of $600,000 as finder’s fees to certain persons who assisted the Company with the LIFE Offering. https://tinyurl.com/mpd83vxe

Volatus (FLT-TSXV) announces closing of previously announced upsized and fully subscribed LIFE offering of $5,000,000.

Volatus closed its previously announced upsized and fully subscribed non-brokered listed issuer financing exemption (LIFE) private placement (the ” LIFE Offering “). The Company issued 25,000,000 units of the Company (” Units “) at a price of $0.20 per Unit for gross proceeds of $5,000,000. Each Unit is comprised of one common voting share in the capital of the Company (“ Common Share ”) and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant of the Company (each whole warrant, a “ Warrant ”). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share (each, a “ Warrant Share ”) at an exercise price of $0.30 per Warrant Share for a period of 36 months following the date of issuance. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the LIFE Financing for expansion into global markets, investment into Arctic and remote operations infrastructure, inventory, and general corporate and working capital purposes. https://tinyurl.com/cs29w9rr

Gatekeeper (GSI-TSXV) announces $10 million Bought deal Private Placement.

Gatekeeper Systems Inc., announced that it has entered into an agreement with Canaccord Genuity Corp. (the “Lead Underwriter”) as lead underwriter and sole bookrunner, and a syndicate of underwriters to be formed (together, the “Underwriters”) pursuant to which the Company has launched a “bought deal” private placement of 8,335,000 common shares of the Company (the “Offered Shares”) at a price of $1.20 per Offered Share (the “Offering Price”) for aggregate gross proceeds of $10,002,000 (the “Offering”). https://tinyurl.com/3suxubb5

Sophic Client Plurilock (PLUR-TSXV, PLCKF-OTCQB) announces $2.54 million sale to NASDAQ-listed enterprise for AI cybersecurity.

Plurilock Security announced a new $2.54 million, multi-year agreement with a NASDAQ-listed enterprise. The contract, valued at $2,537,720 (US$1,850,000 USD) over 3 years, follows the discovery of high-risk misconfigurations in the client’s email security environments. Plurilock’s services-led, product-enabled, AI-native approach enabled the Company’s Critical Services team to assess the risk. The team recommended the right solution and implemented a behavioral AI email security platform to mitigate phishing threats and reduce operational strain on the client’s Security Operations Center. “This engagement reflects the growing demand for frictionless, high-trust, execution-focused cybersecurity partnerships,” said Ian L. Paterson, CEO of Plurilock. “It showcases our ability to identify and mitigate risks, strengthening our client relationships. This approach supports our shift toward highly visible, re-occurring, higher-margin software and services in the U.S. commercial market.” Fulfillment began during Q2 2025. https://tinyurl.com/587byv44

Sophic Client Plurilock (PLUR-TSXV, PLCKF-OTCQB) named certified services partner for Forcepoint.

Plurilock Security has been named a Certified Services Partner for Forcepoint, a top-tier, global leader in data-first cybersecurity. As part of this expanded relationship, Plurilock’s Critical Services will be available to Forcepoint customers through an integrated services approach, enabling enterprise and public sector clients to receive implementation, policy tuning, hosting, and fully managed services for Forcepoint’s data security solutions unified in an AI-powered platform. “This is meaningful validation from one of the world’s leading cybersecurity companies,” said Ian L. Paterson, CEO of Plurilock. “Forcepoint’s decision to certify our Critical Services team reflects their trust in our delivery capabilities and aligns perfectly with our strategy of scaling high-value, recurring revenue. Together, we’re enabling organizations to extract more value from their cybersecurity investments, while giving Forcepoint customers hands-on support they can rely on.” “Forcepoint’s partnership with Plurilock goes beyond market reach to delivering real operational value to customers,” said Tim Puccio, vice president of global channel sales at Forcepoint. “Together, we’re helping enterprises put AI-powered, unified data security into practice, knowing what data matters, dynamically adapting to risk, and simplifying how protection is applied across environments. It’s the kind of comprehensive visibility and control today’s data landscape demands.” This announcement builds on Plurilock’s designation earlier this year as an Authorized Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) for Forcepoint and reinforces Plurilock’s position as a hands-on technical partner in high-stakes cybersecurity environments. By aligning with a top-tier security vendor and enabling joint engagement for services, Plurilock is accelerating its shift to a recurring services model while deepening its role in complex enterprise and regulated markets. https://tinyurl.com/2mj8htkn

EMERGE (ECOM-TSXV) brand, T2G, drives 34% revenue growth, cash flow exceeds purchase price (upfront) in its first quarter post-acquisition.

EMERGE Commerce Ltd., a Canadian portfolio of premium brands, provided a corporate update on Tee 2 Green (“T2G”), its latest golf apparel and equipment acquisition, which closed on April 4, 2025. T2G’s first quarter under EMERGE ownership, Q2 2025, delivered exceptional organic revenue growth of 34% year-over-year (“YoY”), exceeding management’s expectations. The strong performance was fueled by EMERGE’s targeted digital advertising and cross-brand synergies within its golf vertical. The acquisition, completed just ahead of T2G’s seasonal peak, enabled EMERGE to fully capitalize on heightened consumer demand during the spring golf season. As a result of the flexible deal terms and stronger-than-anticipated revenue growth, cash flow generated by T2G in its first quarter under EMERGE comfortably exceeded the $1.1M upfront cash payment made by EMERGE to complete the transaction on April 4, 2025. In 2024, T2G achieved revenue exceeding $6M, Adjusted EBITDA of $1M, and net income of $700K (unaudited). Management is encouraged by these preliminary Q2 results at T2G, particularly the speed at which these digital advertising and golf portfolio synergies have been unlocked, and sees potential for continued growth and optimization. Ghassan Halazon, Founder and CEO, EMERGE commented, “T2G’s exceptional first quarter under EMERGE, alongside continued momentum across our grocery and golf portfolio, positions us for an excellent Q2 overall, exceeding management’s expectations across revenue, profitability and cash flow. We’re especially pleased that T2G’s cash generation has already surpassed the upfront cash purchase price in less than 90 days.” EMERGE expects to report its full Q2 2025 financial results in late August 2025. https://tinyurl.com/3fut58u2

EMERGE (ECOM-TSXV) provides additional financial metrics (Q2 2025) for T2G’s first quarter post-acquisition.

Further to the news release dated July 9, 2025, regarding the strong performance of its recently acquired brand, Tee 2 Green (“T2G”), EMERGE Commerce Ltd., provided additional financial disclosure for T2G’s first quarter under EMERGE ownership (Q2 2025), based on preliminary, unaudited results: Revenue increased to $3.3M vs. $2.5M, representing 34% YoY growth. Gross margin increased to 44% vs. 42%. Net Income increased to $800K vs. $567K, representing 41% YoY growth. T2G’s first quarter under EMERGE ownership, Q2 2025, delivered exceptional organic revenue growth of 34% year-over-year (“YoY”), exceeding management’s expectations. The strong performance was fueled by EMERGE’s targeted digital advertising and cross-brand synergies within its golf vertical. The acquisition, completed just ahead of T2G’s seasonal peak, enabled EMERGE to fully capitalize on heightened consumer demand during the spring golf season. As a result of the flexible deal terms and stronger-than-anticipated revenue growth, cash flow generated by T2G in its first quarter under EMERGE comfortably exceeded the $1.1M upfront cash payment made by EMERGE to complete the transaction on April 4, 2025. In 2024, T2G achieved revenue exceeding $6M, Adjusted EBITDA of $1M, and net income of $700K (unaudited). Management is encouraged by these preliminary Q2 results at T2G, particularly the speed at which these digital advertising and golf portfolio synergies have been unlocked, and sees potential for continued growth and optimization. Ghassan Halazon, Founder and CEO, EMERGE commented, “T2G’s exceptional first quarter under EMERGE, alongside continued momentum across our grocery and golf portfolio, positions us for an excellent Q2 overall, exceeding management’s expectations across revenue, profitability and cash flow. We’re especially pleased that T2G’s cash generation has already surpassed the upfront cash purchase price in less than 90 days.” EMERGE expects to report its full Q2 2025 financial results in late August 2025. https://tinyurl.com/2z47dkpu

EMERGE (ECOM-TSXV) reports preliminary Q2 results.

EMERGE Commerce Ltd., a Canadian portfolio of premium brands, provided preliminary unaudited results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2025. Select Preliminary Q2 2025 Financial Highlights (vs. Q2 2024): Revenue increased to $8.3M vs. $4.6M, representing 79% YoY growth. Adj. EBITDA expected to be between $900K and $1M vs. a loss of ($132K), an increase of $1M YoY. Cash Position grew to $3.5M (June 30, 2025) vs. $2.7M (March 31, 2025) and $2.2M (June 30, 2024). EMERGE looks forward to filing its full second quarter results in late August 2025. https://tinyurl.com/2b3exv4y

Moonvalley raises additional US$84 million to meet demand for its Hollywood-friendly AI video generator.

Toronto-based Moonvalley, an artificial intelligence (AI) research company that develops foundational AI video models, has raised an US$84 million ($115 million) seed extension round as it looks to scale up for demand. The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from strategic investors including prominent Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), AI cloud computing company CoreWeave, and Comcast Ventures. The round is the latest of many from the young company, which has raised US$154 million since its founding in 2023. https://tinyurl.com/33b4tru7

GeologicAI cashes in on data centre boom with $60.5 million Series B.

Calgary-based mining tech startup GeologicAI has secured US$44 million ($60.5 million) in Series B funding as the intense demand for data centres translates to the critical minerals their computers are made of. The all-equity round was led by Swiss impact investor Blue Earth Capital, with participation from two multinational mining companies in BHP Ventures (the venture arm of Broken Hill Proprietary) and Rio Tinto. Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), which backed GeologicAI’s Series A round, and other undisclosed returning investors also participated in the funding. GeologicAI’s tech helps mining companies analyze rock samples and identify resources below the Earth’s surface. https://tinyurl.com/mtsvvt8t

Define Capital fuels up for more niche software acquisitions with $28 million debt facility.

Toronto-based Define Capital has secured a debt facility of up to $27.7 million from Scotiabank to buy, optimize, and hold more profitable niche software companies. Founded in early 2023, Define is an open-ended private equity (PE) fund with a “multi-decade horizon” and a general partner-limited partner structure. The firm acquires cash flow positive business-to-business (B2B) software companies that solve specific industry problems with the goal of growing them over the long haul. https://tinyurl.com/4k2jw3y3

Quandri secures $16.5 million to help North American insurance firms automate renewals with AI.

Vancouver insurtech startup Quandri has secured US$12 million ($16.5 million) in fresh financing to scale its artificial intelligence (AI) platform for the insurance industry. Quandri aims to help insurance firms “do more with less” by automating “highly manual,” time-consuming, and repetitive personal policy servicing tasks with its software. Fregeau claims Quandri has seen “very strong signs” of product-market fit in the US. Quandri plans to use this capital to accelerate its go-to-market efforts in Canada and the US, expand its operations on both sides of the border, and invest more in engineering and AI. Founded in 2021 by Jamieson Fregeau and his brother Jackson Fregeau (the company’s CEO), Quandri sells AI-enabled renewal intelligence software designed to help insurance brokers and agents streamline tasks and identify actionable policy insights, while also improving the renewal experience for end customers. https://tinyurl.com/5b2yx89v

Canadian drone maker ZenaTech expands US presence “earlier than expected” in response to Trump policies.

Toronto drone manufacturer ZenaTech is expanding its footprint in the United States (US) in response to recent “transformative” policy directives out of the White House and Department of Defense, and the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ signed into law by President Donald Trump earlier this month. The expansion will see ZenaTech triple the square footage of its facilities in Phoenix, Ariz. to enable fully US-based drone manufacturing, assembly, and testing. The company plans to grow its team in the area from seven employees to as many as 30 over the next six to 12 months. The site complements ZenaTech’s existing operational manufacturing facility in the United Arab Emirates. ZenaTech’s stock price has jumped nearly 40 percent since Hegseth released his pro-drone memo. ZenaTech, which also advertises its drones for use in land surveying and precision agriculture, said the expansion comes “earlier than expected” as recent US policy has made it “dramatically easier and faster” for American drone companies to sell directly to the military, scale production, and avoid defense procurement bottlenecks. “Together, they signal a clear national priority: build drones in America, field them fast, and outpace adversaries,” the company said in its statement. One such bottleneck was eliminated in a memo by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth last week, which delegates authority to procure and operate drones to frontline commanders rather than procurement offices. The aim is to equip military squads with low-cost, expendable drones, ZenaTech claims. As part of this effort, officials eliminated the need for companies like ZenaTech to secure a Green or Blue UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) certification for their drones, a long process that validates corporate cyber hygiene, product security, supply chain risk management, and remote operations security. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a federal statute passed by the US Congress and signed into law by the president on July 4, set aside US$170 billion for immigration enforcement and border security efforts, making Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) better-funded than most militaries in the world (including Canada’s, which has a budget of about $63 billion this year). The US Department of Homeland Security reportedly flew two Predator surveillance drones above anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles last month. ZenaTech listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange in October 2024 under the symbol ZENA. The company’s stock price has jumped nearly 40 percent since Hegseth released his pro-drone memo last Friday. https://tinyurl.com/yj2ndyun

BDC adds RBC as lending partner as it plans to guarantee $800 million in loans to entrepreneurs.

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is adding the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) to its roster of financial institution partners as it seeks to provide commercial loans to more historically underserved entrepreneurs. The program is open to startups and other businesses with less than $10 million in revenue that have been operational for more than a year. The Crown corporation also revealed that it plans to guarantee a minimum of $800 million in loans for small and medium-sized business owners in Canada, and hopes to eventually grow that number. BDC’s Business Accelerator Loan Program provides commercial financing to founders through partner organizations, including TD Bank, Meridian Credit Union, Desjardins, and now RBC. BDC provides a guarantee of up to 85 percent of the loan amount to these financial institutions, which supply the loan capital. https://tinyurl.com/5d6j5sf

Investors pile into US tech stocks at fastest pace in 16 years.

Investors have been piling into tech stocks at the fastest rate in 16 years, fuelling Wall Street’s rapid rebound from the rout triggered by Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs in April, a closely watched survey of fund managers has shown. Between April and July, allocations to the sector jumped by the largest amount since March 2009, according to a monthly poll by Bank of America. The resurgence of tech shares — which bore the brunt of the April sell-off — is the latest sign that investors are brushing off Trump’s latest tariff threats and betting that the so-called “Magnificent Seven” will be able to continue to enjoy rapid growth in profits, which has seen them power the bulk of Wall Street’s gains in recent years. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite index has risen more than 33 per cent from its April lows to record a series of record highs. Chipmaker Nvidia last week became the first company to reach a valuation of US$4 trillion. https://tinyurl.com/mry6y97c

Crypto asset manager Grayscale files for IPO confidentially.

Grayscale, the crypto asset manager owned by Digital Currency Group, a crypto conglomerate founded by Barry Silbert, said it has filed paperwork confidentially for a U.S. initial public offering, joining the ranks of crypto firms seeking to go public after Circle’s successful debut. Founded in 2013, Grayscale is known for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, once the world’s biggest bitcoin trust with over $40 billion assets at peak in 2021. The company successfully converted the trust into a bitcoin exchange-traded fund in 2024 after winning a legal battle against the Securities and Exchange Commission. It now manages US$33 billion across its crypto funds. That ushered in a wave of bitcoin ETF launches from competitors, including BlackRock and Fidelity. Grayscale also faces competition from publicly listed crypto treasury stocks, such as Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which holds crypto tokens and offers investors easy exposure to the asset class. Circle, which issues stablecoin USDC, went public in June and had the largest first-day jump for a billion-dollar IPO in recent decades. Other crypto firms planning to go public include crypto exchanges Kraken, Gemini and Bullish. https://tinyurl.com/f5h4weex

Musk floats Tesla investment in xAI.

Elon Musk says Tesla shareholders will vote on whether the electric vehicle maker should invest in xAI, noting in a post on X that “if it was up to me, Tesla would have invested in xAI long ago.” Musk’s comments, made on Sunday night, came a day after the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk’s SpaceX would invest US$2 billion in xAI, part of a US$5 billion fundraising by xAI already underway. Musk’s comment about the Tesla investment appeared to be off the cuff, however, coming as a response to a Tesla fan arguing that “Tesla needs to be able to invest in xAI.” Musk has also made clear his opposition to combining Tesla and SpaceX, a sign that despite the investments between his companies, he doesn’t want to merge them into one. https://tinyurl.com/yckxajvx

Uber to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Lucid and Nuro in massive robotaxi deal.

Uber plans to make “multi-hundred-million dollar investments” in both Nuro and Lucid as part of a massive new robotaxi deal that was just announced. The three companies are linking up to deploy “20,000 or more” robotaxis in the US over the next six years. The vehicles will be Lucid’s new Gravity SUV, equipped with autonomous technology developed by Nuro, and available exclusively on Uber’s app. The fleet will be owned by Uber or a third-party fleet management partner and the first vehicles will launch in as-yet-to-be-determined US city in 2026. Uber is investing US$300 million in Lucid, a spokesperson for the automaker, Nick Twork, confirmed. The investment in Nuro will be “significantly more than that,” Ferguson said, though he declined to share an exact figure. https://tinyurl.com/2my67n6z

Apple announces US$500 million investment focused on rare earth magnets.

Earlier this year, Apple pledged a US$500 billion investment in the United States over the next four years. Now, the company is further expanding that pledge with a $500 million plan to “launch an all-new recycling facility for processing recycled rare earth elements.” With this investment, Apple will work with MP Materials and commit to buying American-made rare earth magnets developed in Fort Worth, Texas. The two companies will build out MP Materials’ “state-of-the-art Texas factory” with a “series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines specifically designed for Apple products.” Additionally, MP Materials and Apple will establish a “cutting-edge rare earth recycling line” in Mountain Pass, California, and “develop novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies to enhance magnet performance.”. https://tinyurl.com/4tty934f

Meta announces data center projects.

Meta Platforms is building several multi-gigawatt data centers, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Monday in a post on Threads. One of these projects, called Prometheus, is located in Ohio and will come online next year. Another, called Hyperion, is located in Louisiana and is expected to bring online at least 2 gigawatts of servers by 2030. Meta will “invest hundreds of billions of dollars into compute to build superintelligence,” Zuckerberg said in the post, referring to the idea that artificial intelligence could exceed the abilities of the human brain. “Meta Superintelligence Labs will have industry-leading levels of compute and by far the greatest compute per researcher,” he added. Meta over the past month has overhauled its efforts in AI, after stumbles earlier this year. The social media giant last month finalized a deal to invest US$14.3 billion in Scale AI and hire its CEO Alexandr Wang as Meta’s Chief AI Officer. It has also hired former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and former Safe Superintelligence CEO Daniel Gross and is expected to partially buy out Friedman and Gross’ venture capital fund. https://tinyurl.com/5n876p53

Robinhood CEO says the majority of the company’s new code is written by AI, with ‘close to 100%’ adoption from engineers.

At Robinhood, nearly all of the engineers are vibe coders. That’s according to Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, who said on the 20VC podcast that the company’s human-written code was hard to distinguish from AI-generated code. Among the company’s engineers, “close to 100%” are using AI code editors, he said. When asked what percentage of Robinhood’s new code is AI-generated, Tenev said that it was around 50%. That’s a higher percentage than what Microsoft and Google have previously said, with CEOs Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai estimating around 30%. Tenev acknowledged that the 50% metric was imprecise, thanks to the upgrowth of “agentic” code editors. “We’ve moved from GitHub Copilot, which is an autocomplete system, to Cursor, and now things like Windsurf, where nearly all of the code is written by AI,” Tenev said. “It’s hard to even determine what the human-generated code is.” Taking a guess, Tenev estimated the “minority” of new code at Robinhood was written by humans. https://tinyurl.com/crdwyam6

OpenAI releases ChatGPT ‘agent’ in competition with Microsoft.

OpenAI on Thursday launched features for ChatGPT subscribers to create and edit spreadsheets and presentations, generate reports and automate tasks using web browsers, confirming The Information’s earlier report about the product. The new capabilities, combined with document collaboration features OpenAI has developed but not yet released, could boost ChatGPT as an enterprise product in competition with Microsoft Office and Google Workspace. The new features, dubbed ChatGPT agent, combine previously-released products from OpenAI such as its browser-using agent, Operator, and its research tool Deep Research, and will be able to navigate websites, filter results in databases and run code. Customers can also connect ChatGPT agent to external apps like Gmail and Github so it can pull information from, or take actions in, these apps. https://tinyurl.com/yeywu2zp

Waymo hits 100 million fully autonomous miles.

Waymo said Tuesday that its robotaxis hit a new milestone of completing 100 million miles without a driver. The progress reflects Waymo’s gradual expansion of its service to more cities: the company is now operating in Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Atlanta and Austin. It plans on launching its robotaxi service in Miami and Washington D.C. next. The company last announced this May that it completed 10 million fully autonomous paid rides. That’s after it announced in April that it was completing a quarter million fully autonomous paid rides per week. Waymo’s expansion comes as Tesla has launched a test of its robotaxi service in Austin, and has plans to expand to California later this year. https://tinyurl.com/5aep7xyx

Uber and Baidu to launch Robotaxi partnership.

Uber said Tuesday that it partnered with Baidu to launch thousands of Apollo Go robotaxis in cities outside of the U.S. and mainland China. The first robotaxis under the partnership are expected to launch in Asia and the Middle East later this year. Baidu owns and operates Apollo Go. Apollo Go currently operates more than 1,000 robotaxis across 15 cities including Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It crossed 11 million rides in May. Uber has already partnered with several autonomous vehicle companies, including Waymo, WeRide and Avride, to offer robotaxis in cities both within and outside the U.S. https://tinyurl.com/ff3fp6fm

OpenAI adding checkouts to ChatGPT, taking cut of sales.

OpenAI plans to add e-commerce checkouts into ChatGPT and take a cut of online shopping purchases made within the chatbot, the Financial Times reported. The move is a way for OpenAI to make money from people using AI for shopping inspiration and product recommendations. Merchants that receive orders placed through ChatGPT’s checkout will pay OpenAI a commission, the report said, a new source of revenue for OpenAI. OpenAI and partners including Shopify have been presenting early versions of the feature to brands, the report said. ChatGPT already offers product recommendations and links to products, but currently sends shoppers to outside sites to complete their purchase. In April, OpenAI said it was exploring ways for merchants to share product information directly with ChatGPT to help improve the accuracy of search results. https://tinyurl.com/4xjx3cpv

Nvidia says AI chips sales will resume in China.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Monday that the chip designer plans to resume selling an artificial intelligence chip to China that the U.S. government had previously restricted. After meetings in Washington, Nvidia said it had begun filing export license applications to sell the H20 chip, which is less powerful than chips it sells in the U.S. The chip had been restricted due to U.S. concerns it would aid a geopolitical rival. Nvidia said it expects the Commerce Department to grant the license. The company said it hopes to begin shipments to China soon. Nvidia earlier this year stopped issuing forecasts of China-related revenue, and its executives previously warned the firm could take an $8 billion hit this quarter as a result of recent restrictions. Before the restrictions, Chinese companies including ByteDance, Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings placed at least $16 billion in orders for the H20s. https://tinyurl.com/yjvxr6aj

Sophic Client Plurilock (PLUR-TSXV, PLCKF-OTCQB) Code and Country Podcast – Episode 15 – Katie Moussouris Founder and CEO of Luta Security.

Katie Moussouris, founder and CEO of Luta Security, joins Code and Country to trace her path from MIT to pioneering vulnerability disclosure and launching “Hack the Pentagon.” She dives deep into the economics of the exploit market, the dangers of vulnerability disclosure laws, and how AI is shifting the dynamics of cybersecurity offense and defense. Katie also shares first-hand stories from her time shaping Microsoft’s bug bounty program and working with the Pentagon. A must-listen for CISOs, IT leaders, and architects navigating the geopolitics of cyber risk. https://tinyurl.com/ypwk8zex