Morning Skim

AI

Palantir posts 93% growth as its CEO calls the AI industry 'Marxist'

Palantir reported 1.9 billion dollars in Q2 revenue, up 93 percent year over year, with 1.1 billion in profit. In its shareholder letter CEO Alex Karp said the frontier AI labs have 'Marxist overtones,' accusing them of trying to capture partners' intellectual property.

Why it matters: It captures the widening rift between AI-application firms and the model labs they depend on.

Dive deeper → TechCrunch

AWS strikes a vibe-coding deal with Superblocks to keep AI app-building in-house

AWS signed a multiyear marketing pact letting Superblocks' vibe-coding tool run inside customers' own AWS clouds, so enterprise data stays under IT control instead of going to outside model providers. It reflects a shift toward multi-model setups where cloud giants broker AI rather than lean on a single frontier lab.

Why it matters: It shows cloud providers positioning themselves as the neutral middle layer of the AI stack.

Dive deeper → TechCrunch

Tech

INC ransomware exploits SonicWall VPN flaws, claiming 885 victims

INC Ransomware has become the top group weaponizing two SonicWall Secure Mobile Access 1000 bugs (CVE-2026-15409 and CVE-2026-15410) for remote command execution, claiming 885 victims across the US, Australia, the UAE and more. It steals credentials and MFA seeds and even cold-calls victims to pressure payment.

Why it matters: Edge VPN appliances remain a favorite mass-entry point into corporate and government networks.

Dive deeper → The Hacker News

Researchers show malware can hijack passkeys stored in Chrome on Windows

Unit 42 detailed three 'Pass-ta-key' techniques that let malware already on a Windows PC sign into a victim's passkey-protected accounts without a fingerprint or PIN, by abusing how Chrome stores device keys and handles re-enrollment rather than breaking the cryptography. No active exploitation was confirmed and every path needs malware already present.

Why it matters: It pokes a hole in the promise that passkeys are immune to credential theft.

Dive deeper → The Hacker News

Business

Spotify slides after a soft profit outlook and slowing user growth

Spotify guided third-quarter operating income to 670 million euros, below the 677.8 million analysts expected, and forecast 788 million monthly users versus a hoped-for 793.6 million as growth cooled in North America and Europe. The stock fell about 5 percent in premarket trading.

Why it matters: Slowing user gains in its most lucrative markets test the streaming leader's premium-priced valuation.

Dive deeper → Investing.com

US stocks rally to open August, sending the Dow to its first record in a month

Wall Street climbed to start the month, with the Dow closing at its first record high in nearly a month as earnings optimism and hopes around US-Iran negotiations lifted sentiment.

Why it matters: A fresh record shows investors shrugging off the AI-spending jitters that dogged late July.

Dive deeper → Investing.com

Science

Moonquakes could reveal hidden ice under the lunar surface

Researchers found that seismic waves from moonquakes travel two to three times faster through frozen soil than dry soil, so listening to them could map buried ice at the Moon's south pole. They validated the idea with rock X-rays, thermal models and moonquake simulations.

Why it matters: Locating lunar water cheaply would shape where astronauts land and how they resupply.

Dive deeper → ScienceDaily

Your brain may be wired to fight its way back to a higher weight

Researchers writing in Cell describe a biological 'memory' that treats a former higher weight as the body's normal, ramping up hunger and lowering energy use after weight loss to drive regain. Drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro help by muting those appetite signals.

Why it matters: It reframes weight regain as biology rather than willpower, and explains why the new drugs work.

Dive deeper → ScienceDaily

World

Venezuela's June earthquakes killed more than 6,000, officials now say

Officials put the death toll from the twin magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes that struck on June 24 at 6,125, with coastal La Guaira and Caracas hit hardest. The World Bank estimates nearly 20 billion dollars in physical damage.

Why it matters: It ranks among the deadliest disasters in Venezuela's modern history, straining an already fragile state.

Dive deeper → Al Jazeera

Arson suspect arrested as Spokane wildfires force about 65,000 to flee

Authorities arrested Aaron Farinacci, 37, on suspicion of first-degree arson tied to the Old Trails fire near Spokane, Washington, after a witness reportedly placed him at its origin. Three fires have displaced roughly 65,000 people, burned about 8,000 acres and destroyed hundreds of structures.

Why it matters: A deliberate ignition during peak fire season turns a natural disaster into a criminal case.

Dive deeper → Al Jazeera

Culture

Zac Brown gives 37,000 Fenway fans a free cruise

Zac Brown Band surprised more than 37,000 concertgoers at Fenway Park with a complimentary two-person cruise each, a giveaway valued at over 40 million dollars and billed as the largest audience gift in live-music history. It ties to the band's Margaritaville at Sea partnership and a coming Beachcomber ship.

Why it matters: It is a splashy new twist on how superstar acts turn concerts into brand launches.

Dive deeper → Consequence

Sharon Osbourne defends an AI avatar of Ozzy as not a 'money grab'

Sharon Osbourne defended a digital AI avatar of her late husband Ozzy Osbourne, built with Hyperreal and Proto Hologram, against claims it is a cash grab, saying 'Ozzy loved the idea' and that they had discussed it for a decade. She stressed it is not being used to hawk products.

Why it matters: It is an early test of how the estates of late icons will handle AI recreations.