Monday, May 12, 2025

Welcome to TC PM! Today we have all you need to know about next week's Google I/O developer conference; we learn about Sam Altman's cooking habits; and we have the details on where Aurora co-founder Sterling Anderson is heading next. Vroom, vroom!

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Image Credits: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

📺 How to watch: This year's Google I/O, Google's biggest developer conference, is May 20 and 21. The conference is expected to include major updates to Google's products. We've got a guide on what events we are keeping our eye on and how you can watch the event.

🫒 No sizz, no rizz: Sam Altman is apparently not an olive oil guy. On a recent episode of the Financial Times' "Lunch with the FT" series, Altman was spotted using Graza's "drizzle" olive oil when he should have been using their "sizzle" oil, which the FT called an "offense to horticulture." Sad!

🤖 Saudi "AI"rabia: Saudi Arabia's ruler Mohammed bin Salman launched a new AI company, Humain, to bolster the country's AI sector by building out new AI infrastructure and data centers. This announcement comes right as a who's who of U.S. AI leaders head to the country for a conference.

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Afternoon must-reads

Image Credits: Slate Auto

📈 That was fast: Jeff Bezos-backed EV company Slate Auto has already racked up more than 100,000 refundable reservations for its customizable low-cost electric pickup truck. Remember, the company just came out of stealth two weeks ago.

🚗 Co-founder to CPO: Sterling Anderson made headlines last week when he announced he was departing Aurora, the autonomous vehicle startup he co-founded. Anderson is heading to General Motors to serve as a vice president of global product and chief product officer.

✨ Stargate, stallgate: OpenAI's ambitious $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure project has hit a snag. Growing market instability due to tariff uncertainty is making banks, private equity investors, and asset managers wary of backing the project.

⏰ Time to formalize: Immad Akhund, the co-founder and CEO of fintech Mercury, formalized his investing efforts with a $26 million fund after years of angel investing. Akhund, as an individual, has backed companies such as Airtable, Gecko Robotics, and Substack.

🍎 Apple to the rescue: Apple released iOS 18.5, which, among other things, gives iPhone 13 owners emergency satellite features for the first time. This system allows people to contact emergency services via satellite when there is no cell phone service or Wi-Fi available.

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Around the web

🔒 Protecting knowledge: Indigenous scientists are worried about what will happen to their data and research — which often contains ancient cultural knowledge — during Donald Trump's presidency. Thankfully, Indigenous scientists from around the world are trying to help each other navigate.

🗺️ On the road again: There is currently a community of folks online taking a communal virtual road trip together called Internet Roadtrip. These users are cruising through Google Street View images by voting on where the car goes next and what music is playing. Neat!