On April 4th, 2023, around two in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundry, the killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the TechBrew Right Home for Tuesday, May 5th, 2026. I'm Brian McCullough. Today, the Trump administration is considering an executive order to form an AI oversight working group, a stark reversal from a tier-to-four hands-off approach. Apple is exploring using Intel and Samsung to make chips in the US. Coinbase cut 14% of its workforce. And OpenAI is fast-tracking an AI phone for next year. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. Today's episode is brought to you by Doppel. Disguises are getting pretty good these days, and I'm not just talking about when you throw on a pair of glasses and a hoodie and hope you won't be recognized. We're talking about the kind of disguises that end up in your inbox, on your phone, or on the web, blending in as your everyday internal email, casual text messages, or normal website. Doppel strengthens team resilience by giving employees the tools and defenses they need to protect themselves from increasingly sophisticated social engineering threats. Their digital risk protection takes it one step further by keeping an eye on every channel to connect patterns and shut them down fast. From deep fakes to bad links to impersonation attempts, Doppel helps you stay ahead of these threats with their AI-native social engineering defense platform. Learn more at doppel.com. That's doppel.com. Potential big shift for the AI ecosystem. Sources say the Trump administration is discussing an executive order to form an AI working group that would examine AI oversight procedures like vetting models before their release. Quoting the Times, President Trump, who promoted a hands-off approach to artificial intelligence and gave Silicon Valley free reign to roll out the technology, is considering the introduction of government oversight over new AI models, according to U.S. officials and people briefed on the deliberations. The administration is discussing an executive order to create an AI working group that would bring together tech executives and government officials to examine potential oversight procedures, according to U.S. officials who declined to be identified in order to discuss deliberations over sensitive policies. Among the potential plans is a formal government review process for new AI models. In meetings last week, White House officials told executives from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI about some of these plans, people briefed on the conversation, said. The working group is likely to consider a number of oversight approaches, the officials said, but a review process could be similar to one being developed in Britain, which has assigned several government bodies to ensure that AI models meet certain safety standards, people in the tech industry and the administration said. The discussions signal a stark reversal in the Trump administration's approach to AI. Since returning to office last year, Mr. Trump has been a major booster of the technology, which he has said is vital to winning the geopolitical contest against China. Among other moves, he swiftly rolled back a Biden administration regulatory process that asked AI developers to perform safety evaluations and report on AI models with potential military applications. We're going to make this industry absolutely the top because right now it's a beautiful baby that's born, Mr. Trump said of AI at an event in July. We have to grow that baby and let that baby thrive. We can't stop it. We can't stop it with politics. We can't stop it with foolish rules and even stupid rules, end quote. Mr. Trump left room for some rules, but he added that, quote, they have to be more brilliant than even the technology itself, end quote. But Mr. Trump has increasingly found himself isolated on the issue of AI as public concerns mount about the threat that the technology poses to jobs, energy prices, education, privacy, and mental health, Democrats and Republicans have found common ground on the topic. A Pew Research Center poll last year found that 50% of Republicans and 51% of Democrats said they were more concerned than excited about the increase of AI in daily life. The non-interventionist policy also began changing last month after the startup Anthropic announced a new AI model called Mythos. Mythos is so powerful at identifying security vulnerabilities in software that it could lead to a cybersecurity quote reckoning said Anthropic which declined to release the model to the public The shift on AI has sowed confusion As conversations between the White House and tech companies continue some executives have argued that too much government oversight will slow down U.S. innovation against China, the people said. That were briefed on the discussions. But the companies also do not agree on how the United States should move forward with potential regulation. The technology is moving extremely fast and there are few formal procedures, but they also don't want to overregulate, said Dean Ball, who was a senior advisor on AI in the Trump administration before leaving last year for the Foundation for American Innovation. Quote, it's a tricky balance, end quote. The headline for this segment would be, what if Apple turns to Intel again, kind of? Quoting Bloomberg. Apple has held exploratory discussions about using Intel and Samsung to produce the main processors for its devices in the US, a move that would offer a secondary option beyond long-time partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. The iPhone and iPad maker has had early-stage talks with Intel about enlisting the company's chip-making services, according to people familiar with the deliberations. Meanwhile, Apple executives have made visits to a Samsung plant under development in Texas that will also make advanced chips. Neither effort has resulted in any order so far, and the work with both suppliers remains preliminary, according to the people who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Apple has concerns about using non-TSMC technology and may not ultimately move forward with another partner, the people added. Intel shares soared as much as 12% to a fresh record in New York on Tuesday, their biggest intraday gain in nearly a week. They were up 10% at $105.42 at 9.48 a.m. New York Time. The stock has gained more than 180% this year, adding well over $340 billion to the company's market valuation. For more than a decade, Apple has designed the main processors known as systems on a chip that power its devices and relied on TSMC to build them using the most advanced production process in Taiwan. The latest iPhones and Macs use what is known as the 3-nanometer fabrication node. But not even Apple, one of the largest purchasers of silicon, is immune to supply chain disruptions. Recent shortages have been driven by the massive build-out of AI data centers and higher-than-anticipated demand for Macs suitable for running AI models locally. That, in part, highlights the need for Apple to consider additional suppliers. But finding backup suppliers is no easy feat. Intel and Samsung can't reliably offer the type of production and scale that's turned TSMC into the dominant made-to-order chip manufacturer and one of Apple's most critical supply chain partners. For Intel, finding external customers for chip production is a key piece of a comeback plan under CEO Lip Boutan. The company remains in the early stages of trying to line up clients for its so-called foundry business after past false starts. Landing Apple as a customer would represent a massive win for Tan and potentially help attract additional new business. Samsung has had more success in this area, but it too has struggled to keep pace with TSMC and remains a distant second in foundry markets. Samsung would benefit greatly from an endorsement by Apple, a company it competes with in smartphones and other sectors. Apple prefers to have at least two suppliers for any major component, giving it leverage in pricing negotiations and protection from supplier disruptions. For instance, it relies on several different manufacturers for the screens used across its product lineup. Apple has worked closely with TSMC to help expand operations in Phoenix, where the supplier now produces a limited number of chips for Apple from a single plant. It's ramping up work quickly for Apple, which said it will get 100 million chips from Arizona in 2026. That number would only cover a sliver of Apple's overall annual device shipments, and executives remain concerned about potential disruption to supply if China were to invade Taiwan, end quote. More layoffs getting blamed on AI, quoting Reuters. Coinbase said on Tuesday it would cut about 700 jobs or about 14% of its global workforce as it trims costs amid crypto market volatility and repositioning the business for the artificial intelligence era. CEO Brian Armstrong cited rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, saying new tools were allowing non-technical teams to ship code and automate tasks with smaller focused teams Shares of Coinbase were down 1 in early morning trading The Coinbase job cuts reflect both the underperformance of its shares and the drop in crypto trading volumes CoinBureau co Nick Puckren said Puckren said ongoing uncertainty around stablecoin yields under the Clarity Act had hit sentiment hard, noting they are a key part of Coinbase's business. Coinbase remained well-capitalized for long-term growth, but current market conditions require it to streamline operations and emerge leaner ahead of the next crypto cycle, Armstrong said in a blog post. April trading activity across digital asset exchanges has slowed, Jeffries analyst Daniel T. Fannin said in a note, adding that the weak start had set the second quarter on a softer footing. Coinbase said affected employees will receive severance and transition support, including a minimum of 16 weeks of base pay for U.S. staff and an additional two weeks per year of service, their next equity vesting, and six months of healthcare coverage. Coinbase has previously undertaken rounds of job cuts during downturns in the crypto market, underscoring the sector's sensitivity to trading activity and investor sentiment, end quote. Sure, AI is everywhere, but that doesn't mean enterprise value is a given. In a recent survey, PwC found the amount of CEOs who reported revenue gains or cost reductions from AI is nearly equal to the amount who say they're still stuck. So what's causing the issues? PwC bullied it down to clarity. Leaders aren't clear about what's hype, what's reality, or where AI can actually create measurable impact. To help change that, PwC is offering their AI expertise and data. They explore how to tune out noise around AI and get clarity on what successful adoption looks like. Learn from the experts by heading to pwc.com slash us slash brewai. That's pwc.com slash us slash brewai. Meta wants you to know it is using AI to detect under 13 users, but it insists that they are not using facial recognition on your kids. Quoting The Verge, Facebook and Instagram have a new way to detect and remove users under 13 AI bone structure analysis. In a blog post on Tuesday, Meta, Facebook and Instagram's parent company, says its AI system will scan photos and videos posted to its platforms for general themes and visual cues, including height and bone structure. We want to be clear, this is not facial recognition, Meta says in the blog post, adding that it does not identify the specific person in the image. This system is part of Meta's efforts to keep kids under 13 off its platforms and will also analyze posts, comments, bios, and captions to search for contextual clues that someone might be underage. Meta's AI-powered facial analysis, which is only available in select countries, including the US, ahead of a wider rollout, seems similar to the face-scanning tech offered by age verification services like Yoti and KID. Facebook and Instagram will deactivate accounts identified as underage, and the owner will need to verify their age to prevent it from deletion." According to Ming-Chi Kuo, OpenAI appears to be fast-tracking its AI agent phone with two NPUs and a custom MediaTek Dimensity 9600 system on a chip, targeting mass production of this phone as early as the first half of next year. Quoting The Verge, OpenAI's first hardware product might be a phone instead of a mysterious Johnny Ive gadget. As reported by MacRumors, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo shared details about the rumored phone, claiming OpenAI is fast-tracking it and aiming to start mass production in early 2027. According to Kuo, the phone will run on a customized version of the MediaTek Dimensity 9600, which is expected to launch this fall, and follow up the Dimensity 9500, currently powering phones like the Vivo X300 Pro and the Oppo Find X9 Pro. The custom chip's headline spec will be its Image Signal Processor, or ISP, which will have enhanced HDR that Quo says will improve the phone's real-world visual sensing capabilities. The OpenAI phone could also include LPDDR6 memory, UFS 5.0 storage, and a dual NPU architecture for running different kinds of AI computations simultaneously, like language and vision tasks. Quote also states that the phone's combined 2027-2028 shipments could reach around 30 million units. That would put the OpenAI phone's sales near those of a typical Samsung flagship, a lofty goal for the company first hardware product end quote Interesting raise from a player to keep your eye on. 11 Labs raised more than $550 million in its Series D round up from a previously announced $500 million, adding BlackRock, NVIDIA, and other interesting investors to the round. Its ARR apparently passed $500 million in the first quarter of this year, quoting tech.eu. One of the UK's most hyped AI startups today said it has added NVIDIA, BlackRock, and film stars Jamie Foxx and Eva Longoria to its investment roster, as it also announced it has completed its second employee secondary share sale in less than a year. UK headquartered Eleven Labs, founded by two Polish entrepreneurs, made a name for itself by leveraging AI to convert text into speech, which sounds like it's being read by human voices. The startup, which is backed by Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz, said today it had completed the third close of its Series D funding round. The startup announced its $500 million Series D in February of this year, valuing it at $11 billion. It said it has now raised more than $550 million in the round. The institutional investors include BlackRock, Wellington, D.E. Shaw, and Schroeder's, along with enterprises like the VC arm of NVIDIA and Ventures, which has previously been reported, and Sendanter, Eleven Labs said. Fox, Longoria, and Squid Game creator Huang Dong Haik are among a group of more than 30 actors, musicians, athletes, and entertainment executives investing in Eleven Labs for the first time, joining existing investors like Matthew McConaughey, it said. Eleven Labs also said it had surpassed $500 million in ARR in the first quarter of 2026, a big jump from its 2025 year-end ARR of $350 million. It said, this growth is driven by enterprises deploying voice agents across their businesses from customer support to sales to hiring and marketing operations, end quote. Finally today, in an exchange at that Musk versus Altman trial, Greg Brockman testified that his OpenAI stake is now worth almost $30 billion. dollars. An attorney for Elon Musk asked him why he hadn't donated $29 of that billion to OpenAI's nonprofit arm. Don't know how much of that was a joke or not. But also, friend of the show John Gruber found this little nugget. You know who is going to be a big winner from the OpenAI IPO? YCombinator. Quote, Sam Altman was the president of YCombinator for several years and left to become the full-time CEO of OpenAI. The thing that stuck in my craw is this. Does Y Combinator own a stake in OpenAI? And if they do, given OpenAI's sky-high valuation, isn't that stake worth billions of dollars? OpenAI was seeded by an offshoot of Y Combinator called YC Research in 2016 when Altman was running YC. In December 2023, the well-known AI expert and AI hype skeptic Gary Marcus wrote the following in a piece on Altman's trustworthiness in the wake of the OpenAI board saga that saw Altman fired, rehired, and the board purged in the course of a tumultuous week. Quote, After poking around, I found out that Sam saying I have no equity in OpenAI was only half the truth. While Altman, to my knowledge, holds no direct equity in OpenAI, he does have an indirect stake in OpenAI, and that fact should have been disclosed. End quote. In particular, he owns a stake of Y Combinator, and Y Combinator owns a stake in OpenAI. It may well be worth tens of millions of dollars, even for Altman. That's not trivial. Since he was president of Y Combinator and CEO of OpenAI, he surely was aware of this. So it's well known that Y Combinator owns some stake in OpenAI, but how big is that stake? This seems like a devilishly difficult information to obtain. I asked around and a little birdie who knows several OpenAI investors came back with an answer. Y Combinator owns about 0.6% of OpenAI. At OpenAI's current $852 billion valuation, that's worth over $5 billion. Paul Graham and his wife Jessica Livingston are two of Y Combinator's four founding partners. The fact that Paul Graham personally has billions of dollars at stake with OpenAI doesn't mean that his public opinion on Sam Altman's trustworthiness and leadership is invalid, but it certainly seems like the sort of thing that ought to be disclosed when quoting Graham as an Altman character reference. A billion dollars here, a billion there, that adds up to the sort of money that might skew a fellow's opinion, end quote. Nothing more for you today. Talk to you tomorrow.
