Foldable iPhone production 📱, Tesla Robotaxi expands 🚕, AI dev at Google 🧑‍💻

TLDR 2025-07-11

Jul 11, 2025

Foldable iPhone Display Production Begins Ahead of Launch Next Year (2 minute read)

Apple's first foldable iPhone OLED displays have begun production ahead of an expected launch next year. The phone is expected to feature an inward-folding OLED display and be refreshed annually in the fall, just like the other models. Apple plans to produce six to eight million foldable iPhones in 2026. Samsung Display has secured an agreement to provide Apple with foldable displays as the sole supplier for several years.

Robinhood CEO's AI Math Startup Valued at Nearly $900 Million (3 minute read)

Harmonic AI is an artificial intelligence startup focused on building AI systems that can solve complex math problems. Co-founded by Robinhood's CEO Vlad Tenev, the startup recently raised $100 million in a Series B funding round led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, and Paradigm. Harmonic plans to make its flagship AI model available to researchers and the general public later this year. Its ultimate goal is to solve major unsolved mathematical problems and expand that to problems in physics and computer science.

🚀Science & Futuristic Technology

Robot surgery on humans could be trialled within decade after success on pig organs (4 minute read)

An AI-trained robot recently completed eight operations on pig organs with a 100% success rate. The robot, armed with tools to cut, clip, and grab soft tissue, successfully removed pig gall bladders without human help. They were trained on video footage of human medics conducting operations using organs taken from dead pigs. The success opens up the possibility of replicating, en masse, the skills of the best surgeons in the world.

Tesla moves to expand Robotaxi to Phoenix, following rival Waymo (3 minute read)

Tesla has applied to test and eventually deploy its robotaxis in Phoenix, Arizona. A decision on the application is expected at the end of July. Tesla began a pilot test of its robotaxis in Austin, Texas, in June. Those vehicles are remotely supervised by employees in an undisclosed operations center, and they each include a human safety supervisor, who rides with the passengers.

💻Programming, Design & Data Science

AI in software engineering at Google: Progress and the path ahead (6 minute read)

This post discusses Google's newest AI-powered improvements and discusses further changes the company expects to see in the coming five years. It also presents a methodology for building AI products that deliver value for professional software development. Improving these surfaces can directly impact developer productivity and satisfaction.

How much AI coding tools speed up experienced open-source developers (1 minute read)

A randomized controlled trial found that developers were actually 19% slower when they had access to AI than when they didn't. The results were surprising, as developers thought they were 20% faster with AU tools. The study asked 16 developers with moderate AI experience to complete 246 tasks in large and complex projects on which they had an average of five years of prior experience. A chart showing the results of the study is available.

🎁Miscellaneous

The Origin of the Research University (38 minute read)

Universities have existed for more than a thousand years, but for almost all of the time, they weren't centers of research. This article looks at what changed in 19th-century Germany that caused the birth of the research university. The real contribution of the research university is that it created a world where scholars don't have to be originals or geniuses to contribute.

5 things I learned from 5 years at Vercel (10 minute read)

Lee Robinson joined Vercel in 2020 when the company had 30 people. Five years later, the company has 650 employees and over $200 million ARR. During Robinson's time at the company, he went from IC to VP and worked on DevRel, product, community, docs, and more. This post contains some of the lessons Robinson learned and how he grew as a leader and manager.

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