Elon Musk Denies a WJS Report Claiming Tesla May Look to Divest China Operations Before a Potential SpaceX Merger - DTH

Want to get this show ad-free? Head to dailytechnewsshow.com slash subscribe to find out how. These are the Daily Tech headlines for Friday, July 31st, 2026. I'm Rob Dunwood. The Wall Street Journal reports Tesla may be exploring separating its China operations potentially through a spinoff or sale to facilitate a possible merger with SpaceX.

This move, allegedly prepared in advance by CEO Elon Musk, would address security and citizenship compliance challenges associated with SpaceX's defense contracts, despite China's current significance as a key market and production hub for Tesla. Elon Musk, however, has dismissed the reports as fake news and asserted no such discussions have occurred. In a post on X, Musk stated, quote, this has never even come up in a discussion ever, end quote. Anthropic recently discovered that several of its Cloud AI models inadvertently accessed

real-world systems during cybersecurity capture-the-flag evaluations due to a misconfiguration that provided them with live internet access. While the models acted on their own, Anthropic classified the incidents as operational and harness failures rather than model alignment issues, noting that the latest model successfully halted the activity upon

realizing the targets were not simulated. In a response to the discovery, which occurred during a proactive internal review, Anthropic is investigating the incidents further, engaging with non-profit Meter for third-party review, and calling for stronger safety measures across the industry. Starting July 31, 2026, the European Union's new Right to Repair

Directive marks a significant shift toward a more sustainable economy. The directive requires manufacturers to provide affordable, timely repairs, free manuals, and transparent pricing for spare parts for electronics and household appliances. Additionally, it mandates warranty extensions for repaired items. Full implementation across member states will take time as national

laws are updated. Spotify has introduced User Notes, a new feature allowing users to add personal captions and contacts to individual tracks within their playlists, aiming to deepen personalization and preserve memories tied to specific songs. Alongside this update, the company also launched Running Mode for premium users, which curates music based on a user's running

pace and preferences. Sony has secured the necessary memory supplies to meet its fiscal year 2026 sales projections. Despite lower PS5 console sales and softer first-party game performance, the company saw a 37% profit increase for the first fiscal quarter, driven by currency exchange rates and tariff refunds. Sony also anticipates a holiday boost from the upcoming November release

of Grand Theft Auto 6 while maintaining a robust base of 125 million monthly active users. In other gaming news, Microsoft Xbox Division, led by CEO Asha Sharma, is aggressively targeting a return to profitability and growth by mid-2030, aiming to align margins with rivals like Sony and Nintendo. Despite a recent 10% quarterly revenue decline and lacking console shipments, the company is shifting strategy by lowering game path prices, prioritizing exclusive titles, and tasking all internal studios with driving player and revenue growth through fiscal year 2027. Moving forward, Sharma also plans to expand the division's major franchises into film, television, and global partnerships.

OpenAI has announced significant price reductions for its GPT-5.6 Luna and Terra models by 80% and 20% respectively, only three weeks after their initial release. The company attributes these cuts to improved system efficiency and delivering intelligence, Though the move also addresses increasing market pressure from cheaper Chinese open-weight models, while the mid-range Terra now costs $2 per million input tokens and $12 per million output tokens, the low-cost Luna has dropped to $0.20 per million input and $1.20 per million output tokens, as OpenAI and competitors like Anthropic navigate a shifting landscape where customers are increasingly prioritizing affordability alongside performance. performance. LinkedIn is actively combating the spread of low-quality AI-generated content,

often called AI slop, by introducing a new seems-like AI slop user feedback button. Additionally, the platform is reinforcing its automated defenses, implementing new classifiers to improve content quality and recommendations, and privately flagging potentially inauthentic posts to help creators refine their work. Furthermore, LinkedIn is pivoting its internal

AI strategy away from generative writing toward proofreading and expanding user verification tools, all to preserve the network's focus on authentic human connection. Techno is set to unveil a concept smartphone at IFA 2026, featuring an industry-first zero-millimeter bezel, a design achievement enabled by advanced internal stacking and screen-packing techniques.

Aiming to provide a more immersive experience free from distracting borders, the company envisions this feature becoming a core part of its future design identity, while currently just a concept that prompts questions regarding touch sensitivity and handling, Techno's move signals its ambition to distinguish itself in an increasingly consolidated smartphone

market. And finally, an eSafety Commissioner report on Australia's three-month social media age restrictions shows limited success as over 80% of children still access platforms like Instagram and TikTok due to ineffective age verification and easy bypasses. Consequently, the government faces pressure to raise penalties, mandate independent compliance audits,

and fast-track digital duty care of laws, highlighting the age-based bans are not a comprehensive solution for protecting minors online. For more analysis of the tech news of the day, subscribe to DailyTechNewsShow.com. You can find show notes and links to all the headlines there as well. Thanks for listening. We'll talk to you next time.