Headlines this week - Jul 27, 2025

A look at how capital is being deployed across future opportunities

C Gavilanes

Jul 27, 2025

This week in the future:

1 - Google’s results reveal that AI is not hurting the company (for now)

Strong results in search and cloud defy fears of AI disruption. The FT reports that Alphabet’s quarterly profits jumped nearly 20%, beating expectations. This performance, driven by strong growth in both search and cloud, relieved concerns that AI chatbots were eroding the company’s core business.

AI integration is surprisingly boosting search engagement. Contrary to fears that AI would cannibalize its main product, The WSJ notes that Google's new AI features have actually increased search volumes by 10%. Younger users in particular are searching more as they find the AI-powered results can answer a wider range of needs. Investors are concluding the Google is “adapting well” to AI

Fewer clicks (a result of AI summaries) create a fundamental business challenge. As Ars Technica reports, new research from the Pew Research Center shows that AI Overviews cause a "massive drop" in clicks to websites. This threatens Google’s core (ad-based) business model. Linked to this, he FT notes that the "AI fight is moving to new ground" where monetizing actions, not just clicks, will be critical.

2 - AI is actually forcing a fundamental rethink of the content economy on the web

Publishers may need to shift focus from traffic to community. As AI-powered search provides direct answers instead of links, the traditional ad-based traffic model for publishers is threatened. Ben Thompson's Stratechery newsletter suggests that to survive, content creators must now focus on building a loyal community directly around their unique brand and insights.

Creating new economic incentives for creators will be critical. For the web ecosystem to remain vibrant, new economic models are needed to reward content creation. Economist César Hidalgo argued on X that it is essential to design new systems that provide clear incentives for creators, ensuring the continued production of the high-quality human content that AI models themselves rely on.

3 - Microsoft reports a major global cyberattack, attributed to Chinese state-sponsored groups

A widespread cyberattack exploited SharePoint software. Hackers exploited a "high-severity, high-urgency" security flaw in Microsoft's SharePoint software to launch a global attack. Bloomberg reports the threat is significant because SharePoint’s deep integration with other products like Office and Teams can open the door to an entire network.

The breach impacted US federal and state agencies. The "zero-day" attack compromised numerous US institutions, including federal and state agencies, universities, and energy companies. According to The Washington Post, the breach caused a "mad scramble across the nation" as tens of thousands of servers were found to be at risk.

Microsoft has officially attributed the attack to China. The FT reports that Microsoft has accused two Chinese state-sponsored groups, "Linen Typhoon" and "Violet Typhoon," of exploiting the vulnerability. This is viewed as part of what US officials describe as an "intensifying Chinese cyber campaign" that has become increasingly bold in recent years.

4 - The Trump Administration unveils its plan for US leadership in AI

A new policy aims to stimulate AI use and exports. The administration has pledged a new set of policies to boost the domestic use and global export of US-based AI. As reported by The WSJ, this is part of a direct strategic effort to ensure the US maintains its global leadership in AI against China.

A key component of the strategy is the deregulation of the energy sector. A WSJ editorial frames this as "Liberation Day for American AI," arguing that the plan's core is a deregulatory order. This will roll back environmental rules that hinder the construction of the power plants and data centers needed to fuel the AI boom and compete with China.

5 - The US is treating the new space race as a national priority

A call to action for US leadership in space. In a FT opinion piece, former astronaut Buzz Aldrin and a co-author argue that America must seize its strategic advantage in space. They call for a coalition of NASA, private companies, and allies to ensure US dominance in the "cislunar" domain (i.e. space between the Earth and the Moon), which they describe as central to national defense and economic competitiveness.

A push to deregulate rocket launches to accelerate progress. The Trump administration is considering a rollback of federal oversight for rocket launches. Ars Technica reports on a draft executive order that would "eliminate or expedite" environmental reviews, a move long sought by companies like SpaceX who argue that current regulations hinder their ability to compete with China.

Vast economic opportunities are driving the new space push. An "orbital industrial revolution is under way," argues an op-ed in the FT. As launch costs plummet, space is becoming a "factory floor" for manufacturing superior semiconductors and pharmaceuticals in microgravity, which could create a multi-trillion-dollar space economy that directly benefits Earth.

SpaceX remains the key US asset in the race against China. In the escalating rivalry with China's state-backed programs, SpaceX is often framed as the United States' primary champion. As a NYTimes video report suggests, the current dynamic in the new space race is increasingly seen as a direct competition between China and Elon Musk's company.

However, the administration wants to reduce its dependence on Musk. A Reuters article reports that due to a deteriorating relationship between Trump and Musk, the administration is actively seeking alternatives to SpaceX for its "Golden Dome" missile defense system. The Pentagon is now courting rivals like Amazon's Project Kuiper to avoid over-reliance on a single partner for critical national security infrastructure.

6 - The race for more capable AI is creating significant, and challenging safety issues

Expanding AI capabilities beyond chatbots introduces new risks. As AI models gain the ability to perform actions in the digital world, they create a new set of vulnerabilities. A WSJ article argues that this move from simple chatbots to active agents presents a much more serious safety problem that needs to be managed urgently.

Addressing these risks is not straightforward:
- Technical challenges like "hallucinations" are deeply ingrained. An FT article explains that hallucinations are a fundamental byproduct of how LLMs work by predicting the next most probable word. This makes the problem of ensuring truthful outputs an intrinsic and difficult technical challenge to solve completely.
- Competitive pressures are sidelining safety concerns. The industry is in an "all-or-nothing race" for superintelligence, leaving labs with "no time to fuss about safety," according to The Economist. This intense competition incentivizes companies to prioritize building more powerful models as quickly as possible, for fear of being left permanently behind.

7 - Tesla pivots to a more uncertain robotics future, as electric car sales falter

Quarterly results show the impact of a slowing EV market. Tesla's profits fell in 2Q25, hurt by plunging electric car sales. The FT reports that Elon Musk has warned of "a few rough quarters" ahead, blaming the downturn on the cancellation of government EV incentives.

The company is shifting its narrative from cars to robots. Amid the sales slump, Elon Musk is actively redirecting investors' focus away from vehicle deliveries and towards a future defined by autonomous robots. A WSJ analysis notes that the company's equity story is now centered on the long-term potential of robotaxis and humanoid robots.

However, the robotaxi market faces significant hurdles. The path to a global robotaxi network is filled with immense challenges. A FT article explains that despite the hype, the industry still faces vast technical, regulatory, and capital obstacles before it can become a widespread and profitable reality.

Tesla’s initial robotaxi launch has not gone too well. The company's first robotaxi deployment may have damaged public perception of the technology. Citing exclusive survey data, a WIRED report suggests the launch "backfired" by making some consumers less comfortable with autonomous driving, highlighting the risks of a premature rollout.

8 - A breakthrough in quantum teleportation brings the 'quantum internet' closer to reality

Researchers have successfully teleported light-based quantum information. A Phys.org report details how researchers at Nanjing University teleported a quantum state to a quantum memory using standard telecom wavelengths. This is described as a critical step toward a "quantum internet" that could one day transmit information instantly and securely over vast distances.

9 - The Economist explores the massive, unpredictable economic impact of superintelligence

The potential economic consequences of AI are historically unprecedented. The debate over superintelligence is escalating, with a leader this week in The Economist arguing that its arrival would have consequences "as great as anything in the history of the world economy". The publication urges serious consideration of the immediate and probable economic effects, not just the apocalyptic tail risks.

Even a growth "explosion" would create massive social disruption. In a detailed thought experiment, The Economist warns that a rapid, AI-driven growth scenario could create extreme inequality and financial instability. The article predicts wild market swings, soaring interest rates, and vast wealth for a few "superstars" as the global economy struggles to adapt to the disruption.

10 - A new "tech stack" is emerging to industrialize biotechnology

This new stack combines microfluidics, robotics, and AI. A post by A Cote this week describes how biology is being reimagined as a technology stack. In this analogy, microfluidics serves as the "PC" for individual experiments, robotic labs are the "Data Centers" for automated, large-scale research, and AI provides the essential analysis layer.