TBPN

We're live at AMD Advancing AI

July 23, 2026

Happy Thursday.

We’re live on YouTube and 𝕏.

The current thing in tech and business is Google’s new AI study.

Today’s Lineup

Odyssey Co-Founder & CEO Oliver Cameron at 12:20 PM
Ideogram Founder & CEO Mohammad Norouzi at 12:30 PM
AMP PBC Founder Anjney Midha at 12:40 PM
AMD Chair & CEO Lisa Su at 1:30 PM

Run of ShowAMD Advancing AI

We’re on the road in SF today at AMD Advancing AI. CEO Lisa Su will join us at 1:30p PT to discuss her keynote and the shape of the business.

Advancing AI is AMD’s biggest AI event of the year, where it reveals new chips, software, partnerships, and how it plans to compete with NVIDIA.

Here are some of the announcements made at the conference from the company:

AMD unveils Helios, its new rack-scale AI system powered by the MI450 accelerator
AMD & Anthropic partner to deploy up to 2gw of AMD Instinct MI450 Series GPUs
AMD expands its partnership with Cerebras, teaming up on AI inference

U.S. Signs Nuclear Deal with Saudi Arabia

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have reached a 30-year, multibillion-dollar deal to build out the kingdom’s civilian nuclear program, which could eventually include a uranium enrichment facility inside the country.

Saudi officials say the goal is to meet more of its energy needs with nuclear power so it can export more of its oil. But American companies would take the lead on building the reactors and other nuclear infrastructure, which would mostly shut out China and Russia.

According to Robert Einhorn, former U.S. Department of State special advisor for nonproliferation and arms control:

“The agreement could help revitalize the U.S. nuclear industry, strengthen U.S.-Saudi ties, and deny Russia and China a strategically important role in the Saudi nuclear program,”

Supporters say the U.S. leading the build out gives more control over the program and could help revive the American nuclear industry. But critics say it could still push the Middle East closer to a nuclear arms race, especially since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said Saudi Arabia would pursue a nuclear bomb if Iran ever got one. For context, he’s been saying this since 2018.

Google Latest Study: Mapping Gemini Usage in the Economy

In a recent Google study, the company looked at nearly 15 million Gemini interactions and found that AI is showing up across most of the economy, but people are still mostly using it as a collaborator and not a full replacement for human work.

Gemini appeared in jobs representing more than 88% of U.S. employment, according to the study, but in the typical job where AI was used, it only touched about 21% of the actual tasks. Most people at work were using AI to draft, review, brainstorm, research, or learn.

The study also found that in most cases Gemini was used outside of work. 86% of conversations with Gemini were about things like education, stuff around the house, shopping, health, finances, etc.

The study outlines ten main takeaways, but here are the five that I found most important:

AI has diffused very broadly in both work and life
Though broadly used at work, the overall depth of AI’s use is shallow
While there is some task automation, the vast majority of use so far is collaborative and assistive to tasks and work
AI use is not only a white collar phenomenon; it is also assisting in physical and manual work
Work-related AI usage correlates strongly with higher wages and education

Here’s the 100-page study if you want to read more.

Clip Spotlight: Travis Kalanick’s pitch for why young people should join his new startup Atoms:

"I'm not out there pitching some lame-sauce dude who doesn't want to work... This is why Atoms is cool. You're not dropping an app in the App Store. You're automating a 2 million pound machine [in the Amazon] going 35mph carrying gold."

Headlines

WSJ: Trump Approves Landmark Nuclear Deal With Saudi Arabia in Big Win for Kingdom

WSJ: Google Study Says AI Is Helping Workers, Not Replacing Them

Satya Nadella: Frontier Diffusion & Control

Microsoft launches MAI-Image-2.5-Pro

PhD student Shouqiao Wang claims to have solved 6 open Erdős problems in 5 days using GPT-5.6 Sol

The Information: Stripe Minted $3.2 Billion in Cash in 2025, Setting Up Acquisition Hunt

Etched raises $300M at a $10.3B valuation led by Sequoia Capital

Cognition acquires Interaction, the makers of Poke

Business Insider: Paramount+ is moving into micro dramas as Hollywood falls in love with short video

Bloomberg: Alphabet Falls as $205 Billion Spending Plan Fuels AI Cost Fear

Bloomberg: Alphabet’s Future Spending Commitments Soar to $811 Billion