VW invests up to $5bn in Tesla rival, Ford teases ‘Capri’ EV
German car-making giant Volkswagen (VW) says it will invest up to $5bn (£3.94bn) in Tesla rival Rivian. The deal creates a joint venture that will allow VW and the US-based electric vehicle (EV) maker to share technology. Rivian shares jumped by almost 50% after the announcement. The tie-up comes as competition intensifies between EV makers and Western countries move to impose tariffs on Chinese imports. Under the agreement, VW said it will initially invest $1bn in the electric truck and SUV maker, with another $4bn to be put into the company by 2026. BBC
Bill Gates has said artificial intelligence (AI) will accelerate innovation and make it easier to combat climate change – but also warned it must be “used by people with good intent”. The philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder made the comments during an interview with Sky News at the Breakthrough Energy Summit in London. Gates told The World With Yalda Hakim that AI had so far “played a fairly modest role” in helping to combat climate change, but was going to make innovation “far easier to do”. Sky News
Car makers have demanded support for the automotive industry just days after the manufacturing giant behind Vauxhall threatened to mothball its British factories. With the general election looming, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) urged the next Government to “back British manufacturing” with a combination of tax cuts and regulatory changes to reinvigorate consumer adoption of electric vehicles. Telegraph
Ford has released the first preview image of its upcoming electric coupé-SUV, which is strongly tipped to revive the Capri name, as part of a new guerilla marketing campaign. An advert placed in several print publications for a business called ‘Comeback Cars’ calls for readers to text the phrase ‘COMEBACK’ to it via WhatsApp. This begins an automated conversation that provides one of two preview images of the new car – the headlight or the rear light. Autocar
Motorola has turned to its once-upon-a-time-owner Google to build AI-driven experiences for the buyers of its 2024 foldables. The Gemini app can be accessed straight from the phone’s cover display. This year even the vanilla Motorola Razr 50 has a usable cover display – it’s not as big as the Ultra, but at 3.6”, it is still one of the biggest cover displays around. The Motorola Razr 50 Ultra, with its 4” outer display that goes edge to edge, has very little competition for the title of “biggest cover display”. In the US these phones are known as the razr 2024 and razr+ 2024. GSM Arena
Shares of Amazon are catching a bid today, rising 3.1% to an all time high. The climb above $192 along with 10.406 billion shares outstanding puts the company above a $2 trillion market cap for the first time. That’s against earnings guidance of $10-14 billion in the current quarter and consensus earnings of $5.74 next year. That puts the forward P/E at about 33.5x, which isn’t crazy in a world that’s AI-obsessed. ForexLive
If you’re waiting to see the Pixel 9, Pixel Watch 3, or other new Google hardware, then August 13th could be a big day for you because look what just hit our inboxes:
You’re invited to an in-person Made by Google event where we’ll showcase the best of Google AI, Android software and the Pixel portfolio of devices.
And this teaser posted by Google titled “AI… meet IX at Made by Google” makes the event’s purpose even clearer. TheVerge
