Russia will withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 and build its own orbital station, according to the head of the Roscosmos state space agency. Yuri Borisov said Russia will remain on the ISS through 2024 to fulfill its obligation with the U.S. and other international partners. More: - By that time, Roscosmos believes it will "start forming a Russian orbiting station," Borisov told President Vladimir Putin, according to the Tass news agency.
- As of Tuesday, Roscosmos had yet to officially announce its withdrawal to NASA. The two have experienced heightened tensions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.
- Borisov’s predecessor, Dmitry Rogozin, has also publicly acknowledged that Russia could exit the ISS agreement due to the growing tensions.
- The ISS is currently run by the space agencies of Russia, the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Japan. At present, there are three Americans, three Russians, and one Italian astronaut on board.
- NASA and partners have said they will continue operating the station until 2030.
TECHCRUNCH 
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Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon purchased gold that was illegally mined in Brazil, according to a report in the Brazilian newspaper Repórter Brasil. The gold allegedly came from suppliers linked to illicit mining operations on indigenous lands in the Amazon rainforest. More: - Brazil currently bans such mining on the lands due to deforestation and the risk of mercury contamination in rivers.
- The report says the tech companies purchased the gold in 2020 and 2021 from refiners including Chimet and Marsam, which are currently under investigation by the Brazilian Federal Police for illegal extraction.
- Apple and Microsoft allegedly used the gold in their production of computers and smartphones. Google and Amazon used it for servers.
- Only Apple issued a comment to Repórter Brasil, saying that it no longer purchases gold from Marsam. The other companies did not respond to requests for comment.
APPLE INSIDER
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- Frictionless user onboarding through easy-to-use web wallets
Are you ready to explore NFT 2.0? Head to Few and Far to start your journey and stay tuned on Twitter. Explore NFT 2.0
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 A prototype of the original Apple desktop computer, once owned by Steve Jobs, has gone up for auction. Steve Wozniak hand-soldered the Apple Computer A printed circuit board in 1976. It was a prototype for the Apple Computer 1, the company's first-ever product. More: - The "Apple Computer A" prototype was considered lost until it was authenticated by Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen. An anonymous seller obtained it from Jobs about 30 years ago.
- Jobs used this particular prototype to demonstrate the Apple 1 computer to Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, Calif.
- Terrell became the world's first retailer of the Apple-1, ordering 50 fully-assembled machines that he sold for $666.66 apiece.
- An assembled circuit board, the machine at auction has no keyboard or monitor. It has minor damage and is labeled "Apple Computer A".
- Bids are open on the RR Auction website through August 18. The auction house estimates a value of $500,000. As of Tuesday, the bid was at $278,005.
NEW ATLAS
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E-commerce technology company Shopify Inc. said it will lay off 1,000 workers, or 10% of its workforce, amid the broader pullback in consumer online shopping. In a memo to employees, CEO Tobi Lütke said consumers are returning to stores and the pandemic-led boom in online shopping has subsided. More: - During the pandemic, Canada-based Shopify made hefty investments in its technology and workforce under the belief that the growth in e-commerce sales would continue.
- Lütke acknowledged that the belief "didn't pay off" and he "got this wrong." Many consumers have returned to their pre-pandemic shopping habits and the company is now forced to make cuts.
- Shopify will now cut positions in recruiting, support, and sales, and other areas, focusing largely on "over-specialized and duplicate roles" and those that don't build products, according to Lütke.
- As of late 2021, Shopify had more than 10,000 employees, up from 1,900 in 2016.
- Shopify is set to release its Q2 earnings on Wednesday morning.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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 A message from FIREWORK Holiday Commerce No Longer Starts in Q4 Christmas shopping now begins all the way in July for most buyers — especially Gen Z. According to recent Salesforce research, 42% of shoppers worldwide are planning to buy gifts earlier this year, with inflation the biggest motivator behind that trend. With Gen Z making up 30% of the population and some $360bn in spending power, Firework’s Gen Z Labs seeks to provide an interactive and engaging way for marketers to understand how to connect and convert this group when it comes to holiday shopping. Learn from the founders of leading Gen Z brands such as: - Grande Cosmetics
- That’s It Bars
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The U.S. Energy Department said Monday that it would loan $2.5B to a joint battery venture between General Motors and South Korean battery company LG Energy Solution. The loan will help finance the construction of three battery-cell plants — part of the Biden administration’s long-term plans to support the production of electric vehicles and their components. More: - The joint venture, Ultium Cells LLC, is developing lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facilities in Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan.
- The loan is from the government's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program, which provided $465M to Tesla for the production of its Model S. It hasn't provided a loan since 2010.
- The Ultium Cells loan is conditional on certain requirements that have not been shared publicly.
- GM and LG are expected to invest more than $7B to build the three battery plants. Production in Ohio is expected to start in August. Tennessee will come online in late 2023 followed by Michigan in 2024.
- President Biden has targeted for at least half of U.S. auto production to be all-electric or plug-in electric hybrid vehicles by 2030.
REUTERS
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European satellite companies OneWeb and Eutelsat announced a merger that will combine the former's low Earth orbit constellation with the latter's satellite fleet in geostationary orbit. The combined entity — a multi-orbit satellite broadband operator — is expected to better compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX and Amazon’s Project Kuiper. More: - Eutelsat, a French satellite operator, already owns 23% of OneWeb, a U.K.-based satellite company that underwent a British-led bailout in 2020.
- The companies have now signed a memo of understanding to create a joint entity that's expected to generate revenue of $1.22B in fiscal 2022-23.
- It will be the first multi-orbit satellite operator with integrated geostationary orbit (GEO) and low-Earth orbit (LEO) solutions, according to Eutelsat.
Zoom-out: - OneWeb currently has 428 LEO satellites in orbit that deliver internet services. It wants to eventually grow its constellation to 648 satellites to beam broadband to underserved areas of the world.
- Eutelsat has 36 GEO satellites in operation that broadcast TV, radio, and other services. It's the third-largest satellite operator by revenue.
CNBC
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- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has called on the FTC to examine Amazon's $3.9B acquisition of One Medical.
- Meta will shut down Tuned, its experimental app for couples to communicate, on Sept. 19.
- Google's YouTube is reportedly in the running to win the bid for NFL Sunday Ticket, though Apple is still considered the front-runner in the race to secure the NFL's flagship content package.
- Cruise revealed it has started mapping Dubai using Chevrolet Bolts as it seeks to operate an autonomous vehicle service in 2023.
- Pico's FCC filing reveals the company's plans to debut two new headsets: the Pico 4 and the Pico 4 Pro.
- Health tech startup Cleerly, a developer of AI software that spots early signs of heart disease, announced a $192M financing round.
- Super Coffee, the #3 ranked bottled coffee brand in the US behind Starbucks and Dunkin’, is replacing the negatives with only positive ingredients.*
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 |  | Beth is a writer and analyst at Inside.com covering artificial intelligence and daily tech news. Since starting work at Inside, she has covered various topics including virtual reality, drones, and e-commerce. Prior to that she was a public policy and investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic, where she won a Pulitzer Prize nomination and First Amendment Award for reporting on the rising costs of pensions. Reach her at Beth.Duckett@inside.com. |   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
Few and Far, a new NFT marketplace which recently launched on NEAR. | |
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