P.S. Speaking of AI: I’ll be moderating a conversation about realizing its ROI on Oct. 3. Join our virtual Brainstorm AI discussion, held in partnership with Accenture and featuring a stellar group of execs, by registering here. It’s completely free.

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Baby, you can’t drive my (China-connected) car

Want to drive on the open road, wind in your hair, disconnected from everything? Fat chance: Today’s vehicles are inseparably tethered to the internet.

The Biden Administration is concerned about foreign adversaries using this online link for spying and even remotely seizing control of cars. So yesterday the Commerce Department proposed banning Chinese software (starting with model year 2027) and hardware (2030) from vehicles with internet connections—essentially barring China-made cars and components from the U.S. market.

The new rules are just the latest in a broad U.S. government crackdown on China over national security concerns. Remember that TikTok ban President Biden signed earlier this year? 

In practice, there are relatively few cars on U.S. roads today that would be affected by the proposed ban (which, naturally, also includes Russian-made cars and components). But the U.S. government says it wants to be proactive.

Or as the Fab Four put it: “Beep beep, beep beep, yeah!” —Sharon Goldman

Apollo enters the Intel ring

The Intel saga just took a twist we didn’t expect.

A business day after reports suggested that Qualcomm wanted to swallow its rival whole—in a friendly way!—a new Bloomberg report suggests asset manager Apollo Global offered to make Intel an “equity-like” deal for as much as $5 billion.

At the time of writing, Intel shares were up modestly to about $22, though nowhere near their previous 2024 plateaus of $43 and $30.

Apollo’s portfolio is expansive to say the least. It acquired Yahoo in 2021, the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas in 2022, and invested millions or billions in interests as diverse as aviation, energy, and music. 

Plus: Intel is no stranger to Apollo. Earlier this year, Intel sold Apollo an $11 billion minority stake in its Fab 34 chip-making factory in Ireland as part of a broader effort to mind its capital expenditures.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has lots of thinking to do. A big tie-up with a chip rival runs the risk of an antitrust-flavored “Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $100 Billion.” Apollo-like investments (see what I did there?) could give Intel more cash but not necessarily speed up the timeline to make it more competitive in the markets it desires. 

To quote a famous boxer by the name of Creed: Be a thinker, not a stinker, Pat. —Andrew Nusca

Kamala Harris finally has something to say about tech

As president, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris says her administration would “encourage innovative technologies,” namely artificial intelligence and digital assets—i.e. crypto.

Through now, Harris has had much to say about wages, taxes, and civil rights—but precious little about this newsletter’s favorite subject. (In fairness, the sitting VP has been a presidential candidate for about two months.) 

Harris has previously hinted at her interest in securing America’s global competitiveness in the AI arms race, but the choice to call out cryptocurrencies—at a donor event in New York City—is new. The blockchain industry has emerged as a large donor base in the upcoming U.S. election as it pushes back against Biden-era regulations. 

The veep’s nod to the investor community comes in the wake of extensive courting of crypto bros by rival Republican candidate Donald Trump, who promised to fire SEC chair (and crypto adversary) Gary Gensler “on day one.” Will it resonate? We’ll find out in six weeks. —Jenn Brice

Automakers struggle to pivot from ‘vroom vroom’ to ‘beep boop’

Paging Clay Christensen: Legacy automakers are falling behind in the software race, according to a new ranking, and it’s not even close. 

Consultancy company Gartner’s annual Digital Automaker Index included several major legacy carmakers this year, but only Ford, GM, and BMW were able to crack the Top 10. 

The index ranks automotive companies based on how much they have been able to digitally infuse their business, as measured across nine categories. Is software central to the driving experience? That is, in essence, what this index measures.

It should be no surprise who ranks best: Tesla is tops, followed by China’s Nio and XPeng, then U.S. peers Rivian and Lucid. 

According to Gartner, these companies are pushing hardest on the development of software that controls the many features, from batteries to connectivity to safety, found in a modern vehicle.

Now all they need to do is figure out how to make more engineers. —Jessica Mathews

Heeeere’s Jony’s AI gadget

Jony Ive, the former Apple design boss famous for the iPhone and other iconic products, has finally confirmed that he’s working on an artificially intelligent device with OpenAI’s Sam Altman—though he isn’t spilling the beans on what it is or when it’s coming.

According to a New York Times profile, the AI gadget is being concocted in an old theater in San Francisco’s Jackson Square neighborhood. Turns out Ive has purchased almost an entire block in the area, with a nearby building housing his LoveFrom design studio and a soon-to-open retail store. 

The Ive-Altman hardware startup aims to raise up to $1 billion by the end of this year—Ive has already contributed, as has Emerson Collective, the firm headed by Laurene Powell Jobs (widow of Apple co-founder Steve). 

Per the Times, the device will use AI to “create a computing experience that is less socially disruptive than the iPhone.” It’s not the first AI gadget dreamed up by Apple alums. Remember the troubled Humane Pin? Here’s hoping Ive will think different. —David Meyer

More data

—How Sonos screwed up its app. Maybe don’t disregard employee warnings, yeah?

—TikTok debuts Subscription feature, helping it keep up with Instagram and YouTube.

—$230 million crypto scam! In this new sitcom, two twentysomethings gain access to someone’s crypto account and hijinks ensue.

—Telegram to provide user data to authorities. But no reason for concern unless you’ve been, uh, breaking laws.

—Cloudflare declares war on AI-scraping bots. In the immortal words of Nevill Flynn: I have had it with these mother****ing bots on this mother****ing website! —AN

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