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š The Death Of The Free Web?
Google is on the attack
Gm. I knew I was getting old when I stopped looking forward to new music being released. That changed last week with the drop of Travis Scottās new album Utopia. Itās not at the Astroworld level, but itās so much better than Drakeās latest album. Lord knows I needed this.
ā Stephen Flanders

š TECH
The Web Environment Integrity Scandal

If youāre chronically online like me, you might have noticed some noise about āWeb Environment Integrityā (WEI)
Written by a team of 4 Googlers, WEI would provide websites with an API telling them whether the browser and the platform it is running on that is currently in use is trusted by an authoritative third party (called an attester).
Basically, it would allow websites to kick you off if they donāt find you trustworthy.
In theory, WEI would create a more secure internet by verifying that everybody is actually made of flesh and bones. And that would undoubtedly be great. Who wouldnāt want an internet with less spam, less social-media manipulation, and less phishing?
But, in reality, āsecure internetā could very well translate to āun-free internetā.
As WEIās many critics point out, WEI likely comes with a host of side effects:
It could effectively make ad-blocking impossible.
It would obstruct many existing uses of the Web including assistive technologies, automatic testing, archiving, and search engine spiders.
It would likely lead to a Web dominated by the few tech giants that control the attesters. In other words, youāre going to play by Google, Microsoft, and Appleās rules, or youāre not going to surf the Web.
In summary, WEI is a big step down the enshittification curve and might turn our beloved internet into one big centralized walled garden.
Not ideal.
Does web3 fix this?
Why should I care? Do you care about being able to do what you want when you want on the internet? Then you should care about WEI.

š TECH
More Big Tech Earnings

Big Tech earnings season continued this week with Apple and Amazon both reporting results.
Apple
The lone member of the $3T club didnāt have a great quarter:
Revenue of $81.8B, beating expectations of $81.69B but down 1% from last year and the third consecutive quarter of declining revenue.
iPhone revenue of $39.67B, lower than expectations of $39.91B and down 2% from last year.
Mac revenue of $6.84B, beating expectations of $6.62B but down 7% from last year.
iPad revenue of $5.79B, lower than expectations of $6.41B and down 20% from last year.
Services revenue of $21.21B, beating expectations of $20.76B and up 8% from last year.
Maybe weāre witnessing the birth of a new category of company: Apple-As-A-Service (AAAS).
Amazon
Amazon, on the other hand, had a quarter to remember:
Revenue of $134.4B, beating expectations of $131.5B.
Amazon Web Services revenue of $22.1B, beating expectations of $21.8B.
Advertising revenue of $10.7B, beating expectations of $10.4B.
Itās Amazonās biggest earnings beat since Q4 2020, and the stock market rewarded them with a 10% gain in after-hours trading.
What a day for the fighting Bezosās.
The Bottom Line: Big tech is slowly making a comeback, but the same canāt be said for Appleās hardware products.

šāāļø QUICKIES
What else is going on?
OpenAI has applied to trademark GPT-5.
The cure for cancer might come in a pill.
Operation turn Twitter X into a financial hub is underway.
The only thing stopping the DOJ from charging Binance with fraud is the possibility of a bank run.
Stat: 68 miles: Elonās Boring Company has received approval to dig a 68-mile tunnel network under Las Vegas. Do you think theyāll build a casino down there?
Rabbit hole: Cultivating A State Of Mind Where New Ideas Are Born (Less Wrong)

š¤ FUNDING FRIDAY
If you want a boring list of startup raises, look away now. If you want the 3 coolest raises of the week, then youāve come to the right place.


š FINAL JEOPARDY!
This Final Jeopardy! question stumped every contestant. Can you get it right?
Category: Inventions
Clue: This machine was invented in 1929; the government began buying them to help prevent any more in a series of Army Air Corps fatalities.

š ļø FOUNDERS CORNER
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š DOPAMINE HIT
Donāt even try to gatekeep my slay.
@agc.andy "Chronically Online Girls"

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FINAL JEOPARDY! ANSWER
The flight simulator.