Technology

Bloomberg reported on July 17, 2026 that Apple and the Justice Department have entered exploratory settlement discussions in United States v. Apple Inc., the Sherman Act monopolization case filed in March 2024 and joined by 20 state attorneys general. No terms have been disclosed and no party has publicly confirmed the talks; the case remains on a 2027 trial track after Judge Neals denied Apple's motion to dismiss on June 30, 2025. Any negotiated resolution would need to address the five conduct categories named in the DOJ complaint: super-apps, cloud-streaming apps, cross-platform messaging, third-party smartwatch interoperability, and NFC tap-to-pay access.

Beijing-based Moonshot AI launched Kimi K3 on July 16–17, 2026, making it the largest open-weight model released to date, with independent benchmarkers Artificial Analysis and Arena placing it third and fourth respectively among all models but below the leading proprietary systems from OpenAI and Anthropic. Full model weights are not yet public, meaning all current performance data derives from Moonshot-controlled endpoints, with independent academic reproduction expected after the scheduled July 27 open-weight release. The announcement triggered a sell-off in Hong Kong-listed Chinese AI equities and renewed U.S. policy debate over the effectiveness of chip export controls.

SpaceX's thirteenth Starship integrated flight test, rescheduled to July 20 after a July 16 abort caused by four engines failing startup parameters, will deploy 20 Starlink V3 satellites on a suborbital trajectory where they will burn up on reentry rather than join the operational constellation. The Block 3 vehicle introduces Raptor 3 engines across the entire stack, a redesigned forward flap, and upgraded heat-shield tile hardware, with six of the payload satellites carrying cameras to image the ship's tiles during deployment. A successful flight would give SpaceX the data needed to attempt the first fully orbital Starship mission on Flight 14, which is also planned to include a ship-to-ship propellant transfer demonstration.