A scammer used AI to impersonate the U.S. Secretary of State

From July 22 to 23, we’ll be discussing and debating the U.S.-China tech rivalry, the global chips war, the scaling of agentic AI, the data center arms race, the pursuit of AGI, governance gaps, and linguistic blind spots—plus exploring burning issues in automotive, finance, food, gaming, health care, professional services, and retail. 

An extraordinary group of leaders and thinkers will join us, from DBS Group CEO Tan Su Shan to Supertone CEO Kyogu Lee to Singapore digital minister Josephine Teo. If you’ll be in the region, you should, too.

Today’s tech news below. —Andrew Nusca

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A scammer used AI to impersonate the U.S. Secretary of State

The U.S. State Department has reportedly warned its diplomats that someone has used AI in an attempt to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The imposter sent SMS and Signal text messages as well as AI-generated voice messages to three foreign ministers, a U.S. Senator, and a U.S. Governor, the agency said. 

All U.S. Embassies and consulates were warned of the situation last week, according to the Washington Post. The agency said an investigation is underway. 

It’s not the first time the current administration has faced impersonation via AI. 

In May, elected officials and business executives reportedly received messages from someone impersonating Susie Wiles, chief of staff to President Donald Trump. 

According to a Wall Street Journal report from the time, Wiles believed someone had gained access to the contacts in her personal mobile phone. 

The issue isn’t limited to the U.S. Last month, Canada’s national anti-fraud center said scammers were using AI to impersonate government officials. Around the same time, Ukraine said Russian intelligence operatives were impersonating its Security Service in an effort to recruit civilians for sabotage. —AN

Amazon Prime Day? Tariff-clouded, seller-confused, and weird

If you look back 10 years to the first Amazon Prime Day, you can squint and see the outlines of today’s annual discount shopping extravaganza.

But a lot’s changed since. For starters, this year’s version is a four-day event, rather than one.

This year, independent Amazon sellers—who account for around 60% of Amazon sales—are contending with the dilemma of how to handle the ongoing U.S.-induced tariff chaos.

In conversations with Coins2Day, sellers have relayed two main strategies. 

Some will discount to drive sales that can increase cash flow and boost Amazon rankings. Others will play it safe but risk losing out on higher sales volume and getting a leg up on competitors.

There’s a new calculus for shoppers, too. 

Some may ponder whether now is the right time to cash in on deals before future tariff pressure threatens to drive up prices. Others may wait to search for deals or sit out the shopping event altogether. 

The company that manages Amazon sales for brands like Crocs and Apple-owned Beats, for example, said that Prime Day sales were down 14% year over year in the first four hours versus the same period last year, according to Bloomberg.

But Adobe predicts that online sales on Amazon and beyond will increase more than 28% over last year, a notable sales bump for a U.S. E-commerce industry that has typically grown by less than 10%. —Jason Del Rey

Apple has a new COO

Ch-ch-changes at the top continue at Apple.

The iPhone maker on Tuesday said its longtime No. 2 executive, Jeff Williams, would step down from his chief operating officer role and soon retire.

Sabih Khan, an operations executive and three-decade veteran of the company, will step up.

Apple called it a “long-planned succession.” (The two men are about three years apart in age, and only a couple more from CEO Tim Cook, 64.)

The news is almost certainly near and dear to the Apple CEO’s heart, and not just because it’s a key lieutenant.

It’s easy to forget now, but Cook’s previous role before becoming CEO in 2011 was COO, and his supply chain expertise played a major role in the company’s rise. 

Both Williams and Khan are similarly respected for their sustainability and supply chain chops—from planning and procurement to manufacturing and fulfillment—as the company has expanded its global footprint.

A caveat to the change: Williams will retain Apple’s design and Apple Watch teams before he retires “late in the year,” at which point design will report to Cook. (No word on the watch group.)

Why the exception? Williams led the Apple Watch project from its inception and has overseen the design department since the departure of former chief design officer Jony Ive in 2019. —AN

More tech

—OpenAI poaches back. Amid Meta’s talent shopping spree, OpenAI reportedly hires four top engineers from Tesla, xAI, and…Meta.

—Meta buys 3% of EssilorLuxottica. Its €3 billion stake in the Italian eyewear giant (of Ray-Bans fame) could grow to 5%.

—Jeff Bezos unloads Amazon stock. A $666 million tranche as part of a planned sale through next year.

—U.K. Retailer turns to US FBI after cyberattack. Marks & Spencer projects the hack will cost it up to £300 million in operating profits this year.

—Grok gets extreme. A sassy upgrade to Elon Musk’s X chatbot turns antisemitic. 

—Tether goes for gold. The issuer of the world’s most valuable stablecoin owns a vault in Switzerland to hold an $8 billion stockpile of gold.

—Waymo for teens. Kids aged 14 to 17 can now hail a robo-ride in Phoenix, with permission.

—Major teachers’ union to open AI training hub. The American Federation of Teachers will do so thanks to $23 million from Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI.

—Mistral may raise $1 billion in equity. One potential investor in the French AI startup? Abu Dhabi's MGX.

—China wants 115,000 Nvidia chips it can’t legally have for desert data centers.

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