The Amped Journal

Kimi K3, Moonshot AI's 2.8-trillion-parameter open model that launched this week, is now built into Cursor and available through Vercel's AI Gateway running on US-based providers including Fireworks, Together and Baseten under zero-data-retention agreements. Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch noted Moonshot's own research found container-level isolation wasn't enough to run the model's agents safely, since agents crashed host machines via kernel panics during testing, making hardware-level Firecracker microVM isolation necessary instead.

Developer David Heinemeier Hansson, known as DHH and the creator of Ruby on Rails, tested how AI models handle sensitive topics and found Moonshot AI's Kimi gave a factual summary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, including death estimates, despite the topic being censored in China. By contrast, Anthropic's Claude declined to translate a DHH blog post touching on Denmark's wolf population and Roma migrants, citing potentially dehumanizing content, fueling a familiar debate over which models over-restrict versus under-restrict on sensitive material.

OpenAI published research on how small businesses are adopting AI, finding that the person closest to a problem, regardless of title, increasingly uses AI tools to solve it themselves rather than waiting on a specialist. OpenAI frames this as evidence AI is becoming a generalist tool that lets small teams handle work across functions without additional headcount.

OpenAI announced GPT-Live, its real-time voice mode in ChatGPT, is now available globally to Edu, Business and Enterprise plan subscribers, extending a feature that was previously limited to consumer tiers.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp criticized Europe's tech regulatory environment in a recent interview, saying "we have a template for what doesn't work, it's called Europe," and argued excessive regulation has stifled the continent's tech ecosystem while American companies benefit from going all-in on AI investment.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin threw his phone at a junior aide's desk while reprimanding the staffer in early July, prompting a formal HR complaint, according to reports. The phone didn't strike anyone but shook aides present; Martin apologized to the staffer the next business day. The incident surfaced amid reports the DNC is roughly $2 million in the red and has pawned its own headquarters, fueling calls from some Democratic officials for Martin to resign, even as national polling shows Democrats with their widest generic-ballot lead since 1996.

President Trump said the growing radical movement within the Democratic Party wants to turn the US into "a communist country," reversing his earlier line that "we will never be a socialist country." The remarks come as Democrats show internal strain over messaging heading into the midterms.

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Kumamoto on Japan's southern main island of Kyushu, prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue a tsunami advisory for the surrounding area.

Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry said it shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias based in Iraq. The intercept came as the United States and Iran held a pause in their attacks over the weekend following weeks of escalating strikes in the region.

The city of Wilmington plans to remove up to 19 mature oak trees, nearly all laurel oaks, some with trunks as wide as 55 inches, along Market Street between 12th and 21st streets before year's end, citing safety hazards to drivers, pedestrians and nearby homes and businesses. The city already removed three laurel oaks on South Live Oak Parkway this month after arborists found severe internal decay, with a fourth slated for removal. Local voices, including Wilmington realtor and commentator Cassie Clark, have pushed back, arguing the oaks are a defining feature of the city that residents have built around for centuries.

Live Oak Bancshares topped Wall Street expectations in the second quarter, beating consensus revenue estimates by about $3.7 million and EPS estimates by 10 cents, the Wilmington-based lender announced. Q2 revenue reached $156.15 million with earnings per share of $0.74, up 7.3% from the first quarter. Loan and lease production rose 13.2% year over year on $1.5 billion in originations, while deposits grew $712.5 million to $16 billion. "Our shareholders are seeing our path to success taking shape," said CEO Chip Mahan.

The city of Wilmington announced the hiring of Louis Starks as its new business and economic development manager, a role focused on strengthening the local business ecosystem, supporting entrepreneurship and connecting small businesses with city procurement opportunities. Starks has more than 20 years of experience in economic development and most recently led business development for Oakland County, Michigan, where his teams supported billions of dollars in investment. He holds a law degree and a master's in urban and regional planning from the University of Iowa.

Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, pushed back on the N.C. Department of Commerce after officials said the state's expanded film incentive program, which raised the maximum grant for a feature film from $7 million to $20 million, likely can't fund any new productions until 2029 because existing awards already committed the funding for years out. Lee said every production already awarded a grant will be paid in full and disputed the impression that North Carolina filming is "shut down" for three years.

The Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning board will hear an update this week on an unsolicited proposal from Delaware-based Delivering Bridges LLC to replace the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, originally built in 1969 and now carrying more than 65,000 vehicles a day, well over its design capacity. The firm's plan calls for a six-lane fixed span with an estimated $2.75 toll and a targeted opening in 2031. A similar public-private tolled option was voted down by the WMPO board in 2021 over cost and traffic concerns.

Alongside its new Shallotte infusion clinic that opened July 21, Novant Health outlined a broader build-out in Brunswick County: an ambulatory surgery center opening this summer in Leland, an expanded MRI suite and cardiac catheterization lab at Brunswick Medical Center in Bolivia, and a future 20-bed Novant Health Leland Medical Center plus a standalone emergency department to serve the county's growing northern end.