Welcome to the BrevFeed daily tech briefing for Saturday, August 15. We've got 6 stories for you today across A.I., security, software, cloud, hardware and startups. Let's get into it.

In Europe, the EU is considering new legislation to restrict children's access to social media, with a focus on mental health and safety. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen supports a phased approach, potentially banning access for children under 13 and requiring platforms to prove safety for teenagers.

In hardware news, Apple is reportedly testing RAM chips from Chinese supplier ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, for devices sold in China. This move comes as Apple faces rising RAM prices and aims to diversify its supply chain. However, CXMT was recently added to a U.S. defense blacklist due to alleged military ties, creating a complex situation for Apple.

Apple is now seeking U.S. government approval to use CXMT's products more broadly, potentially even for devices sold outside of China. This highlights the ongoing geopolitical tensions and security concerns surrounding U.S.-China tech relations, especially as CXMT is a key player in China's efforts to build a self-reliant AI supply chain.

The situation is drawing scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers who are pushing for stricter restrictions on imports from blacklisted companies. They've also called for CXMT to be added to the Commerce Department's Entity List, which would further complicate Apple's plans. This move by Apple underscores the delicate balance companies must strike between managing supply chain costs and navigating international political landscapes.

In AI, SpaceXAI has launched Grok Bot, an AI agent for Mac, iOS, Windows, and Linux, designed to automate tasks across various applications. This release follows the company's recent acquisition of AI coding firm Cursor, which collaborated on the new agent. Grok Bot acts as an "AI teammate," signing into existing apps and services to perform tasks end-to-end, learning user preferences and improving over time.

Alongside Grok Bot, SpaceXAI also released Grok 4.6, an updated AI model. This new version scored 61 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, matching GPT-5.6 Sol, and shows a five-point improvement over its predecessor, Grok 4.5. The model was trained with a longer supplemental run, incorporating model-generated reasoning and engineering data.

Grok 4.6 is designed for long-running agents and complex interactive and visual tasks, including researching topics, analyzing information, and working across codebases. SpaceXAI states that Grok 4.6 offers competitive intelligence at a lower cost, with its API pricing remaining unchanged at two dollars per million input tokens and six dollars per million output tokens, which is less than half the cost of GPT-5.6 Sol.

Turning to security, federal agencies have expanded an alert regarding Iran-affiliated hackers targeting internet-facing operational technology. The updated warning now includes programmable logic controllers, or PLCs, from Schneider Electric and Siemens, in addition to the previously identified Rockwell Automation and Allen-Bradley.

The attacks involve malicious project files and data manipulation, which have led to operational disruption and financial losses for affected organizations. PLCs are crucial components in critical infrastructure sectors like power utilities, wastewater treatment facilities, and manufacturing plants, with Schneider and Siemens PLCs being widely used globally.

The FBI, NSA, Department of Energy, and CISA issued this updated advisory on July 22nd, following an initial warning in April. Officials anticipate these attacks will continue, emphasizing the need for critical infrastructure owners to restrict direct internet access to their systems and ensure secure PLC deployment practices.

In AI, SpaceX has reported a significant surge in revenue for the second quarter of 2026, largely driven by its Starlink satellite internet service and new deals to provide computing power to AI companies like Anthropic and Google. The company's revenue jumped 92% to $7.8 billion, with its AI division alone contributing $2.56 billion.

Despite this strong revenue growth and a reduction in net losses to $541 million, SpaceX's shares fell after its first public earnings report. This was primarily due to higher-than-expected capital expenditures, which soared to $18.4 billion, with over 80% directed towards AI infrastructure.

SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen noted an additional $6.7 billion in cloud services revenue under contract, projecting a $100 billion annualized revenue run-rate by year-end. The report also highlighted a shift in focus, with AI and Starlink becoming primary revenue drivers, while the space sector contributed just over 10% of the quarter's total revenue.

In AI, Mark Zuckerberg has published a 6,500-word essay titled "The Future Is For Everyone," outlining his vision for AI superintelligence and personal AI agents.

The Meta CEO advocates for open-weight AI models and less government regulation, a stance that contrasts with companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, which favor proprietary AI.

Coinciding with the essay's release, Meta also launched Glimmer, an open-source AI model that can be downloaded and run on personal hardware, reinforcing the company's commitment to open development.

That's the BrevFeed daily briefing. We'll be back tomorrow with the stories that matter in tech. Thanks for listening.