Getty v. AI, China’s EV Price War & A Farewell to Apple’s Quiet Genius

9th June 2025

Getty takes the AI fight to court, China’s EV makers hit the brakes, and Apple loses one of its original minds. Meanwhile, Tesla’s trying to shake off a Trump-sized headache, and Shein’s going global with Reliance. All this and more in today’s read-and-eat.

Major Headlines

• Getty’s landmark AI copyright lawsuit begins in the UK

  
  

• Getty Images has taken AI startup Stability AI to court in a closely watched copyright case in London’s High Court. The company alleges that Stability unlawfully scraped millions of Getty images to train its Stable Diffusion model without permission. The trial could set a major legal precedent for how copyright laws apply to generative AI. Stability AI denies the claims, framing the issue as one of innovation and fair use. The case mirrors a parallel lawsuit in the U.S. and joins a wave of global litigation around AI training data. Reuters

  
  

• China’s EV price wars cloud market outlook despite May sales rise

  
  

• China’s car sales rose for a fourth straight month in May, but automakers are increasingly nervous. The 13.9% year-on-year bump in passenger vehicle sales was lower than April’s 14.8%, and even top players like BYD saw slower growth despite subsidies. A brutal price war is dragging margins down and threatening industry stability, prompting government and corporate calls to cool competition. Meanwhile, EV and hybrid sales surged 28.2% year-over-year, and exports bounced back with a 13.5% rise. Reuters

  
  

• Starbucks joins China’s price war with drink discounts

  
  

• Starbucks is slashing prices on some iced drinks by an average of 5 yuan in China, joining the country’s intense beverage battle. The U.S. coffee giant says it's not reacting to rivals like Luckin and Cotti, but rather trying to attract afternoon customers. Still, the move comes as competition intensifies and consumer spending tightens. With coffee now available as low as 2.9 yuan through apps and promos, even Starbucks is being pushed to rethink its strategy. Bloomberg

  
  

• Tesla bounces after Trump-Musk spat, but truce remains uncertain

  
  

• Tesla shares rose nearly 4% after Thursday’s dramatic $152 billion selloff sparked by a public spat between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Musk criticized Trump’s proposed tax cuts that would end EV subsidies, prompting the former president to threaten SpaceX contracts. While Musk has shown willingness to reconcile, Trump says he’s “not even thinking about Elon.” Investors are cautiously optimistic a truce could ease the pressure on Tesla. Reuters

  
  

Minor Headlines 

• Axiom Space preps for fourth private ISS mission —  Techcrunch

  
  

• Trump admin takes aim at Biden-era cybersecurity rules —  Techcrunch

  
  

• xAI anticipated $13B in annual recurring revenue by 2029 —Bloomberg

  
  

•  Shein and Reliance plan to export India-made fashion within a year — Reuters

• Circle surges 168% after IPO debut — Reuters

  
  

• Colombian senator Uribe recovering after shooting — Reuters

  
  

•  Alcaraz retains French Open crown after five-set battle — Reuters 

  
  

• Syria preps return to global economy after 14-year isolation —  Bloomberg

  
  
  
  

Gen Z Word of the Day: Gatekeep

Meaning : When someone hoards knowledge, usually niche or trendy info

Example: “Don’t gatekeep the playlist, drop the link!”