When the Cloud Crashes and Argentina Cools Off

13th June 2025

A massive Google Cloud outage sent platforms like Spotify and Discord into chaos, disrupting users worldwide and spotlighting our growing reliance on centralized tech infrastructure. Meanwhile, Argentina hits a rare inflation milestone under President Milei, BlackRock sets its eyes on a private market takeover, Meta doubles down on superintelligence, and a US senator gets handcuffed at a DHS press conference. All this and more in today’s read-and-eat.

Major Headline 

• Google outage pulls the plug on Spotify, Discord, and more

  
  

• A widespread Google Cloud outage on Thursday disrupted multiple services including Gmail, Drive, Meet, Spotify, Discord, and Snapchat. Alphabet said the issue was resolved within hours, but not before tens of thousands of users reported downtime. Google’s engineering team noted some lingering residual effects, while Downdetector reported peak outage numbers of 46,000 for Spotify and 11,000 for Discord. The incident underscores how deeply embedded Google Cloud infrastructure is in global digital life. Reuters

  
  

• Javier Milei cools Argentina’s inflation to lowest monthly rate since 2020

  
  

• Argentina’s monthly inflation fell to 1.5% in May — the lowest since the pandemic’s peak — marking a symbolic victory for President Javier Milei’s radical libertarian reforms. While still facing 43.5% annual inflation, the monthly dip has given Milei's austerity-driven agenda fresh credibility with investors and the IMF, which recently approved a $20B loan. Milei’s team quickly framed the win as economic proof-of-concept: “When there’s a fiscal surplus and the printing press slows down, inflation plummets,” said his spokesman. Financial Times 

  
  

• BlackRock wants to raise $400B to become private markets titan

  
  

• BlackRock is making a bold play to raise $400B for private market investments by 2030 — doubling down on private credit, real estate, and infrastructure. The asset manager also wants to double its market value from $140B to $280B and drive 30% of its total revenue from private markets and tech (up from 15% today). It’s a direct shot at rivals like Apollo and KKR — and a major bet on private capital defining the next decade of finance. Bloomberg 

  
  

• Meta drops $15B on Scale AI to salvage its superintelligence dreams

  
  

• Meta is investing $15B in Scale AI for a 49% stake, doubling the startup’s valuation to $28B and recruiting its founder, Alexandr Wang, to join its revamped superintelligence lab. The move follows a rocky rollout of Meta’s Llama 4, which underperformed against rivals’ reasoning models. Zuckerberg’s AI ambitions now hinge on Scale’s elite data-labeling tools — and a bit of Silicon Valley star power — to catch up with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Financial Times 

Minor Headline 

• Air India Dreamliner crashes into Ahmedabad college hostel, killing 240+ — Reuters 

  
  

• Federal agents tackle U.S. Senator during DHS press briefing in LA — Financial Times 

  
  

• Russian Harvard scientist released on bail in U.S. smuggling case — Reuters

  
  

• Tesla sues ex-Optimus engineer for IP theft — Techcrunch

  
  

• Garcia seeks sanctions over Trump-era deportation — Reuters

  
  

• Micron boosts U.S. chip investments by $30B — Reuters

  
  

• Toyota chair re-elected amid $33B buyout fight —  Reuters

  
  

• AMD unveils new AI chips with OpenAI’s Sam Altman — CNBC

Gen Z Word of the Day: Skrrt 

Meaning: To abruptly leave or switch direction. 

Example: “Micron just skrrted away from overseas fabs.”