The day in tech.

Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that product price increases are unavoidable due to rising memory and storage chip costs. Cook said Apple has been absorbing higher component prices but the situation has become unsustainable. He did not specify which products or the size of the increases.

Conduct, a London-based AI startup, raised $60 million in a Series A round co-led by Index Ventures and ICONIQ, with strategic investment from SAP. The company provides an operating system for large enterprises to understand and modify complex software systems. It will use the funds to expand engineering and go-to-market teams and deepen SAP capabilities.

Noam Shazeer, Google's vice president of engineering and co-lead of its Gemini AI models, announced he is leaving to join OpenAI. Shazeer returned to Google in August 2024 after co-founding Character.AI. His departure highlights the intense competition for top AI talent between the companies.

Comand AI, a Paris-based defense software firm, raised €32 million in Series A funding led by Blossom Capital with strategic investment from Saab and participation from Expeditions. The company develops AI-native command-and-control software for autonomous military operations and machine-speed decision-making. Funds will accelerate deployment of its Prevail platform in France and across NATO markets.

Samsung has started taking pre-orders for the Galaxy XR headset in the UK at £1,699 in Silver Shadow, with shipping beginning July 8. Accessories like the Travel Case and Controllers cost £249 each, with 30% off when bought with the headset until September 30. PayPal users save £100 with code PAYPALXR until July 7.

Tesco is moving 40,000 server workloads off VMware, alleging Broadcom's abusive conduct after the acquisition. The UK retailer filed a High Court lawsuit claiming Broadcom refused to honor existing perpetual license and support agreements, instead demanding excessive prices for duplicative subscriptions. Tesco has been paying for third-party support since Broadcom stopped supporting its VMware products in January.

Apple plans to raise product prices as memory chip costs have quadrupled over the past year, driven by AI demand. CEO Tim Cook called the situation unsustainable and said the company must now wait in line behind AI companies for chips. He did not specify which products or when prices will rise.

Microsoft acknowledged a privilege escalation zero-day in Microsoft Defender, tracked as CVE-2026-50656 with a CVSS score of 7.8. The vulnerability, named RoguePlanet, was disclosed by researcher Nightmare Eclipse. Microsoft is working on a security update to address the flaw.

Google launched its first standalone smart speaker in six years, the $99.99 Google Home Speaker, available for pre-order ahead of a June 25 launch. It replaces Google Assistant with Gemini, enabling natural conversations, complex multi-part commands, and context retention. The speaker features 360-degree audio, a compact spherical design, and acts as a Matter Controller and Thread border router.

Gallup found that tech workers who do not embrace AI face three times the layoff risk. The research highlights a growing divide in job security based on AI adoption. Employers increasingly prioritize AI skills in retention and hiring decisions.