Taking a page from the China playbook, the budget bill in the House would subsidize US companies to form joint ventures with big Chinese battery makers that currently dominate the industry. The Electric.

Scoop: Much of the EV battery industry is mired in the valley of death. Sodium-ion developer Natron Energy had seemed an exception, with deals to power AI data centers. But now Natron, too, is in a stark cash crisis. The Electric.

RT @theinformation: The Electric: Inside Ford’s Hard-Knuckle Fight to Influence Trump’s Budget Bill. Ford hangs the specter of job cuts sho….

Semi-solid state battery developer QuantumScape up 32% after-hours after reporting an advance in its pilot production technology.

Tesla and Ford have stepped up intense lobbying to convince the Trump administration and Congress to retain tax credits for batteries. "It’s not something that‘s in perpetuity. We just need this bit of tailwind," Ford's Lisa Drake tells us. The Electric.

Tesla's Optimus hype has been a boon for US and Chinese humanoid robot startups, engaged in one of the least-discussed and most important segments of the countries' technological race. We focus on Apptronik, maker of the Apollo robot. The Electric.

RT @theinformation: The Big Read: Why humanoid robots are the latest front in America’s tech war with China. Read more from @SteveLeVine,….

Scoop: Apptronik, maker of the humanoid robot Apollo, is spinning out Elevate, a non-humanoid subsidiary, to manufacture super-human arms that can lift far more than a human, for instance for logistics. The Information.

Physical AI is the latest front in the US-China tech war. Front and center—humanoid robots. We look at Apptronik, its partnership with Google DeepMind on the Apollo robot, and its formidable rivals in China. With @jingyanghk and @JuroOsawa.

RT @TSLAFanMtl: Happy Father's Day to all you great dads and/or to your dads! ❤️.

Big Tech understood only last week that Trump really did intend to repeal tax credits for the fast buildout of AI data centers. In a panic, their lobbyists have inundated Congress to reverse the move. Few think they will succeed. The Electric.

Trump's threat of a consequential reprisal effectively mutes Musk, unless he's prepared to risk his businesses--such as a regulatory crackdown on Tesla and the Robotaxi, and the loss of federal SpaceX contracts. By @nickwingfield and team @theinformation.

China has had an absolute grip on iron-based batteries, or LFP--the workhorse of most Teslas and Chinese EVs. Until now: We look at South Korea's LG, which has begun commercial-scale production of LFP in Michigan. The Electric.

RT @theinformation: The Electric: South Korea's LG Challenges China's Grip On Iron-Based Batteries. With a new plant run by South Korea's L….

RT @theinformation: Exclusive: In a Critical Minerals War Game, China Gets Tough With the US. In a scenario exercise on critical minerals,….

Exclusive: In a war game this week involving an array of big thinkers on critical minerals, players sitting in for China heckled US negotiators and threatened a cyber attack. The Electric.

RT @theinformation: Fascinating chat between @kyurieff and Jim Bankoff, Co-founder, Chair & CEO of @voxmedia! They dove into Vox's strategi….

If GM and Ford are successful, their EVs in a few years will be powered by cheap next-gen manganese-led batteries, undergirded by a mostly North American supply chain bypassing China's behemoths. The Electric.

RT @DornTownsend: @stevelevine great article. you really captured the agony of scaling battery production. i hope the american contenders c….

Scoop: Battery uncertainty hits silicon anode developers: Ten months after starting a pilot production plant, OneD Battery Sciences has shut it down, and CEO Vincent Pluvinage has stepped down. The Electric.