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👋 Good morning. Hope your hangover wore off—because AI just got booed at Wimbledon, ChatGPT wants to study with you, and Brad Pitt might’ve just saved Apple’s Hollywood dreams with a race car.

Meanwhile, iPhones are losing their liquid glass swagger, Elon’s meme tanked Tesla stock, and Texas turned into a bathtub. The news cycle didn’t take a summer Friday—so neither did we.

Let’s merge.

What’s Merging Today:
• 🎾 Wimbledon players roast AI line judge
• 📚 ChatGPT tests “Study Together” mode
• 🏎️ Apple’s Formula 1 film breaks records
• 🛠️ New AI tools to analyze & scale
• 🌊 Texas flooding + Tesla dip + Trump tariffs

MERGE MINDBLOWERS

🧠 You can survive without 90% of your brain
A man with severe hydrocephalus once had only 10% of his brain volume remaining… and lived a completely normal life. Doctors only discovered it after a scan for a minor issue.

🌿 Plants can “hear” themselves being eaten
Studies show that some plants emit defensive chemicals when they detect the sound of caterpillars chewing their leaves. Basically: salad knows.

🌋 There’s a volcano in Antarctica that’s still active
Mount Erebus has been erupting for over 1.3 million years. It’s one of Earth’s only volcanoes with a consistent lava lake—located on the coldest continent.

👁️ Your brain edits reality
Your eyes have a blind spot where the optic nerve connects, but your brain fills in the missing data with what it thinks should be there. You're literally hallucinating part of what you see every second.

📡 NASA lost contact with a probe for 21 years—and it came back online
In 1998, NASA lost communication with the STEREO-B spacecraft. In 2016, it randomly reconnected and started transmitting data like nothing happened.

TODAY IN AI

Wimbledon’s AI line judge? Players aren’t buying it

Wimbledon replaced human line judges this year with an AI system called “Hawk-Eye Live”—and players are not impressed. Several pros, including world #7 Holger Rune, publicly questioned missed calls and the inability to challenge the machine’s verdicts.

Unlike previous years, where humans used Hawk-Eye as a backup, this version runs fully automated. No appeals, no reviews, no mercy. You just take the AI’s word for it—and walk away.

Why it matters: This is AI accountability in the real world. It’s one thing when a chatbot hallucinates a source—but when millions ride on a bad tennis call? That’s a different ball game. The backlash is a warning to any sport (or business) thinking of going fully automated with no human oversight.

TODAY IN TECH

ChatGPT is quietly testing a feature called “Study Together”

OpenAI is experimenting with a mysterious new feature dubbed “Study Together.” The interface appears to let users collaborate on academic topics, brainstorm in real time, and possibly “co-study” with an AI agent or even with other users.

Spotted in the wild by a handful of users, the tool isn’t officially announced—but it signals OpenAI’s bigger play into educational tools and structured learning environments.

Why it matters: Forget passive prompts—this could turn ChatGPT into an active study partner or even a virtual tutor. It's also a shot at group-learning platforms like Discord, Notion, or even Zoom classrooms. If AI becomes your smartest study buddy, where does that leave traditional education models?

TODAY IN BUSINESS

F1: Apple’s Formula 1 film just smashed the box office

Apple’s high-octane Formula 1 movie, starring Brad Pitt and co-produced with actual F1 teams, just broke records as the highest-grossing theatrical debut in the company’s history. The film pulled in over $175 million globally in its opening weekend.

The kicker? It was shot during real F1 events with real race cars, blending Hollywood drama with high-speed authenticity. It’s the tech giant’s first serious punch into blockbuster territory—and it landed clean.

Why it matters: This is Apple’s biggest flex yet in content—and a reminder that they’re not just in your pocket, they’re gunning for your eyeballs. The lines between tech company and entertainment studio are gone. Next stop? Maybe an Oscar.

MERGE TOOLS

AI tools worth your time

🌐 Redesignr
Create full websites from a simple description—powered by an AI Frontend Engineer that spits out clean, responsive HTML/CSS in seconds.

🗣️ Speechy
Make manual note-taking obsolete. Turn spoken thoughts into actionable notes, blog posts, to-do lists, or flashcards. One tap, done.

✨ Gamma
Ditch the slide deck grind. Gamma builds stunning, interactive presentations tailored to your viewer’s interests—without touching PowerPoint.

🔍 Promptmonitor
Want your brand to show up inside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and more? Promptmonitor helps you track, optimize, and boost visibility across major AI platforms.

🎬 Magic Animator
Animate your designs instantly using AI-powered motion templates. Speed up your workflow and add polish without touching After Effects.

📬 Beehiiv
Launch and grow your newsletter like a pro.
→ Your audience gets a 30-day free trial + 20% OFF for 3 months.

🛠️ Want More? Check out our Top 50 AI Tools.

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WHAT ELSE IS MERGING

Beyond the feed

📹 Sora-style AI ad leaves jaws on the floor
A new AI-generated ad for a fictional fragrance called “Sublime” went viral—and it’s indistinguishable from a Vogue commercial. Think slo-mo fashion shots, cinematic cuts, whispered voiceover. It’s 100% AI, and 100% proof that the creative bar is shifting fast. Watch it.

📱 iOS 26 Beta walks back “liquid glass” UI
Apple’s flashy, animated “liquid glass” interface in iOS 26 Beta 3? It’s being dialed down after users called it distracting and nausea-inducing. A good reminder: just because you can animate everything doesn’t mean you should. Source

🌎 Trump proposes 25% tariffs on Japan and South Korea
In a campaign speech, Trump floated hitting two of America’s closest allies with massive tariffs—25% on Japanese and Korean imports. Markets blinked. Diplomats panicked. Welcome to the trade war multiverse. Source

📉 Tesla stock sinks after Elon’s July 4th post
Tesla shares dropped after Elon Musk posted “Happy Independence Day, America is the party” alongside an ambiguous meme. Investors may be spooked more by leadership chaos than celebratory patriotism. Source

🌊 Texas Hill Country hit by catastrophic flooding
Record-breaking rainfall submerged towns across central Texas, prompting emergency evacuations. Some areas saw a foot of rain in 24 hours. Climate volatility is no longer a coastal issue—it’s everywhere. Source

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Until next time,

Matt & The Morning Merge team.