Good morning. It’s Monday, April 28. Today we are covering:
The group chats that changed America
Don't make Google sell Chrome
Why India fell behind China in tech innovation
Weaponized Words: Uyghur Language Software Hijacked to Deliver Malware
Why Trump can't build iPhones in the US
Let’s dive in
The group chats that changed America
By Ben Smith via Semafor
Private group chats among Silicon Valley elites, notably organized by figures like Marc Andreessen and Sriram Krishnan, became influential spaces shaping political realignments toward the tech-driven right during and after the pandemic.
Encrypted platforms like Signal and WhatsApp allowed controversial discussions on politics, culture, and business strategies to flourish out of public view, fostering a new conservative consensus and a shift in Silicon Valley’s political leanings.
Chatham House and similar groups provided arenas where major figures such as Joe Lonsdale, Mark Cuban, and Ben Shapiro debated key cultural and political issues, influencing mainstream discourse while highlighting fractures within the tech and political elite.
𝕏: Lots of great details in @semaforben's latest; extremely helpful for mapping out who is influencing whom on the right. Have been thinking for a while that private groupchats are at least as crazymaking as public social media, and much harder to study. - David Klion (@DavidKlion)
By David Heinemeier Hansson via HEY
Forcing Google to sell Chrome would harm the open web, weakening its ability to compete against truly closed platforms like the iOS App Store and Google Play.
Chrome's dominance stems from building a superior browser through heavy investment and innovation, not acquisition or lack of alternatives, with competitors like Firefox, Safari, and Brave still thriving.
The web’s vitality relies on continuous investment and advancement; stripping Google of Chrome would risk stagnation, benefiting proprietary platforms and undermining the free, open internet.
𝕏: "Google's incredible work to further the web isn't an act of charity, it's of economic self-interest, and that's why it works. Capitalism doesn't run on benevolence but on incentives." - DHH (@dhh)
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Why India fell behind China in tech innovation
By Furquan Ameen via Rest of World
India's tech innovation lag stems from decades of prioritizing services over manufacturing, minimal investment in research and development (0.64% of GDP vs. China’s 2.4%), and the persistent export of its top AI talent to the U.S. and Europe.
Despite producing over 200 generative AI startups and housing 20% of the world’s semiconductor design engineers, India struggles to match China’s scale due to bureaucratic barriers, limited private sector R&D spending, and delayed national initiatives compared to China's early $150 billion chip strategy.
New efforts like the $1.26 billion IndiaAI Mission and semiconductor investments by Tata and Micron aim to accelerate progress, while leaders like Nandan Nilekani urge a focus on data quality over simply building AI models.
𝕏: A very handy read on what has gone wrong with India's tech chase. Why it's lagging behind China. - Nitin Sethi (@nit_set)
Weaponized Words: Uyghur Language Software Hijacked to Deliver Malware
By Rebekah Brown via The Citizen Lab
Senior members of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) were targeted with a spearphishing campaign in March 2025, using a trojanized Uyghur language text editor to deliver malware capable of remote surveillance and system profiling.
The attack, likely aligned with Chinese government interests, exemplified digital transnational repression by exploiting trusted cultural software to infiltrate diaspora communities and compromise their advocacy efforts.
Despite the malware's technical simplicity, the campaign demonstrated highly customized social engineering, sophisticated command-and-control infrastructure, and a continuation of China's long-standing tactics of targeting Uyghurs abroad through digital threats and surveillance.
𝕏: New report out @citizenlab: A spearphishing campaign targeted senior members of WUC as part of ongoing digital transnational repression against the Uyghur diaspora. - Marcus Michaelsen (@mmichae1sen)
Why Trump can't build iPhones in the US
Financial Times
Apple's iPhone production remains deeply tied to China due to decades of developed supply chains, specialized manufacturing expertise, and proximity between component makers, making a full shift to US assembly economically and logistically unfeasible.
Even if Apple attempted US production, challenges like higher labor costs, lack of skilled mechanical engineers, insufficient CNC machinery, reliance on Chinese-mined rare earths, and fragmented supply ecosystems would drive iPhone prices up dramatically.
To mitigate geopolitical risks, Apple is expanding manufacturing in India and considering Brazil as an additional hub, but tensions with China and complex supply dependencies mean disentangling fully from China will be a slow and uncertain process.
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