Axios

Google's latest environmental report presents AI's dual reality — the hope it can aid the global warming fight and the impact of its thirst for energy.

Why it matters: This is the second tech giant, following Microsoft, to reveal AI's emissions challenges.

Driving the news: The company's report says it's ended the mass purchase of cheap carbon offsets, stopped claiming its operations are carbon neutral, and now aims to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

State of play: Google's corporate emissions rose another 13% last year and are up 48% compared to their 2019 baseline.

• Last year's growth reflects the "challenge of reducing emissions while compute intensity increases and we grow our technical infrastructure investment to support this AI transition," the report states.

Roughly a year from now, Apple's Formula 1 film, creatively titled "F1," will circulate in theaters worldwide.

Why it matters: "F1" represents two of the tech giant's major media ambitions, creating sports content and pushing into traditional films.

Women have more job prospects than ever before, with surging global employment rates and shrinking pay gaps — and this progress looks set to continue, according to a new Goldman Sachs report.

Why it matters: Working-age populations around the world are growing at a slower rate than in years past, if not declining in some nations — risking forever labor shortages that may limit growth.

An unexpected duo is aligned behind Custodia Bank's appeal to be allowed into the Federal Reserve Board's fold and get access to its payment and settlement systems.

Why it matters: Custodia is a state-chartered bank that wants to do business in crypto but has been hamstrung after a regional Fed bank denied it access to a master account in 2023.

Investment firm Multicoin Capital is matching donations to a get-out-the-vote effort for pro-cryptocurrency conservatives up to $1 million.

Why it matters: It shows leaders in the cryptocurrency space working to stimulate grassroots action among other cryptocurrency investors.

The mattress industry is slumping, but federal regulators say that's not enough to justify the biggest manufacturer buying the biggest retailer.

Why it matters: The FTC last week voted unanimously to attempt to prevent Tempur Sealy from acquiring Mattress Firm for $4 billion — a "vertical" deal that has been in limbo since it was announced in May 2023.

Artificial intelligence is keeping the venture capital ecosystem afloat. It accounted for more than 40% of new private U.S. "unicorns" in the first half this year, and over 60% of the increase in total venture-backed valuation, per PitchBook.

The big picture: There were 13 new U.S. AI unicorns — private companies that reached valuations of over $1 billion — between Jan. 1 and June 25 of this year.