The last call to see you on Wednesday at Apple Rosenthaler: get inspired on how to make an idea a reality and network with interesting people.

Here is a good Slack channel for you to join: Everyday AI Club. It’s for everyone interested in AI and potential uses at work or privately. It's free to join, so use the chance. We still have a few spots for the last two workshops before summer break (Jul 25th and Jul 30th).

I found this interesting service from Digital Courage, an NGO: Frank geht ran. Frank will tell the other person you don't wanna speak to them. The number looks very ordinary.

In the run-up to the elections, ADFC (German Cyclists' Association) surveyed the four parties in the Berlin parliament—CDU, SPD, Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), and Die Linke—about their cycling and transport policies, then rated their answers on a five-step traffic-light scale. Here are the results:

CDU is in another crisis. Jens Spahn, the head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag and one of the most visible members of the party, resigned after having a child via surrogacy, a practice illegal in Germany.

Is your company working on real hardware and deep tech challenges? I've partnered up with Motion.Lab in their Tech Challenge. They are looking for host companies for placing Berlin's best STEM students. Over 12 weeks and 24 hours of your internal effort, you get 780 hours of combined engineering power and a functional prototype. The participation fee depends on the challenge, and they have one spot left. Do approach me for more details.

This is a very solid directory of Berlin rooftops. I can recommend Monbijou Hotel, Motel One Upper West and Klunkenkranich.

As part of the pre-summer reform proposal, the coalition proposed to change the 2006 Freedom of Information Act. This would mean restricting requests to individuals rather than organisations, raising fees sharply, redacting officials' names, and possibly limiting access to German and EU citizens. After a big outcry, SPD lawmakers broke ranks and declared they won't approve any rollback of current transparency. The law had been heavily used: of roughly 105k requests from 2015 to 2022, only about 16k were partially withheld and 9k fully denied.

Stats: Berlin collected almost €38M in speeding tickets in 2025.

Berlin man allegedly raped and filmed unconscious women [more]

CDU’s Bonde questions Berlin's free student ticket and free school meals [more]

CSD in Berlin: longer and bigger than ever [more]

Coalition plans to raise the tobacco tax. [more]

CDU subsidy scandal: prosecutors open investigation against ex-culture-senator Wedl-Wilson for suspected serious breach of trust; investigation committee to sue Chialo for refusing to testify [more]

Recently I read a tip to have a book with you at all times, and I tested it last week, mostly reading on the U-Bahn. It worked wonders. I finished our Handpicked Book Club faster than expected and, as a bonus, gave the appearance of a serious intellectual, reading books in German. And of course, I suddenly started to notice so many people reading books on public transport. Here is a great long read, The End of Reading. Even if the outlook is grim, I am still optimistic.

Do you argue? It might make no sense, especially not on the internet. Because most arguments are about ego, not ideas. Unfortunately, we are losing the ability to discuss ideas because it’s more comfortable in our own camps. This Monty Python sketch from the Argument Clinic fits the topic.

Outside interests #1: Not a good look. Apple sued OpenAI, alleging trade secret theft "at every level". [more]

Outside interests #2: Stripe and Advent International made a joint offer to buy PayPal at $60.50 per share, valuing it at more than $53B. [more]

Outside interests #3: OnePlus confirmed it's exiting the US and European markets and will no longer launch new products there; parent Oppo will honour existing warranties, with devices moving to ColorOS for future updates. [more]

Outside interests #4: ASML (Veldhoven, semiconductors, also in Berlin) reported strong results driven by AI chip demand; shares climbed. [more]

Outside interests #5: Irish datacenters now consume 23% of Ireland's electricity, up another 10% YoY, with most new grid connections around Dublin still restricted. [more]

Bliq.ai (Berlin, autonomous vehicles) got Finland's clearance for driverless vehicle operations and will begin testing in Helsinki with safety drivers onboard. [more]

ICEYE Germany (Berlin/Munich, satellites) launched: Berlin becomes the AI and Data hub with an Intelligence Center and an AI Software Development Center; Munich will handle research, systems development, and component production. Around 200 roles targeted by end of 2027. [more]

Zalando (Berlin, e-commerce) told Berlin staff that from 2027, employees will need to be back in the office at least three days a week. [more]

It's now confirmed: Delivery Hero (Berlin, food delivery) will be acquired by Uber. [more]

Omio (Berlin, traveltech) agreed to acquire Rail Europe, the 90-year-old French rail distribution platform. [more]

Pflegia (Berlin, healthcare recruitment): French PE firm Ardian Growth takes a majority stake to fund European expansion and AI-driven innovation in permanent placements in nursing. [more]

Siemens Energy (Munich, energy) is being renamed Omterra. [more]

VW (Wolfsburg, automotive) CEO confirmed a plan to cut 50,000 jobs, while the supervisory board rejected plant closures. [more]

FitX (Essen, fitness) lost at the BGH: online cancellation of gym memberships must not be made unreasonably complicated. [more]

YouTube: What state-of-the-art AI model can do to your computer. Mo Bitar strikes again.

Website: More and more startups are posting ARR on LinkedIn as the measure of success. Could it be they are using LARP, revenue infrastructure for serious founders??

Reddit: Redditors share day trip ideas from Berlin. The thread is mostly in German, but worth a look.

Last week I asked you if you plan to vote in the September elections, and the results are extremely clear: