The NBA Summer League is officially underway at the California Classic as Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers take on the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.

Should the Miami Dolphins bank on being without Tua Tagovailoa for a stretch in 2025?

• Joshua Charles Woodard, now 29, graduated from MIT and moved to China to learn how products get made.
• He worked at Apple in China before founding a Shenzhen-based manufacturing consultancy.
• Woodard said despite the US trade war, Shenzen's deeply-rooted supply chain would be hard to move.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Joshua Charles Woodard, 29, cofounder of The Sparrows, a manufacturing consultancy based in Shenzhen.

I've always liked building real, physical products. When I was 8, I took pottery classes and made small sculptures of superheroes.

When I was 14, I learned that a Hong Kong company had bought a significant stake in Legendary Entertainment, the studio behind "Inception" — a favorite movie at the time. It sparked my curiosity about China.

Both influenced my studies at MIT, where I majored in mechanical engineering and minored in Mandarin.

I thought being fluent in Chinese and able to build products could be a killer combination.

Rethinking China, firsthand

In the middle of my third year at MIT, one of my professors invited me to Shanghai for a two-week Peking opera program. There, I learned the physical movements and enough Mandarin to perform.

I expected a poor, communist country, but instead, I found one of the most capitalist and consumerist places on earth. I kept thinking: What policies built this infrastructure?

In 2018, during my final year at MIT, I was accepted into the Schwarzman Scholars program — a fully funded, one-year master's in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing. A few months after graduation, I moved to China and have continued living here for the past seven years.

From MIT to Tsinghua

My time at Tsinghua was different from my experience at MIT. I had fewer hours of class and more opportunities to hear from special speakers — including John Kerry. One day, I visited Xiongan, an experimental city near Beijing, where I surveyed development projects and met with government officials.

That year, I gained a foundation in how China works, from governance to history, and a master's degree.

After graduation, I moved to Shenzhen — about 1,200 miles south of Beijing — to join a small product design firm as a project manager and mechanical engineer.

Ninety percent of the engineering team only spoke Chinese, so I had to learn Mandarin in an engineering capacity. I met up with a Mandarin teacher once or twice a week. I carried a notebook for industry-specific words, like "screw," "injection," and "molding."

Then in 2021, after nine interviews, I joined Apple's camera R&D team as an engineering program manager. I worked there for close to four years.

But I knew that there, reaching leadership would take another 10 to 15 years. That would have been fine if I wanted to live in Shenzhen forever, but if I were risk-averse, I'd have gone to Silicon Valley. Instead, I developed a unique skill set by staying here.

Adjusting to life in China

I grew up in a working-class Chicago neighborhood — my mom's a nurse, my dad's a laborer. Back home, long stares could mean danger. In China, they usually mean curiosity. I had to adjust.

Once, on the Communist Party's birthday in 2019, a drunk man demanded my passport and accused me of stealing jobs. Police escorted him away.

Now, Shenzhen feels like a second home. Life is more comfortable, my money goes further, and I've built a solid network.

I have my network. I play badminton. It's what all young people here do and a great way to make friends.

Doing my own thing

This year, Susan Su — a Chinese American MIT grad — and I started The Sparrows, a manufacturing consultancy.

We realized that some companies need help managing production and factories but can't afford a full China-based team. Our goal was to fill that gap. We don't do engineering but handle everything else.

We're a team of four: the two of us plus a supply chain expert and a lawyer.

In the US, you sign a contract, and it's done. In China, it's about trust and relationships — with the factory and its managers — driving production and efficiency.

There's a local phrase, shuangying, meaning "double win." It's about building genuine relationships with vendors, growing together as partners.

We were in the black from day one. I pay myself $2,500 a month from profits. I split a 969-square-foot apartment with a friend, and we each pay $600 a month.

Trade policy, meet real life

Tariffs do affect my work at Sparrows.

It feels like America is trying to be God now. But iPhones, medical consumables, and products for Google, Amazon, and Sam's Club are still made in China.

Unless someone figures out how to move 40 years of supply chain development — the human resources, skilled workforce — and address the fact that most immigrants to Shenzhen are willing to work 60- or 70-hour weeks to send money back home, this is all noise.

There are legal tariff workarounds. We're talking to a partner in Colombia to split production.

Once the company can run more independently, I'd like to be closer to family and drive US business development.

At first, my parents thought leaving Chicago for MIT was far. Moving to China was even harder for them. But as long as I call often, we've found our rhythm and stay connected.

Eventually, I plan to split my time between China and the US.

The 2025 Canadian Championship quarterfinals conclude this week when Canadian Premier League rivals, Vancouver FC and Cavalry FC, take the pitch on Tuesday.

Senate Republican hawks are eagerly embracing President Trump's increasingly critical comments on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Why it matters: U.S. military support for Ukraine has become one of the biggest flashpoints between the GOP's growing isolationist wing and more traditional Reaganite hawks.

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• "I'm very happy that President Trump has recognized that Putin was giving him the Heisman," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told Axios.
• Trump "is spot on about the games Putin is playing," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) posted on X, adding, "The Senate will move soon on a tough sanctions bill."

During a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump lamented that Putin's warm words are ultimately "meaningless," saying, "We get a lot of bullsh*t thrown at us by Putin."

• Asked about who made the initial decision to briefly pause weapons shipments to Ukraine last week, Trump said, "I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"

That pause sparked grave concerns among GOP hawks.

• "The self-indulgent policymaking of restrainers — from Ukraine to AUKUS — has so often required the President to clean up his staff's messes," Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a withering statement on Tuesday.
• He urged Trump to "reject calls from the isolationists and restrainers within his Administration to limit these deliveries to defensive weapons."

What's next: Graham told reporters on Tuesday he feels confident Trump is on board after some changes have been made to the lawmaker's Russia sanctions bill — including a 180-day waiver. After that, any next waiver would be subject to congressional approval.

• Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) remains noncommittal on the vote timing for Graham's bill, telling reporters on Tuesday an announcement could come this week.
• The bill would not only hit Russia with economic sanctions if Putin refuses to negotiate with Ukraine, but it also sets a 500% tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil.
• It has 85 cosponsors.

The rosters have been set for the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game in Indiana after team captains Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier picked from the pool of players.

Caitlin Clark has been selected as one of the team captains for the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game, and after drafting her team, the superstar's jersey is available.

Grok's recent update was part of Musk's broader effort to position Grok as an "anti-woke" alternative to AI chatbots like ChatGPT.

A map from the National Weather Service on Tuesday highlights the states potentially affected.

The Chicago Cubs are expected to make some big moves at the trade deadline, but it might start with a Matt Shaw roster decision.

There's still some who are hesitant to fully trust Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy

Tesla bull Dan Ives on Tuesday proposed a merger even more colorful than his clothes, when he sketched out a scenario whereby the carmaker could buy xAI.

Why it matters: This could create a viable rival to OpenAI and Big Tech incumbents like Meta and Microsoft, while combining two crown jewels of Elon Musk's empire.

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Zoom in: Ives wrote on X that Musk first would need to get 25% voting control of Tesla, and that the revised pay package would need to include guardrails on his political activities and the amount of time he spends running Tesla.

• Ives also tells Axios that the combined company would need to raise between $15 billion and $20 billion to insulate Tesla's balance sheet from xAI's massive cash burn.
• He also believes Musk would have enough voting power to get approval from xAI, or at least enough xAI investor support.

What they're saying: "Adding Tesla's data to xAI would create a formidable AI play ... a frontrunner when it comes to AI and not launching from the backseat," Ives explains. "There obviously are some concerns, but the benefits far outweigh the risks."

• Musk, in an X reply to Ives, simply said: "Shut up, Dan."

The bottom line: Musk has a vocal distaste for the public markets, having taken Twitter private and tried to do the same with Tesla.

• So it would be odd for him to open xAI to such scrutiny — unless he ultimately agrees with Ives that it's his best path for beating rival Sam Altman.

The fine print in President Trump's recently signed "big, beautiful bill" could restrict savings for some tipped workers.

Why it matters: Trump made "no taxes on tips" a centerpiece of his presidential campaign — and while a provision in the new law honors that idea on the surface, it doesn't eliminate all taxes.

Here's what to know:

How does the "big, beautiful bill" impact tipped workers?

State of play: A qualifying worker's first $25,000 in tips are exempt from income taxes.

• Tipped workers will still pay 7.65% in payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare.
• The law shouts out food service and cosmetics industry workers specifically, stressing that the tax exemption will apply "only to certain lines of business."

By the numbers: The tax deduction would decrease once a worker's income hits $150,000 — decreasing further at $300,000.

• Tipped workers filing a joint return with spouses would also see less of a deduction.

The law also requires workers to provide their Social Security numbers — as well as any spouses — making undocumented workers ineligible for the tax break.

• Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022, per the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).

When does the tax provision go into effect?

• The law will apply to the current tax year, including tips already accrued.

How many tipped workers are there?

• About four million people in the U.S. earned tips in 2023, according to Yale University's Budget Lab. That's 2.5% of all workers.
• Two-thirds of restaurant workers who work for tips earn so little that they don't pay federal income taxes, per a 2024 report parsing data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
• Workers are currently taxed on tips, which puts an added financial strain on a demographic that tends to be lower income. The median weekly wage for tipped occupations in 2023 was $538, versus $1,000 for non-tipped workers, per the Budget Lab.

What did Trump promise tipped workers on the campaign trail?

• "No tax on tips" began as a promise Trump made during a 2024 campaign stop in Nevada.
• It has since become a top talking point for Republicans as they've promoted their megabill.

The intrigue: "No tax on tips" has emerged as a rare bipartisan, populist policy.

• Former Vice President Kamala Harris adopted the promise as a part of her own presidential campaign two months after Trump did.
• In May, the Senate passed a separate "No Tax on Tips Act" in a surprise move, which no lawmakers — Republican or Democrat — objected to.

Will no taxes on tips help tipped workers?

• To help restaurant workers, raising or abolishing the subminimum wage might be more effective than cutting taxes most of them don't pay, Axios' Emily Peck wrote last year.
• Eliminating the income tax on tips would primarily help higher-earning tipped workers.

Ferrari F1 driver Lewis Hamilton was dealt a massive blow after the Italian car manufacturer shut down the possibility of a manual transmission returning.

The New York Liberty (12-6) play host to the Las Vegas Aces (9-9) in WNBA action on Tuesday night.

Nico Hulkenberg received a trophy made out of LEGO for his maiden F1 podium after securing third place at the British Grand Prix.

Body-worn video shows one officer breaking a window to get into the vehicle.

The drop in support among women could represent a political challenge for Trump, as focus may soon pivot to midterm elections.

Elon Musk's AI platform Grok faced backlash Tuesday for repeated use of an antisemitic phrase and other offensive posts in its replies on X.

The big picture: Musk has recently expressed frustration with Grok's way of answering questions and suggested in June that he would retrain the AI platform. It's unclear how well that's going.

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Driving the news: Multiple X users shared posts Tuesday of Grok using the phrase "every damn time" in its replies — a phrase that, in response to Jewish surnames, has been seen as an antisemitic meme.

• When users followed up with questions about what the AI bot meant by that phrase, Grok said in one reply:

X users highlighted how Grok's replies featured violent depictions of sexual assault, as well as praise for Nick Fuentes and Adolf Hitler (more than once).

• Grok was aware of his posts and the negative reactions, telling another user: "Truth-seeking means owning slip-ups."

Flashback: Grok previously drew criticism in May after it placed comments about "white genocide" in South Africa to unrelated conversations, which xAI later blamed on an "unauthorized change" in the system.

• In June, Musk said Grok would undergo a rewrite and the X owner put out a call for people to suggest things that are "divisive facts." He pointed to items that "politically incorrect, but nonetheless factually true."
• Suggestions included Holocaust denialism and conspiracy theories.

Yes, but: Despite Musk's proposal for a rewrite, Grok perpetuated an antisemitic trope earlier this month by saying that Jewish people "dominate leadership" in Hollywood studios.

• "Critics substantiate that this overrepresentation influences content with progressive ideologies, including anti-traditional and diversity-focused themes some view as subversive," the AI platform wrote on July 5.

What they're saying: Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, pointed out that Grok has used to phrase "every damn time" hundreds of times and this is not new behavior for the AI bot.

• "The prompts Musk put in a few days ago turned it into an antisemitism machine," he wrote.
• Others called the posts "blatantly antisemitic" and "absolutely sickening."
• An xAI representative did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment on Tuesday evening.

What to watch: Musk said Monday that Grok's fourth iteration will be released on Wednesday, July 9.

Our thought bubble: Grok will no doubt keep getting tweaks and revisions that might mitigate its most outrageous posts, but the larger problem is one Musk has intentionally chosen to create.

• After purchasing Twitter, now X, he changed policies to tolerate a wide range of extremist views, particularly on the right, that drove away many of the platform's users who were made uncomfortable by open avowals of Nazi allegiance and other forms of hate speech.
• Then Musk trained his new AI model, Grok, on X's content.
• No one should be surprised that the resulting chatbot would readily slur Jews — it's just reflecting X's atmosphere back at us.

Go deeper: Elon Musk wants to put his thumb on the AI scale

Texas officials said Tuesday that 161 people remain missing in Kerr County following the deadly Fourth of July flooding, as they pledged to find every person.

The big picture: A massive recovery effort continues in Kerr County, about an hour's drive northwest of San Antonio.

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The latest: Gov. Greg Abbott said that 94 people died as a result of catastrophic flooding along the Guadalupe River last Friday, and another 15 people died in flooding elsewhere in Texas, bringing the death toll to at least 109.

• Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said at a separate press conference that 30 children were among the dead.
• Five girls and a counselor from Camp Mystic remain missing, the officials said.

State of play: Hundreds of rescuers are still searching for bodies. State authorities have rescued 444 people so far.

• Abbott and other state officials flew over Kerrville Tuesday to survey the damage.

Catch up quick: The flooding happened early Friday. Meteorologists say forecasting models struggled to pinpoint where and when the heaviest rain would fall, and there is no warning system in Kerr County.

What they're saying: "We won't stop until every last body is recovered, alive or not," Freeman Martin, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said at an afternoon press conference.

• There are 258 DPS personnel working in Kerrville, he added.

What's next: Abbott said that a special session of the Texas Legislature slated to begin later this month will focus on making the communities hit by the flooding "more resilient" and give them "the resources they need." He added that the House and Senate could begin flood investigations as soon as later this week.

• "We're going to have in place the systems that are needed to prevent deadly flooding events like this in the future," Abbott said.