Good Morning, CIOs. The chip shortage has disrupted manufacturing across various sectors, most notably automobiles. But from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. comes a bit of hope. The WSJ's Jacky Wong reports that the world's largest contract chip maker plans to increase output of microcontrollers for the semiconductor-starved auto industry this year by nearly 60% from last year, or around a 30% rise from pre-pandemic levels.

Supplies still tight. Capacity will remain tight as long-term increases in chip demand remain intact, TSMC said. The company generates most of its revenue from smartphones or high-performance computing applications, 

Elsewhere. Intel Corp. is exploring a deal to buy GlobalFoundries Inc., the Journal's Cara Lombardo and Dana Cimilluca report. The move for one of the largest specialist chip-production companies comes as Intel looks to expand its business and become a chip manufacturer for others, a market dominated by the aforementioned TSMC.

China sends state security, police officials to Didi for cybersecurity probe. The on-site probe comes after China’s internet regulator earlier this month ordered the popular ride-hailing app to undergo a cybersecurity review over national security concerns, just days after the company started trading publicly in the U.S.  (WSJ)

Internet powers protests. The wave of spontaneous protests that rocked Cuba on Sunday was propelled by social media and the proliferation of mobile internet, which Cubans have only had for the past three years, the WSJ reports. Authorities have responded by cutting internet service.

Head of Pentagon innovation unit withdraws nomination for higher post.  Michael Brown, a former Silicon Valley executive,  withdrew his nomination to become the Defense Department’s undersecretary for acquisition. In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Mr. Brown cited an inspector general’s investigation into his office. The letter didn’t provide details on the investigation. (WSJ)

SPAC attacks. Scheduled to merge with special-purpose acquisition companies in the near future are ServiceMax, maker of software for field-service technicians, 3-D printing company Fathom Digital Manufacturing Corp. and self-driving technology companies Aurora, PlusAI Corp. and Embark Trucks Inc.

Netflix’s videogame gambit takes shape. The streaming business this week said it hired Facebook Inc. executive Mike Verdu as vice president of game development. Mr. Verdu was responsible for bringing games and other content to the company’s Oculus-branded virtual-reality headsets. (WSJ)

Bourdain voice deep-faked. Filmmaker Morgan Neville told the New Yorker that he used an AI model to recreate Anthony Bourdain's voice for several quotes heard in his recent documentary on the chef and television personality, who died in 2018. "We can have a documentary-ethics panel about it later," he said, according to the New Yorker.

Facebook open sources “brain-computer interface.” Facebook announced its moonshot in 2017 in the wake of a similar effort by Elon Musk's Neuralink Corp. The company in a blog post said it would open source its software and "share its head-mounted hardware prototypes" as it focus on what it calls "wrist-based neural interfaces."

Big Tech called out for Covid-19 misinformation. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in a health advisory called upon tech companies to take responsibility for controlling the health misinformation found on their platforms.

I was a teenage astronaut. When Blue Origin LLC’s New Shepard rocket launches former Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos into space Tuesday, one seat will be occupied by 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, the first paying customer to fly on board the rocket. (WSJ)

About those techies who fled SF/Silicon Valley. They are coming back. (New York Times)

U.S. shoppers likely boosted spending at many retailers in June, but weak auto sales linked to supply disruptions could have restrained revenue gains as the economy more broadly reopened. (The Wall Street Journal)

Applications for unemployment benefits fell to 360,000 last week, from a seasonally adjusted 386,000 a week earlier, as the labor market continues to heal. (The Wall Street Journal)

The Biden administration is warning American businesses about the increasing risks of operating in Hong Kong as China’s tightening grip on the city causes business conditions to deteriorate. (The Wall Street Journal)

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The editor, Tom Loftus, can be reached at thomas.loftus@wsj.com