AI giants are battling not just in code, but in politics, with behind-the-scenes lobbying, strategic naming, and rumors of blockbuster deals at the heart of this week's wildest tech stories. Get the inside scoop on who's pulling the strings.

• Apparently The Real Reason Anthropic's Models Are Offline: A Six-Year-Old Trump Grudge
• Trump says he no longer views Anthropic as a national security threat after G7 meeting with CEO
• Exclusive | Apple to Raise Prices Due to Memory Chip Crunch, Tim Cook Says
• Elon Musk's Next Move May Be a Mega-Merger of SpaceX and Tesla
• Anthropic's latest feud with the Trump admin may actually help it, sales data suggests
• Google's Gemini co-lead Noam Shazeer is leaving for OpenAI
• Google's Secret Warrant Fight Over DOJ Pipe Bomb Probe Revealed
• The UK Places a Sweeping Ban on Social Media for Kids Under 16
• Meta lobbies Congress for protection from child-harm lawsuits
• Waymo recalls nearly 4,000 robotaxis to stop them driving into highway construction zones
• Snap Launches $2,195 Specs, Declaring Glasses the Next Computer
• Fox wants to take over your TV — and the tech inside it
• Midjourney goes from generating cat images to full-body ultrasound scans
• Nothing cancels this year's CMF phone due to RAM prices
• The AI IPO boom is different
• Joshua Baer, Capital Factory Founder, Dies in Laredo Plane Crash - RuntimeWire
• Ubisoft's co-founder Claude Guillemot dies in plane crash

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Iain Thomson, Owen Thomas, and Doc Rock

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The sudden US government shutdown of Anthropic's Fable model has tech insiders reeling and rival global labs surging ahead. This episode breaks down the unexpected political power play rattling the future of AI innovation.

• The Fable 5 Export Controls Harm US Cyber Defense
• Anthropic CEO says government should block dangerous AI
• The Real Reason Anthropic's Models Are Offline: A Six-Year-Old Trump Grudge
• (21) Pete Hegseth on X: "Three months ago, @DeptofWar kicked @AnthropicAI out of our building—forever. Every passing day proves why that was the right move. 🇺🇸" / X
• Anthropic's Safety Superpower
• Google DeepMind is worried about what happens when millions of agents start to interact
• The Anthropic 'Fable' saga proves: we have opened the AI Pandora's box.
• Exclusive: OpenAI Preps New AI Model, Expects To Go Public 'Within the Next Year'
• Microsoft CEO warns that a few AI winners could destroy 'entire industries'
• SpaceX locks in $60 billion Cursor deal to power AI coding push
• DOJ Lawyers Argue xAI Is 'Vital' for National Security in NAACP Lawsuit
• AI Deepfakes Are Getting Weirder and Harder to Spot in the Midterms
• UK under-16s social media rules to reach into gaming and AI chatbots
• Investigation by The Atlantic reveals many millions of songs used for AI music training
• Pokémon Go players unwittingly contributed to tech with military drone uses
• Discover — FablePool
• Isometric NYC
• Encrypted Spaces
• Florida man
• Knick Knacks
• Bird window
• Ode to Orange Seats
• Bending Spoons--owner of AOL, Eventbrite, Vimeo, Komoot, WeTransfer, Evernote, MeetUp, Streamyard, Hopin, Splice, and Brightcove--to IPO
• Tim Ferris: Has AI Already Killed How-To Nonfiction? Sales Trends, My Personal Data, and What It Might Mean for the Future

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau

Guest: Alex Stamos

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With major leadership shakeups and rumors of studio closures, the future of XBOX inside Microsoft suddenly looks uncertain. Is this the beginning of a Game Pass overhaul, or could XBOX face an outright split from the company? Plus, PowerToys 0.100 (yes, point one hundred) arrives with so many improvements. And the Windows Insider program is leaving even seasoned users scratching their heads over Microsoft's so-called "simplification."

Windows

• Windows Insider Program: Microsoft releases a record 7 builds to the allegedly simpler Insider Program
• You can't tell the players without a program
• Experimental: Less disruptive Windows Update, Windows Search improvements
• Beta 26H1: Screen tint
• Beta 25H2: Screen tint, quieter Widgets, Magnifier zoom controls
• Release Preview 25H2: Screen tint, quieter Widgets, Magnifier zoom controls, Bluetooth connectivity improvements
• All (?) get Voice access and Voice typing improvements, and new right-click Touchpad settings
• Good God, Microsoft

Hardware

• Microsoft announces Snapdragon X2-based Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Laptop 13 and the prices are eye-watering
• Samsung announces Snapdragon X2-based Galaxy Book6 Edge and, yes, the prices are eye-watering
• The component crisis is a disaster but limitations are driving innovation, as they always have
• Google releases Android 17 alongside a new Pixel Drop, setting the stage for Googlebooks

Software

• Microsoft Edge to follow Chrome to a two-week development schedule because we all love updating our web browsers
• Mozilla releases Firefox 152 and a new roadmap for the browser

AI

• FINALLY AN AI-FREE WEEK

XBOX and gaming

• Fear & loathing at XBOX! The Microsoft fiscal year ends in two weeks, and big changes are coming
• XBOX leadership set to reveal "hard truths" that will absolutely include layoffs and studio and game closures
• Microsoft is looking at all options for XBOX, including a spin-off
• XBOX Studios CEO and chief of staff announce their departures ahead of expected layoffs
• XBOX reportedly closing Ninja Theory, makers of the Hellblade games
• Compulsion Games is likely on the chopping block too
• XBOX is coming to Gamescon this year
• Xbox June Update arrives with new boot animation, more while Microsoft continues testing minor UX changes in the Insider Program
• COD: Vanguard, EA Sports FC 26 and more coming to Game Pass in the second half of June
• Rockstar Games is giving free GTA V upgrades to Xbox One and PS4 players

Tips and picks

• Tip of the week: Don't doomscroll, learnscroll instead
• App pick of the week: PowerToys 0.100
• RunAs Radio this week: 47 Day Certificates with Todd Gardner
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Thornæs Kagerup

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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