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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Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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This episode unpacks the jaw-dropping surge in vulnerabilities unearthed by AI, revealing how Microsoft shattered its own patch records while adversaries and defenders race to outpace each other. The conversation gets real about whether AI is fixing our broken software or just making attacks easier for everyone.

• Rootkits found in more than 400 ArchLinux User Repository packages.
• The US government requests Anthropic to remove Mythos and Fable.
• CISA responds to AI-driven attacks with new patching requirements.
• NPM to switch to more secure install defaults. Will it help.
• Our listeners react to last week's PHP commentary.
• June shows that AI has arrived for vulnerability discover

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1083-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

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John Gruber of Daring Fireball joins the MacBreak Weekly panel this week! A deep dive into Apple's new Siri following WWDC. Why Apple Intelligence & the new Siri are not coming to the EU initially later this year. And could the iPhone Ultra's launch be delayed this year?

• Private cloud compute severely limited for third party devs.
• The future of Siri, or: why private inference isn't private enough.
• I tried Siri AI, and so far it actually works.
• How much Gemini is really inside Siri AI?
• The EU's DMA Folly.
• Reports of iPhone Ultra launch delays are 'false,' says leaker.
• Apple Vision Pro helped Disney re-engineer a classic EPCOT ride.
• Under-16 social media ban announced by UK government.
• Fox to Buy Roku Streaming Service in $25 Billion Deal.

Picks of the Week

• Andy's Pick: Google Earth Flight Simulator for the Web
• John's Pick: Hovercraft
• Christina's Pick: Parachute Backup

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Andy Ihnatko, and Christina Warren

Guest: John Gruber

Download or subscribe to MacBreak Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/macbreak-weekly.

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The US government abruptly forced Anthropic to pull its most advanced AI model offline after fears it was simply too powerful to be safe. Hear the real story behind the sudden shutdown that rocked the tech world—and what it reveals about the uneasy alliance between Washington and Silicon Valley.

• Anthropic's Fable 5 AI model release sparks cybersecurity and jailbreak concerns
• White House pressures Anthropic to withdraw Fable amid security fears
• Debate over government intervention, model regulation, and Anthropic's IPO timing
• SpaceX IPO rockets to record-breaking $1.77 trillion valuation
• Apple unveils revamped Siri and Apple Intelligence at WWDC
• Apple's new child safety and parental controls in iOS
• OpenAI and Anthropic plot IPOs, face economic realities of AI industry
• Supply chain attacks hit Arch Linux packages, security risks highlighted
• Spotify battles surge of fake podcasts promoting illegal drugs
• German court rules Google AI overviews legally liable for inaccuracies
• FCC pursues crackdown on anonymous burner phones, raising privacy alarms
• North Korean hackers' massive infiltration of US tech sector exposed
• iFixit teardown reveals Trump Phone is just a rebadged HTC U24 Pro
• Smartphone and internet access linked to declining US birth rates
• Skydance-Paramount merger approved as Warner Bros seeks next mega deal
• Roku seeks buyer, raising questions about future streaming platforms

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Christina Warren, Harry McCracken, and Richard Campbell

Download or subscribe to This Week in Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech

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Discover how a homegrown AI agent is outsmarting big-brand competitors, letting users tailor digital assistants with real memory and skills. The future isn't just smarter models, but everyday tech that learns exactly how you work.

• Hermes AI agent's launch, mass adoption, and personalized capabilities
• Open source vs. proprietary AI: model access, privacy, and funding hurdles
• Apple's next-gen Siri and agentic platform ambitions unpacked
• Nous Research model development, Nvidia partnerships, and training challenges
• The risk of an "AI underclass" and ethics in model distribution
• Anthropic's Fable release: strict guardrails, silent model downgrades, and open source tensions
• Local models vs. cloud LLMs: cost, effectiveness, and practical tuning
• Community-driven iterating: Hermes' rapid product evolution and user obsession
• Vatican's AI encyclical: church perspectives on AI, morality, and the common good
• AGI arrival debate: economic thresholds, capabilities, and human uniqueness
• The reality of AI hallucinations, agent accuracy, and responsible usage
• Legal fallout over AI-generated hallucinations in court filings
• AI's growing role in Hollywood contracts and labor protections
• Google's Gemini 3 live translation impresses but raises privacy flags
• German courts label Google AI overviews as publisher speech, liability looms
• AI detection tools like Pangram face scrutiny in real-world writing and education
• Google Dream Beans app tests the limits of digital personal recommendations
• Picks of the Week: Reddit AMA, Dream Beans, basketball and retro gaming, research critiques

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Paris Martineau

Guest: Jeffrey Quesnelle

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Google Pixel 5, Amazon One, AppleTV+

• Google's Launch Night in was a snooze
• Amazon Sidewalk will join your neighborhood together - or invade your privacy
• Amazon wants your palm print. Will you give it to them?
• James Bond delayed to 2021: Movie theaters are dying
• Subway sandwiches are not made with bread in Ireland, and their chicken is less than 50% chicken, but Popeye's is the best
• Apple TV+ is about to lose a whole lot of subscribers - what should we watch?
• How soap operas are filming during the pandemic
• Prime day is October 13th - will you shop?
• Libraries are being squeezed by publishers over ebooks and audiobooks
• Google TV is good, but Google seems to have lost interest like they lose interest in everything
• MIxer screws Ninja over; Ninja makes bank
• Sonos sues Google for multi-room audio patents
• Facebook merges Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook logins
• US judge saves TikTok; Fleetwood Mac rejoices
• The Social Dilemma is Reefer Madness for 2020
• If you pay ransomware, the Treasury Department will come after you
• H1-B visas cut off; tech giants cry out

Host: Leo Laporte

Guests: Alex Wilhelm, Iain Thomson, and Simone de Rochefort

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