Tech Brew Ride Home

Apple unveils its Chromebook sort of competitor, the MacBook Neo. Anthropic might be the fastest growing startup in history. Polymarket will no longer let you bet on thermonuclear war. Sony will no longer plans to release its big single-player PlayStation 5 games on PC.


Apple announces $599 MacBook Neo running A18 Pro chip — budget laptop features 16-hour battery and comes in fun colors (Tom's Hardware)


MacBook Neo hands-on: Apple's $599 laptop feels shockingly great (Engadget)


Anthropic’s Claude hits No. 1 on Apple’s top free apps list after Pentagon rejection (CNBC)


Exclusive: Anthropic investors push to de-escalate Pentagon clash over AI safeguards, sources say (Reuters)


Polymarket shelves nuclear detonation markets after outcry (CoinDesk)


Sony Pulls Back From PlayStation Games on PC (Bloomberg)


A Possible US Government iPhone-Hacking Toolkit Is Now in the Hands of Foreign Spies and Criminals (Wired)

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Apple continues its week of product refreshes, now with MacBooks, now with new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. People continue to get rich frontrunning news on the betting markets. And Sam Altman says, no, sorry, we rushed things. The government swears it won’t use our AI for mass surveillance after we asked them nicely not to.


Apple announces M5 MacBook Air with 2x storage, $1099 starting price (9to5Mac)


Apple Unveils MacBook Pro Featuring M5 Pro and M5 Max Chips With New Fusion Architecture (MacRumors)


Apple unveils M5 Pro and M5 Max chips with new ‘Fusion Architecture’ (TechCrunch)


Polymarket Iran Bets Hit $529 Million as New Wallets Win Big (Bloomberg)


Google unveils cost-efficient AI model Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite (SeekingAlpha)


Audible Launches Cheaper Plan to Appeal to Streaming Audiences (Bloomberg)


OpenAI makes changes to ‘opportunistic and sloppy’ Pentagon deal (Financial Times)

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Apparently, it’s going to be a week of Apple updates and it kicks off with the iPhone 17e and an M4 iPad Air. AWS service is struggling in the Middle East. An important ruling in terms of AI copyright. Anthropic makes it easy to switch to Claude. And what exactly went on with that whole Pentagon/Anthropic dispute.


⁠Apple announces the iPhone 17E⁠ (The Verge)


⁠Apple speeds up the iPad Air with an M4 upgrade, starting at $599 ⁠(TechCrunch)


⁠Amazon's cloud unit reports fire after objects hit UAE data center ⁠(Reuters)


⁠US Supreme Court declines to hear dispute over copyrights for AI-generated material⁠ (Reuters)


⁠Anthropic's Claude can now absorb your past conversations with other AI chatbots⁠ (Engadget)


⁠Inside Anthropic’s Killer-Robot Dispute With the Pentagon⁠ (The Atlantic)

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Apparently, it’s going to be a week of Apple updates and it kicks off with the iPhone 17e and an M4 iPad Air. AWS service is struggling in the Middle East. An important ruling in terms of AI copyright. Anthropic makes it easy to switch to Claude. And what exactly went on with that whole Pentagon/Anthropic dispute.


Apple announces the iPhone 17E (The Verge)


Apple speeds up the iPad Air with an M4 upgrade, starting at $599 (TechCrunch)


Amazon's cloud unit reports fire after objects hit UAE data center (Reuters)


US Supreme Court declines to hear dispute over copyrights for AI-generated material (Reuters)


Anthropic's Claude can now absorb your past conversations with other AI chatbots (Engadget)


Inside Anthropic’s Killer-Robot Dispute With the Pentagon (The Atlantic)

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I’ve got everything for you today. OpenAI closed its round. Anthropic draws a line with the Pentagon and Sam Altman supports it. A huge AI inspired layoff round, maybe. Netflix walks away from the deal, and, of course, The Weekend Longreads Suggestions.


OpenAI announces $110 billion funding round with backing from Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank (CNBC)


Sam Altman says OpenAI shares Anthropic's red lines in Pentagon fight (Axios)


Employees at Google and OpenAI support Anthropic’s Pentagon stand in open letter (TechCrunch)


Block shares soar as much as 24% as company slashes workforce by nearly half (CNBC)


Netflix ditches deal for Warner Bros. Discovery after Paramount’s offer is deemed superior (CNBC)

Weekend Longreads Suggestions:


The Looming Taiwan Chip Disaster That Silicon Valley Has Long Ignored (NYTimes)

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