Anthropic had a tumultuous month. The AI lab surpassed OpenAI in business spending market share for the first time in May, raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation, and filed confidential IPO paperwork after its first profitable quarter. However, on Friday, the Trump administration ordered Anthropic to ban non-Americans, including its employees, from accessing its latest models: the limited-release Mythos 5 and the public Fable 5. This forced Anthropic to pull both models from the market. The White House invoked an obscure export control directive, but the exact cause is unclear; chatter suggests hackers easily bypassed Fable 5’s guardrails, exposing Mythos’s dangerous capability to find software security flaws. This feud follows Anthropic’s earlier refusal to allow government use of its models for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons, leading to a supply-chain risk declaration in March. Despite this, business adoption grew. Ramp’s lead economist Ara Kharazian says the controversy may boost Anthropic, noting its best adoption month came after the defense department labeled it a risk. Ramp’s data from over 70,000 businesses shows Anthropic’s share of AI subscriptions rose 2.5 percentage points in May to 41%, surpassing OpenAI’s 39.5% (which was flat). Businesses primarily spend on API calls to Claude Opus models, especially the latest Opus 4.8, which remain available. Mythos had only been released to limited users since April, and Fable 5 was shut down after days. The impact of the White House drama on Anthropic’s IPO prospects is uncertain, but its available models are more popular with businesses than ever.
Apple’s plan to change a privacy feature that lets paying customers hide their real email addresses when creating online accounts could make it easier for apps and websites to block anonymous sign-ups. Apple’s Hide My Email is an iCloud+ feature that generates anonymous email addresses under the @icloud.com domain, which then forward messages to a person’s real email address. The reason these privately generated email addresses work is because they cannot be distinguished from regular Apple users, whose email addresses also use the @icloud.com domain. Apple said in a note to developers on Monday that in the coming weeks the company will move its anonymously generated email addresses to @private.icloud.com, effectively making it easier for apps and websites to know that an email address is private and block users from signing up. Existing addresses will continue to function and forward mail without interruption, Apple said in the note to developers. The company added that app and email providers would have to update their filtering to ensure that emails to customers who rely on the feature continue to go through. Several Apple users on Reddit criticized the change to the email domain, saying it would make it more difficult to use the service. Apple did not respond to a request for comment from TechCrunch about the change, or explain why it made the change. Earlier this year, TechCrunch reported that Apple turned over the real account information of a user who generated an anonymized email address using Hide My Email to send an allegedly threatening email to the girlfriend of the FBI director Kash Patel. The Trump administration has made efforts over the past year to unmask anonymous accounts, including those of Trump’s critics, by using subpoenas to demand that tech companies turn over information about their users.
Apple's first foldable iPhone could arrive later than some market expectations, with supply chain sources indicating the device may not reach consumers until early 2027, pushing back the launch schedule for the company's entry into the foldable smartphone...
SpaceX has agreed to acquire Anysphere, the San Francisco company behind AI coding agent Cursor, in an all-stock deal valuing the startup at US$60 billion, giving Elon Musk's newly public company a stronger foothold in enterprise AI tools and software...
U.S. stock futures were little changed Tuesday night as traders awaited the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. S&P 500 futures edged slightly higher, Nasdaq 100 futures added less than 0.1%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 47 points (0.1%).
During Tuesday's regular session, the Dow climbed to new intraday and closing highs, gaining 328.64 points (0.64%) and crossing 52,000 for the first time before closing just below that level. In contrast, the S&P 500 fell 0.57% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.15%. SpaceX shares continued their rally, closing up over 4% and nearly 50% above its IPO price of $135, extending gains to 2% in after-hours trading.
The moves followed Monday's gains after President Donald Trump announced a potential U.S.-Iran deal to end the war. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed both sides had terminated military operations, with an official signing ceremony set for Friday in Switzerland.
Citi Research's head of U.S. equity strategy Scott Chronert expressed optimism on CNBC, stating the market is "in pretty good shape for a solid finish to the quarter" and expects leadership from AI infrastructure stocks in the second-quarter reporting period. He noted that falling oil prices amid Iran conflict resolution could allow the Fed to move to the sidelines, extending the broadening playbook and supporting a path higher into the second half of the year.
Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee meeting marks the first with new Chairman Kevin Warsh. Investors expect the Fed to keep rates unchanged at 3.5%–3.75%, though most Wall Street watchers anticipate Warsh will not submit a dot plot. CarMax and Jabil are set to report earnings before the bell, while traders will also monitor May's retail and pending home sales data.
At a spatial AI convention in Long Beach on Tuesday, Snap unveiled its long-awaited consumer smart glasses, Specs. Priced at $2,195, they are available for preorder on June 16 with a $200 refundable deposit, and are expected to ship this fall in the U.S., the U.K., and France. This price places them above most Meta Ray-Bans (starting at $350) but below the Apple Vision Pro ($3,500). Snap has been developing Specs for over a decade, but its last consumer version was in 2019; subsequent iterations were developer-only. Earlier this year, Snap spun off a new company to focus on bringing the product to market.
Visually, Specs resembles slightly bulkier goggles, with all computing on the device—no puck or tether. It runs on two Snapdragon processors, offers up to four hours of continuous battery life, and a charging case extends that to 20 hours. Features include games with shared multiplayer via “EyeConnect” (activated by eye contact), video viewing (51-degree field of view, 16 million colors), point-of-view recording, internet browsing, productivity apps, and email. A standout feature is contextual AI: look at an object and ask about it to pull up information. The glasses come in two sizes: a 47mm model weighing 132 grams and a 52mm model weighing 136 grams, heavier than Meta’s Ray-Bans but far lighter than the Apple Vision Pro. Privacy protections include a built-in LED light that glows while recording, and user control over data storage.
Snap’s earlier demo in Las Vegas showed fun apps and impressive AI, but the device was heavy and ran hot; the final version appears slimmer. Specs enters a saturated market led by Meta and joined by Google, aiming at tech enthusiasts, developers, and studios with deep pockets. The high price reflects the industry’s ongoing struggle to turn curiosity into profit; even Meta loses money on AR. Snap faces its own challenges: a wobbling stock, declining North American user engagement, and lack of consistent profitability, alongside recent layoffs. Whether Specs can turn this around remains to be seen.
Google released the final version of Android 17 and Wear OS 7 on Tuesday, arriving first on Pixel devices alongside a Pixel Drop. The update emphasizes AI features, including the music-generation model Lyria 3, the multimodal Gemini Omni, and speech-to-translation tools for Pixel 10a with AudioLM. This underscores Google’s strategy to showcase its AI technology, contrasting with Apple’s upcoming AI upgrades to Siri and iOS 27.
Key features include Android Quick Share now compatible with Apple’s AirDrop on older Pixel 8a and 9a devices. Gemini Omni enables conversational video editing, while Lyria 3 lets users create music from text or images in the Gemini app. Pixel 10a gains improved speech-to-speech translation via AudioLM. Other phone features include recording personalized outgoing audio messages and expanding “Take a Message” to more global markets.
The Pixel Drop adds emergency detection to the Google Pixel Watch, automatically contacting emergency services and selected contacts if it detects a car crash, fall, or lack of pulse. Android 17 introduces a “bubble bar” UI for organizing and quickly accessing recent apps at the bottom of the screen, speeding up multi-app workflows. A new feature allows simultaneous selfie and screen recording for reaction videos for social media.
Parental controls and security are enhanced with “Mark as Lost” in Find Hub, Live Threat Detection, screen time limits, and content-filtering tools settable with a PIN without a Google account. A foldable gaming mode offers a 50/50 layout with a dynamic game pad.
Wear OS 7 brings live updates from phone apps mirrored to the Pixel Watch, better integration with upcoming AI glasses and headphones, and future Gemini Intelligence features like personalized widgets via description and “Personal Intelligence” using Google apps and chat history. Battery life improves by up to 10%, and multistep automation is added.
At HPE Discover 2026 in Las Vegas, CEO Antonio Neri delivered a keynote packed with announcements, with a heavy focus on networking and AI, as Juniper becomes fully integrated. Key highlights include:
- **HPE Juniper Networking** is now part of HPE AI Data Center Solutions. New switches: QFX5252 (scale-up, UALink over Ethernet, liquid-cooled, dual Broadcom Tomahawk 6), QFX5250 (scale-out, 102.5Tbps), PTX12000 (800Gbps routing, ZR/ZR+ optics), SRX4700 (quantum-safe 1.4Tbps firewall), MX301 (1.6Tbps inference edge router), and QFX5140 (16Tbps inference switch). HPE Networking CX switches can now be managed by HPE Mist.
- **AI and Compute**: HPE ProLiant Gen12 (DL394 Gen12 with NVIDIA), AMD Helios AI rack solution, HPE Private Cloud AI with NVIDIA platform and HPE Alletra Storage MP X10000 (AI-native file/object storage). HPE also announced AI Factory at Scale, Sovereign AI, and confidential computing standard across its AI Factory with NVIDIA Vera-based systems.
- **Software and Services**: HPE CloudOps extends Morpheus for broader ecosystem and VMware legacy footprint. HPE Agentic Enterprise manages shadow workforce with AI agent governance. HPE Marvis actions bring conversational AI to networking. HPE GreenLake intelligence uses agentic AI for operations optimization.
- **Customer Cameos**: Dallas Cowboys using HPE for AI, Vultr for next-gen AI build-out, and Siemens Energy for predictive failure.
The keynote underscored HPE’s emphasis on networking as the lead story, distinguishing it from competitors like Dell, which focused on compute. NVIDIA was a significant partner but absent from the stage. HPE positions itself as a networking company that also does AI compute.
Anthropic has shut down access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models over the weekend, affecting both the API and desktop app. The models are no longer available, disrupting workflows that relied on them. Users must switch to less capable alternatives. Anthropic explained that the US government, citing national security, issued an export control directive suspending all access to these models by any foreign national, including foreign national Anthropic employees, both inside and outside the US. To ensure compliance, Anthropic abruptly disabled the models for all customers. This marks a significant use of export controls on AI software, similar to restrictions on encryption and high-end GPUs. Anthropic claims the directive stems from a report it believes enabled a "universal jailbreak," arguing that if applied to all frontier models, it could halt new deployments. Beyond the security debate, the sudden shutdown poses practical risks: businesses with critical agentic workflows face disruption if they depended solely on these models. The event highlights the need for router-based redundancy and raises concerns about what happens if multiple advanced models (e.g., GPT-5.5 successors) are simultaneously taken offline. It serves as a wake-up call for the importance of local AI serving, especially for essential workflows.
At the 2026 VLSI Symposium, Intel Foundry provided an update on its process technology roadmap, focusing on the maturation of Intel 18A, the introduction of Intel 18A-P, and advanced research beyond gate-all-around (GAA) transistors. Intel’s strategy combines manufacturing execution with differentiated technologies to strengthen its foundry position.
Intel 18A, featuring RibbonFET GAA transistors and PowerVia backside power delivery, is now ramping in two U.S. fabrication facilities, with defect density declining ahead of projections. It is already powering multiple client products, with data center applications expected soon.
Intel 18A-P, the first performance-enhanced derivative, introduces new transistor options, improved power delivery, and enhanced thermal characteristics while maintaining backward compatibility. Based on a fully routed Arm core test vehicle, it offers up to 18% lower power consumption at iso-performance and about 9% higher performance at iso-power. Thermal resistance improves by 20–40%, and via resistance on critical interconnect layers decreases by 10–30%. A dual-contact Power Boost structure combines front-side and backside contacts via PowerVia to reduce parasitic resistance and improve current delivery. New intermediate threshold-voltage (Vt) options provide design flexibility, with 33% tightening of skew corners and reduced process variation.
Thermal management innovations include enhanced conductivity and EDA-driven optimization for power-dense AI and HPC workloads. Combining backside power delivery with GAA transistors yields approximately 10× dynamic voltage droop reduction, 5–6% frequency improvements, or over 15% dynamic power reduction, plus routing simplification and area efficiency.
Beyond current production, Intel presented research on Complementary FETs (CFETs) stacking PMOS and NMOS vertically, with a monolithic CFET inverter at 45 nm contacted poly pitch. A ruthenium-based interconnect architecture with air-gap integration achieved about 35% capacitance reduction versus copper. Additionally, integration of gallium nitride (GaN) power devices with silicon CMOS logic on 300 mm wafers aims to improve system efficiency and reduce cost.
Collectively, these announcements highlight Intel Foundry’s dual focus on near-term manufacturing execution (18A ramp, 18A-P performance boost) and long-term innovation (CFETs, advanced interconnects, heterogeneous integration), positioning Intel as a leading developer of next-generation semiconductor process technologies.