Tech
Topic feed
Samsung Galaxy S25 and S25 FE See Significant Price Cuts
Samsung's Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 FE smartphones are currently available at notably reduced prices, with the S25 FE dropping $201 (33%) to $449 on Woot for a limited time. The price reductions come amid a competitive smartphone market and ahead of anticipated future Samsung releases. The discounts make previously premium-priced devices more accessible to budget-conscious consumers.
Anthropic Disables Fable 5 and Mythos 5 AI Models Globally After US Government Export Control Order
Anthropic has suspended all public access to its two most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, after the US Commerce Department issued an export control directive ordering the company to block foreign nationals from accessing them on national security grounds. The order came just three days after Fable 5's public launch and reportedly stems from government concerns about a potential jailbreak that could enable the models to assist with cyberattacks, though Anthropic says it received only verbal evidence of a narrow, non-universal vulnerability. The shutdown affects all customers globally — including enterprise users and Anthropic employees — and marks a significant escalation of US efforts to restrict foreign access to advanced AI models themselves, rather than just the chips that power them.
Xbox Free Play Days Offers Three Games Free to Play June 11–14
Microsoft's Xbox Free Play Days program is offering Hell Let Loose, State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition, and Blasphemous 2 at no cost from June 11 to June 14. Hell Let Loose requires an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, or Essential membership, while State of Decay 2 and Blasphemous 2 (via a five-hour timed trial) are accessible to all Xbox console owners. Players who wish to keep any of the games can purchase them at a limited-time discount and retain any achievements earned during the free period.
Coalition of State Attorneys General Opens Sweeping Investigation into OpenAI
A coalition of U.S. state attorneys general has launched a sweeping investigation into OpenAI, serving the company with a subpoena on June 12 seeking documents on its activities, user data handling, and impact on vulnerable populations. The probe, led by New York's attorney general, comes as OpenAI faces mounting legal pressure including a Florida lawsuit and wrongful death suits tied to ChatGPT. The investigation adds significant regulatory scrutiny to OpenAI as it prepares for a potential IPO valued at up to $1 trillion.
Destiny 2 Ends as Marathon Becomes Bungie and Sony's Last Live-Service Hope
Destiny 2's final content update, Monument of Triumph, drove a spike to 167,867 peak concurrent Steam players on June 9, while Bungie's extraction shooter Marathon continued declining toward all-time lows. The contrast has reignited fan debate over whether Bungie and Sony prematurely abandoned Destiny 2 in favor of Marathon. The situation places enormous pressure on Marathon to succeed, as it is now Sony's highest-profile live-service game and the primary vehicle for Bungie's survival.
Over 400 Arch Linux AUR Packages Compromised in Large-Scale Malware Campaign
Attackers hijacked more than 400 packages in the Arch Linux User Repository (AUR) by adopting abandoned projects and rewriting their build scripts to install credential-stealing malware. The campaign, tracked by Sonatype as 'Atomic Arch,' deployed a Rust-based infostealer capable of harvesting browser sessions, SSH keys, developer tokens, and cloud credentials, with an optional eBPF rootkit to conceal itself when run with root privileges. Arch Linux maintainers are actively removing malicious commits and banning affected accounts, but users who built any AUR package on or after June 11 are advised to treat their systems as potentially compromised and rotate all sensitive credentials.
Nintendo's Patent Lawsuit Against Palworld Developer Pocketpair Collapses to $30,000 Maximum Payout
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company's patent lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair has been narrowed to older game versions only, with a maximum possible payout of approximately $30,000 and no viable path to an injunction. Pocketpair proactively patched out the contested mechanics — including ball-throwing capture and Pal-assisted gliding — forcing Nintendo to repeatedly narrow its claims until they no longer apply to current or future versions of the game. The case, heading to a Tokyo District Court hearing on October 1, 2026, is now considered commercially insignificant, while Palworld prepares for its full 1.0 launch on July 10.
Zuckerberg Acknowledges Mistakes in Meta's AI Workforce Transformation
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted in an internal memo that the company has made mistakes during its sweeping AI-driven workforce restructuring, which included laying off 10% of staff and reassigning 7,000 employees to AI-related roles. The acknowledgment comes as Meta has raised its annual capital spending forecast to between $125 billion and $145 billion to fund its AI ambitions. The memo signals growing internal friction over the pace and management of Meta's AI transformation, raising broader questions about whether the company's massive AI investment is being executed effectively.
Strava Adds Hiking-Focused Features Including Route Planning, Off-Route Alerts, and Improved Maps
Strava has released version 467.0.0, introducing a suite of hiking-focused tools including route discovery, off-route alerts, offline navigation, and Apple Watch route-following. The update follows a year in which hiking clubs on the platform grew 5.8 times, reflecting surging user interest in trail activities. Most features are available immediately, with enhanced map styles showing richer trail surface data and points of interest rolling out later this summer.
US Government Orders Anthropic to Suspend Access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 Models
Anthropic disabled all customer access to its newly launched Fable 5 and Mythos 5 AI models on Friday evening after receiving a U.S. Commerce Department export control directive citing national security concerns. The directive, received at 5:21 p.m. ET on June 12, ordered suspension of access for any foreign national inside or outside the United States, including Anthropic's own non-citizen employees, forcing the company to pull the models entirely to ensure compliance. The unprecedented action marks the first known instance of the U.S. government issuing an export control directive targeting access to a large language model, and escalates an ongoing conflict between Anthropic and the Trump administration.
Trump Administration Blocks Foreign Access to Anthropic's Advanced AI Models
The Trump administration issued an export control directive on June 12, 2026, ordering Anthropic to block all foreign nationals from accessing its two most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, citing national security concerns over a potential jailbreak. Because Anthropic could not technically restrict access by nationality without disabling the models entirely, it pulled them offline for all users worldwide, just three days after Fable 5's public launch. The action marks the first time the U.S. government has used export controls to restrict access to specific AI models rather than hardware, setting a significant precedent for AI regulation.
Palantir loses Swiss legal challenge against investigative magazine Republik
A Zurich commercial court dismissed 22 of 23 counts in a lawsuit Palantir filed against Swiss investigative magazine Republik, which had reported that the data analytics company failed to win any Swiss government contracts. The case stemmed from a year-long investigation published in December by Republik and research collective WAV, which Palantir sought to counter by demanding the outlets publish detailed rebuttals. The ruling is significant for press freedom, as it affirmed that Swiss right-of-reply law requires responses to be concise and factual rather than expansive corporate counternarratives.