At Washington's request, Anthropic suddenly took its newest and most powerful AI models offline over the weekend. The American company said it had little choice after the White House demanded it block access for all foreign nationals, including its own employees. Abroad, the incident offered a sobering reminder that the US not only dominates frontier AI - its government also wields power over who gets to use it. The Trump administration's action was swift, sweeping, and imposed with little warning or explanation. The unprecedented shutdown of the Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models - which were already subject to safeguards limiting their use in " …Read the full story at The Verge.

Last week, Xbox boss Asha Sharma sent a memo warning of an Xbox "reset" ahead of expected layoffs, and today, Kotaku reported that Xbox plans to shut down Compulsion Games, the studio behind South of Midnight.Since taking over in February, Sharma has made some big decisions, including cutting the price of Xbox Game Pass and making Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution Xbox console exclusives. But in their "reset" memo, Sharma and chief content officer Matt Booty discussed many challenges facing the Xbox business, including that it has "over extended" with its studio system:We are the fortunate stewards of industry-defining franch …Read the full story at The Verge.

Anthropic was already navigating one dispute with the government in its standoff with the Pentagon, and then came an order on June 12th to block off foreign access to its most recently released AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. When they launched on June 9th, Anthropic said “Fable 5’s capabilities exceed those of any model we’ve ever made generally available,” and that Claude Mythos 5 had the same underlying model, “but with the safeguards lifted in some areas.”According to reports, the order came after conversations between Amazon and the White House about researchers saying they found ways to get Fable 5 to serve information that could be used in cyberattacks. Anthropic responded by shutting access to both models for all customers, saying, “We are complying with the government’s legal directive and are removing access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all users. However, we disagree that the finding of a narrow potential jailbreak should be cause for recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions of people.”Read along below for all of the latest updates Trump’s Anthropic shutdown just made the case for non-American AI China may have accessed Mythos Amazon security research reportedly led to the White House’s Anthropic Fable ban Anthropic cuts off Fable 5 and Mythos 5 access following government order Anthropic releases its first Mythos-class model Claude Fable 

Amazon Fire TV Stick is the ultimate streaming gateway for millions of cord-cutters. But as subscription costs for legitimate services climb, many users are turning to cheap, unverified IPTV services to unlock thousands of premium channels for pennies.

The products pictured here aren’t on sale, but we certainly hope they will be soon. | Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge Amazon’s earlier-than-usual Prime Day doesn’t begin until June 23rd, but there are several even earlier deals on must-have products that you can check out right now. To name some examples, Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 are selling at their cheapest-ever price. Also, you can grab Ring’s latest battery-powered doorbell for $60 off and it includes a free Indoor Cam Plus with purchase.While the pre-Prime Day deals are looking good so far, you may not see the brands or products you’re looking for — hopefully, those deals will come later in June. Still, we’ve only included early deals that meet the criteria we hold for all our commerce coverage: they’re good products sold at attractive prices.We’ll update this post frequently ahead of Prime Day.Logitech MX Master 3SThe MX Master 3S is a favorite among many Verge staff members because of its comfort and customization. It can connect via Bluetooth, via its included 2.4GHz receiver, or wired with its USB-C cable.Where to Buy: $119.99 $89.99 at Amazon $119.99 $89.99 at Best Buy $119.99 at LogitechThe Baseus AM52 10,000mAh power bank that can deliver Qi2.2 25W wireless charging speeds is cheaper than ever for Verge readers. Through June 30th, you can head over to Amazon and use the code THEVERGECODE to nab one for $42.99 — considerably cheaper than the $63.99 price that Prime members have access to. Read about the AM52’s performance here.Eero Pro 6E tri-band routerEero’s Pro 6E mesh router is the Amazon-owned company’s last-gen model. It supports the 6GHz Wi-Fi band with speeds of up to 1.3Gbps and covers up to 2,000 square feet with one unit. Wired speeds can go up to 2.5Gbps. Read our review.Where to Buy: $249.99 $149.99 at Amazon (single pack) $449.99 $329.99 at Best Buy (three-pack) $449.99 $329.99 at Amazon (three-pack)Amazon’s Fire 7 Kids tablet is steeply discounted ahead of Prime Day. The 32GB tablet that includes a bumper case, one year of access to a suite of kid-friendly content, and a two-year hardware warranty is down to $64.99 at Amazon (originally $129.99). There’s nothing spectacular about the specs, but it’s a good-enough tablet to withstand whatever your kiddo does to it. The two-year warranty is “worry-free,” which Amazon defines as “if it breaks, we will replace it.” The 16GB version is $54.99.Amazon’s Fire TV Soundbar Plus that also includes a wireless subwoofer and two satellite speakers is down to $379.99 (originally $489.99), it’s best price to date. It’s a solid sound system if you don’t want to spend a bunch of money. The soundbar supports HDMI eARC and optical audio for inputs, and it can connect to devices via Bluetooth. My interest in this model has been piqued ever since RTINGS named it one of its favorite budget-friendly soundbars.Govee Outdoor Lamp PostA 8-foot-tall, 2,000-lumen RGBIC smart outdoor lamp. The model has six color zones and dedicated white lighting. It features built-in motion and light sensors, works with Matter, is IP66 rated, and includes a long power cord for easy installation. Where to Buy: $259.99 $199.99 at Amazon $259.99 $199.99 at GoveeThe 8-piece and 14-piece Ring Alarm Pro home security systems have gotten big discounts ahead of Prime Day. The smaller kit of the two is $209.99 ($90 off) and includes a base station (it doubles as a eero 6 Wi-Fi router), a keypad, four contact sensors for doors or windows, a motion detector, and a range extender for the alarm. The 14-piece set doubles the keypads, contact sensors, and motion detectors. Both include a 30-day trial to Ring Protect plan, which will cost $19.99 per month after the trial.Ring Battery Doorbell Plus (second-gen)The 2026 doorbell offers 2K video and 6x zoom, plus a removable battery. It supports Ring’s Retinal Vision, which uses AI to improve footage quality.Where to Buy: $239.99 $119.99 at Amazon (includes Indoor Cam Plus) $179.99 at Best Buy $189.99 at RingAmazon Fire TV Stick 4K SelectThe 4K Select isn’t Amazon’s most feature-rich nor its zippiest streaming stick. However, it’s one of the best 4K-ready options that you can get for under $20 while it’s on sale.Where to Buy: $39.99 $17.99 at Amazon $39.99 $17.99 at Best Buy $39.99 $17.99 at TargetApple’s AirPods Pro 3 have been available at their lowest price to date for the past week or so. Originally $249, the noise-canceling, wireless earbuds are $179 at Amazon and Best Buy — no membership required. Walmart has a product page that lists $169 as a sale price, though it’s out of stock at the time of publication. The AirPods Pro 3 are the latest earbuds from Apple, packing better bass and active noise cancellation than their predecessor, plus the ability to do some light fitness tracking, among other niceties. Read our review.Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones (second-gen)The latest over-ear, noise-canceling headphones from Bose offer longer battery life over ANC, plus lossless audio support via USB-C. Where to Buy: $449 $379 at Amazon $449 $379 at Best BuyThrough June 19th (or until supplies last), Woot is offering new customers a small, but welcome $15 discount on the Nintendo Switch 2 console. The $449.99 device drops to $434 with the code NEW15 used at checkout. I know, I know — it’s not much. It may not even cover sales tax associated with the purchase, but a deal’s a deal.Govee Table Lamp ClassicSometimes, you don’t need a bright light. You just need a capable, portable light source. Govee’s Table Lamp has adjustable color temperature, not to mention customizable colors and brightness levels.Where to Buy: $79.99 $59.99 at Amazon $79.99 $63.99 at GoveeApple Watch Series 11Although the Apple Watch Series 11 is the same size as its predecessor, it features a 5G cellular modem, a display that Apple claims is twice as durable, and slightly improved battery life. Read our review.Where to Buy: $399 $299 at Amazon (42mm) $399 $299 at Walmart (42mm) $429 $329 at Amazon (46mm)Marshall has knocked down prices for some of its home audio products, including its amp-inspired Acton III plug-in speaker. Originally $299.99 (though frequently $200 or so), it’s down to $179.99 in all colorways at Amazon. The Stanmore III that’s bigger and even more powerful, with RCA inputs for plugging in a record player, is $249.99 at Amazon. It’s a much bigger price drop for this one, considering it typically sells for around $300.Gigabyte Gaming OC – Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics cardA good graphics card was about the last thing I expected to find a deal on, but Gigabyte’s 9070 XT is selling at its lowest-ever price ahead of Prime Day. AMD’s midrange GPU slightly outperforms Nvidia’s similarly-priced RTX 5070.Where to Buy: $749.99 $649.99 at Amazon (white) $749.99 $649.99 at Amazon (black)

The RTX 3080 launched in September 2020 to varying levels of acclaim. On one hand, it was a fairly solid GPU in its own right, but on the other, it was impossible to get ahold of thanks to hardware shortages.

I'm on my third (or fourth) Synology NAS enclosure, with a stretch of ownership going back nearly a decade. That's a long time for me to stick with any single manufacturer, but it became time to part. I've written about this switch before on many occasions, but now that I've made the switch, I firmly believe I did the right thing for my home lab.

Fox has announced that it's acquiring Roku outright, in a deal that values the streaming company at $22 billion.The deal will see Fox's TV networks and Tubi streamer combine with Roku's network of streaming devices, smart TV software, and The Roku Channel. The companies say in a statement that by combining they'll become the third-largest player in the US TV industry by viewing share.It doesn't sound like the plan is to build Roku and Fox into a walled ecosystem. The two companies are "committed" to keeping Roku an open-platform that works with other content providers, and to the "continued ubiquitous distribution" of Fox's own content. …Read the full story at The Verge.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) arrive for a news conference with bipartisan senators on passage of the Online Privacy Protection Act at the Capitol on July 30, 2024 in Washington, DC. | Kent Nishimura/Getty Images. For months, Big Tech's Washington lobbyists have chased after the holy grail of pro-AI legislation: preemption. This would be a comprehensive federal law, passed in Congress and signed by the president, applying one set of AI rules across the entire country and overriding the legally messy state-by-state approach to regulation. For months, lobbyists have run into roadblocks and incurred nationwide political blowback, and they now face the possibility that after the midterms, Congress will flip to hostile Democrats unwilling to work with them.But their final, most desperate attempt at preemption is coming with new baggage, related to an ent …Read the full story at The Verge.

Google Chrome version 150 and 151, expected in late June and July, respectively, will cut off support for the last remaining workarounds for running older ad blockers, 9to5Google reports. Google phased out support for ad-blocking extensions built for Manifest V2, like uBlock Origin, in 2024. At that point, most Chrome users either switched to newer Manifest V3 ad blockers like uBlock Origin Lite or switched to a different browser. Google is now removing the final bits of code referencing its previous Manifest V2 extensions platform, so only ad blockers that work on the Manifest V3 platform will work in Chrome version 151 onward. Google d …Read the full story at The Verge.

The clipboard is a piece of software that can be vastly underrated. Most of the time, you don't even think about it, but in recent years, companies have been offering solutions that let you sync your clipboard items across devices and save them for longer. For me, that's an absolute game-changer in terms of productivity.

Ever tried integrating Amazon’s Alexa devices into Home Assistant? You already know the pain — the integration was always a hit-or-miss gamble requiring Amazon Skills authentication hoops.