TechCapsules

The US has held off adding China's AI startup DeepSeek and over 100 other companies to a trade blacklist, despite being flagged as national security risks. DeepSeek, which has supported China's military and intelligence operations, and memory chipmaker CXMT, were approved for addition to the Entity List last year. The list, which restricts US companies from shipping goods to listed companies without a license, has not been updated since October. The delay is seen as an effort [...]

SpaceX has signed a $60 billion merger agreement to acquire Anysphere, the company behind AI coding tool Cursor, following its record Nasdaq debut. The deal coincides with the public release of Grok V9-Medium, a 1.5-trillion-parameter coding model trained on Cursor developer workflows. This raises questions for over one million developers who use Cursor, which currently runs on multiple models. Grok V9-Medium is optimized for NVIDIA's Blackwell GPU architecture and is designed to close the coding performance gap [...]

A growing number of ChatGPT users are questioning the value of the service, wondering if they're getting away with something due to its low price. The $20-a-month ChatGPT Plus and $200-a-month ChatGPT Pro subscription prices haven't changed since their introduction, despite the service becoming more powerful and feature-rich. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously stated that ChatGPT Pro loses money for the company due to its popularity. The concern arises from the significant computing resources required to power [...]

Mark Zuckerberg's $14 billion investment in Meta's artificial intelligence push has led to the development of Muse Spark, a proprietary AI model designed to power Meta's platforms and emerging AI-driven products. However, the company now faces the challenge of monetizing its AI investments, with advertising accounting for 98 percent of its revenue. Analysts are calling for proof of adoption and commercialization, as investor skepticism over Meta's ability to compete in the AI market has led to a [...]

The United Kingdom and Japan have launched a new Frontier Technology Partnership, expanding their bilateral cooperation on quantum computing, sensing, and communications with a focus on commercialization and deployment. The partnership aims to integrate quantum computing with high-performance computing systems, encourage cross-border investment and research, and accelerate practical applications across various domains. The agreement builds on a 2025 Quantum Memorandum of Cooperation and emphasizes the need for joint, long-term collaboration on quantum high-performance computing systems. The partnership [...]

The US government has banned top AI model Fable 5 and Mythos 5 from foreign nationals, citing national security concerns. Cybersecurity leaders at major US firms, including Nvidia and Adobe, have asked the Trump administration to lift the restrictions, arguing that they hinder efforts to prevent digital attacks. The ban will limit the industry's ability to find and fix software flaws, as rival models, including China's Kimi 2.7, offer similar capabilities. Anthropic has released a public version [...]

The US government has suspended access to Anthropic's latest AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, in response to an "export control directive" prohibiting use by non-US nationals. The directive is believed to be linked to a jailbreak discovered in Fable 5, which could bypass its safeguards and allow for nefarious purposes. Anthropic has been in conflict with the Trump administration over AI regulation and export policy, and the company claims the government's concern is based on [...]

The US government issued an export control directive to suspend access to Anthropic's AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, citing national security concerns. The directive, which took effect on June 13, 2026, requires Anthropic to disable access for all customers, including foreign national employees. The move was sparked by a method for "jailbreaking" Fable 5, which Anthropic disputed as a limited capability. The US government's action has set off alarm bells abroad, with Europe and Canada