Tech Brew Ride Home

Chickens, Roosting

Nintendo raised the Switch 2 price to $500 amid a global memory shortage. ShinyHunters forced Canvas offline during finals season. Researchers found 5,000+ insecure vibe-coded apps, Mozilla credits Mythos for 423 Firefox bug fixes in April, and France escalates its Musk probe. * Nintendo says it will increase the price of the Switch 2 globally on September 1, from $450 to $500 in the US, and the price of the original Switch in Japan [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-08/nintendo-profit-forecast-for-second-year-of-switch-2-disappoints] (Bloomberg) * Instructure disables its Canvas edtech platform, used by thousands of schools, universities, and companies, amid a data extortion attack claimed by ShinyHunters [https://krebsonsecurity.com/2026/05/canvas-breach-disrupts-schools-colleges-nationwide/] (Krebs on Security) * Researchers: 5,000+ web apps built using AI coding tools like Lovable, Base44, and Replit have little to no authentication, and ~40% exposed sensitive data [https://www.wired.com/story/thousands-of-vibe-coded-apps-expose-corporate-and-personal-data-on-the-open-web/] (Wired) * Mozilla says Anthropic's Mythos Preview and other AI models helped it identify and ship 423 Firefox security bug fixes in April, compared to 31 a year earlier [https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/07/how-anthropics-mythos-has-rewritten-firefoxs-approach-to-cybersecurity/] (TechCrunch) * French prosecutors escalate an investigation into Elon Musk and X, focused on alleged algorithmic manipulation and sexual deepfakes, to a criminal probe [https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/07/french-prosecutors-probe-of-elon-musk-x-now-a-criminal-investigation.html] (CNBC) Longreads * Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark explains why there's a 60%+ chance of AI systems autonomously building their successors by 2029 and the consequences of automated AI R&D [https://importai.substack.com/p/import-ai-455-automating-ai-research] (Import AI) * How Delta SkyMiles and airline loyalty programs turned carriers into fintech companies with wings, and why most airlines couldn't survive without them [https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/delta-air-lines-loyalty-program-travel-industry.html] (NY Mag) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

XAI Is Just A Neocloud Now?

Dario Amodei revealed Anthropic could grow 80x in 2026, and the company signed a deal with SpaceX for 300MW of compute from Colossus 1. Musk dissolved xAI into SpaceX. Google launches the $100 Fitbit Air, and HubSpot's founder coins "strategic illegibility." * At Code with Claude, Dario Amodei said Anthropic had planned to grow ~10x in 2026 but could grow 80x, calling its growth rate "crazy" and "too hard to handle" [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/technology/anthropic-ceo-ai-growth.html] (NYT) * Anthropic signs a deal with SpaceX for 300MW+ of compute from Colossus 1 in Memphis, accessing 220,000+ Nvidia GPUs within the month [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-06/anthropic-inks-computing-deal-with-spacex-to-meet-ai-demand] (Bloomberg) * Musk says xAI will be "dissolved as a separate company" and will become "SpaceXAI, the AI products from SpaceX" [https://spyglass.org/anthropic-spacex-xai-data-centers/] (Spyglass) * Google launches the $100 Fitbit Air, a Whoop-like screenless wearable, with Gemini-powered features like Google Health Coach, available May 26 [https://www.engadget.com/2166645/the-google-fitbit-air-is-an-ai-infused-take-on-whoop-wearables/] (Engadget) * As founders race to make their companies "legible" to AI, they must keep the things that make them hard to copy "illegible", or risk commoditizing their moat [https://x.com/bhalligan/status/2051388275756339493] (Brian Halligan) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Even 175-year-old Companies Can Join The AI Boom

Corning and Nvidia partnered to open three optical manufacturing plants in the US, with Nvidia investing up to $2.7B. Morgan Stanley launched crypto trading on ETrade, Google tests a personal agent called Remy, and Meta builds an OpenClaw-inspired agent called Hatch.* * Corning and Nvidia partner to open three advanced manufacturing plants in North Carolina and Texas dedicated to optical tech for Nvidia, creating 3,000+ jobs [https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/06/nvidia-corning-optical-factories-nc-texas-ai.html] (CNBC) * Morgan Stanley rolls out a crypto trading pilot on E*Trade, charging less than Coinbase, Robinhood, and Charles Schwab, ahead of a wider launch later in 2026 [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-06/morgan-stanley-debuts-crypto-trading-undercuts-rivals-on-price] (Bloomberg) * Sources and a document: Google is testing a "personal agent" codenamed Remy in the Gemini app that integrates with Google services to take actions for users [https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ai-agent-openclaw-remy-gemini-assistant-2026-5] (Business Insider) * Sources: Meta is building an OpenClaw-inspired agent, internally called Hatch and powered by its Muse Spark model, and an agentic shopping tool in Instagram [https://www.theinformation.com/articles/meta-building-ai-agent-called-hatch-agentic-shopping-tool-instagram] (The Information) * OpenAI partners with Microsoft, AMD, Broadcom, Nvidia, and Intel researchers to detail the Multipath Reliable Connection (MRC) protocol to help scale compute [https://www.thedeepview.com/articles/exclusive-openai-unveils-protocol-to-stretch-compute] (The Deep View) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Will AI Models Have To Be Reviews By The Government?

The Trump administration discussed an EO to form an AI oversight working group, a stark reversal from its hands-off approach. Apple explored using Intel and Samsung to make chips in the US, Coinbase cut 14% of its workforce, and OpenAI fast-tracks an AI phone for 2027. * Sources: the Trump administration is discussing an EO to form an AI working group that would examine AI oversight procedures, like vetting models before release [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/technology/trump-ai-models.html] (NYT) * Sources: Apple held exploratory talks with Intel and Apple executives visited a Samsung plant in Texas to explore producing core chips for its devices in the US [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-05/apple-explores-using-intel-and-samsung-to-build-main-device-chips-in-the-us] (Bloomberg) * Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announces the company is cutting ~700 jobs, or ~14% of its global workforce, to reduce costs, saying "AI is changing how we work" [https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/coinbase-cut-about-14-workforce-2026-05-05/] (Reuters) * Meta is using AI on Facebook and Instagram to detect under-13 users by analyzing bone structure, height, and visual cues, but says it's "not facial recognition" [https://www.theverge.com/tech/923564/facebook-instagram-teen-accounts-ai-bone-analysis] (The Verge) * Kuo: OpenAI appears to be fast-tracking its AI agent phone with two NPUs and a custom MediaTek Dimensity 9600 SoC, targeting mass production as early as H1 2027 [https://x.com/mingchikuo/status/2051523855286776034] (Ming-Chi Kuo) * ElevenLabs raised $550M+ in its Series D, up from a previously announced $500M, adding BlackRock, Nvidia, and others as investors; its ARR passed $500M in Q1 [https://tech.eu/2026/05/05/elevenlabs-adds-blackrock-nvidia-and-jamie-foxx-to-550m-series-d/] (Tech.eu) * Source: YC owns ~0.6% of OpenAI, which was seeded by a YC offshoot called YC Research in 2016; at OpenAI's current $852B valuation, the stake is worth $5B+ [https://daringfireball.net/2026/05/y_combinators_stake_in_openai] (Daring Fireball) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Welcome Back To The Arena, GameStop

GameStop made an unsolicited ~$56B bid for eBay as Ryan Cohen eyes a commerce empire. Anthropic finalizes a $1.5B JV with Blackstone and Goldman Sachs, Amazon opens its logistics network to outside companies, and a Harvard study finds AI outperforms ER doctors at triage. * GameStop makes an unsolicited ~$56B offer to buy eBay after building a ~5% stake, offering $125/share in cash and stock, a ~20% premium on May 1's closing price [https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/gamestop-is-offering-to-buy-ebay-for-56-billion-ceo-ryan-cohen-says-fd330f5a] (WSJ) * Sources: Anthropic is finalizing a deal for a $1.5B JV with Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Hellman & Friedman, and others to sell AI tools to PE-backed companies [https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/anthropic-nears-1-5-billion-joint-venture-with-wall-street-firms-8f5448ee] (WSJ) * Amazon debuts Supply Chain Services, which lets companies use its logistics network to move, store, and deliver everything from raw materials to final products [https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazon-opens-up-its-logistics-network-other-businesses-2026-05-04/] (Reuters) * An analysis of 1.6M Polymarket accounts since November 2022: 0.1% of users get 67% of the profits, with the highest-frequency traders seeing the most success [https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/polymarket-kalshi-betting-profits-prediction-markets-eb23ac11] (WSJ) * Study: OpenAI's o1 correctly diagnosed 67% of emergency room patients using electronic records and a few sentences from nurses, vs. 50-55% for triage doctors [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/30/ai-outperforms-doctors-in-harvard-trial-of-emergency-triage-diagnoses] (The Guardian) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]