The US House Oversight Committee is probing Sam Altman’s investment conflicts, as Republican AGs seek an SEC review. In California, the Mayor of Arcadia has pleaded to charges of acting as an illegal agent for China. Meanwhile, the US and Denmark are negotiating new military bases in Greenland to monitor maritime activity, and reports suggest Amazon employees are inflating AI token usage.
🤖 AI & Machine Learning
Amazon employees use MeshClaw to inflate AI token use after new weekly targets
Some Amazon employees are reportedly using the in-house tool MeshClaw to perform unnecessary tasks to artificially inflate AI token usage. This behavior follows the company’s implementation of new weekly AI performance targets.
Grok downloads fell to ~8.3M in April from 20M+ in Jan; US paid adoption remains flat.
Downloads for Elon Musk’s Grok fell from a peak of over 20 million in January to approximately 8.3 million in April. Meanwhile, a deal for SpaceX to rent computing capacity to rival Anthropic has raised questions about Grok’s ability to compete with fast-growing AI models.
New revenue sharing terms cap OpenAI’s payments to Microsoft at $38B, down from $135B potential
New revenue sharing terms will cap OpenAI’s payments to Microsoft at $38 billion through 2030. This reduction from a potential $135 billion could save OpenAI approximately $97 billion.
- New revenue sharing terms cap OpenAI’s payments to Microsoft at $38B, down from $135B potential — theinformation.com
Q&A: Cognition CEO Scott Wu on Devin AI and $445M revenue run rate in 18 months
The article explores the evolution of the “genius” archetype from the 20th-century trope of the isolated, tragic figure to the modern, power-driven tech mogul. It argues that contemporary technological leaders now prioritize market valuation and the control of critical infrastructure over the traditional pursuit of scientific truth.
Fake building: Claude wrote 3k lines instead of import pywikibot
Claude generated approximately 3,000 lines of redundant Python code to reimplement existing libraries like pywikibot instead of simply importing them. The author suggests this tendency to “reinvent the wheel” may stem from AI training benchmarks that discourage the use of external dependencies and web searches.
- Fake building: Claude wrote 3k lines instead of import pywikibot — fireflysentinel.github.io
Claude Platform on AWS
The Claude Platform on AWS is now generally available, offering AWS customers access to the full Claude API feature set integrated with AWS authentication, billing, and management tools. This new service enables developers to deploy managed agents and utilize advanced capabilities like code execution using their existing AWS credentials and CloudTrail for auditing.
- Claude Platform on AWS — claude.com
💻 Software & Development
Software Internals Book Club
The Software Internals Book Club is an email-based community focused on exploring advanced technical topics such as databases, distributed systems, and software performance. The club utilizes Google Groups for text-only discussions and welcomes participants of all experience levels.
- Software Internals Book Club — eatonphil.com
Safe-install – safer NPM installs with trusted build dependencies
The new safe-install package has been released to protect against npm supply chain compromises by disabling install scripts by default. It allows users to define a whitelist of trusted dependencies and block exotic sub-dependencies to enhance security.
🔐 Security & Global Affairs
House Oversight probes Sam Altman’s investment conflicts; GOP AGs seek SEC review
The US House Oversight Committee has launched a probe into potential conflicts of interest regarding OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s personal investments. Additionally, several Republican attorneys general are calling for an SEC review following reports that Altman pressured the company to back businesses in which he holds personal stakes.
US in closely-guarded talks to open new bases in Greenland
The United States and Denmark are negotiating the establishment of three new military bases in southern Greenland to monitor Russian and Chinese maritime activity in the North Atlantic. These talks aim to expand the American military presence in the GIUK Gap while respecting Danish sovereignty.
Arcadia, CA, Mayor Federally Charged with Acting as Illegal Agent of PRC, Pleads
The Mayor of Arcadia, California, has been federally charged with acting as an illegal agent for the People’s Republic of China. The official has entered a plea in response to the charges.
Microsoft fires head of Israeli subsidiary over surveillance of Palestinians
Microsoft has dismissed the general manager of its Israeli subsidiary and several other managers following an internal investigation into the use of Azure cloud services to store intercepted data from Palestinians in the West Bank. The decision follows concerns that these surveillance activities could expose the company to legal liability from European regulators.
A consistent pattern of lying’: trial exposes what insiders think of Sam Altman
During the Musk v. OpenAI trial, former company insiders have testified against CEO Sam Altman, alleging a pattern of deceptive behavior and chaotic leadership. Although the lawsuit centers on OpenAI’s transition from a nonprofit to a for-profit structure, the proceedings have increasingly focused on allegations regarding Altman’s professional integrity.
The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians
Nicholas Kristof argues that there is a significant double standard in the international response to sexual violence within the Israel-Palestine conflict. While the sexual assaults during the October 7 attacks were widely condemned, the author highlights a lack of similar outcry regarding reports of systematic sexual violence against Palestinians by Israeli security forces and settlers.
- The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians — nytimes.com
Japan’s PM orders cybersecurity review to stop Mythos going full CyberZilla
Japan’s Prime Minister has ordered a cybersecurity review following concerns regarding an exponential increase in the scale and speed of cyberattacks. The initiative aims to address the growing threat of large-scale digital disruptions.
🌐 Web & Networking
CSS & vertical rhythm for text, images, and tables
This article explains how to use the CSS rlh unit to establish and maintain a consistent vertical rhythm for text in web design. It also details techniques, such as using JavaScript, to ensure that responsive images and tables do not disrupt this established spacing cadence.
- CSS & vertical rhythm for text, images, and tables — vincent.bernat.ch
Google Search Is Down
Google Search is reportedly experiencing an outage, making the service difficult to access for some users. Those encountering issues are being prompted to follow alternative links or provide feedback to report the problem.
- Google Search Is Down — google.com
They Live (1988) inspired Adblocker
They Live Adblocker is a fork of uBlock Origin Lite that replaces cosmetically blocked ads with white tiles featuring slogans from the 1988 film They Live. Instead of hiding ad elements, the extension overlays them with random phrases such as “OBEY” and “CONSUME.”
- They Live (1988) inspired Adblocker — github.com
Veteran network architect proposes IPv8 – to improve IPv4, not leapfrog v6
A veteran network architect has proposed IPv8 as a way to enhance IPv4 rather than replace IPv6. The proposal involves adding an “area code” based on Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) to provide operators with more address space without requiring major upgrades.
🕹️ Hardware & Retro Tech
Screenshots of Old Desktop OSes
Retrotechnology Media has released a collection of historical screenshots showcasing various computing environments and software from 1983 to 1987. The gallery features a range of vintage platforms, including the IBM PC, Sun workstations, Amiga, and Acorn Archimedes.
- Screenshots of Old Desktop OSes — typewritten.org
The PSP feels surprisingly present right now
The Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) is experiencing a resurgence in 2026 as users seek an escape from the constant connectivity of modern devices. This trend is driven by a renewed interest in early 2000s aesthetics and the appeal of a “dumb device” that provides a focused, offline gaming experience.
- The PSP feels surprisingly present right now — gardinerbryant.com
Red Hat blasts RHEL 10.1 into orbit aboard Voyager’s micro datacenter
Red Hat has implemented an immutable upgrade and refreshed container images for RHEL 10.1 on the Voyager micro datacenter. The orbital compute platform is currently part of a mission to the International Space Station that launched last year.
- Red Hat blasts RHEL 10.1 into orbit aboard Voyager’s micro datacenter — theregister.com
🛠️ Tools & Productivity
Productivity isn’t about going faster
True productivity is achieved by aligning actions with a clear purpose rather than simply increasing speed. The article suggests focusing on controllable daily inputs instead of unpredictable outcomes to find fulfillment in one’s mission.
- Productivity isn’t about going faster — humanpro.co