Good Morning. On Friday, Washington cut foreign access to Anthropic's top AI models, after Amazon's CEO raised security concerns. We break down the fallout.
We also cover the best coffee delivered, a South Lawn cage match, embryo editing, and Father's Day gift ideas (forwarded this email? Join 523k readers).
TOP STORY TODAY
Anthropic Cut Off
On Friday the Trump administration halted all foreign access to Anthropic's most capable AI models, Mythos and Fable, after Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy raised security concerns with US officials including the Treasury secretary.
Amazon researchers used a series of prompts to get the Fable 5 model to surface software bugs it normally withholds. The Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, imposed the ban, and Anthropic then shut both models off to comply.
Anthropic calls the flaws relatively basic and says its safeguards are adequate. The shutdown could slow the company ahead of a possible IPO this fall and hand an edge to rivals such as OpenAI. Is Mythos illegal?
More Wealth, Less Wages
Last week crystallized a contradiction. On Wednesday the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an energy-price surge had erased roughly 18 months of average wage gains. On Friday, SpaceX went public and made Elon Musk the first trillionaire.
Inflation-adjusted hourly wages have fallen three months straight, driven by an energy spike from the war with Iran that pushed May inflation to a three-year high. Labor's share of national income hit a record low.
Meanwhile the wealth gap keeps widening (NYT). The richest 20 Americans now hold a fortune equal to 12% of annual output, about four times the Gilded Age peak. The SpaceX debut alone was expected to mint thousands of millionaires.
McDonald’s and Coke
McDonald's is loosening its 70-year reliance on Coca-Cola (WSJ). This spring the chain rolled out its own custom sodas and refreshers, and it is launching an energy line anchored by Red Bull, a first for the Golden Arches.
The reason is money. US burger sales growth has slowed, while Starbucks and Dunkin prove drinks alone generate billions. The global beverage market has roughly doubled to about $100 billion, and McDonald's wants a bigger slice.
The 1955 handshake deal still holds, and Coke, with $47.9 billion in revenue, says the partnership stays strong. But after tests in Colorado and Wisconsin, the Red Bull additions stole the spotlight across the chain's 45,700 restaurants.
TOGETHER WITH COCOJUNE
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10 Father’s Day Gift Ideas
Father’s Day is next Sunday. Here’s a few ideas for the guy who has everything:
These Amazon links include an affiliate offer*
The burnout a vacation can't fix
When Dr. Judith Joseph started studying why accomplished people felt empty, she found something that never shows up on a performance review. They looked fine. Promotions, full calendars, glowing feedback. Inside, they felt nothing (podcast).
She drew a line most people miss. Burnout is a workplace problem. Remove the stressor, take the trip, and it fades. What she calls high-functioning depression doesn't. It follows you onto the vacation, because it was never about the job. It's unprocessed trauma keeping you in motion so you never sit still long enough to feel it.
Here's what that means for you: the warning sign isn't sadness. It's that you can't relax. Stillness feels wrong, so you reach for the phone, the next task, the next thing to fix.
Joseph measures recovery in small pleasures, not big wins. It’s Monday. Score your day honestly:
Did you actually taste your food, or just fuel?
Did you wake up rested, or just stop sleeping?
Did one moment of connection land, or did you go through the motions?
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TOGETHER WITH TRADE COFFEE CO.
Your Grocery Store Coffee Is Older Than You Think
Like most Americans, the first thing we reach for every morning is a favorite mug and whatever coffee is in the pantry. For years that meant grabbing whatever was on sale at the grocery store, never thinking about where it came from or how long it had been sitting there. As long as it got us going, that was enough.
Here's the part the grocery aisle doesn't advertise: that bag can sit in a warehouse and on the shelf for months, going flat long before it reaches your mug. Trade fixed that for us. It connects you with some of the best small-batch roasters in the country, the kind of local shop you would drive to if it were nearby. No mass-produced blends. Just artisans roasting to order and shipping it fresh, straight to your door.
We took Trade's quick quiz, shared a few preferences (taste, grind, how much we drink), and they matched us with roasts we never would have found on a shelf. The difference was immediate, and we did not change our brewing method at all. The aroma alone had a neighbor asking what we were drinking.
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