NOW Fable's Back?

Anthropic announced that the Department of Commerce has lifted export controls on their powerful models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, with plans to gradually restore access starting Wednesday. However, Fable 5 may be region-restricted and require identity verification, which involves submitting government-issued IDs and possibly a live selfie. To prevent misuse like jailbreak attacks, Anthropic has developed an improved safety classifier that blocks over 99% of jailbreak attempts, partnering with big tech firms and establishing a framework for assessing such security threats. There are new usage restrictions, with Fable 5 access limited to 50% of weekly limits until July 7th for subscription plans, after which it will require usage credits. They also launched Sonnet 5, promising closer-to-Opus 4.8 performance at a lower cost, especially beneficial for reasoning tasks and knowledge work, with an introductory API price to encourage testing.

Sony announced that starting January 2028, all new PlayStation games from both first- and third-party developers will be sold exclusively in digital formats, phasing out physical discs. This shift mirrors trends in movies and music, driven by consumer demand for digital downloads and streaming. Existing physical games released before the cutoff will still be sold. Sony's decision likely influences the design of the upcoming PS6, which may omit a physical drive altogether to reduce costs, though Sony has not officially disclosed details about the next console.

A consortium of over 140 companies, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, and Coinbase, announced the formation of OpenStandard to launch OpenUSD, a stablecoin sharing earnings from its reserves. Managed by an independent organization with shared governance among partners, OpenUSD aims to serve as a core payment asset with no fees or volume limits for minting and redemption. This initiative signals a major move toward integrating stablecoins into the broader financial system, supported by leading financial and tech giants.

Meta is reportedly developing a cloud infrastructure service to sell AI computing power and models, positioning itself as a competitor to AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure. The new MetaCompute initiative, led by infrastructure and AI leaders, involves running data centers and chips to host and license AI models like Mews Spark. This move is part of Meta's broader AI ambitions, aiming to monetize its massive AI infrastructure investments. The plan could bring significant revenue but also raises questions about Meta's strategic focus on AI-based services.