The tortoise and the harebrained
AI, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, the DRC, and Indonesia.
Hello,
Here are the five things you need to know today:
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. The re-release of Fable 5 is a parable of hype.
IRAN. Amid a Hormuz stalemate, mixed messages for crude.
ISRAEL. LEBANON. Election season will invariably delay peace.
DR CONGO. Conflict and politics continue to transmit Ebola’s risks.
INDONESIA. Prabowo’s selective justice casts a chilling effect.
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. Fabulism
The re-release of Fable 5 is a parable of hype.
The US lifted export controls on Anthropic's Fable and Mythos AI models, saying the firm had agreed to "proactively detect and address security risks". A Chinese firm claimed last week to have developed a model as powerful as Mythos.
INTELLIGENCE. Washington’s decision to lift the embargo could be an admission that either Beijing already has the same tools, Anthropic has lobotomised its technology, or the controls were unnecessary in the first place – whether because there was nothing particularly risky (or novel) about the models (claims they could break into NSA servers have been withdrawn), or because Donald Trump has an animus for Anthropic’s CEO. None of these is a bullish signal.
FOR BUSINESS. The announcement, as the Nasdaq closed out its best quarter since 2020, may, to sceptics, signal another sign of a market top. Coming alongside huge new investment plans from South Korea and Japan (albeit not enough to lift the yen from a 40-year low), it begs the question as to what edge the US still retains, let alone if an edge is even desirable in a rapidly commoditising technology, which is yet to turn a profit for any of its major proponents.
IRAN. Cushing the blow
Amid a Hormuz stalemate, mixed messages for crude.
Marco Rubio hosted Saddam Haftar, son of Tobruk-based warlord Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army controls much of the country's east. Libya’s Tripoli-based National Oil Corporation held its first major licensing round in 17 years.
INTELLIGENCE. The meeting follows recent Pentagon engagement with Haftar senior