tech

Tom Jones11/18/25

The internet’s being weird again; this time it seems to be Cloudflare’s fault

Last month, we wrote that Amazon’s cloud service sneezed, and huge chunks of the internet came down with a pretty bad cold. While it’s not yet that bad, several major websites have been intermittently peaky this morning, and it looks like Cloudflare is the super-spreader.

Though much of America might have been asleep for some of the most frustrating periods of disruption this morning, thousands of users across the US and around the world have taken to Downdetector to report problems accessing some of the internet’s biggest platforms, including OpenAI, X, and popular battle arena game “League of Legends,” as Cloudflare has been acknowledging its issues and looking to fix them.

Site outages chart — Sherwood News

Cloudflare, an American IT behemoth that supplies tools to protect websites from cyberattacks and helps users connect and load content online, is down around 3% in early trading on Tuesday, as investors (at least those who can connect to their brokerages) react to the issues. Though the stock began to sink in premarket trading when the problems first came to light, the wider market mood is also likely weighing on Cloudflare, with the S&P 500 Index down more than 1% as of 10:08 a.m. ET.

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Jon Keegan3/6/26

OpenAI reportedly delaying erotica feature to focus on “gains in intelligence”

OpenAI is delaying its planned “adult mode,” as it seeks to shore up ChatGPT’s core capabilities before the chatbot can generate erotic content.

A source within OpenAI told tech news site Sources that the company will miss its Q1 target for launching the feature:

“We’re pushing out the launch of adult mode so we can focus on work that is a higher priority for more users right now, including gains in intelligence, personality improvements, personalization, and making the experience more proactive.”

The company said it still believes in “treating adults like adults,” but said it wants to get the experience right. OpenAI has been testing user age estimation technology ahead of the planned release.

Liz Reid on where Google Search ends and Gemini begins

Liz Reid on where Google Search ends and Gemini begins

“We’re pushing out the launch of adult mode so we can focus on work that is a higher priority for more users right now, including gains in intelligence, personality improvements, personalization, and making the experience more proactive.”

The company said it still believes in “treating adults like adults,” but said it wants to get the experience right. OpenAI has been testing user age estimation technology ahead of the planned release.

Why Apple is moving into the lower-cost smartphone and laptop markets

The luxury tech maker is heading down-market.

macbook neo 2

Man taking picture of Times Square using smart phone, personal perspective view

Ads have entered the chat

Advertisers are crowding into the next digital frontier.

Rani Molla3/6/26

tech

Jon Keegan3/6/26

Anthropic will sue the Pentagon over supply chain risk designation, Amodei says

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in a public post that the company will sue the Pentagon after receiving a letter from the Department of Defense officially designating Anthropic as “a supply chain risk to America’s national security.”

Amodei says that the effect of the unprecedented designation for an American company is more narrow than originally described, and that most of its customers would not be affected.

“With respect to our customers, it plainly applies only to the use of Claude by customers as a direct part of contracts with the Department of War, not all use of Claude by customers who have such contracts.”

Amodei says the company does not “believe this action is legally sound, and we see no choice but to challenge it in court.”

The CEO also apologized for statements he made in a leaked internal memo in which he claimed that the company was targeted because it didn’t show “dictator-style praise” for President Trump.

Where things stand with the Department of War

Where things stand with the Department of War

“With respect to our customers, it plainly applies only to the use of Claude by customers as a direct part of contracts with the Department of War, not all use of Claude by customers who have such contracts.”

Amodei says the company does not “believe this action is legally sound, and we see no choice but to challenge it in court.”

The CEO also apologized for statements he made in a leaked internal memo in which he claimed that the company was targeted because it didn’t show “dictator-style praise” for President Trump.

Rani Molla3/6/26

SoftBank is going to great lengths to double down on OpenAI — including taking on significant debt. After completing a $40 billion investment to become one of the ChatGPT maker’s largest backers, the Japanese conglomerate is now seeking a roughly $40 billion loan with a 12-month term, Bloomberg reports.

The financing would be SoftBank’s largest-ever dollar-denominated deal. The AI investment has helped lift profits, but it is also pressuring SoftBank’s credit profile.

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