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π‘ Get your daily fix of innovation, gadgets, AI, cybersecurity, and the tech shaping tomorrow. Technology Daily keeps you in the loop with smart, snappy updatesβperfect for busy founders, engineers, and curious minds alike.
Welcome to Technology Daily, your go-to source for the latest in tech news. I'm your host, and today is June 26th, 2026. We have a packed show today covering AI drama, major price hikes, SpaceX's mobile ambitions, and some genuinely fascinating space discoveries. Let's dive in.
We're going to start with the biggest AI story of the moment, and it's a troubling one. It has now been two weeks since Anthropic took its most powerful AI models β the so-called Mythos-class models β offline, following a Friday evening ultimatum from the Trump administration. Anthropic immediately sent a wave of executives to Washington D.C. to negotiate, but here's the thing: nobody knows anything. The company has declined to comment multiple times, saying there's no news to share. After 14 days of high-intensity talks, we still don't know when or even if those models will come back online. And there are growing concerns that President Trump could expand his order to cover even more AI systems. The silence itself has become the story. Meanwhile, Anthropic is also embroiled in a separate legal battle, accusing Alibaba of running what it calls the largest Claude cloning attack ever β allegedly using 25,000 accounts across nearly 29 million exchanges to mine Claude's capabilities. Anthropic is demanding Alibaba be punished. It's a lot for one AI company to handle at once.
Staying on the AI front, OpenAI has announced that its upcoming ChatGPT 5.6 model will initially only be released to government-approved customers. That's a significant departure from the open access model many users have come to expect. And in a fascinating related development, California Governor Gavin Newsom has launched a first-of-its-kind AI job loss tracker, partnering with the state's employment department to monitor how AI is affecting the workforce in real time. With Volkswagen reportedly planning to cut a staggering 100,000 jobs, and Sony announcing major layoffs at Bungie β including most of the Destiny team β the question of AI's role in employment is becoming increasingly urgent.
Now let's talk about Meta, because there's a lot going on there too. According to The Verge, Meta is reportedly building a prediction market app β essentially a Polymarket competitor β that would let users bet on real-world outcomes. Meta's playbook, as you probably know, is to wait for a new platform mechanic to take off and then either buy it or clone it. The next big thing, apparently, is turning everything into a form of gambling. On top of that, Meta is dealing with serious internal morale problems, and the author of the tell-all book Careless People is now suing Meta, accusing the company of using her as an example to deter future whistleblowers. It's been a rough week in Menlo Park.
Let's move to some hardware and pricing news that affects pretty much everyone. If you've been eyeing a new Apple product, prices have gone up β significantly. Apple has raised prices on MacBooks, iPads, and other products, blaming rising memory costs. A MacBook Air that used to start at around $1,100 now starts at $1,299. The MacBook Pro's base model jumped to nearly $2,000. Microsoft has also raised Xbox prices. The timing couldn't be worse, because Grand Theft Auto VI is right around the corner β one of the biggest system sellers in gaming history β and the consoles needed to play it are now more expensive than ever. GTA VI itself will cost $80 without a physical disc, making it pricier than standard triple-A titles. For many fans who've been waiting over a decade for this game, the financial hurdle just got higher.
On a more hopeful note for Mac power users, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is reporting that Apple plans to skip the M6 Pro and Max chip variants entirely, jumping straight to M7. Apple will reportedly release only a base M6 chip as early as this year, with the M7 and its Pro and Max variants arriving through 2027. The reasoning? Apple wants to fast-track technologies originally planned for later. So if you're waiting for a high-powered Mac Pro or MacBook Pro upgrade, you may be waiting until late 2027.
In mobile news, SpaceX is planning to launch a Starlink mobile service in the United States. This is a major test of whether the company can turn its satellite ambitions into a mass-market phone business. It's a bold move that could shake up the carrier landscape significantly. And speaking of phones, Trump Mobile's T1 phone is now available for anyone to buy β no deposit required β at $499. The phone has trickled out to a small number of preorder customers so far, though plenty of people are still waiting for their orders.
Samsung also has some news that's likely to frustrate smart home enthusiasts. Starting in October, Samsung will begin charging for access to its SmartThings API, including a $4.99 monthly plan for individual, non-commercial developers. This will also affect power users who access the SmartThings API for advanced smart home controls, and popular integrations like Home Assistant will be impacted. It's a trend we've seen before β companies monetizing developer access that was previously free.
Now for some genuinely exciting space news. NASA's TESS space telescope has discovered two so-called cotton candy planets β super puffy giant planets with the density of, yes, cotton candy. These are extraordinary objects, and their discovery raises fascinating questions about planetary formation. Meanwhile, NASA's Lucy spacecraft has found that asteroid Donaldjohanson is a wobbling, peanut-shaped relic born from a violent ancient collision, and it carries traces of ancient water, offering clues about the early solar system. And in other rocket news, China may soon attempt a rocket booster landing, potentially joining SpaceX in reusable rocket technology.
On the cybersecurity front, a global operation called Operation Endgame has simultaneously disrupted two widely used cybercrime tools, delivering what authorities are calling a one-two punch to the cybercrime assembly line. And in a fascinating bit of research from Engadget, not all technology is equally vulnerable to solar storms. As we approach solar maximum, power grids, GPS systems, and satellite communications are among the most at risk from space weather events.
Finally, it's the last day of Amazon Prime Day β which at this point has stretched to four days. There are deals on Apple products at pre-price-hike rates, discounts on Sony headphones, Philips Hue smart lighting, robot vacuums, TVs, and much more. If you've been waiting to pull the trigger on something, today may genuinely be the last chance before prices go up across the board.
That's a wrap on today's Technology Daily. A lot happening out there β AI regulation battles, rising prices, space discoveries, and more. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you tomorrow.