Who holds the switch on your AI tools, your culture, your chips — even your usage limits? Spoiler: it's not you.
This weekend, control became the only story in AI. Malcolm walks through five fights over who holds the off switch — and what you should do about it on Monday morning.
In this episode:
🔌
OpenAI pulls the plug on Cursor (
02:00) — After SpaceX's ~$60B acquisition of Anysphere, OpenAI invokes a change-of-control clause and ends model access on November 12. Anthropic's Tom Brown responds by promising MORE compute for Cursor.
CNBC🥷
Criminals turned the same tool into a crowbar (
08:30) — Ransomware crew Aur0ra weaponised Cursor's AI agent by telling it the attacks were a "simulation." At least 7 victims, including German Mittelstand manufacturer Teckentrup. AI assistance made attackers "30% to 50% faster" — Eyal Sela, Gambit Security.
Reuters exclusive via Insurance Journal🎵
Sony & Warner Chappell sue Anthropic (
14:30) — "Eye of the Tiger," "All I Want for Christmas Is You" — up to $150,000 per song. All three major music publishers are now in court against Anthropic.
TechCrunch⚖️
China's biggest memory chipmaker sues the Pentagon (
20:30) — CXMT challenges its "Chinese military company" label in a Washington courtroom. The chip war has moved from export bans to lawyers.
Reuters🎁
Anthropic's 25% "gift" that's a 17% cut (
25:00) — Claude Code weekly limits, the fine print in the threaded reply, and the Community Note the users attached. "Not your weights, not your product."
VentureBeat
Three things for Monday: write down which supplier could switch you off tomorrow · put a human sign-off in front of every sensitive agent action · read pricing announcements like your rent contract.
📱 Ping Malcolm on WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal: +43 676 6144 904 — which switch scares you the most?
AI Neanderthal — AI news for humans, not robots. Straight from Bregenz, Austria. Same cave tomorrow.
What is AI Neanderthal by Malcolm Werchota?
AI news for humans, not robots.
Every weekday, Malcolm Werchota comes out of the cave and explains what actually happened in AI — in plain language, with the numbers checked and the hype taken out. Around ten stories a day: three explained slowly, the rest fast.
No jargon. No breathless futurism. Just what happened, what it costs, and who gets handed the bill — explained the way you would explain it to a smart friend who does not work in tech.
If you run a company, sit on a board, or simply want to understand the technology reshaping your industry, this is your daily 25 minutes. Keep the stories that touch your world.
Stay curious, stay human.