News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
Space Investment doubles to $7.95 Billion in first quarter of 2026 - Thanks to SpaceX IPO Buzz | India Infoline
Global investment in space companies has surged to unprecedented levels in early 2026, signaling a new phase of acceleration for the global space economy, driven largely by larger financing rounds, expanding strategic infrastructure bets, and growing expectations around major industry catalysts such as a potential SpaceX IPO. In the first quarter of 2026, global investment in space companies reached $7.95 billion, nearly doubling the $3.93 billion recorded in the previous quarter. This sharp increase reflects not only renewed investor confidence but also a clear shift toward fewer, larger deals rather than a broad rise in transaction volume. Over the trailing 12 months, total investment climbed to an all-time high of $18.8 billion, underscoring sustained momentum across the sector. Deal activity also remained strong, with 159 transactions completed during Q1 2026. On an annual basis, the industry recorded a record 654 deals, reinforcing that investor engagement remains broad even as capital concentrates in larger rounds. A defining feature of the current cycle is the sharp rise in average deal size, which increased to $68 million, up from $35.1 million in Q4 2025. This doubling suggests investors are prioritizing scale, infrastructure, and category-defining companies over early-stage experimentation. The largest funding round of the quarter came from U.S.-based defense and space startup Saronic, which raised $1.75 billion, marking one of the largest space-related financings on record. Geographically, North America continues to dominate the sector, accounting for roughly 70% of total global funding in Q1 2026. However, other regions are showing meaningful growth: Asia contributed more than $1.2 billion, highlighting expanding state and private investment in space capabilities. Europe recorded its strongest quarterly performance since 2022, suggesting a rebound in its space ecosystem after a period of relative slowdown. While satellites remain a core part of the space economy, investment is increasingly shifting toward next-generation infrastructure. Emerging areas attracting capital include: This shift reflects a broader ambition: moving from simply accessing space to building permanent, scalable industrial systems beyond Earth. A major focal point for investors is the long-anticipated potential IPO of SpaceX. Market participants view it as a potential watershed event for the entire sector. The company is also expected to host an analyst day on Tuesday, an event closely watched for signals regarding its strategic direction and financial trajectory. M&A activity is also shaping the landscape. In one of the most significant deals of the year, Amazon agreed to acquire Globalstar in a deal valued at $11.6 billion. The transaction highlights growing interest from major technology firms in securing space-based communications infrastructure as part of broader connectivity and cloud ecosystems. Taken together, the data points to a rapidly maturing space economy entering a capital-intensive expansion phase. While deal count growth has stabilized, the surge in average investment size and the emergence of infrastructure-focused funding suggest the industry is transitioning from early commercialization toward large-scale industrialization.
Vercel Data Breach Exposes Limited Internal Access Through Third-Party Tool
Cloud development platform Vercel has confirmed a security breach that allowed an attacker to access parts of its internal systems, tracing the incident back to a compromised third-party tool used by one of its employees. The company said the intrusion began with Context.ai, an external AI service integrated into an employee's workflow. Through that entry point, the attacker was able to take control of the employee's Google Workspace account, extending their reach into certain Vercel environments. According to the company, the access obtained did not include information classified as sensitive. The exposed data was limited to environments and variables that had not been marked under stricter security controls. Even so, the nature of the breach has raised concern, given the platform's role in supporting widely used development frameworks such as Next.js. Vercel described the attacker as highly capable, pointing to the speed and precision of the operation as signs of a deep familiarity with its internal systems. The company did not elaborate on how long the access persisted or when the breach was first detected. In response, Vercel has brought in incident response firm Mandiant alongside other cybersecurity partners. It is also coordinating with law enforcement and working directly with Context.ai to determine how the initial compromise occurred. The company said it has been in close contact with several major technology partners, including GitHub, Microsoft, npm, and Socket. It stressed that no npm packages were affected as a result of the breach, an assurance likely aimed at preventing wider concern across the developer ecosystem. The episode underscores how vulnerabilities can emerge not from core infrastructure but from tools layered around it. In this case, a single compromised account appears to have been enough to create a pathway into internal systems, even if only partially. Vercel has not indicated whether any user data was impacted, and no further technical details have been released so far. For now, the company's focus remains on understanding the scope of the breach and tightening the points where external services intersect with internal access. Read more: Titan 2 Elite Brings Physical Keyboards Back with Modern Power The incident leaves a narrow but notable mark on a platform trusted by a large share of the developer community, particularly those building modern web applications. How it addresses those trust concerns may matter as much as the technical response itself.
SpaceX Successfully Launches GPS Satellite
Washington, April 21 (QNA) - The US Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) successfully launched on Tuesday the last of the GPS III satellites dedicated to developing the Global Positioning System (GPS) for the United States Space Force, aboard a Falcon 9 launch vehicle. A statement issued by the SpaceX said that the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the satellite was launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA, where this new satellite aims to provide navigation services three times more accurate and enhanced jamming resistance. The corporation said that the first stage of the rocket returned to Earth successfully about 8.5 minutes after launch, landing on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean for use in future missions. Meanwhile, the upper stage continued its propulsion toward medium Earth orbit, deploying the GPS III SV10 there about 90 minutes after launch. Today's launch is the seventh flight of this particular booster, and it also represents the completion of the third generation of GPS satellites. (QNA)
SpaceX IPO prep signals with Shotwell's $85.8M stock-based compensation
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell's $85.8 million compensation, disclosed in a recent S-1 filing, points to active IPO preparation. The Polymarket contract for a SpaceX IPO by June 30, 2026, sits at YES, down from 76% yesterday. The compensation is almost entirely stock options, which ties Shotwell's payout directly to SpaceX's eventual public valuation. The June 30, 2026 contract at implies traders expect the IPO within roughly a year. The September 30, 2026 contract is at . The 72-point jump between the April 30 and June 30 contracts is where the action is. Traders appear to be pricing in SEC approval of the S-1 or a public roadshow announcement during that window. Daily volume in this market is $5,559 in USDC, and it takes only $1,590 to move the odds by 5 points, so the contract is thin enough to be volatile. Shotwell's pay package fits the pattern of a company preparing to go public, but the S-1 still needs SEC approval. The term structure shows high confidence in the back half of 2026, with the December 31 contract at YES. An SEC delay or a broader market downturn would compress these odds. The next signals to watch: confirmation of a public roadshow, SEC filing approval, and any updates on Starship orbital tests or Starlink subscriber growth, all of which could shift the IPO timeline.
Rheinmetall, Kraken Move K3 Scout Unmanned Vessel Into Serial Production
Rheinmetall has started serial production of the Kraken K3 Scout unmanned surface vessel, marking the industrial rollout of a platform designed for both military and civilian maritime use. The system is being developed through a joint venture with the UK-based Kraken Technology Group, now operating as Rheinmetall Kraken GmbH. Demand for deployable unmanned surface platforms across multiple operational roles is a key driver behind the partnership, Rheinmetall emphasized. Production is based at the Blohm+Voss facility in Hamburg, northern Germany, which Rheinmetall is positioning as a center for testing and development of autonomous maritime systems. Initial output is planned at around 200 units per year, with the potential to scale production, depending on demand, to up to 1,000 units annually. The Kraken K3 Scout is an 8.4-meter (27.6-foot) vessel capable of speeds of up to 55 knots (about 102 kilometers/63 miles per hour). It can be configured for operations such as maritime surveillance and infrastructure protection, as well as for use as a weapons-carrying platform. Additional mission profiles include logistics support, casualty evacuation, and maritime security operations in littoral environments. The platform has a maximum displacement of 2,500 kilograms (5,512 pounds) and can carry payloads of up to 600 kilograms (1,323 pounds). It is powered by an inboard diesel engine with a stern drive configuration. At a cruising speed of 25 knots (46 kilometers/29 miles per hour), the vessel has a range of approximately 650 nautical miles (1,204 kilometers/748 miles). Endurance can extend up to 30 days, depending on mission profile and payload configuration. The vessel is built with a composite structure and operates fully autonomously, with the option to operate remotely. It uses an open architecture software framework based on the Auterion operating system, allowing integration of different autonomy functions and third-party systems. Sensor configurations include electro-optical systems, radar, and sonar.
Claude Beats ChatGPT 2-to-1 in 3143-Reader Poll -- Amazon's $25B Anthropic Bet, Kimi K2.6 at 76% of Claude's Price and the Copilot Shift - News Directory 3
This result aligns with broader market trends where Amazon's $8 billion investment in Anthropic since 2023 is gaining renewed attention as Claude demonstrates stronger performance in independent evaluations. Anthropic's Claude AI assistant has surpassed OpenAI's ChatGPT in a reader poll conducted by The Neuron, receiving 46% of votes compared to ChatGPT's 25%, a nearly 2-to-1 margin. The poll, which gathered 3,143 votes from readers, showed Claude leading with 1,449 votes while ChatGPT received 790 votes. Other AI models trailed significantly, with Google's Gemini at 14% (431 votes), Microsoft Copilot receiving 180 votes, Perplexity Comet at 74 votes and Grok at 57 votes. This result aligns with broader market trends where Amazon's $8 billion investment in Anthropic since 2023 is gaining renewed attention as Claude demonstrates stronger performance in independent evaluations. A comprehensive comparison published in March 2026 found that Claude Opus 4.6 outperforms ChatGPT GPT-5.4 across multiple categories, winning approximately 70% of tested tasks in coding, writing, math, and reasoning benchmarks. The AI assistant market has never been more competitive. As of March 2026, two platforms dominate the conversation: OpenAI's ChatGPT, now powered by GPT-5.4, and Anthropic's Claude, running on Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.6. Both platforms have evolved significantly over the past year, with Claude gaining particular traction in enterprise environments due to its focus on reliability and safety. This was evident at the HumanX AI conference in San Francisco where Claude dominated discussions among attendees, developers, and enterprise decision-makers. Anthropic has addressed one of Claude's previously identified limitations by launching web search capabilities in early 2026. Claude Code -- a local terminal agent with integration for VS Code and JetBrains -- has become a preferred tool among professional developers, with reports of multi-hour autonomous task execution including a documented 7-hour project completion for Rakuten. The Neuron's poll results reflect a shifting landscape in the AI assistant market where enterprise adoption is increasingly favoring alternatives to ChatGPT, particularly for production deployments where trust and safety are paramount considerations.
Ryanair threatens to axe flights to EU country over airport chaos
Ryanair has warned that it may cancel flights(Image: NGCHIYUI via Getty Images) Ryanair has issued a warning that it may cut flights to a sought-after European destination unless significant improvements are made to queue management. David O'Brien, chief executive of Ryanair's Maltese arm Malta Air, has cautioned the government that the airline might divert its operations from Malta to alternative Mediterranean locations if border control delays at the airport persist. "If we find ourselves with significant congestion and delay, we'd have to redirect capacity away from Malta to other destinations and that's not something we'd like to do," he told the Times of Malta. The EU's new entry/exit system (EES) has been responsible for hold-ups at numerous busy airports, with queues in Malta lasting as long as 40 minutes. Non-EU travellers are bearing the brunt of these complications. For Malta, this predominantly impacts visitors from the UK, which represents its biggest market. "Europe is utterly unprepared in a general sense. We hope Malta is prepared. We haven't reached summer peak yet," Mr O'Brien added. David Curmi, executive chairman of the national carrier KM Malta, also expressed his apprehension about the delays to the Times of Malta. "We are unable to wait for passengers to board our aircraft. Passenger compensation regulations state that we have to compensate all passengers, including those who arrive late because of this system," he said. Both airline executives have urged authorities to suspend the system temporarily to prevent disruption and missed departures during the peak summer months. Yesterday, it emerged that Greece has halted EU fingerprint and facial recognition checks for British tourists. The country has chosen to abandon the new biometric security procedures amid concerns about queue chaos sweeping across the continent. Queues have been hitting the country, with waiting times of four hours reported at numerous locations, including Greece. Eleni Skarveli, director of the Greek National Tourism Organisation in the UK, stressed that the decision would "ensure a smoother and more efficient arrival experience in Greece" and would "significantly reduce waiting times" while alleviating congestion at airports. On Sunday, 122 passengers were unable to board their flight from Milan Linate to Manchester due to hold-ups at passport control caused by the implementation of the EU's Entry Exit System (EES). The 11am service was delayed by 59 minutes before taking off with most seats vacant. The EES requires travellers to provide biometric data, including fingerprint scans and photographs. Additionally, they must respond to queries regarding their visit, such as accommodation arrangements, sufficient funds for their stay, and possession of a return ticket. Registration is mandatory for all children, although those under 12 are not required to provide fingerprints. There is no charge for travellers using EES. Prior to its introduction earlier this year, the Home Office warned travellers to anticipate "longer wait times at border control", while Advantage Travel Partnership recommended that visitors to southern Europe should "allocate four hours for navigating the new system". The scheme aims to strengthen border security by curbing illegal migration and identifying those who exceed their permitted stay. Following initial registration, travellers will not need to repeat the process for another three years. Any border crossings during that timeframe will simply require verification of an individual's fingerprints and photograph, which is anticipated to be faster than the original registration.
Amazon's $25 Billion AI Bet Locks Anthropic into Decade-Long AWS Embrace
Amazon.com Inc. just handed Anthropic PBC $5 billion. Up to $20 billion more follows if milestones hit. That's on top of $8 billion already sunk in. In exchange, Anthropic pledges over $100 billion in AWS spending across the next decade. And up to 5 gigawatts of compute capacity. Numbers this big reshape the AI power balance. The deal, announced April 20, 2026, ties the Claude AI maker tighter to Amazon's cloud empire. Trainium chips take center stage -- Trainium2 through Trainium4, even future generations. Nearly 1 gigawatt hits online by year-end. Capacity starts rolling out this quarter. Anthropic's official statement spells it out: over one million Trainium2 chips already power their workloads, with expansions in Asia and Europe ahead (Anthropic announcement). "Our custom AI silicon offers high performance at significantly lower cost for customers, which is why it's in such hot demand," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said. "Anthropic's commitment to run its large language models on AWS Trainium for the next decade reflects the progress we've made together on custom silicon" (CNBC). Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei echoed the urgency. "Our users tell us Claude is increasingly essential to how they work, and we need to build the infrastructure to keep pace with rapidly growing demand," he stated. Chips and Compute: The Real Prize Amazon's Trainium accelerators challenge Nvidia's grip. Graviton processors handle the rest. Anthropic gets first dibs on Trainium3, released last December, and Trainium4 down the line. This isn't charity. It's a customer lock-in. Anthropic named AWS its primary cloud provider back in 2023, primary training partner in 2024. Now Claude runs natively in AWS accounts -- same billing, controls. Over 100,000 customers already build on Amazon Bedrock with Claude. But demand strains the system. Outages hit. Performance dips. Customers flee to rivals. This pact fixes that. Five gigawatts equals massive scale -- enough to train frontier models without hiccups. Amazon's capex binge helps: $200 billion planned for 2026, mostly AI data centers and chips (Wall Street Journal). Project Rainier, their Indiana supercluster, already packs half a million Trainium2 chips. It doubles soon. Reuters pins the investment at Amazon's latest valuation of Anthropic: $380 billion (Reuters). Venture offers topped $800 billion recently, but Anthropic passed. Why? Strategic fit over pure cash. And competitors circle. Two months back, Amazon pledged up to $50 billion for OpenAI in a $110 billion round valuing it at $730 billion pre-money (TechCrunch). Microsoft tossed $5 billion Anthropic's way in November, snagging $30 billion in Azure commitments. Google supplies TPUs; Broadcom chips add gigawatts this month. Anthropic spreads bets. No single dependency. Cloud Wars Heat Up as AI Demand Explodes This mirrors a broader frenzy. Hyperscalers subsidize startups to guarantee demand. Cash flows back as cloud bills. It's circular. Profitable? AWS margins hold if Trainium undercuts Nvidia costs. Jassy bets yes. Shares jumped nearly 3% after hours. Anthropic shrugs off VC billions. Focus stays on compute. Revenue? Closing on OpenAI, per reports. IPO whispers grow -- second half 2026, alongside OpenAI and SpaceX. Valuations dizzying: combined $2.1 trillion for the AI duo alone. Risks loom. Capex overload spooks investors. Amazon's $200 billion outlay dwarfs peers. Will demand match? Claude's enterprise surge helps -- coding, design tools pull users. Consumer growth adds pressure. So Amazon buys loyalty with equity. Anthropic gets fuel for the race. Winners? Chip makers like Marvell, data center kings. Losers? Those late to scale. The AI buildout accelerates. No slowdown in sight.
Amazon deepens ties, investment in AI start-up Anthropic | Mint
Summary The e-commerce and cloud services giant is investing another $5 billion in Anthropic, and up to $20 billion longer-term. Amazon is investing $5 billion more into the AI startup Anthropic and up to $20 billion longer-term. An expanded agreement includes a pledge by Anthropic to spend more than $100 billion over the next 10 years on Amazon's AWS artificial intelligence technologies. The agreement includes current and future generations of Amazon's custom Trainium chips and tens of millions of Graviton CPU chips, and up to 5 gigawatts of capacity to train and power its advanced AI models. The two companies also announced a meaningful expansion of international inference in Asia and Europe to better serve Claude's growing international customer base. Amazon's additional investment comes on top of the $8 billion Amazon previously invested in Anthropic. Amazon's shares were up 2.6% to $254.80 after the bell. Amazon's stock is up 7.6% year to date through Monday's close, and 43% over the past 12 months.
London Tube Strike Set to Cause Travel Chaos for Commuters (1)
Workers in London are bracing for a tough commute as drivers on the UK capital's Underground train network go on strike. Staff on the Tube walked out at 12 p.m. on Tuesday, the first of two 24-hour strikes this week. Commuters risking going into the office face potentially complicated journeys, while buses and alternative routes are expected to be busier than normal. The industrial action is going ahead after talks over an agreement with Transport for London failed. The RMT Union is opposed to a plan to allow drivers to condense their five-day week into four days by working longer ...
Anthropic's AI raises fears of $100M+ crypto hack by year-end
Anthropic's release of Claude Mythos Preview has pushed traders to price the likelihood of another $100M+ crypto hack by December 31 at YES. Market reaction The Mythos Preview model can identify software vulnerabilities faster than human analysts. This has raised concerns about adversarial exploitation, particularly given US-China tensions. The market for another crypto hack over $100M by December 31 sits fully priced at , with traders expecting these AI capabilities could be weaponized against crypto protocols. Why it matters KeyBanc's bullish outlook on cybersecurity names like Palo Alto and CrowdStrike points to expected demand as organizations upgrade defenses. But in crypto markets, the concern runs the other direction: these tools could be used offensively, raising the probability of a large-scale hack. The market at implies complete certainty that at least one $100M+ exploit will occur. With 255 days remaining in the contract, that full pricing signals how seriously traders take the risk of AI-accelerated vulnerability discovery leading to a major breach. What to watch The US-led Project Glasswing coalition's response matters here. If Mythos's defensive capabilities are deployed effectively, sentiment could shift. Track cybersecurity firm announcements and reports of new major exchange hacks, as both will directly affect how traders assess the probability of a significant crypto breach before year-end. API access
Ryanair threatens to axe flights to popular European hotspot over EU rules chaos
The Ryanair subsidiary has threatened to reduce flights to Malta(Image: Nicholas Ahonen via Getty Images) Ryanair has threatened to cancel flights to a beloved European hotspot unless lengthy queue delays are brought under control. David O'Brien, CEO of Ryanair's Malta subsidiary Malta Air, has put the government on notice that the airline could divert capacity away from Malta to rival Mediterranean destinations if border check hold-ups at the airport fail to improve. "If we find ourselves with significant congestion and delay, we'd have to redirect capacity away from Malta to other destinations and that's not something we'd like to do," he told the Times of Malta. The EU's new entry/exit system (EES) has triggered significant delays at a string of busy airports, with passengers in Malta facing waits of up to 40 minutes. Have you been caught up in EES delays? Email [email protected] The problem affects all non-EU travellers, with passengers from the UK - Malta's biggest market - bearing the brunt of the disruption. "Europe is utterly unprepared in a general sense. We hope Malta is prepared. We haven't reached summer peak yet," Mr O'Brien warned. David Curmi, executive chairman of national carrier KM Malta, also voiced his concerns to the Times of Malta over mounting delays. "We are unable to wait for passengers to board our aircraft. Passenger compensation regulations state that we have to compensate all passengers, including those who arrive late because of this system," he said. Both aviation chiefs have called for the system to be suspended to prevent delays and passengers missing their flights during the peak summer period. It was announced yesterday that Greece has suspended EU fingerprint and facial scans for British holidaymakers. The country has chosen to abandon the new biometric security measures amid fears about queue chaos spreading across the continent. Queues have been hitting the country, with four-hour waits reported in many destinations, including Greece. Eleni Skarveli, director of the Greek National Tourism Organisation in the UK, emphasised that the decision would "ensure a smoother and more efficient arrival experience in Greece" and would "significantly reduce waiting times" while easing congestion at airports. A total of 122 passengers were reportedly prevented from boarding the flight from Milan Linate to Manchester on Sunday due to delays at passport desks triggered by the roll-out of the EU's Entry Exit System (EES). The 11am departure was delayed for 59 minutes before taking off with the bulk of seats vacant. Under the EES, travellers are required to register their biometric information, which involves having their fingerprints scanned and photograph captured. They must also respond to questions about their visit, such as whether they have accommodation arranged, sufficient funds for their trip and a return ticket. All children must register, though under-12s are exempt from fingerprinting. EES is free for travellers. Prior to its launch earlier this year, the Home Office warned travellers to anticipate "longer wait times at border control", while Advantage Travel Partnership advised visitors to southern Europe to "allocate four hours for navigating the new system". The system is designed to strengthen border security by reducing illegal migration and identifying visitors who overstay. Once registered, travellers won't need to repeat the process for three years. Any future border crossing during that timeframe will require verification of an individual's fingerprints and photograph, which is anticipated to be faster than the initial registration.
Climate Cooperation Key To Countering Global Heating, Fossil-Fuel Cost Chaos, Says UN Climate Chief
BERLIN, April 21 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said on Tuesday that the world is facing the threat of fossil-fuel-driven stagflation and that climate cooperation is key to fending off the twin crises of global heating and fossil-fuel cost chaos, Xinhua reported. Speaking at the opening of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, Stiell said the latest war in the Middle East has "further locked-in much higher fossil fuel costs for months and likely years to come, delivering a gut-punch to every nation and billions of households." He warned that fossil-fuel-driven stagflation "is now stalking economies -- driving up prices, driving down growth, pushing budgets deeper into quagmires of debt, and stripping away governments' policy options and autonomy."
Climate Cooperation Key To Countering Global Heating, Fossil-Fuel Cost Chaos, Says UN Climate Chief
BERLIN, April 21 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said on Tuesday that the world is facing the threat of fossil-fuel-driven stagflation and that climate cooperation is key to fending off the twin crises of global heating and fossil-fuel cost chaos, Xinhua reported. Speaking at the opening of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, Stiell said the latest war in the Middle East has "further locked-in much higher fossil fuel costs for months and likely years to come, delivering a gut-punch to every nation and billions of households." He warned that fossil-fuel-driven stagflation "is now stalking economies -- driving up prices, driving down growth, pushing budgets deeper into quagmires of debt, and stripping away governments' policy options and autonomy."
The US NSA is using Anthropic's Claude Mythos despite supply chain risk - IT Security News
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Amazon pours $33B into Anthropic, which promises to spend $100B right back on AWS
The expanded partnership comes as Anthropic faces growing infrastructure demands driven by surging enterprise and consumer adoption of its Claude models, which have strained existing capacity. Amazon is dramatically expanding its stake in Anthropic. In return, the AI company has committed to spending more than $100 billion on AWS technologies over the next decade. Amazon is investing up to $25 billion in Anthropic, bringing its total investment in the AI company to $33 billion. The deal is part of a sweeping infrastructure agreement that will tie the two companies together for years to come. An initial $5 billion will flow immediately, with the remaining $20 billion "tied to certain commercial milestones." The first tranche is based on Anthropic's latest valuation of $380 billion. In exchange, Anthropic has committed to spending more than $100 billion on AWS technologies over the next ten years. That includes Graviton processors and Trainium2 through Trainium4 chips, with the option to tap future generations of Amazon's custom AI silicon. All told, Anthropic is locking in up to 5 gigawatts of capacity to train and run its Claude models. For Amazon, the deal is also a push for its own AI chips, which still trail Google's TPUs and Nvidia's GPUs depending on the workload, and Nvidia is now moving into inference chips too. If an AI breakthrough arrives, custom silicon will be a key weapon for defending cloud market share and margins against rivals. "Anthropic's commitment to run its large language models on AWS Trainium for the next decade reflects the progress we've made together on custom silicon [...]," Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in the announcement. Critics will point out that the deal has the circular quality now common in AI investments: Infrastructure providers hand AI companies money, which the AI companies then spend on infrastructure from the same provider. That math only works long-term if AI revenue keeps pace with the spending -- in other words, if demand holds up. And the bet keeps getting bigger. Anthropic frames the deal as a response to demand it can barely keep up with. Enterprise and developer use of Claude picked up sharply in 2026, while consumer usage across the free, Pro, and Max plans has surged. The company says its annualized revenue has climbed to more than $30 billion, up from around $9 billion at the end of 2025. More than 100,000 customers now use Claude through Amazon Bedrock. Anthropic says the "unprecedented consumer growth" has hit reliability and performance, especially at peak times. Developers recently criticized the company for quietly reducing the performance of its Opus 4.6 model without clearly communicating the change. The new deal is meant to fix that fast. Significant compute capacity should come online within the next three months, with meaningful Trainium2 capacity arriving as early as the second quarter. Scaled Trainium3 capacity is expected later in the year. By the end of 2026, nearly 1 gigawatt of combined Trainium2 and Trainium3 capacity should be running. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in a recent interview that he sees no end in sight for AI scaling through more compute. "We don't see anything slowing down." Earlier, though, he warned that blindly buying more and more compute carries risks: If his estimates for compute spend and revenue growth are even slightly off, Anthropic could go under. That's why his estimates were conservative. But those comments came in December, before Anthropic's explosive growth starting in January forced the company to course-correct. OpenAI executives have been using their larger available compute as a selling point to investors, publicly suggesting that Anthropic made a strategic mistake by buying too little. Just two months ago, Amazon agreed to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI, Anthropic's biggest rival. Both AI companies are racing to convince investors of their market position ahead of potential IPOs later this year. Beyond AWS, Anthropic is sticking with a multi-cloud strategy, and says Claude is the only frontier AI model available on all three major cloud platforms. Its other partners include Microsoft, Google, and Broadcom.
Climate cooperation key to countering global heating, fossil-fuel cost chaos, says UN climate chief
BERLIN, April 21 (Xinhua) -- UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said on Tuesday that the world is facing the threat of fossil-fuel-driven stagflation and that climate cooperation is key to fending off the twin crises of global heating and fossil-fuel cost chaos. Speaking at the opening of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, Stiell said the latest war in the Middle East has "further locked-in much higher fossil fuel costs for months and likely years to come, delivering a gut-punch to every nation and billions of households." He warned that fossil-fuel-driven stagflation "is now stalking economies -- driving up prices, driving down growth, pushing budgets deeper into quagmires of debt, and stripping away governments' policy options and autonomy." "The need to accelerate action has never been clearer," he added. Stiell said negotiations remain a critical tool and have delivered landmark commitments, including those made at the first global stocktake at COP28. "Now, in this era of implementation, we must turn them into projects on the ground," he said, so that by the second global stocktake at COP33, countries will be on track to meet those commitments. He also noted the importance of clean energy, saying that it offers security and affordability while returning sovereignty to nations and their peoples. On implementation, he said the Action Agenda, "this crucial fast-lane of the Paris Agreement," has mobilized trillions of dollars within the real economy and pushed the clean energy transition to a point where it "is now irreversible." Stiell called for elevating the Action Agenda to share center stage with negotiations to help harness and accelerate real-economy momentum and deliver on National Adaptation Plans and Nationally Determined Contributions. He also urged that the full power of the Action Agenda be unleashed worldwide, with "coalitions of the willing" leading the way, governments driving progress and encouraging investment between COPs, and far more finance flowing into developing countries. "That means looking to where the urgency is greatest, and our impact can be strongest and fastest," he said, pointing to areas such as grid modernization, methane reduction, early warning systems, sustainable cities, climate-resilient food supplies and cutting waste. ■
Everything we know about the Vercel data breach so far
An OAuth supply chain compromise saw 'non-sensitive' Vercel data compromised and some internal systems accessed Cloud development platform Vercel has confirmed it experienced a data breach after hackers claimed to have accessed its systems. The Vercel platform is best known for supporting frameworks like Next.js, used by around two-thirds of JavaScript developers. The attackers gained entry through the compromise of Context.ai, a third-party AI tool used by a Vercel employee. That access was then used to take over the employee's Google Workspace account, giving the hackers access to some Vercel environments and variables that weren't marked as 'sensitive'. "We assess the attacker as highly sophisticated based on their operational velocity and detailed understanding of Vercel's systems," the company said in a statement. "We are working with Mandiant, additional cybersecurity firms, industry peers, and law enforcement. We have also engaged Context.ai directly to understand the full scope of the underlying compromise." Vercel added that it worked closely with GitHub, Microsoft, npm, and Socket in the wake of the breach, stating that no npm packages were compromised. "There is no evidence of tampering, and we believe the supply chain remains safe," Vercel continued. Vercel said it has identified a number of customers whose non-sensitive environment variables - those that decrypt to plaintext - were compromised. The company has contacted affected customers and recommended an immediate rotation of credentials. Vercel added it will keep customers updated if it finds any evidence of further compromise. A threat group claiming to be ShinyHunters has claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on Telegram, offering data that includes access keys, source code, and databases for sale, along with access to internal deployments and API keys The attackers said they had been in touch with Vercel and were demanding a ransom of $2 million. However, Austin Larsen, principal threat analyst at Google Threat Intelligence, cast doubt on these claims in a post on LinkedIn. In this instance, the threat actors behind the attack could be bluffing. "It is likely this is an imposter attempting to use an established name to inflate their notoriety," he said. Vercel advised customers to add an additional layer of security by requiring at least two methods of authentication, configuring an authenticator app, and creating a passkey. The company emphasized that simply deleting a project or account won't work, as compromised secrets could still provide threat actors with access to production systems. Users are advised to rotate them first. Customers should also take advantage of the sensitive environment variables feature so that secret values are protected from being read in the future. Similarly, users are advised to review account activity logs and environments for suspicious activity, either through the dashboard or CLI. Other tips included: Vercel said the attack on Context's Google Workspace OAuth app was the subject of a "broader compromise, potentially affecting its hundreds of users across many organisations". Meanwhile, Context AI has confirmed that the hackers "likely compromised OAuth tokens for some of our consumer users". The firm said it in the process of contacting everyone identified as potentially impacted, with specific guidance on next steps. Jaime Blasco, CTO of Nudge Security, advised users to switch to an "admin-managed consent" model when dealing with third-party applications. "Start with OAuth consent. Most Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 environments are still configured to let any employee grant third-party apps access to their enterprise account," he said. "Inventory what you already have. OAuth grants accumulate, People try a tool, forget about it, leave the company, and the grant keeps living in the tenant with whatever scopes it asked for. Quarterly audits aren't enough especially when now we have agents using these grants. You need continuous visibility into who granted what, what scopes they granted, and whether the integration is even still being used."
Amazon to invest up to $25 billion in Anthropic as part of deal
Amazon to invest up to $25 billion in Anthropic as part of deal Amazon said Monday (April 20) that it will invest up to $25 billion in Anthropic, as the AI startup commits to spending more than $100 billion over the next 10 years on Amazon's cloud technologies. Ram Nabong reports.
The US NSA is using Anthropic's Claude Mythos despite supply chain risk
Axios reports the National Security Agency uses Anthropic Mythos model despite Department of Defense concerns, blurring AI risk vs defense lines. The reported use of Anthropic's Mythos model by the U.S. National Security Agency is a reminder that the line between AI as a defensive tool and AI as a security risk is getting harder to draw. According to Axios, the NSA is already using Mythos Preview even while the Department of Defense has formally treated Anthropic as a supply-chain risk and pushed to cut ties with the company. "The National Security Agency is using Anthropic's most powerful model yet, Mythos Preview, despite top officials at the Department of Defense -- which oversees the NSA -- insisting the company is a "supply chain risk," two sources tell Axios." That tension captures a larger reality: governments want the most capable cybersecurity tools available, even when those tools raise concerns about misuse, governance, and strategic dependence. Mythos is considered sensitive not just because it's a powerful AI model, but because it's especially strong in cybersecurity. Access is limited due to concerns it could be misused for attacks. At the same time, it's useful for finding vulnerabilities, making it both a helpful defense tool and a potential risk -- highlighting a key tension in AI security. "Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei met White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday to discuss the use of Mythos within government and Anthropic's wider plans and security practices." continues Axios. "Sources said next steps after the meeting were expected to focus on how departments other than the Pentagon engage with the model. Both sides described the meeting as productive." The NSA story also highlights a basic policy problem: agencies can criticize a vendor in public or in court while still relying on the same vendor's technology in practice. Reuters reported the Axios claims, while other outlets noted that the UK's AI Security Institute also has access to Mythos. This suggests that the real competition is not only between governments and AI companies, but also between procurement caution and operational urgency. When cyber defense demands speed, stability, and scale, the newest model can become too valuable to ignore. Anthropic says Claude Mythos is a major leap beyond its Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus models, introducing a new top tier called Copybara. It stands out for strong agentic coding and reasoning skills, achieving top scores in software tasks and enabling advanced cybersecurity capabilities. Project Glasswing is a joint effort led by Anthropic with major tech and security firms (Amazon Web Services, Anthropic, Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Google, JPMorganChase, Linux Foundation, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Palo Alto Networks) to protect critical software using advanced AI. It leverages Claude Mythos Preview, a powerful model capable of finding and exploiting vulnerabilities at a level beyond most humans. The goal is to use these capabilities defensively, helping organizations detect and fix flaws before attackers can exploit them. Anthropic is sharing access with partners and funding the initiative to strengthen both proprietary and open-source software security. Glasswing brings together major tech and security companies to use Mythos defensively, helping secure critical software and infrastructure. Anthropic plans to limit access for now, hoping to improve global cybersecurity before such powerful tools become widely available. Modern software underpins critical systems like banking, healthcare, energy, and government, but it has always contained vulnerabilities -- some severe enough to enable cyberattacks, data theft, and disruption. These threats are already costly and widespread, with global cybercrime estimated at around $500 billion annually and often driven by state-backed actors. With advanced AI models like Claude Mythos, the effort and expertise needed to find and exploit flaws has dropped sharply. These models can identify long-hidden vulnerabilities and develop sophisticated exploits, sometimes outperforming human experts. This raises serious risks, as attacks could become faster, more frequent, and more damaging. However, the same capabilities can be used defensively. Initiatives like Project Glasswing aim to harness AI to detect and fix vulnerabilities at scale, helping secure critical infrastructure. The challenge now is to deploy these tools responsibly and quickly, ensuring defenders stay ahead in an AI-driven cybersecurity landscape. Anthropic is investing $100M in usage credits and funding open-source security projects, while sharing findings to improve industry-wide defenses. The initiative aims to expand collaboration across tech, security, and governments to develop best practices and strengthen cybersecurity in the AI era. For governments, the immediate lesson is uncomfortable but straightforward. They need strong AI tools to defend networks, but they also need procurement rules, audit trails, and usage boundaries that keep those tools from becoming opaque dependencies. The Pentagon's feud with Anthropic shows what happens when those boundaries are not aligned. If an agency says a vendor is too risky for broad use but still wants the model for its own missions, the issue is no longer just technical. It becomes one of trust, accountability, and national strategy. In the end, the NSA-Anthropic story is less about one model and more about the future of cyber power. The organizations that can safely deploy frontier AI will move faster in defense, but they will also face greater pressure to justify how these tools are controlled. Mythos may be a glimpse of what's coming: a world where the most capable cyber systems are also the most contested, and where operational need often outruns policy comfort.
