Hi friends, Happy Monday, and welcome to the TechPP Daily Brief. Today, we have big AI news. Anthropic has blocked access to its Mythos Level Fable 5 to the public by following an order by the U.S, citing national security issues. Waze is getting traffic lights, a handy feature for drivers. Smartphone RAM now costs 50% of the overall component price, according to the Nothing CEO, Carl Pei. After the SpaceX IPO, Elon Musk became the first person with a trillion-dollar net worth.

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The Daily Brief: June 15, 2026

AI News

Anthropic Blocks Public Access to Claude Fable 5 After US Order

Anthropic Blocks Claude Fable 5 Access

Anthropic blocks access to its Mythos Level Fable 5 model after the US government ordered it to block access to non-US nationals, citing national security issues. This ban also applies to Anthropic employees who are not from the U.S.

For those who are not aware, Anthropic made its Fable 5, mythos-level model available, which previously had a restricted release because of how dangerous it can be.

After adding guardrails, the model was released publicly. However, it faced a backlash from users because Anthropic’s safeguards are hidden, and the model switches to Opus 4.8 when guardrails are triggered.

After backlash, Anthropic has officially announced that it will be transferred when the model switches back to Claude Opus 4.8.

However, just after the announcement, the blockage of Fable 5 was announced.

The Big Picture:
There are two primary speculative reasons behind this block. As per reports, Amazon security researchers were behind the alert to the US government to block Fable 5, according to the Wall Street Journal report. Now, another report from Semafor says that a Chinese group had access to Mythos, so the US government has ordered Anthropic to block access.

The latest report also suggests that Anthropic is going to release the same model very soon, but now with cybersecurity capabilities.

Currently, Claude Mythos 5 is the most powerful model. The closest model is Claude’s own Opus 4.8, which competes with GPT 5.5. If you have already integrated it into your current workflow, you should wait a few days.

Business News

Elon Musk Becomes the World’s First Trillionaire

Elon Musk Becomes the First Trillionaire

After the SpaceX IPO, Elon Musk is now officially the first trillionaire person ever on Earth. Do you know how many zeros a trillion has? Yes, you can count it yourself.

1 trillion = 1,000,000,000,000

For your information, here are the top 5 richest people and how Elon Musk compares against the next top 5 richest people on Earth.

Ranks Estimated net worth
1. Elon Musk $1.1 trillion
2. Larry Page $294.1 billion
3. Sergey Brin $271.3 billion
4. Jeff Bezos $248.9 billion
5. Larry Ellison $231.5 billion
6. Michael Dell $225 billion

 

Smartphone News

Smartphone Prices Could Rise Further As RAM Costs Surge

Smartphone RAM Prices Are Rising

Due to the increase in RAM prices, both budget and flagship smartphones are already launching at very high prices.

The Big Picture:
According to the Nothing CEO, this trend is expected to continue further. Nothing CEO Carl Pei has posted on X, claiming that RAM prices for smartphones now account for 50% of the overall smartphone price.

The Nothing CEO also claims that the best time to buy a smartphone was yesterday or today, as RAM prices might keep increasing further. This is primarily due to the AI boom, as data centers require more RAM and GPUs, and many companies are prioritizing those needs. Because of this, consumer electronics are already facing a serious RAM scarcity, which is increasing prices overall. Carl Pei also said there will be no big, huge discounts like there used to be before.

Apps and Navigation

Waze Expands Testing of Traffic Light Information

Waze Tests Traffic Light Information

Waze users might soon be able to see traffic light data on the app. The feature was spotted by several users, although Waze hasn’t officially announced the rollout. Once it is rolled out, it joins other maps, including Google Maps and Apple Maps, in showing traffic light data.

The Big Picture:
Waze Maps is known to be the best for navigation and for car drivers, and is now getting traffic light data support. Waze started testing this feature in December 2025, and more users are currently seeing this feature. However, Waze hasn’t officially made any announcements regarding the rollout. Google Maps and Apple already support traffic light data in some countries.

Apple News

My iOS 27 Experience So Far

iOS 27

iOS 27 has been getting very positive reviews so far from the users who have started using it. I installed it myself on my iPhone 14 Plus. While it obviously doesn’t support Apple Intelligence, the rest of the iOS features are available to me. The biggest improvement is how much better the performance is now.

The Big Picture:
My iPhone 14 Plus has become choppy after upgrading to iOS 26 last year. But now, even in the first developer beta, iOS 27 is way smoother. I can instantly notice the performance improvement on my iPhone 14 Plus.

Also, I can confidently say that this might be the smoothest first developer beta I have ever experienced of all the Apple developer betas I have tested in the past.

If you are looking to test the latest iPhone iOS 27, I would recommend it, but I am still skeptical whether to suggest it for your primary phone, as not all devices run the iOS 27 beta equally well.

I have also installed iPadOS 27 on my iPad to support Apple Intelligence 2.0 and test Siri. Currently, I have also joined the waiting list and am also looking to install macOS 27 on my MacBook Air M1.

Smartphone Deals

Nothing Phone 3 Drops Below 50k Again

Nothing Phone 3

If you are looking to buy a smartphone in the ₹40,000 to ₹50,000 range, the Nothing Phone 3 might be a better choice for you. Keep note that Flipkart is the official partner for the Nothing Phone 3, so buy it from there whenever it is on discount.

The Big Picture:
If you are wondering, no, the news of the Nothing CEO’s statement regarding smartphone price increases and the Nothing Phone 3 being on discount are not connected.

The Nothing Phone 3 is launched at ₹80,000 in India, which is an overwhelmingly high price. However, the phone is now frequently discounted to ₹43,000, including the bank discount offers, and you can get this phone for an overall price tag of under ₹45,000.

Considering the current smartphone price increase due to the RAM crisis, most phones are launching at very high prices. Nothing Phone 3 is a better pick than a smartphone in the price range for the following reasons.

First, it is an all-round phone that doesn’t have a lot of compromises like the others in this price range. It offers a versatile camera with a proper telephoto lens and a wide-angle lens. The Nothing OS is one of the best Android OSs currently on smartphones. It offers a clean user interface.

While design is subjective, Nothing is known for its unique designs, and the Nothing Phone 3 is also the most mocked smartphone for its design. If you want your smartphone to stand out, this is the only option you need to pick. The phone launched in 2025, and it will get 5 years of software updates.

Wrap up

Those are the six major news stories that happened. This is the daily digest for you today. Blocking Fable 5 for outside users is the biggest AI news. Restricting AI access to other countries means that countries can now treat AI power as a national asset, which is also an eye-opener for other countries to build their own AI models.

Smartphone prices are not going to get lower anytime soon, and there will be no discounts in the future. Waze is also getting traffic lights, and Elon Musk is officially the first trillionaire.

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