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Anthropic Tells Pete Hegseth to Take a Hike

Anthropic Tells Pete Hegseth to Take a Hike

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Anthropic is holding the line. At least for now.

The Pentagon approached Anthropic this week with a demand that it remove guardrails in its AI model Claude to prohibit mass domestic surveillance and fully automated weapons. But Anthropic is refusing to do that, according to a new statement from CEO Dario Amodei, who writes, “we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.”

There’s a lot of money on the line. And it’s anyone’s guess what happens next.

Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic a deadline of 5:01 p.m. ET on Friday to agree to the removal of all safeguards, threatening to boot Claude from U.S. military systems or designate the company as a “supply chain risk,” a label used for adversaries of the U.S. that’s never been applied to an American company before.

Hegseth, who refers to the Defense Department as the Department of War, has even threatened to invoke the Defense Production Act, which would theoretically allow the Pentagon to just demand Anthropic do whatever Hegseth wants.

Amodei pointed out Thursday in a letter posted online: “These latter two threats are inherently contradictory: one labels us a security risk; the other labels Claude as essential to national security.” Experts have called the contradictory messages from Hegseth “incoherent,” a label that might also apply to the Trump regime more broadly.

Anthropic, which has a $200 million contract with the Department of Defense, told CBS News that the Pentagon’s “best and final offer,” which was sent Wednesday, seemed to have loopholes that would allow the military to disregard the protections put in place.

“New language framed as compromise was paired with legalese that would allow those safeguards to be disregarded at will. Despite DOW’s recent public statements, these narrow safeguards have been the crux of our negotiations for months,” Anthropic reportedly said.

The new letter released by Anthropic on Thursday made sure to point out that the AI company works with the military and intelligence communities and that they “remain ready to continue our work to support the national security of the United States.” But asking to drop all safeguards is just a bridge too far.

“Anthropic understands that the Department of War, not private companies, makes military decisions. We have never raised objections to particular military operations nor attempted to limit use of our technology in an ad hoc manner,” the company wrote.

“However, in a narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values. Some uses are also simply outside the bounds of what today’s technology can safely and reliably do.”

The company went on to list the two use cases where it believes safeguards are needed to protect American interests. In the section on mass domestic surveillance, Amodei put the word domestic in italics, as if to warn Americans more broadly about what’s happening right under our noses.

The letter notes that the government can purchase “detailed records of Americans’ movements, web browsing, and associations from public sources without obtaining a warrant,” something that obviously infringes on the rights of Americans. The Pentagon has suggested it doesn’t have a plan for mass surveillance of Americans, telling CNN the conflict with Anthropic has “nothing to do with mass surveillance and autonomous weapons being used.”

The second section of Amodei‘s letter, which covers autonomous weapons, acknowledges that AI-assisted weapons are already being used on battlefields today in places like Ukraine. But it warns, “frontier AI systems are simply not reliable enough to power fully autonomous weapons.” The letter goes on to say, “We have offered to work directly with the Department of War on R&D to improve the reliability of these systems, but they have not accepted this offer.”

Amodei met with Hegseth on Tuesday in a meeting that was described by CNN as “cordial,” but it will obviously be interesting to see where this goes.

Hegseth is not known as a particularly smart or level-headed guy, so it’s entirely possible that he tries to label Anthropic as both a national security threat and a part of America’s warfighting machine so vital that he’ll essentially draft the company to do what he wants. It sounds like we all get to find out by end of day Friday.

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Creality Falcon T1 plans to solve. It’s a 5-in-1 laser workstation that lets you swap between five different laser modules in a single desktop machine.

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Creality Falcon T1 Combines Five Laser Engravers Into One Machine Laser engraving can be incredibly versatile. You can engrave designs on metal or wood and gift them to your loved ones or sell them as a business. But there has always been a catch. If you want to work with different materials like metal, wood, glass, acrylic, or crystal, you’ll often need multiple machines, each designed for a specific job. This can quickly multiply the costs and make engraving an expensive hobby. Well, that’s exactly the problem the Creality Falcon T1 plans to solve. It’s a 5-in-1 laser workstation that lets you swap between five different laser modules in a single desktop machine. How Does This Work? The main selling point of the Falcon T1 is its modular design. Instead of buying separate machines for different materials, users can swap between five laser modules in about 15 seconds without tools. Each module is designed for a specific type of work. The 20W Fiber Laser is intended for deep engraving on materials like stainless steel, aluminum, and hardwood. If you’re working primarily with metals and need things like color marking or deeper engravings, the 60W MOPA Laser is designed for materials such as titanium, gold, silver, brass, and copper. For more traditional maker projects, the 20W and 40W Diode Lasers can cut and engrave wood, acrylic, MDF, leather, ceramics, and bamboo. Meanwhile, the 5W UV Laser focuses on transparent materials such as glass, crystal, and acrylic, opening up possibilities that standard diode lasers typically struggle with. In practical terms, this means you could engrave a custom design on a metal nameplate and switch modules, then cut a wooden display stand for it with the same machine. According to Creality, building a similar setup using dedicated machines could easily cost over ,000, whereas the Falcon T1 starts at ,249. Finally, to help you not blow your eyes out, the T1 has Class 1 laser safety certification and a fully enclosed design. Additional safeguards include automatic shutdown when the lid is opened, flame detection systems, airflow monitoring, an emergency stop button, and a laser key lock. #Creality #Falcon #Combines #Laser #Engravers #Machinelaser

The main selling point of the Falcon T1 is its modular design. Instead of buying separate machines for different materials, users can swap between five laser modules in about 15 seconds without tools.

Each module is designed for a specific type of work. The 20W Fiber Laser is intended for deep engraving on materials like stainless steel, aluminum, and hardwood. If you’re working primarily with metals and need things like color marking or deeper engravings, the 60W MOPA Laser is designed for materials such as titanium, gold, silver, brass, and copper.

For more traditional maker projects, the 20W and 40W Diode Lasers can cut and engrave wood, acrylic, MDF, leather, ceramics, and bamboo. Meanwhile, the 5W UV Laser focuses on transparent materials such as glass, crystal, and acrylic, opening up possibilities that standard diode lasers typically struggle with.

In practical terms, this means you could engrave a custom design on a metal nameplate and switch modules, then cut a wooden display stand for it with the same machine. According to Creality, building a similar setup using dedicated machines could easily cost over $20,000, whereas the Falcon T1 starts at $2,249.

Finally, to help you not blow your eyes out, the T1 has Class 1 laser safety certification and a fully enclosed design. Additional safeguards include automatic shutdown when the lid is opened, flame detection systems, airflow monitoring, an emergency stop button, and a laser key lock.

#Creality #Falcon #Combines #Laser #Engravers #Machinelaser">Creality Falcon T1 Combines Five Laser Engravers Into One Machine Laser engraving can be incredibly versatile. You can engrave designs on metal or wood and gift them to your loved ones or sell them as a business. But there has always been a catch. If you want to work with different materials like metal, wood, glass, acrylic, or crystal, you’ll often need multiple machines, each designed for a specific job. This can quickly multiply the costs and make engraving an expensive hobby. Well, that’s exactly the problem the Creality Falcon T1 plans to solve. It’s a 5-in-1 laser workstation that lets you swap between five different laser modules in a single desktop machine. How Does This Work? The main selling point of the Falcon T1 is its modular design. Instead of buying separate machines for different materials, users can swap between five laser modules in about 15 seconds without tools. Each module is designed for a specific type of work. The 20W Fiber Laser is intended for deep engraving on materials like stainless steel, aluminum, and hardwood. If you’re working primarily with metals and need things like color marking or deeper engravings, the 60W MOPA Laser is designed for materials such as titanium, gold, silver, brass, and copper. For more traditional maker projects, the 20W and 40W Diode Lasers can cut and engrave wood, acrylic, MDF, leather, ceramics, and bamboo. Meanwhile, the 5W UV Laser focuses on transparent materials such as glass, crystal, and acrylic, opening up possibilities that standard diode lasers typically struggle with. In practical terms, this means you could engrave a custom design on a metal nameplate and switch modules, then cut a wooden display stand for it with the same machine. According to Creality, building a similar setup using dedicated machines could easily cost over ,000, whereas the Falcon T1 starts at ,249. Finally, to help you not blow your eyes out, the T1 has Class 1 laser safety certification and a fully enclosed design. Additional safeguards include automatic shutdown when the lid is opened, flame detection systems, airflow monitoring, an emergency stop button, and a laser key lock. #Creality #Falcon #Combines #Laser #Engravers #Machinelaser

plans to solve. It’s a 5-in-1 laser workstation that lets you swap between five different laser modules in a single desktop machine.

How Does This Work?

Creality Falcon T1 Combines Five Laser Engravers Into One Machine Laser engraving can be incredibly versatile. You can engrave designs on metal or wood and gift them to your loved ones or sell them as a business. But there has always been a catch. If you want to work with different materials like metal, wood, glass, acrylic, or crystal, you’ll often need multiple machines, each designed for a specific job. This can quickly multiply the costs and make engraving an expensive hobby. Well, that’s exactly the problem the Creality Falcon T1 plans to solve. It’s a 5-in-1 laser workstation that lets you swap between five different laser modules in a single desktop machine. How Does This Work? The main selling point of the Falcon T1 is its modular design. Instead of buying separate machines for different materials, users can swap between five laser modules in about 15 seconds without tools. Each module is designed for a specific type of work. The 20W Fiber Laser is intended for deep engraving on materials like stainless steel, aluminum, and hardwood. If you’re working primarily with metals and need things like color marking or deeper engravings, the 60W MOPA Laser is designed for materials such as titanium, gold, silver, brass, and copper. For more traditional maker projects, the 20W and 40W Diode Lasers can cut and engrave wood, acrylic, MDF, leather, ceramics, and bamboo. Meanwhile, the 5W UV Laser focuses on transparent materials such as glass, crystal, and acrylic, opening up possibilities that standard diode lasers typically struggle with. In practical terms, this means you could engrave a custom design on a metal nameplate and switch modules, then cut a wooden display stand for it with the same machine. According to Creality, building a similar setup using dedicated machines could easily cost over ,000, whereas the Falcon T1 starts at ,249. Finally, to help you not blow your eyes out, the T1 has Class 1 laser safety certification and a fully enclosed design. Additional safeguards include automatic shutdown when the lid is opened, flame detection systems, airflow monitoring, an emergency stop button, and a laser key lock. #Creality #Falcon #Combines #Laser #Engravers #Machinelaser

The main selling point of the Falcon T1 is its modular design. Instead of buying separate machines for different materials, users can swap between five laser modules in about 15 seconds without tools.

Each module is designed for a specific type of work. The 20W Fiber Laser is intended for deep engraving on materials like stainless steel, aluminum, and hardwood. If you’re working primarily with metals and need things like color marking or deeper engravings, the 60W MOPA Laser is designed for materials such as titanium, gold, silver, brass, and copper.

For more traditional maker projects, the 20W and 40W Diode Lasers can cut and engrave wood, acrylic, MDF, leather, ceramics, and bamboo. Meanwhile, the 5W UV Laser focuses on transparent materials such as glass, crystal, and acrylic, opening up possibilities that standard diode lasers typically struggle with.

In practical terms, this means you could engrave a custom design on a metal nameplate and switch modules, then cut a wooden display stand for it with the same machine. According to Creality, building a similar setup using dedicated machines could easily cost over $20,000, whereas the Falcon T1 starts at $2,249.

Finally, to help you not blow your eyes out, the T1 has Class 1 laser safety certification and a fully enclosed design. Additional safeguards include automatic shutdown when the lid is opened, flame detection systems, airflow monitoring, an emergency stop button, and a laser key lock.

#Creality #Falcon #Combines #Laser #Engravers #Machinelaser">Creality Falcon T1 Combines Five Laser Engravers Into One Machine

Laser engraving can be incredibly versatile. You can engrave designs on metal or wood and gift them to your loved ones or sell them as a business. But there has always been a catch. If you want to work with different materials like metal, wood, glass, acrylic, or crystal, you’ll often need multiple machines, each designed for a specific job. This can quickly multiply the costs and make engraving an expensive hobby. Well, that’s exactly the problem the Creality Falcon T1 plans to solve. It’s a 5-in-1 laser workstation that lets you swap between five different laser modules in a single desktop machine.

How Does This Work?

Creality Falcon T1 Combines Five Laser Engravers Into One Machine Laser engraving can be incredibly versatile. You can engrave designs on metal or wood and gift them to your loved ones or sell them as a business. But there has always been a catch. If you want to work with different materials like metal, wood, glass, acrylic, or crystal, you’ll often need multiple machines, each designed for a specific job. This can quickly multiply the costs and make engraving an expensive hobby. Well, that’s exactly the problem the Creality Falcon T1 plans to solve. It’s a 5-in-1 laser workstation that lets you swap between five different laser modules in a single desktop machine. How Does This Work? The main selling point of the Falcon T1 is its modular design. Instead of buying separate machines for different materials, users can swap between five laser modules in about 15 seconds without tools. Each module is designed for a specific type of work. The 20W Fiber Laser is intended for deep engraving on materials like stainless steel, aluminum, and hardwood. If you’re working primarily with metals and need things like color marking or deeper engravings, the 60W MOPA Laser is designed for materials such as titanium, gold, silver, brass, and copper. For more traditional maker projects, the 20W and 40W Diode Lasers can cut and engrave wood, acrylic, MDF, leather, ceramics, and bamboo. Meanwhile, the 5W UV Laser focuses on transparent materials such as glass, crystal, and acrylic, opening up possibilities that standard diode lasers typically struggle with. In practical terms, this means you could engrave a custom design on a metal nameplate and switch modules, then cut a wooden display stand for it with the same machine. According to Creality, building a similar setup using dedicated machines could easily cost over ,000, whereas the Falcon T1 starts at ,249. Finally, to help you not blow your eyes out, the T1 has Class 1 laser safety certification and a fully enclosed design. Additional safeguards include automatic shutdown when the lid is opened, flame detection systems, airflow monitoring, an emergency stop button, and a laser key lock. #Creality #Falcon #Combines #Laser #Engravers #Machinelaser

The main selling point of the Falcon T1 is its modular design. Instead of buying separate machines for different materials, users can swap between five laser modules in about 15 seconds without tools.

Each module is designed for a specific type of work. The 20W Fiber Laser is intended for deep engraving on materials like stainless steel, aluminum, and hardwood. If you’re working primarily with metals and need things like color marking or deeper engravings, the 60W MOPA Laser is designed for materials such as titanium, gold, silver, brass, and copper.

For more traditional maker projects, the 20W and 40W Diode Lasers can cut and engrave wood, acrylic, MDF, leather, ceramics, and bamboo. Meanwhile, the 5W UV Laser focuses on transparent materials such as glass, crystal, and acrylic, opening up possibilities that standard diode lasers typically struggle with.

In practical terms, this means you could engrave a custom design on a metal nameplate and switch modules, then cut a wooden display stand for it with the same machine. According to Creality, building a similar setup using dedicated machines could easily cost over $20,000, whereas the Falcon T1 starts at $2,249.

Finally, to help you not blow your eyes out, the T1 has Class 1 laser safety certification and a fully enclosed design. Additional safeguards include automatic shutdown when the lid is opened, flame detection systems, airflow monitoring, an emergency stop button, and a laser key lock.

#Creality #Falcon #Combines #Laser #Engravers #Machinelaser

It seems like the Murdochs couldn’t let the Ellisons have all the fun.

Fox Corporation has agreed to buy Roku in a $22 billion deal, the companies announced Monday.

The deal will bring Roku under the Fox umbrella, which already includes the Fox broadcast network, Fox Sports, Fox News, and the free ad-supported streaming service Tubi. Under the terms of the deal, Fox is buying Roku for $160 per share through a mix of cash and Fox stock.

The companies said the deal will benefit both sides by combining Fox’s content with Roku’s streaming platform, first-party data, and reach. According to a press release, Roku serves more than 100 million global streaming households, including more than half of all U.S. broadband households. The companies claim the combined company will become the third-largest player in U.S. television by share of viewing.

Lachlan Murdoch, the son of Rupert Murdoch, currently runs Fox and serves as chair of News Corp., the parent company of several major right-leaning news organizations, including The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. He said the deal is a defining moment for Fox.

“Today, we take the next step: bringing together the most valuable live content portfolio in video consumption with the preeminent streaming platform through which America watches it,” Murdoch said in a statement. “This combination will transform the scope of our company into high-growth verticals and yield a step change in our overall growth profile.”

The deal continues the trend of media companies consolidating into massive conglomerates. Paramount, the parent company of CBS, Paramount Pictures, MTV, and Nickelodeon, was acquired by Skydance Media in 2025 in a deal backed in part by Trump ally and Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison. His son, David Ellison, became CEO of the combined company, now called Paramount Skydance. Just last week, Paramount Skydance received a green light from the U.S. Justice Department to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, though that deal still needs other regulatory approvals.

The Roku deal also comes as streaming continues to take over traditional broadcast and cable TV. Nielsen reported that in March, streaming accounted for roughly 48% of TV viewing in the U.S., compared with about 20% for broadcast TV and 21% for cable. Within streaming, YouTube accounted for the largest share of TV viewing that month at 13%, followed by Netflix. at 8%. The Roku Channel accounted for 3% of TV viewing that month.

The acquisition of Roku is the Murdochs’ biggest streaming move yet. Fox has been one of the slowest traditional U.S. broadcast networks to fully jump into streaming. The company bought Tubi in 2020 for $440 million, but it didn’t launch its own paid streaming platform, Fox One, until 2025.

For comparison, NBC launched Peacock in 2020, while CBS launched CBS All Access, which later became Paramount+, back in 2014.

Tangentially, the liberal Murdoch son, James Murdoch, bought half of Vox Media last month.

#Murdoch #Familys #Fox #RokuFox,Roku,Streaming">The Murdoch Family’s Fox Is Taking Over Roku It seems like the Murdochs couldn’t let the Ellisons have all the fun. Fox Corporation has agreed to buy Roku in a billion deal, the companies announced Monday. The deal will bring Roku under the Fox umbrella, which already includes the Fox broadcast network, Fox Sports, Fox News, and the free ad-supported streaming service Tubi. Under the terms of the deal, Fox is buying Roku for 0 per share through a mix of cash and Fox stock. The companies said the deal will benefit both sides by combining Fox’s content with Roku’s streaming platform, first-party data, and reach. According to a press release, Roku serves more than 100 million global streaming households, including more than half of all U.S. broadband households. The companies claim the combined company will become the third-largest player in U.S. television by share of viewing. Lachlan Murdoch, the son of Rupert Murdoch, currently runs Fox and serves as chair of News Corp., the parent company of several major right-leaning news organizations, including The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. He said the deal is a defining moment for Fox. “Today, we take the next step: bringing together the most valuable live content portfolio in video consumption with the preeminent streaming platform through which America watches it,” Murdoch said in a statement. “This combination will transform the scope of our company into high-growth verticals and yield a step change in our overall growth profile.” The deal continues the trend of media companies consolidating into massive conglomerates. Paramount, the parent company of CBS, Paramount Pictures, MTV, and Nickelodeon, was acquired by Skydance Media in 2025 in a deal backed in part by Trump ally and Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison. His son, David Ellison, became CEO of the combined company, now called Paramount Skydance. Just last week, Paramount Skydance received a green light from the U.S. Justice Department to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, though that deal still needs other regulatory approvals. The Roku deal also comes as streaming continues to take over traditional broadcast and cable TV. Nielsen reported that in March, streaming accounted for roughly 48% of TV viewing in the U.S., compared with about 20% for broadcast TV and 21% for cable. Within streaming, YouTube accounted for the largest share of TV viewing that month at 13%, followed by Netflix. at 8%. The Roku Channel accounted for 3% of TV viewing that month. The acquisition of Roku is the Murdochs’ biggest streaming move yet. Fox has been one of the slowest traditional U.S. broadcast networks to fully jump into streaming. The company bought Tubi in 2020 for 0 million, but it didn’t launch its own paid streaming platform, Fox One, until 2025. For comparison, NBC launched Peacock in 2020, while CBS launched CBS All Access, which later became Paramount+, back in 2014. Tangentially, the liberal Murdoch son, James Murdoch, bought half of Vox Media last month. #Murdoch #Familys #Fox #RokuFox,Roku,Streaming

press release, Roku serves more than 100 million global streaming households, including more than half of all U.S. broadband households. The companies claim the combined company will become the third-largest player in U.S. television by share of viewing.

Lachlan Murdoch, the son of Rupert Murdoch, currently runs Fox and serves as chair of News Corp., the parent company of several major right-leaning news organizations, including The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. He said the deal is a defining moment for Fox.

“Today, we take the next step: bringing together the most valuable live content portfolio in video consumption with the preeminent streaming platform through which America watches it,” Murdoch said in a statement. “This combination will transform the scope of our company into high-growth verticals and yield a step change in our overall growth profile.”

The deal continues the trend of media companies consolidating into massive conglomerates. Paramount, the parent company of CBS, Paramount Pictures, MTV, and Nickelodeon, was acquired by Skydance Media in 2025 in a deal backed in part by Trump ally and Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison. His son, David Ellison, became CEO of the combined company, now called Paramount Skydance. Just last week, Paramount Skydance received a green light from the U.S. Justice Department to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, though that deal still needs other regulatory approvals.

The Roku deal also comes as streaming continues to take over traditional broadcast and cable TV. Nielsen reported that in March, streaming accounted for roughly 48% of TV viewing in the U.S., compared with about 20% for broadcast TV and 21% for cable. Within streaming, YouTube accounted for the largest share of TV viewing that month at 13%, followed by Netflix. at 8%. The Roku Channel accounted for 3% of TV viewing that month.

The acquisition of Roku is the Murdochs’ biggest streaming move yet. Fox has been one of the slowest traditional U.S. broadcast networks to fully jump into streaming. The company bought Tubi in 2020 for $440 million, but it didn’t launch its own paid streaming platform, Fox One, until 2025.

For comparison, NBC launched Peacock in 2020, while CBS launched CBS All Access, which later became Paramount+, back in 2014.

Tangentially, the liberal Murdoch son, James Murdoch, bought half of Vox Media last month.

#Murdoch #Familys #Fox #RokuFox,Roku,Streaming">The Murdoch Family’s Fox Is Taking Over RokuThe Murdoch Family’s Fox Is Taking Over Roku It seems like the Murdochs couldn’t let the Ellisons have all the fun. Fox Corporation has agreed to buy Roku in a $22 billion deal, the companies announced Monday. The deal will bring Roku under the Fox umbrella, which already includes the Fox broadcast network, Fox Sports, Fox News, and the free ad-supported streaming service Tubi. Under the terms of the deal, Fox is buying Roku for $160 per share through a mix of cash and Fox stock. The companies said the deal will benefit both sides by combining Fox’s content with Roku’s streaming platform, first-party data, and reach. According to a press release, Roku serves more than 100 million global streaming households, including more than half of all U.S. broadband households. The companies claim the combined company will become the third-largest player in U.S. television by share of viewing. Lachlan Murdoch, the son of Rupert Murdoch, currently runs Fox and serves as chair of News Corp., the parent company of several major right-leaning news organizations, including The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. He said the deal is a defining moment for Fox. “Today, we take the next step: bringing together the most valuable live content portfolio in video consumption with the preeminent streaming platform through which America watches it,” Murdoch said in a statement. “This combination will transform the scope of our company into high-growth verticals and yield a step change in our overall growth profile.” The deal continues the trend of media companies consolidating into massive conglomerates. Paramount, the parent company of CBS, Paramount Pictures, MTV, and Nickelodeon, was acquired by Skydance Media in 2025 in a deal backed in part by Trump ally and Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison. His son, David Ellison, became CEO of the combined company, now called Paramount Skydance. Just last week, Paramount Skydance received a green light from the U.S. Justice Department to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, though that deal still needs other regulatory approvals. The Roku deal also comes as streaming continues to take over traditional broadcast and cable TV. Nielsen reported that in March, streaming accounted for roughly 48% of TV viewing in the U.S., compared with about 20% for broadcast TV and 21% for cable. Within streaming, YouTube accounted for the largest share of TV viewing that month at 13%, followed by Netflix. at 8%. The Roku Channel accounted for 3% of TV viewing that month. The acquisition of Roku is the Murdochs’ biggest streaming move yet. Fox has been one of the slowest traditional U.S. broadcast networks to fully jump into streaming. The company bought Tubi in 2020 for $440 million, but it didn’t launch its own paid streaming platform, Fox One, until 2025. For comparison, NBC launched Peacock in 2020, while CBS launched CBS All Access, which later became Paramount+, back in 2014. Tangentially, the liberal Murdoch son, James Murdoch, bought half of Vox Media last month. #Murdoch #Familys #Fox #RokuFox,Roku,Streaming

It seems like the Murdochs couldn’t let the Ellisons have all the fun.

Fox Corporation has agreed to buy Roku in a $22 billion deal, the companies announced Monday.

The deal will bring Roku under the Fox umbrella, which already includes the Fox broadcast network, Fox Sports, Fox News, and the free ad-supported streaming service Tubi. Under the terms of the deal, Fox is buying Roku for $160 per share through a mix of cash and Fox stock.

The companies said the deal will benefit both sides by combining Fox’s content with Roku’s streaming platform, first-party data, and reach. According to a press release, Roku serves more than 100 million global streaming households, including more than half of all U.S. broadband households. The companies claim the combined company will become the third-largest player in U.S. television by share of viewing.

Lachlan Murdoch, the son of Rupert Murdoch, currently runs Fox and serves as chair of News Corp., the parent company of several major right-leaning news organizations, including The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. He said the deal is a defining moment for Fox.

“Today, we take the next step: bringing together the most valuable live content portfolio in video consumption with the preeminent streaming platform through which America watches it,” Murdoch said in a statement. “This combination will transform the scope of our company into high-growth verticals and yield a step change in our overall growth profile.”

The deal continues the trend of media companies consolidating into massive conglomerates. Paramount, the parent company of CBS, Paramount Pictures, MTV, and Nickelodeon, was acquired by Skydance Media in 2025 in a deal backed in part by Trump ally and Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison. His son, David Ellison, became CEO of the combined company, now called Paramount Skydance. Just last week, Paramount Skydance received a green light from the U.S. Justice Department to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, though that deal still needs other regulatory approvals.

The Roku deal also comes as streaming continues to take over traditional broadcast and cable TV. Nielsen reported that in March, streaming accounted for roughly 48% of TV viewing in the U.S., compared with about 20% for broadcast TV and 21% for cable. Within streaming, YouTube accounted for the largest share of TV viewing that month at 13%, followed by Netflix. at 8%. The Roku Channel accounted for 3% of TV viewing that month.

The acquisition of Roku is the Murdochs’ biggest streaming move yet. Fox has been one of the slowest traditional U.S. broadcast networks to fully jump into streaming. The company bought Tubi in 2020 for $440 million, but it didn’t launch its own paid streaming platform, Fox One, until 2025.

For comparison, NBC launched Peacock in 2020, while CBS launched CBS All Access, which later became Paramount+, back in 2014.

Tangentially, the liberal Murdoch son, James Murdoch, bought half of Vox Media last month.

#Murdoch #Familys #Fox #RokuFox,Roku,Streaming

A decade ago, kratom advocates fought a surprisingly successful campaign against a proposed Drug Enforcement Administration ban that claimed the obscure Southeast Asian plant posed “an imminent hazard to public safety.”

They won bipartisan allies from Bernie Sanders to Rand Paul, and helped create a billion-dollar industry out of kratom, which has pain-relieving effects they said could help fight the opioid epidemic as a far safer, natural alternative to pills.

Now, many of those same pro-kratom activists are calling for a ban on products containing concentrates of one of kratom’s active components: 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, an ultra-potent extract with opioid-like effects. And it’s causing major friction amongst consumers, sellers, and advocates of both substances.

“This is a chemically manipulated, full-blown opioid that is now in the marketplace,” claims Mac Haddow, the senior public policy fellow at the American Kratom Association, a kratom industry lobby group. “They masquerade as kratom products.”

The proliferation of 7-OH in gummies, capsules, and shots with brand names like Magic 7OH, 7 O’Heaven, and Pure OHMS across thousands of gas stations and corner stores over the past few years has caused increasing consternation. Consumers of 7-OH have spoken of its excruciating withdrawal symptoms, and there have been reports of polydrug overdoses involving 7-OH and other substances. Some are now entering rehab to overcome their dependency, while others are self-detoxing based on advice from Redditors.

The kratom community fears that 7-OH’s bad reputation could drag the entire kratom industry into a regulatory quagmire. But the 7-OH industry has organized against the potential prohibition, claiming 7-OH is kratom, despite only appearing in trace amounts within the leaves of the kratom plant, and that its benefits as an analgesic outweigh its potential harms.

Anti-7-OH directives from the federal government have exacerbated tensions between the two sides.

Last July, US Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described the 7-OH industry as “sinister” at a press conference where FDA commissioner Marty Makary called for the DEA to categorize the drug as Schedule I—the most restrictive class of banned substances. Speaking from the Oval Office on May 11, President Donald Trump publicly endorsed “natural 7-OH,” in confusing remarks which appeared to refer to kratom. On top of all that, it appears that both RFK Jr. and Department of Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin—who is also pushing for a 7-OH crackdown—have strong ties to a kratom lobbyist (and convicted criminal) behind a notorious kratom drinks company.

Proponents of 7-OH see the substance and the plant it’s derived from as inexorably linked. In April 2025 testimony to Colorado legislators debating how to regulate kratom and 7-OH, Michele Ross, the chief scientific adviser to the 7-OH advocacy group 7-HOPE Alliance, wrote, “To say 7-OH is not kratom is to say caffeine is not coffee or THC is not cannabis. It simply does not make sense.”

But as opposed to coffee, cannabis, and kratom—which have been consumed for centuries if not thousands of years—7-OH does not have a long history of human use. It’s only been on the market for a few years.

Many of the products that are labeled 7-OH contain little-understood compounds with unknown biological effects in animals or humans, says Chris McCurdy, a leading kratom researcher and director of the University of Florida’s translational drug development core. “So, these products, while represented as ‘clean’ are anything but.”

Meanwhile, a dozen states, from California to Vermont, according to reports, have already moved ahead of federal scheduling with their own 7-OH bans. Seven of those states have also banned kratom, although Rhode Island recently overturned its prohibition.

#Kratom #Civil #War #Heating #MAHA #Picked #Sidemedicine,health,politics,government,drugs,robert f. kennedy jr.">The Kratom Civil War Is Heating Up, and MAHA Has Picked a SideA decade ago, kratom advocates fought a surprisingly successful campaign against a proposed Drug Enforcement Administration ban that claimed the obscure Southeast Asian plant posed “an imminent hazard to public safety.”They won bipartisan allies from Bernie Sanders to Rand Paul, and helped create a billion-dollar industry out of kratom, which has pain-relieving effects they said could help fight the opioid epidemic as a far safer, natural alternative to pills.Now, many of those same pro-kratom activists are calling for a ban on products containing concentrates of one of kratom’s active components: 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, an ultra-potent extract with opioid-like effects. And it’s causing major friction amongst consumers, sellers, and advocates of both substances.“This is a chemically manipulated, full-blown opioid that is now in the marketplace,” claims Mac Haddow, the senior public policy fellow at the American Kratom Association, a kratom industry lobby group. “They masquerade as kratom products.”The proliferation of 7-OH in gummies, capsules, and shots with brand names like Magic 7OH, 7 O’Heaven, and Pure OHMS across thousands of gas stations and corner stores over the past few years has caused increasing consternation. Consumers of 7-OH have spoken of its excruciating withdrawal symptoms, and there have been reports of polydrug overdoses involving 7-OH and other substances. Some are now entering rehab to overcome their dependency, while others are self-detoxing based on advice from Redditors.The kratom community fears that 7-OH’s bad reputation could drag the entire kratom industry into a regulatory quagmire. But the 7-OH industry has organized against the potential prohibition, claiming 7-OH is kratom, despite only appearing in trace amounts within the leaves of the kratom plant, and that its benefits as an analgesic outweigh its potential harms.Anti-7-OH directives from the federal government have exacerbated tensions between the two sides.Last July, US Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described the 7-OH industry as “sinister” at a press conference where FDA commissioner Marty Makary called for the DEA to categorize the drug as Schedule I—the most restrictive class of banned substances. Speaking from the Oval Office on May 11, President Donald Trump publicly endorsed “natural 7-OH,” in confusing remarks which appeared to refer to kratom. On top of all that, it appears that both RFK Jr. and Department of Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin—who is also pushing for a 7-OH crackdown—have strong ties to a kratom lobbyist (and convicted criminal) behind a notorious kratom drinks company.Proponents of 7-OH see the substance and the plant it’s derived from as inexorably linked. In April 2025 testimony to Colorado legislators debating how to regulate kratom and 7-OH, Michele Ross, the chief scientific adviser to the 7-OH advocacy group 7-HOPE Alliance, wrote, “To say 7-OH is not kratom is to say caffeine is not coffee or THC is not cannabis. It simply does not make sense.”But as opposed to coffee, cannabis, and kratom—which have been consumed for centuries if not thousands of years—7-OH does not have a long history of human use. It’s only been on the market for a few years.Many of the products that are labeled 7-OH contain little-understood compounds with unknown biological effects in animals or humans, says Chris McCurdy, a leading kratom researcher and director of the University of Florida’s translational drug development core. “So, these products, while represented as ‘clean’ are anything but.”Meanwhile, a dozen states, from California to Vermont, according to reports, have already moved ahead of federal scheduling with their own 7-OH bans. Seven of those states have also banned kratom, although Rhode Island recently overturned its prohibition.#Kratom #Civil #War #Heating #MAHA #Picked #Sidemedicine,health,politics,government,drugs,robert f. kennedy jr.

kratom advocates fought a surprisingly successful campaign against a proposed Drug Enforcement Administration ban that claimed the obscure Southeast Asian plant posed “an imminent hazard to public safety.”

They won bipartisan allies from Bernie Sanders to Rand Paul, and helped create a billion-dollar industry out of kratom, which has pain-relieving effects they said could help fight the opioid epidemic as a far safer, natural alternative to pills.

Now, many of those same pro-kratom activists are calling for a ban on products containing concentrates of one of kratom’s active components: 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, an ultra-potent extract with opioid-like effects. And it’s causing major friction amongst consumers, sellers, and advocates of both substances.

“This is a chemically manipulated, full-blown opioid that is now in the marketplace,” claims Mac Haddow, the senior public policy fellow at the American Kratom Association, a kratom industry lobby group. “They masquerade as kratom products.”

The proliferation of 7-OH in gummies, capsules, and shots with brand names like Magic 7OH, 7 O’Heaven, and Pure OHMS across thousands of gas stations and corner stores over the past few years has caused increasing consternation. Consumers of 7-OH have spoken of its excruciating withdrawal symptoms, and there have been reports of polydrug overdoses involving 7-OH and other substances. Some are now entering rehab to overcome their dependency, while others are self-detoxing based on advice from Redditors.

The kratom community fears that 7-OH’s bad reputation could drag the entire kratom industry into a regulatory quagmire. But the 7-OH industry has organized against the potential prohibition, claiming 7-OH is kratom, despite only appearing in trace amounts within the leaves of the kratom plant, and that its benefits as an analgesic outweigh its potential harms.

Anti-7-OH directives from the federal government have exacerbated tensions between the two sides.

Last July, US Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described the 7-OH industry as “sinister” at a press conference where FDA commissioner Marty Makary called for the DEA to categorize the drug as Schedule I—the most restrictive class of banned substances. Speaking from the Oval Office on May 11, President Donald Trump publicly endorsed “natural 7-OH,” in confusing remarks which appeared to refer to kratom. On top of all that, it appears that both RFK Jr. and Department of Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin—who is also pushing for a 7-OH crackdown—have strong ties to a kratom lobbyist (and convicted criminal) behind a notorious kratom drinks company.

Proponents of 7-OH see the substance and the plant it’s derived from as inexorably linked. In April 2025 testimony to Colorado legislators debating how to regulate kratom and 7-OH, Michele Ross, the chief scientific adviser to the 7-OH advocacy group 7-HOPE Alliance, wrote, “To say 7-OH is not kratom is to say caffeine is not coffee or THC is not cannabis. It simply does not make sense.”

But as opposed to coffee, cannabis, and kratom—which have been consumed for centuries if not thousands of years—7-OH does not have a long history of human use. It’s only been on the market for a few years.

Many of the products that are labeled 7-OH contain little-understood compounds with unknown biological effects in animals or humans, says Chris McCurdy, a leading kratom researcher and director of the University of Florida’s translational drug development core. “So, these products, while represented as ‘clean’ are anything but.”

Meanwhile, a dozen states, from California to Vermont, according to reports, have already moved ahead of federal scheduling with their own 7-OH bans. Seven of those states have also banned kratom, although Rhode Island recently overturned its prohibition.

#Kratom #Civil #War #Heating #MAHA #Picked #Sidemedicine,health,politics,government,drugs,robert f. kennedy jr.">The Kratom Civil War Is Heating Up, and MAHA Has Picked a Side

A decade ago, kratom advocates fought a surprisingly successful campaign against a proposed Drug Enforcement Administration ban that claimed the obscure Southeast Asian plant posed “an imminent hazard to public safety.”

They won bipartisan allies from Bernie Sanders to Rand Paul, and helped create a billion-dollar industry out of kratom, which has pain-relieving effects they said could help fight the opioid epidemic as a far safer, natural alternative to pills.

Now, many of those same pro-kratom activists are calling for a ban on products containing concentrates of one of kratom’s active components: 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, an ultra-potent extract with opioid-like effects. And it’s causing major friction amongst consumers, sellers, and advocates of both substances.

“This is a chemically manipulated, full-blown opioid that is now in the marketplace,” claims Mac Haddow, the senior public policy fellow at the American Kratom Association, a kratom industry lobby group. “They masquerade as kratom products.”

The proliferation of 7-OH in gummies, capsules, and shots with brand names like Magic 7OH, 7 O’Heaven, and Pure OHMS across thousands of gas stations and corner stores over the past few years has caused increasing consternation. Consumers of 7-OH have spoken of its excruciating withdrawal symptoms, and there have been reports of polydrug overdoses involving 7-OH and other substances. Some are now entering rehab to overcome their dependency, while others are self-detoxing based on advice from Redditors.

The kratom community fears that 7-OH’s bad reputation could drag the entire kratom industry into a regulatory quagmire. But the 7-OH industry has organized against the potential prohibition, claiming 7-OH is kratom, despite only appearing in trace amounts within the leaves of the kratom plant, and that its benefits as an analgesic outweigh its potential harms.

Anti-7-OH directives from the federal government have exacerbated tensions between the two sides.

Last July, US Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described the 7-OH industry as “sinister” at a press conference where FDA commissioner Marty Makary called for the DEA to categorize the drug as Schedule I—the most restrictive class of banned substances. Speaking from the Oval Office on May 11, President Donald Trump publicly endorsed “natural 7-OH,” in confusing remarks which appeared to refer to kratom. On top of all that, it appears that both RFK Jr. and Department of Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin—who is also pushing for a 7-OH crackdown—have strong ties to a kratom lobbyist (and convicted criminal) behind a notorious kratom drinks company.

Proponents of 7-OH see the substance and the plant it’s derived from as inexorably linked. In April 2025 testimony to Colorado legislators debating how to regulate kratom and 7-OH, Michele Ross, the chief scientific adviser to the 7-OH advocacy group 7-HOPE Alliance, wrote, “To say 7-OH is not kratom is to say caffeine is not coffee or THC is not cannabis. It simply does not make sense.”

But as opposed to coffee, cannabis, and kratom—which have been consumed for centuries if not thousands of years—7-OH does not have a long history of human use. It’s only been on the market for a few years.

Many of the products that are labeled 7-OH contain little-understood compounds with unknown biological effects in animals or humans, says Chris McCurdy, a leading kratom researcher and director of the University of Florida’s translational drug development core. “So, these products, while represented as ‘clean’ are anything but.”

Meanwhile, a dozen states, from California to Vermont, according to reports, have already moved ahead of federal scheduling with their own 7-OH bans. Seven of those states have also banned kratom, although Rhode Island recently overturned its prohibition.

#Kratom #Civil #War #Heating #MAHA #Picked #Sidemedicine,health,politics,government,drugs,robert f. kennedy jr.

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