Episode 353: Anthropic's Ascendance, Snowflake's Surge, and the Pope's AI Encyclical

In this episode, we recap May 28th's major news: Anthropic surpasses OpenAI as the most valuable AI company with a $965B valuation and releases Claude Opus 4.8, outperforming competitors on key benchmarks. Snowflake stocks surge 36% on a $6B Amazon deal, signaling software's resilience in the AI era. Geopolitically, U.S.-Iran negotiations inch toward a framework to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, potentially easing inflation driven by the conflict. Apple announces a major Siri overhaul powered by Google Gemini at WWDC. The Pentagon explores equity stakes in drone makers, the EU triples semiconductor funding to $139B, and Pope Leo XIV releases Magnifica Humanitas—a 42,300-word encyclical warning against AI concentration of power. Meanwhile, inflation ticks up to 3.8%, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket explodes, and Claude introduces mid-conversation system messages for developers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.