Anthropic has accused Alibaba of waging the largest distillation campaign yet against a US AI company, telling senators and White House officials that operators linked to Alibaba’s Qwen AI lab used nearly 25,000 fraudulent accounts to extract Claude’s capabilities between April and June. The letter, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg, described nearly 29 million exchanges with Claude targeting software engineering and agentic reasoning, the model’s most commercially valuable skills.

The accusation marks the first time Anthropic has named a major Chinese technology conglomerate as the source of a distillation attack. Previous allegations in February targeted smaller Chinese AI startups, including DeepSeek, MiniMax, and Moonshot AI, which Anthropic said had collectively generated more than 16 million exchanges through about 24,000 fake accounts. The Alibaba campaign alone exceeded the combined volume of all three earlier efforts.

Distillation is the practice of feeding carefully constructed queries to a frontier AI model, collecting its responses, and using those responses to train a cheaper rival system that approximates the original’s capabilities. The White House flagged the technique as a national security concern in April, when OSTP Director Michael Kratsios published a memo committing the government to share intelligence with US AI labs about foreign distillation campaigns. Anthropic said in its letter that the Alibaba campaign took place after the Kratsios memo, in defiance of the administration’s warnings.

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Alibaba had no comment on the allegations. An Anthropic spokesperson declined to discuss specifics but emphasised the importance of combating distillation through coordinated action between government and industry.

Alibaba’s American depositary receipts fell more than three percent on the news, dropping below $100 in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The stock decline adds to a difficult period for the company in Washington, where it faces pressure on multiple fronts.

The Pentagon added Alibaba to its Chinese military companies blacklist on 8 June, a designation Anthropic cited in its letter. Alibaba sued the Defense Department this week to win removal from that list, calling the label baseless and arguing it has no military affiliation. The distillation accusation now opens a second front, framing Alibaba not just as a company with alleged military ties but as an active participant in what Anthropic calls the systematic theft of American AI capabilities.

In its letter, Anthropic warned that adversarial distillation lets Chinese labs replicate frontier AI at a fraction of the training cost, and that models built this way often lack safety guardrails. The company urged the Trump administration to clarify antitrust guidelines so US labs can share more information about distillation attempts, reiterated its support for export controls on advanced AI chips, and called for penalties against firms that use the technique.

Lawmakers are moving in parallel. Senators Bill Hagerty and Andy Kim plan to introduce an amendment to must-pass defence legislation that would blacklist or sanction any Chinese firm found to be improperly accessing US AI model output. A related bipartisan bill in the House, backed by Representatives Bill Huizenga and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, is also being considered, though whether either proposal survives to the final version of the defence bill is uncertain.

The timing is sensitive for Anthropic as well. The company, now valued at $965bn after a $65bn Series H round, filed confidentially for an IPO this month and is preparing for a listing that could come as soon as this autumn. US officials have estimated that unauthorised distillation costs Silicon Valley labs billions of dollars, and the threat of cheaper imitation products from China that siphon away customers is a material risk for a company heading to public markets.

Anthropic’s calls for government support may not find a fully receptive audience, given that the company is embroiled in a separate dispute with the Trump administration over export controls imposed on its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models less than two weeks ago. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick signed an order blocking foreign nationals from accessing those models, citing security concerns, and Anthropic disabled them to comply. Even after meetings between the company’s technical staff and White House officials, little progress has been made to restore service.

The result is a company caught between two fronts of its own. Anthropic needs the government to crack down on Chinese labs extracting its technology, but it is simultaneously fighting the same government’s decision to restrict its own products. The letter to senators is an attempt to separate the two issues, arguing that protecting US models from distillation and allowing those models to be deployed commercially are complementary rather than contradictory goals.

Whether Washington agrees will shape both the regulatory environment for US AI companies and the competitive dynamics of the industry’s most consequential rivalry. Anthropic has now named four Chinese labs as distillers of its technology, with the Alibaba accusation by far the largest in scale. If the legislative proposals gain traction, the consequences could extend well beyond Anthropic’s models to the broader question of how the US enforces an intellectual property border around AI systems that exist as software, not hardware, and that can be copied over the internet through nothing more than a well-crafted prompt.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s not terribly tough, though I always hate it when two clues rely on each other, like 4-Across and 7-Across do today. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Texter’s “Wow!”
Answer: OMG

4A clue: With 7-Across, something often marked with a star in elevators
Answer: FIRST

7A clue: See 4-Across
Answer: FLOOR

8A clue: Currency of Ireland and Italy
Answer: EURO

9A clue: Went illegally fast
Answer: SPED

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Not working
Answer: OFF

2D clue: A marathon has a little over 26
Answer: MILES

3D clue: Airline boarding section
Answer: GROUP

5D clue: Feeling it the next day
Answer: SORE

6D clue: Walked
Answer: TROD

I’ve been using the Nintendo Switch 2 since its launch week, playing practically every title released for the platform either as part of my work covering games here at TechRadar Gaming or my own personal enjoyment.

I’ve spent hours in everything from big new entries in first-party franchises like Mario Tennis Fever and Mario Kart World to groundbreaking ports such as Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition. I’m not just playing the big hitters either, and have invested loads of time in getting to grips with underrated gems including Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess and Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army.

• View all of Amazon’s current prices and deals on Nintendo Switch 2 games this Prime Day

While many of these games will be discounted over the course of the ongoing Amazon Prime Day deals, every title that I’ve included is well worth your time and attention regardless of its price.

Amazon Prime Day game deals

Amazon Prime Day – the best Nintendo Switch 2 games I’d buy right now

Grand Theft Auto 6 preorders started at midnight your local time after publisher Rockstar Games finally confirmed the new installment’s price. The likely Game of the Year winner for 2026 will cost $80 when it releases on Nov. 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles, according to a statement from Rockstar. 

Along with the standard edition, Rockstar is also offering an Ultimate Edition of the game that comes with more content, including exclusive vehicles and cosmetics, for $100.

Calling GTA 6 a highly anticipated game doesn’t do it justice. It’s been more than a decade since the release of GTA 5, and after multiple delays, the latest entry in the GTA franchise is finally on its way. Will GTA 6 be the greatest game ever created? Who knows, but the excitement has already hit a fever pitch with three months left before launch.

What is the release date for GTA 6?

GTA 6 is currently slated to be released on Nov. 19, 2026. The game was initially scheduled for a 2025 release, but was twice delayed, to a May 2026 release, then to November. 

How much will GTA 6 cost? 

The standard edition for GTA 6 will cost $80. This makes it one of the few games with a price tag above the typical $70. Mario Kart World for the Switch 2 was the first game with a regular price tag of $80 when it launched last year. 

A GTA 6 Ultimate Edition is also available for $100. This version comes with a collection of vehicles, weapons, apparel and customizations. Here’s what comes in the Ultimate Edition: 

• ’67 Vapid Dominator Buggy & Paradise Garage
• ’95 Grotti Cheetah
• Dinka Enduro motorcycle & Crest Kayak
• Exclusive Vapid Ganado Retro Build mods
• Rideout Customs & One-Eyed Willie’s mod shops
• Classic Car Collection missions
• Shitzu Squalo boat
• Hawk & Little Morgan Revolvers
• Personalized weapon variants
• PTT Youngin$ Compound activities
• Exclusive clothing, hairstyles, tattoos, and customization options for Jason and Lucia

Rockstar says the content will unlock for players who own the Ultimate Edition as they play through the single-player campaign.

Is GTA 6 available for preorder? 

GTA 6 preorders started on June 25 at midnight local time for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles. Those who preorder will receive the Vintage Vice City pack that includes: 

• ’55 Vapid Stanier
• Shore Court Garage near Ocean Beach
• Exclusive Vice City-inspired outfits and hairstyles for Jason and Lucia 
• A tropical weapon pattern inspired by Tommy Vercetti’s iconic look

Which platforms will GTA 6 be available for? 

So far, GTA 6 is coming to the PS5 and Xbox Series X and S consoles. GTA 6 will likely come out on PC, but it won’t be at launch. There is currently no word on GTA 6 coming to the Switch 2. 

Will there be a physical edition of GTA 6?

Not really. Rockstar confirmed there will be a physical edition of GTA 6 sold at retailers, but it won’t include a disc. Instead, it will just have a code to download the game. Some gamers have expressed their disappointment with the lack of a physical disc on social media sites like Reddit.

Rockstar did say that pre-loading for GTA 6 will take place starting Nov. 12. 

Where does GTA 6 take place? 

GTA 6’s setting is the state of Leonida, the fictional version of Florida. It’ll include some time in the big city and surrounding areas, including the coasts and swamplands. The star of the game will be the return to Vice City, a fictitious version of Miami. GTA 6 takes place in a modern setting, so don’t expect the ’80s version players first experienced in GTA: Vice City. 

What is GTA 6’s story? 

Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos are two criminals in love. Jason has been working for drug runners, and in the opening, he’s on his way to pick up Lucia from the Leonida Penitentiary. She was serving time for an unknown crime, but it involved protecting her family. The two will work together to improve their lives one crime at a time. 

What else is new in GTA 6? 

The big innovation coming to GTA 6 is the dual protagonists. This system will be similar to the three-protagonist setup from GTA 5, but expect Jason and Lucia to be playable in certain missions. Rockstar includes RPG elements that let the protagonists customize their bodies based on the food they eat and the exercises they do. There will also be a wealth of changes that modernize the gameplay, such as making melee attacks more realistic and improving gun controls. 

Will there be a new GTA Online? 

Rockstar has yet to confirm that there will be a new GTA Online with GTA 6 at launch. It is likely that the online mode will be made available sometime after launch, which is what the studio did with the launch of the original GTA Online, as well as Red Dead Online. 

8BitDo is celebrating the Nintendo 64’s 30th anniversary with new versions of two of its most popular accessories. It is giving the Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard and Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller a translucent blue makeover inspired by the classic console.

The new “Clear Blue” editions were initially announced in China. However, both products are also heading to the US, where they’re priced at $99.99 and $59.99 respectively.

The Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard leans heavily into Nintendo 64 nostalgia. Alongside its translucent blue shell, it features yellow arrow keys modelled after the N64 controller’s iconic C-buttons. Meanwhile, the A, B and Start keys borrow the same blue, green and red colour scheme as the original gamepad.

Beyond the retro styling, the keyboard retains the same feature set as the standard model. That includes an aluminium plate, hot-swappable PCB and 8BitDo’s Cloud Gray linear switches. These were developed in partnership with HUANO. It supports Bluetooth, 2.4GHz wireless and wired connectivity. Moreover, it works with Windows and Android, and can be customised through the company’s Ultimate Software V2.

Today only, B&H Photo is selling Samsung’s 32-inch M8 4K monitor for $299.99 via a $400 in-cart coupon.

Beating Amazon’s Prime Day price by $85, B&H Photo has dropped the Samsung M8 display to just $299.99 during its 24-hour Deal Zone event.

Save $400 on Samsung M8 monitor

The $400 discount, which is in the form of an in-cart coupon, delivers the lowest price anywhere on the 32-inch monitor. Equipped with both HDMI and USB-C ports, this monitor, now at a budget-friendly price, pairs well with modern Macs.

Along with the robust discount, B&H is throwing in free 2-day shipping within the contiguous U.S. on the M80F monitor in Warm White, so you can begin using it quickly.

If you’re looking for a budget-friendly MacBook to pair with the monitor, B&H is offering AppleInsider readers an exclusive deal on a closeout M4 13-inch MacBook Air with 512GB of storage, bringing the price down to $899.

You can also browse our roundup of the top Apple Prime Day deals throughout the last days of the sale.

Shares of Cerebras Systems dropped almost 20% on Wednesday, even after the company delivered better-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.

That’s because in its first earnings report since going public, the AI chipmaker forecast a narrower gross margin in its core business, guiding for a full-year margin of 38% to 41%, compared with the 47% reported in the first quarter. The stock hit a new low on Wednesday, almost hitting the company’s IPO price. 

Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman told CNBC that investors had misunderstood the company’s margin guidance, noting that Cerebras will need to rent back some equipment from one of its largest customers. 

The company said during its earnings call that it decided to make more capacity available sooner by temporarily renting its own systems back from an existing customer while it builds out and deploys its own data center capacity. The company said this would cut into profit margins this year.

According to the company’s earnings report, revenue for the quarter reached $193 million, up 94% year-over-year. Net loss narrowed to $14 million, down from $23.9 million a year earlier.

In a world marred with oppression and strife, one injustice rises above all else: Elon Musk is not currently a trillionaire.

When SpaceX went public earlier this month, Musk became the world’s first trillionaire. He declared in a victory lap-slash-speech that he aspires to take all of us to the moon, Mars, and “maybe beyond the solar system.” He awkwardly threw his fists in the air while his acolytes cheered him on.

But stock prices fluctuate, so right now he’s merely a several-hundred-billionaire, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.

Frankly, it’s embarrassing. How will Musk support his legion of offspring? Can he even afford to keep expanding his already considerable brood, given his outspoken pronatalism? The math is getting complicated.

We wish him the best as he navigates this trying time. And, Elon, if you need a good rice and beans recipe, or some tips on how to win big at the thrift store, we can point you in the right direction.