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China has issued a security alert over Anthropic's Claude Code, warning of a potential backdoor in the AI coding assistant. The claim puts Anthropic in a difficult position — its tool has gained serious traction among developers, and a state-level warning, whatever its motivations, carries weight in enterprise and government procurement conversations worldwide.
Meanwhile, Meta is drawing sharp criticism for a new feature that lets users generate AI images using public Instagram profile photos. The company says people can opt out, but privacy advocates aren't satisfied, arguing that making people chase down an opt-out — rather than asking permission first — is precisely the kind of design choice that erodes trust over time.
And in a move that would have seemed unthinkable just a few years ago, Vanguard — the famously cautious, index-fund giant — has hired a Head of Digital Assets. The firm long refused to offer crypto products to its clients. That posture appears to be softening, and when a company managing eight trillion dollars in assets starts building crypto infrastructure, the rest of traditional finance tends to pay attention.
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