Anthropic may have lost out on doing business with the US government, but it's gained enough popularity to earn the number one spot on the App Store's Top Free Apps leaderboard. At the top, Claude beat out both ChatGPT and Google Gemini, which respectively sit at the second and third spots on Apple's free apps charts.

The sudden surge in user downloads isn't random. It follows news that President Trump has barred any federal agency from using Anthropic's Claude or other AI tools after the AI company refused to concede on certain guardrails. After declining to have its AI models be used for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons, Anthropic was also threatened with a "supply-chain risk" label by the Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The very public spat led to a wave of user support that finally allowed Claude to dethrone OpenAI's ChatGPT on the App Store as the most downloaded free app.

While OpenAI has stepped into Anthropic's shoes after agreeing to a deal with the Department of Defense, the CEO still offered up some thoughts about the debacle during an AMA on X. Even though Claude is a competing model, Sam Altman said that Anthropic's supply-chain risk designation was "a very bad decision" that he's hoping gets reversed. On top of that, OpenAI's CEO called Anthropic's blacklisting "an extremely scary precedent," but he's "still hopeful for a much better resolution."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/anthropics-claude-grabs-top-spot-in-app-store-after-trumps-ban-193610130.html?src=rss

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© Apple

In a lengthy post on Truth Social on February 27, President Trump ordered all federal agencies to "immediately cease all use of Anthropic's technology" following strong disagreements between the Department of Defense and the AI company. A few hours later, the US conducted a major air attack on Iran with the help of Anthropic's AI tools, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The president noted in his post that there would be a "six-month phase-out period for agencies like the Department of War who are using Anthropic’s products," so federal agencies are still expected to eventually move away from using Claude or other Anthropic tech. It's also not the first time that the US used Anthropic's AI for a major military operation, as the WSJ previously reported that Claude was used in the capture of the now-removed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

Moving forward, the Department of Defense may begin transitioning towards other AI options, especially after reaching deals with both xAI and OpenAI to use their models within the federal agency's network. However, the WSJ reported that it would take months to replace Anthropic's Claude with other AI models.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/the-us-reportedly-used-anthropics-ai-for-its-attack-on-iran-just-after-banning-it-172908929.html?src=rss

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© Anthropic

Who would've guessed we'd get to play the original Banjo-Kazooie on a handheld with just a D-pad in 2026. HyperMegaTech!'s latest release is a collaboration with Rare Ltd., the legendary game developer known for the Banjo-Kazooie franchise and, more recently, Sea of Thieves, called the Super Pocket Rare Edition.

The vertical handheld features 14 classics from the British developer, including two Battletoads titles, Conker's Pocket Tales and many more. While most of the games were released on 8- or 16-bit consoles, Banjo-Kazooie will be the headliner since it was originally released on the Nintendo 64. It may sound weird to control Banjo and Kazooie with a D-pad, but HyperMegaTech! assured that the game has been enhanced and optimized specifically for the Super Pocket handheld.

Since HyperMegaTech! and Evercade share Blaze Entertainment as a parent company, that means the Rare Edition handheld will be compatible with Evercade cartridges. Once you're done with the 14 included games, you can expand your Super Pocket's library with cartridges that feature collections from Taito, NeoGeo or Atari. HyperMegaTech! said the Rare Edition handheld will be available for $69.99 in June 2026, but has already opened preorders.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/this-retro-inspired-handheld-comes-with-banjo-kazooie-and-battletoads-built-in-203111135.html?src=rss

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© HyperMegaTech!

Alaska's House of Representatives unanimously passed HB47, a bill that imposes sweeping limits on when and how minors use social media apps, along with bans on generating or distributing harmful deepfakes of children.

The bill's original form was focused on prohibiting the possession and distribution of sexually explicit images of children using AI, but Alaska lawmakers decided to add amendments that would impose social media restrictions. The proposed limitations include a statewide curfew on using social media between 10:30 PM and 6:30 AM, banning "addictive design features" and requiring social media platforms to verify user ages and get parental consent if they are minors.

While the House bill saw 39 votes in favor and zero against, the amendments offered some hints at potential upcoming revisions. Before the bill went to a vote, some of the House representatives expressed concern about adding such broad rules on social media without consulting the companies behind them first.

The bill still has to make its way through the Alaska State Senate, which already has presented a companion bill, and the governor. Alaska is following the footsteps of many other states, and the House even modeled its social media amendments in the HB47 bill after Utah. While Utah was the first to propose social media restrictions for kids, it was later met with a preliminary injunction.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/alaska-could-be-the-next-state-to-crack-down-on-ai-generated-csam-and-restrict-kids-social-media-use-190506366.html?src=rss

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© Alaska House Majority Coalition

Bloodborne fans may not be happy to hear that a remake was reportedly rejected, but that doesn't mean it's completely off the table. Bluepoint Games, Sony's closed-down studio behind many PlayStation remakes, pitched remaking the classic Gothic horror RPG in early 2025, but was blocked by the game's developer, FromSoftware, according to a Bloomberg report.

As Bloomberg reported, Bluepoint pitched a Bloodborne remake after several years of working towards a live-service title in the God of War franchise that was ultimately canceled. Looking for the next project, a modern-day version of Bloodborne made a lot of sense, considering the title came out in 2015 and Bluepoint was responsible for the successful Demon's Souls remake in 2020. However, Bloomberg's sources said that FromSoftware was against it, but didn't offer a concrete reason why. With some digging, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier pointed to an interview from Kinda Funny Games with PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida, which aired last year. In the video, Yoshida mentioned that FromSoftware's president, Hidetaka Miyazaki, wanted to pursue a Bloodborne remake, but was too busy to do it himself and "doesn't want anyone else to touch it."

After failing to get the Bloodborne remake greenlit, Bluepoint wasn't able to secure another project for more than a year, according to the Bloomberg report. Now that Bluepoint has been shut down, we're likely even further away from a remake. That's not to say a remake will never happen, but when it does, it'll have to get a stamp of approval and likely a lot of oversight from FromSoftware.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/shuttered-studio-bluepoint-reportedly-pitched-a-bloodborne-remake-but-it-got-shot-down-by-fromsoftware-173744228.html?src=rss

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© FromSoftware