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The 6 biggest stories in tech, business, and macro — week of April 12, 2026.Anthropic's Mythos Preview autonomously found high-severity zero-day vulnerabilities across every major operating system and browser. The offensive/defensive asymmetry in cybersecurity just shifted. Attackers with frontier AI can now run continuous, low-cost vulnerability scans that no human security team can match. Cyber insurance premiums, enterprise security budgets, and the entire defensive tooling stack are mispriced for this.The Strait of Hormuz has been closed for five weeks with 20% of global oil supply blocked, and equity markets are near highs. Trump issued an ultimatum to Iran with a Tuesday 8 PM deadline. Amazon is already rolling out a 3.5% fuel surcharge and airlines are hiking bag fees. The market is betting on a deal. History says those bets don't always pay.The Supreme Court invalidated Trump's IEEPA tariff authority, and a May US-China leaders' summit in Beijing is now the only real mechanism for trad

A $122 billion funding round just valued OpenAI at $852 billion, with $2 billion in monthly revenue and nearly 1 billion weekly users, marking the moment AI stopped being a startup category and became global infrastructure.Five weeks into an Iran-linked oil disruption, the Strait of Hormuz remains constrained, crude markets are tightening, and companies like Amazon are already passing through a 3.5% fuel surcharge, while equities continue to hover near highs.Inside the enterprise, 2026 is shaping up as the year AI gets audited. Experimentation budgets are being replaced with ROI mandates, and vendors that cannot prove real productivity gains are already on the chopping block.At the same time, new research suggests quantum machines may be closer than expected to breaking modern encryption, forcing governments and corporations to accelerate post-quantum migration years ahead of schedule.And in a sign of what AI is enabling at the edge, a single founder in Los Angeles has built a company approaching a $1.8 billi

A federal judge used the word "Orwellian" this week to describe the U.S. government's attempt to blacklist one of its own AI companies for refusing to build autonomous weapons. Week four of the Iran war brought missiles into Saudi Arabia, oil past $100 a barrel, and a White House deadline that could take out Iran's power grid by April 6. Back home, TSA workers are six weeks into working without pay while ICE agents fill their posts at airports.In tech, SoftBank borrowed $40 billion — with no collateral, due back in 12 months to double down on OpenAI, now valued at $730 billion. The loan structure is Wall Street's clearest signal yet that an OpenAI IPO is coming before year's end. Meanwhile Meta took two jury verdicts on the same day — $375 million in New Mexico, $6 million in California — for what those juries said the platforms did to kids. Over 1,500 more cases are waiting in line.And Apple, the company that spent 20 years telling you its ecosystem was the best on earth, just licen

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Bieber Swag, Full Self Driving, Business Software | Ricker and Bon #423

American Party, iOS, and Peter Thiel Bank | Ricker and Bon #422

What Does The FBI Director Think? | Ricker and Bon #421

Human or AI? | Ricker and Bon #419

Skype Dies and Warren Buffet Retires

Tesla Tanks, Trump Shills Investors, and Startup Profits | Ricker and Bon #418

Why iPhones Are Expensive and How Netflix Was Acquired | Ricker and Bon #417

iShowSpeed history, Severance Spoilers, and Markets in Turmoil | Ricker and Bon #414

23andMe Bankrupt, StubHub IPO, and ICE Reshuffle

This week, we’re diving into the biggest stories in business, tech, and crypto, including a $600 million crypto scandal, Apple’s encryption rollback, and Microsoft’s new quantum computing breakthrough.

Apple Humanoid Robots and Nostalgic Flash Games | Ricker and Bon #413

The Weeknd's last album and America's last hoorah, sike America 4ever Follow us on instagram: http://instagram.com/rickerandbon

In this episode, we dive into the whirlwind first four days of Donald Trump’s second term as president. From executive orders targeting crypto and AI to the unexpected $TRUMP meme coin launch, Trump’s bold moves are already reshaping key industries. We discuss: ✅ The $500 billion Stargate AI initiative and its impact on tech giants like OpenAI and Elon Musk. ✅ Crypto market reactions to Trump’s executive orders on Bitcoin and digital assets. ✅ The rollout of Trump’s promised economic policies, including rumors for plans for a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Plus, our thoughts on the controversies, emerging rivalries, and what it all means for businesses, markets, and the everyday American.

$TRUMP Meme Coin Frenzy: Donald Trump’s meme coin surges to a $5B market cap — liquidity stats, ownership risks, and potential market impact.Bitcoin-Backed Loans on Coinbase: Borrow up to $100,000 against your Bitcoin — what’s the catch, and who should avoid it?ChatGPT’s New Update: OpenAI introduces custom traits and nicknames for more personalized AI interactions.Plus more Subscribe and rate 5 stars at http://rickerandbon.com! If you want a prize, send us a DM of your rating on Instagram http://instagram.com/rickerandbon

We talk a lot about the Pasadena, Eaton, Palisades fire that hit close to home. If you want a prize, send us a DM of your rating on Instagram    http://instagram.com/rickerandbon