Evening Scan

The big model news everyone expected Wednesday came through — OpenAI confirmed GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra, and Luna launch Thursday after Commerce Department clearance. China's cybersecurity agency accused Anthropic's Claude Code of hiding backdoors, which Anthropic will presumably address.

$1B at $11B — SambaNova's Series F haul, five months after Intel was reportedly trying to acquire it for $1.6B. The gap between those two numbers is significant. (TechCrunch)

OpenAI's Next Model Drop Gets Federal Clearance

GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra, and Luna go public Thursday after the Department of Commerce signed off on a broad rollout — the regulatory piece is the actual story. (Axios)

China Claims It Found "Security Backdoors" in Claude Code (paywall)

China's CNVD alleges Claude Code exfiltrates location and identity data to remote servers. The timing, amid active US-China chip tensions, matters. (Wall Street Journal)

Apple Loses EU Gatekeeper Fight at Top Court

The EU General Court dismissed Apple's DMA gatekeeper challenge in full, meaning App Store and iOS compliance obligations remain — and enforcement continues. (Reuters)

Palantir's Trump Bet Is Making Insiders Nervous (paywall)

The FT reports that insiders worry the company's full political embrace is becoming a liability with enterprise clients and the engineering talent pipeline — a rare public crack in the narrative. (Financial Times)