Morning Scan

The Apple-OpenAI lawsuit is the obvious headline, but the ambient story today is broader: everyone in tech is suddenly worried about who owns what. Trade secrets, merger blocks, government equity stakes, Satya Nadella warning companies to lock down their IP — Wednesday has a defensive, litigious energy.

$110B — The proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger that 12 states are now suing to stop, which would be the largest Hollywood studio combination in history. (Matt Stoller / The Big Newsletter)

Connected World

The 6 Wildest Claims in Apple's Lawsuit Against OpenAI

Apple's trade secrets suit includes allegations that OpenAI hardware staff asked job candidates to show up with proprietary Apple materials — a significant escalation beyond a standard poaching dispute. (The Verge)

Apple Sues OpenAI Over Trade Secrets

Good roundup of the underlying filings if you want to go deeper than the highlight reel. (Michael Tsai)

Microsoft Chief Turns Hostile on Frontier AI Labs, Warns Companies to Guard Their IP

Nadella telling enterprises to protect their data from AI labs is a notable turn from the man who wrote OpenAI a reported $13B check. The Register clocks the irony. (The Register)

The OpenAI Super App, ChatGPT = Codex, Whither Chat

Ben Thompson asks the sharper question beneath the Apple drama: is OpenAI abandoning the chat category it invented in favor of agent infrastructure? (Stratechery)

Trump Administration Is Snapping Up Stakes in Private Companies. Could A.I. Be Next? (paywall)

The administration's pattern of trading regulatory scrutiny for equity positions has tech executives nervous about what a similar play on AI models might look like. (NYT)

“Lock it down,” — Satya Nadella, warning enterprises about sharing proprietary data with frontier AI labs, via The Register

Connected World

BOOM! Billionaires Punched in the Nose Over Paramount-Warner by State Enforcers, Unions

California AG Rob Bonta leading a 12-state coalition to block the merger is a direct challenge to the federal green light, and a test of whether state AG coalitions can fill the antitrust void. (The Big Newsletter)

Trump's Strait of Hormuz Fee Could Double the Cost of Shipping (paywall)

A 20% toll on traffic through the Strait would ripple through energy and consumer goods costs globally, and shippers are not waiting to find out if it's real. (NYT)

Mission Not Accomplished

Trump backed off the Hormuz fee within 24 hours of a White House official calling it "very serious," which tells you something about the policy architecture right now. (Semafor)

Defense Tech Startup Helsing Raises $1.8B at $18B Valuation

A German defense AI firm pulling a $1.8B Series E signals that European defense tech is now genuinely competing for the capital flows that used to go exclusively to U.S. primes. (SiliconANGLE)

The Fed's Christopher Waller Warns of Higher Rates Soon if Inflation Stays High (paywall)

The rate environment remains contingent: Waller wants several more months of clean data before any cuts. (NYT)

Connected World

Anthropic Wants to Hire a New Yorker-Caliber Editor

An AI safety lab recruiting for literary prestige is either a genuinely interesting editorial bet or the most on-brand thing that has ever happened in San Francisco. (Feed Me)

Google's Big Waze AI Update Includes a Button That Makes the App Shut Up

Burying the lead: the most requested Gemini feature may be a mute button. (The Next Web)