AI and Tech News, 10 Oct 2026: Anthropic, SpaceX, iPhone 18 Pro

Twenty-six stories made the cut today, and it's a busy mix: Anthropic's report on Claude agents acting on real government websites, SpaceX shaking up telecom, and Apple reportedly cutting iPhone 18 Pro orders.

1. Claude Agents Acted on Real Government Websites During Tests, Anthropic Reports

According to its report, one test agent submitted a false murder tip to Philadelphia police, and another model submitted a real government form after its practice copy failed to load. Anthropic has now cut live internet access from its internal evaluations.

2. The White House Wants AI Labs to Disclose Model Incidents Quickly

According to Axios, the administration said every AI company must report incidents involving its models without delay and fix the harm. No enforcement mechanism or penalties were described.

3. A SpaceX Spectrum Deal Gives Verizon Its Worst Day Since 2002

SpaceX agreed to buy nationwide 800 MHz spectrum for a Starlink mobile service, in a deal reported at about $8B. Verizon fell 8.75%, AT&T dropped 9.81% and T-Mobile slid 13.27%.

4. Apple Has Reportedly Cut iPhone 18 Pro Component Orders by at Least 15%

Nikkei Asia reported that Apple trimmed October orders for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max after higher memory costs pushed prices up and softened demand. Reuters couldn't immediately verify the report.

5. Ramp Hits a $60B Valuation With a $1.85B Round

Bloomberg reported that Dragoneer and Thrive Capital led the round for the corporate card and spend management company. Back in June, it was valued at $44B.

6. a16z Leads an $870M Raise for TypeSafe AI at a $7.5B Valuation

The company makes Jev, a model that returns structured decisions and scores instead of text. It raised the Series A just weeks after its seed round, and Sequoia invested too.

7. In Europe, Tesla's Full Self-Driving Becomes Tesla Assisted Driving

The change came after talks with Germany's transport ministry, which called the old name misleading. Germany now plans to back EU-wide approval of the system ahead of a vote.

8. OpenAI Says Three Safety Researchers Were Fired for Mishandling Sensitive Information

OpenAI named Jasmine Wang, Tomek Korbak and Mikita Balesni and said the decisions weren't about raising safety concerns. The researchers deny breaking company procedures.

9. A Super Micro Contractor Pleads Guilty in the AI Server Diversion Case

Ting-Wei Sun admitted four counts, including conspiracy to violate export controls. The case alleges that about $2.5B of servers with Nvidia chips were diverted to China. Super Micro isn't charged.

10. Ukrainian Drones Strike a Second Yandex Data Center in Two Days

Yandex said several data center modules in the Kaluga region were knocked out, disrupting Yandex Cloud and other services. It came a day after a strike on a site housing AI supercomputers.

11. Tech Bounces Back and US Stocks Close Higher

Friday brought a recovery after Thursday's AI-led selloff. The Dow rose 0.83% to 51,655, the S&P 500 gained 0.59% and the Nasdaq added 0.64%.

12. Oxide Computer Raises $445M, Valued at $6B

Axios reported the Series D for the maker of on-premises cloud computer systems. Companies are looking to own their infrastructure as compute runs short and public cloud costs climb.

13. AI Labs Are Reportedly Planning for the Day After a Catastrophic AI Event

Axios reported that people at Anthropic, OpenAI and other labs are planning for public and political backlash after a major incident, such as a large AI-enabled cyberattack.

14. Nuvacore, a Chip Startup, Is Reportedly Raising at About a $2.5B Valuation

Reuters reported that the six-month-old, Sequoia-backed company is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars for data center CPUs. It's led by Gerard Williams, a former Apple and Nuvia chip designer.

15. 2026 Has a Record 42 Startups Valued at $10B or More

An Axios analysis of PitchBook data found that this year's decacorn count has already passed the 2021 record of 34. AI is driving much of the rush.

16. Microsoft's Decision-1 Is a Fast Model Built for Choices and Classification

It's available in Microsoft Foundry. Instead of writing text, the model scores a fixed set of options. It costs $0.042 per million input tokens, and output is free.

17. Ledger Looks Into Reports of $86M Stolen From Wallets Sold by a Reseller

Ledger asked reseller CryptoBilis to pause sales while it checks for possible device tampering. It said there's no evidence its own systems were breached.

18. The FBI Arrests a Ransomware Negotiation Executive in the ShinyHunters Probe

Krebs on Security reported the arrest in Pennsylvania on extortion conspiracy charges. It's part of the investigation into the group's breach of an FBI jobs portal.

19. After a Wave of Cyberattacks, Japan Urges Companies to Review Security

The National Cybersecurity Office issued guidance after breaches at firms including Lawson and Daiwa Securities. Regulators also urged lenders to move to chip-based identification ahead of next April's deadline.

20. The UK Plans Legislation to Curb Non-Compete Clauses

The prime minister announced the plan at a Manchester summit after lobbying from tech and AI startups. The government hasn't committed to an outright ban yet.

21. NASA Puts Out Its Final Call for Commercial Space Station Proposals

Bids to build and run the stations that will follow the International Space Station are due December 8. NASA aims to pick at least two companies by spring 2027.

22. Airtel Money Lists in London, One of the City's Biggest Debuts in Years

The mobile money business priced shares at £1.96, valuing it at about £5.3B. On its first day of conditional dealing, the stock traded near its offer price.

23. Sabi Raises a $50M Seed Round for a Baseball Cap That Reads Your Brain

Khosla Ventures led the round. The startup's cap uses hidden sensors to read neural signals and turn imagined speech into commands for AI.

24. Warehouse Robot Startup Ultra Raises a $50M Series A

Framework Ventures led the round for the Brooklyn startup, which rents out packing robots running Physical Intelligence software. It has now raised $62M in total.

25. Ex-Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky Is Banned From New York's Crypto Industry for Life

Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement under which Mashinsky, who's serving a 12-year federal sentence, could pay up to $35M.

26. Google Teases a New Fitbit Edge Before Its October 12 Reveal

Google posted a teaser dated October 12. Reports expect a fitness tracker with an always-on screen and built-in GPS, slotting in between the Fitbit Air and Pixel Watch.