# Morning Briefing

Wednesday, May 7, 2026
📰 Top Stories

## Ted Turner, CNN Founder and Cable TV Pioneer, Dies at 87

Ground News · 446 sources · Left 29% / Center 50% / Right 20%
The media mogul who founded CNN and revolutionized 24-hour news has died at 87. Coverage is broadly centered, with left outlets emphasizing his environmentalism and left-leaning philanthropy, while right outlets focus on his business legacy and later personal struggles.
obituary media

## Elon Musk Tried to Hire OpenAI Founders to Start AI Unit Inside Tesla

Ars Technica · Also covered by Techmeme, Wired
New details reveal Musk was "prepared to do the for-profit, provided he would get control" — the latest twist in the ongoing Musk vs. OpenAI saga. Meanwhile, Anthropic just inked a compute deal with SpaceX's Musk, and the contradictions abound.
ai elon-musk

## Anthropic Raises Claude Code Usage Limits, Credits New SpaceX Deal

Ars Technica · Also: Axios, Wired, NYT
Anthropic doubled Claude Code usage limits for Pro/Max users and revealed a compute deal with SpaceX. The partnership comes amid Musk's ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI — making for strange bedfellows. Dario Amodei also said Anthropic planned 10x growth this year but could hit 80x.
ai anthropic

## SpaceX IPO Gives Musk Unchecked Power, Forbids Investor Lawsuits

Ars Technica
Anyone buying into the SpaceX IPO must waive their right to sue the company, according to a new report. The terms give Musk extraordinary control — raising governance red flags for what would be one of the largest IPOs ever.
spacex ipo
💻 Tech

## Valve Releases Steam Controller CAD Files Under Creative Commons

Hacker News · 1602 points · 528 comments · Original article
Valve open-sourced the Steam Controller's CAD files under a Creative Commons license — a massive win for right-to-repair and hardware hacking. The HN discussion is predictably enthusiastic about modding possibilities.
valve open-source hardware

## Vibe Coding and Agentic Engineering Are Getting Closer Than I'd Like

Hacker News · 678 points · 760 comments · Simon Willison
Simon Willison on the convergence of "vibe coding" and serious engineering — when AI-assisted development stops being a toy and starts being the default. The 760-comment HN thread is one of the best discussions on this topic in weeks.
ai engineering

## RIP Social Media. What Comes Next Is Messy.

Ars Technica
Ars takes a thoughtful look at the splintering of social media and asks how we keep new online spaces from becoming toxic pits of despair. A good overview of the post-platform landscape.
social-media internet-culture

## Google Cloud Fraud Defense: The Next Evolution of reCAPTCHA

Hacker News · 350 points · 365 comments · Google Blog
Google is evolving reCAPTCHA into "Fraud Defense" — a broader anti-fraud product. The HN thread is skeptical about yet another Google lock-in play wrapped in security language, with strong discussion on CAPTCHA alternatives.
google security

## Five Times AI Hallucinations Embarrassed Governments

Rest of World
From Trump administration "formatting errors" to South Africa's historic policy withdrawal, AI confabulation is infiltrating official documents. A sobering catalog of what happens when governments lean on AI without verification.
ai government
🌍 Wider Lens

## Gas Prices Keep Rising, But Oil Companies Aren't Drilling More

NPR
The Iran conflict has pushed oil prices up, boosting oil company revenues, but majors aren't signaling plans to increase production. Meanwhile, UAE tankers are reportedly slipping through the Strait of Hormuz under the radar (Reuters exclusive).
oil iran economy

## Broad Bipartisan Support for Congressional Age Caps, NPR Poll Finds

NPR · PBS News/Marist poll
8 in 10 Americans say there should be age caps for members of Congress, along with term limits. The bipartisan consensus is striking — even in a polarized era, this is one thing everyone agrees on.
congress polling

## Trump's Bluff to Iran Didn't Work

Reason
After trying to open the Strait of Hormuz by force, the U.S. is now ready to accept an Iranian proposal it had previously rejected. A clear-eyed analysis of how military escalation failed to achieve its stated goal.
iran foreign-policy
🔥 HN Deep Reads

## Appearing Productive in the Workplace

Hacker News · 1387 points · 553 comments
A sharp look at performative productivity — the gap between looking busy and actually shipping. 553 comments of people sharing strategies (and frustrations) about workplace signaling games.
work culture

## SQLite Is a Library of Congress Recommended Storage Format

Hacker News · 430 points · 129 comments · sqlite.org
The Library of Congress now officially recommends SQLite as a storage format for digital preservation. A quietly significant milestone for one of the most deployed pieces of software on earth.
sqlite preservation

## Permacomputing Principles

Hacker News · 202 points · 113 comments · permacomputing.net
A manifesto for sustainable computing — designing software and systems that last decades, not quarters. The HN thread debates whether this is idealistic or genuinely practical, especially for self-hosters.
sustainability self-hosting
🎮 Gaming

## Nintendo Announces Surprise Star Fox 64 Remake for Switch 2

Kotaku
A surprise Nintendo Direct revealed a Star Fox 64 remake for Switch 2. The internet has feelings about Fox McCloud's new look. Also from the Direct: Mario Galaxy 64 and more.
nintendo star-fox switch-2

## Apple Suffers Major Loss as Supreme Court Sides With Epic Over iOS Fees

Kotaku
The Supreme Court declined to hear Apple's appeal, cementing Epic's victory on iOS app store fees. This is a landmark ruling that reshapes how platforms can charge developers.
epic apple antitrust

## Google DeepMind Partners With EVE Online for AI Testing

Ars Technica
CCP Games (now rebranded as Fenris Creations after going independent with $120M) is partnering with DeepMind to use EVE Online as an AI testbed. An offline version of EVE will serve as the research environment.
ai eve-online deepmind
⚖️ Bias Check

## Ted Turner's Death — Broad Center Focus, Divergent Framing

Ground News · 446 sources · Left 29% / Center 50% / Right 20%
Left outlets emphasize Turner's environmentalism and progressive philanthropy; right outlets lead with his business empire and later personal/health struggles. The center-dominated coverage itself is notable for such a polarized media landscape.
media-bias

## Trump's Iran Bombing Threat — Widest Bias Gap Today

Ground News · 113 sources · Left 34% / Center 23% / Right 41%
The sharpest bias split of the day. Right outlets frame this as tough negotiation and deterrence; left outlets emphasize escalation and civilian risk; center outlets are notably underrepresented at just 23% — unusual and worth noting.
iran media-bias