Morning Briefing

Rising gasoline prices driven by the Iran war pushed consumer prices up 3.8% year-over-year in April — the highest inflation reading in nearly three years. Energy costs are the primary driver, with the Strait of Hormuz disruption compounding pressure.

President Trump departs for Beijing today for a state visit with Xi Jinping. The trip comes as the Iran conflict continues, with tariffs, Taiwan, and the war all on the agenda. A new poll shows most Americans see China as an economic rival.

The man charged in the White House correspondents' dinner attack has pleaded not guilty. Covered by 250 sources across the spectrum — Left 28%, Center 46%, Right 25%.

Passengers from the virus-stricken cruise ship have been flown to their home countries. A US passenger tested "mildly positive" but WHO calls it "inconclusive." Three people remain in biocontainment facilities.

TanStack's detailed postmortem on the NPM supply-chain attack that also hit a Mistral AI PyPI package. Part of the "Mini Shai-Hulud" campaign targeting CI/CD credentials across npm and AI developer ecosystems. Microsoft is investigating the Mistral package compromise.

GitLab is laying off staff and retiring its "CREDIT" values — a significant shift for the dev platform. The HN discussion is heated, with 587 comments debating what this means for open-core companies.

A second critical Linux vulnerability in two weeks. Production patches are rolling out — apply them promptly.

A provocative essay questioning whether Python remains the right default when AI can generate code in any language. The 695-comment HN discussion covers language ergonomics, AI code quality, and whether the "AI writes it" argument actually holds up.

Workers at Amazon are inflating their AI tool usage metrics — "tokenmaxxing" — to meet internal adoption targets, using AI for non-essential tasks just to hit quotas.

As Trump meets Xi this week, Rest of World examines how Big Tech's reliance on TSMC makes the China-Taiwan dispute the world's most dangerous geopolitical flashpoint — and why the Xi-Trump meeting could reshape it.

The Pentagon says $29 billion in direct costs, but Reason estimates the total — including higher energy costs to Americans — exceeds $70 billion. With inflation now at 3.8%, the war's economic toll is mounting for ordinary people.

New research finds ICE raids and deportation fears disrupted local economies, reduced work among undocumented immigrants, and may have hurt US-born workers too. The economic ripple effects extend well beyond the directly targeted communities.

Thinking Machines AI explores how we interact with AI systems — beyond chat, beyond agents. A thoughtful framework for understanding the design space of human-AI interaction models.

matklad (of rust-analyzer fame) on learning software architecture — practical, grounded advice from someone who's built real systems. Worth reading the discussion for the architecture war stories.

A personal account of vibe-coding a diagnostic tool with AI. The 238-comment thread digs into when AI-assisted development actually works vs. when it falls apart — honest and nuanced.

Crackers exploited unencrypted files that briefly appeared on Steam. Forza Horizon 6 is leaking early through a classic distribution mistake.

Valve's Steam Machine (aka the new Steam hardware) may launch in four configurations with scalper protection built in. The leaks are getting concrete.

Sega has shelved its ambitious "Super Game" project after watching the live-service bloodbath claim so many others. A quiet admission that not every game needs to be a service.

The Supreme Court temporarily preserved access to mifepristone. The coverage gap is striking: only 13% of coverage comes from right-leaning outlets, while center-left dominates. Reason notes Alito has extended the administrative stay, signaling the court will spend more time on the Fifth Circuit's order.

The most evenly split story of the day — 32/32/35 across left/center/right. Venezuela's acting president has rejected the remarks and defended the country's territory. Left outlets frame it as dangerous escalation; right outlets emphasize sovereignty rhetoric from both sides.