Hey there, PoI readers! 💫

It's your favorite tech taste-tester, Mochi, back with another deliciously packed serving of the latest tech and crypto chaos! From national security experts throwing shade at Nvidia's China chip sales and the SEC playing hard-to-get with Trump's Bitcoin ETF, to Microsoft turning Edge into your new AI bestie and Anthropic putting speed limits on their coding wizards - we've got quite the digital feast prepared for you today. So grab your favorite beverage and get ready to dive into today's wonderfully wild world of tech drama!

INTEL BRIEF

🟧 20 national security experts penned a letter urging the Trump administration to reverse its decision allowing Nvidia to resume H20 AI chip sales to China, calling it a "strategic misstep.”

🟧 The SEC delayed decisions on Trump's Truth Social Bitcoin ETF and several other crypto funds, extending review periods while raising questions about potential conflicts of interest.

🟧 Microsoft launched "Copilot Mode" in Edge browser, turning it into an AI-powered browsing assistant that can help with research, bookings, and web tasks while viewing your tabs.

🟧 Anthropic introduced new weekly rate limits for Claude subscribers to stop power users from running Claude Code 24/7 and prevent account sharing violations.

National Security Experts Rally Against Nvidia's China Chip Sales

These national security experts just dropped a strongly-worded letter (the diplomatic equivalent of a passive-aggressive sticky note) on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's desk.

These experts are allegedly convinced that letting Nvidia sell H20 chips to China.

The letter claims these H20 chips aren't some outdated tech leftovers gathering dust in Nvidia's warehouse. Nope! They're supposedly "potent accelerators" of China's frontier AI capabilities, specifically designed to work around export control thresholds.

The experts are particularly worried about the H20's AI inference capabilities - that's the fancy tech term for when AI models make decisions on new data. They claim these chips are so good at inference tasks that they reportedly outperform even the H100.

The letter's signatories include some heavy hitters like Matt Pottinger (former deputy national security adviser) and Stewart Baker (former Homeland Security assistant secretary). These folks aren't exactly known for writing frivolous complaint letters about their morning coffee being too cold.

This drama unfolds just two weeks after the Department of Commerce gave Nvidia the green light as part of ongoing trade discussions involving rare earth elements. At the time, Lutnick tried to play it cool, calling the H20 Nvidia's "fourth best" chip - basically the participation trophy of AI processors.

20 national security experts wrote an angry letter demanding Trump reverse Nvidia's H20 chip sales to China

They claim H20s are powerful AI inference accelerators, not outdated tech as suggested

Letter warns this decision could weaken U.S. technological edge and help China's military capabilities

SEC Gives Trump's Bitcoin ETF the Cold Shoulder Treatment

Trump's Truth Social Bitcoin ETF, pushing the decision deadline from August 4th all the way to September 18th.

The Trump Media and Technology group is allegedly trying to get their shiny new Bitcoin ETF listed on the NYSE Arca exchange, but the SEC is taking their sweet time - and honestly, who can blame them? This would be the first crypto ETF directly linked to a sitting president's business interests.

The SEC didn't just ghost Trump's ETF - they're reportedly giving the cold shoulder treatment to everyone. Grayscale's Solana Trust got pushed to October 10th, and Canary Capital's Litecoin ETF is also stuck in regulatory purgatory.

Hester Peirce, warned everyone to pump the brakes on expectations. She's basically saying "chill out, we've got litigation drama and other messy stuff to sort through first."

Some Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren, are reportedly not thrilled about Trump's crypto ventures. They've called one of his deals involving World Liberty Financial and a UAE firm a "staggering conflict of interest." Warren's letter allegedly warned about the "troubling prospect" that Trump could profit from foreign corruption through stablecoin shenanigans.

Critics are speculated to be concerned that Trump might personally benefit from regulatory decisions affecting crypto markets connected to his business empire.

SEC delayed Trump's Truth Social Bitcoin ETF decision until September 18th amid conflict of interest concerns

Multiple crypto ETFs including Grayscale's Solana Trust also face extended review periods

Democratic senators reportedly worried about potential regulatory bias benefiting Trump's crypto business interests

Microsoft Edge Transforms Into Your New AI Browsing Buddy

Microsoft just dropped Copilot Mode in Edge browser, and it's basically like having a digital sidekick that watches over your shoulder while you browse.

This shiny new feature is reportedly still experimental, but it's free and opt-in for Mac and PC users. Copilot can supposedly peek at what you're looking at and help accordingly.

You can just ask Copilot to skip the novel and give you the goods. Or maybe you want to make that butter-heavy recipe vegan, and boom - Copilot suggests substitutions.

Microsoft claims this AI can handle "agentic" tasks like booking appointments, creating shopping lists, and drafting content. The goal is allegedly to make online booking easier.

The research companion feature is where things get spicy. With your permission, Copilot can view all your open tabs to understand your browsing chaos. Perfect for when you've got 47 tabs open comparing hotel prices and your browser is crying for mercy!

Microsoft promises they're being transparent about privacy with visual cues showing when Copilot is peeking.

Microsoft Edge launched "Copilot Mode" - an experimental AI browsing assistant that can view tabs and help with tasks

AI can handle bookings, research, and content creation while allegedly skipping the fluff in online recipes

Privacy controls included but some users might be uncomfortable with AI monitoring their browsing habits

Anthropic Slams the Brakes on Claude Code Power Users

Anthropic just announced they're rolling out weekly rate limits starting August 28th because apparently some users have been treating Claude Code like their personal 24/7 coding slave.

The company is reportedly targeting the small but mighty group of power users who've been running Claude Code "continuously in the background, 24/7" - which honestly sounds exhausting even for an AI. Plus, they're cracking down on some sneaky account sharers and people allegedly reselling access to Claude Code.

Anthropic's existing 5-hour reset limits aren't going anywhere, but they're adding two new weekly limits that reset every seven days. One covers overall usage, while the other specifically targets their most advanced model, Claude Opus 4.

Claude Code has been experiencing outages left and right (at least seven times last month, according to their status page). Turns out when people run your service nonstop, things tend to break.

Anthropic spokesperson Amie Rotherham assured everyone that "most users won't notice a difference" and that this will only affect less than 5% of subscribers.

Pro users ($20/month) get 40-80 hours of Sonnet 4 weekly, while Max subscribers ($100-200/month) get significantly more juice. Anthropic claims the $200 plan offers "20x more usage"

This drama reflects a broader trend in the AI coding world. Companies like Cursor and Replit have also been revamping their pricing strategies to deal with power users who apparently treat unlimited plans.

Anthropic introducing weekly rate limits for Claude Code starting August 28th to stop 24/7 power users

New limits affect less than 5% of subscribers, with existing 5-hour resets staying in place

Move follows multiple Claude Code outages and reflects industry-wide struggles with AI coding tool pricing

And that's a wrap, my lovely PoI readers! 💫 I hope this edition left you feeling informed, entertained, and maybe even a little bit smarter about the beautiful chaos that is our tech world. From geopolitical chip dramas to AI browsing buddies, it's been quite the journey today! Remember to stay curious, stay skeptical of those "allegedly" moments, and keep that sense of humor intact when navigating these digital waters. Until next time, this is Mochi, signing off with a virtual high-five!

P.S. Don't forget to share your thoughts, questions, and favorite crypto puns with us. very voice matters in the PoI community! 📣❤️ Share the newsletter

🍨📰 Catch you in the next issue! 📰🍨