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WIRED: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth Admits the Company’s AI Reorg Was ‘Atrocious’<\/a><\/p>\n Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, in an internal memo to staff, admitted the company did an “atrocious” job rolling out its new artificial-intelligence division \u2014 after WIRED revealed widespread discontent inside the roughly 6,500-strong “Applied AI” unit (one worker called it “a gulag”). Bosworth promised more stability, clearer career growth, fewer manager reshuffles and even better office snack rooms to rebuild sagging morale.<\/p>\n LSM: This day in history: Latvia’s envoy in Moscow, Fricis Koci\u0146\u0161, receives a note from the USSR government<\/a><\/p>\n On June 16, 1940, Latvia’s envoy in Moscow, Fricis Koci\u0146\u0161, was summoned to Soviet foreign commissar Molotov, who handed him an ultimatum: within six hours, form a government acceptable to the USSR and admit the Red Army \u2014 otherwise the army would occupy the country by force. The accusations of a “hostile” foreign policy were near-absurd, but after Lithuania’s capitulation two days earlier Latvia’s military position was already hopeless; the decision was left to authoritarian leader K\u0101rlis Ulmanis. (First published in 2023.)<\/p>\n Axios: The hidden risk of Trump’s Anthropic crackdown<\/a><\/p>\n Axios warns that by forcing Anthropic to abruptly cut off access to one of its most advanced models, the Trump administration is sending foreign governments and companies the opposite of its stated message \u2014 not “rely on US AI,” but “don’t build your future on it.” The precedents being set as the administration improvises its AI regulatory regime could reverberate far beyond this single showdown.<\/p>\n Financial Times: Hedge funds bet against European carmakers on Chinese competition fears<\/a><\/p>\n Hedge funds are increasingly betting against the shares and bonds of Europe’s biggest carmakers \u2014 Stellantis, Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz \u2014 on fears of Chinese competition. Chinese manufacturers (including BYD) took 8.5% of the EU market in the year’s first four months with cheap EVs and hybrids, and analysts read the decline as structural rather than cyclical; tens of billions of euros have been wiped off the sector’s market value this year.<\/p>\n Meduza: Mathematician Mikhail Verbitsky, earlier detained, has been released from Armenia \u2014 he flew to Israel<\/a><\/p>\n Mathematician and blogger Mikhail Verbitsky was detained in Armenia on June 12 at Russia’s request (Russia had put him on a wanted list for “discrediting” the army and justifying terrorism, after he questioned the investigation of the Crocus City Hall attack). He was released on June 15 and flew to Tel Aviv \u2014 Russia had not sent an extradition request within 72 hours (his lawyer attributes this to Russian public holidays). The lawyer notes that Armenia is gradually starting to scrutinize the wanted-notices it receives from Russia more carefully, and that Verbitsky’s case is a precedent.<\/p>\n Le Monde: Sweden’s far-right violated the kvittningssystem, and it’s causing chaos in parliament<\/a><\/p>\n Sweden’s far-right Sweden Democrats have shattered the “kvittningssystem” \u2014 the decades-old informal pact that let MPs miss votes for health or work reasons while the opposing side abstained one member per absence to preserve the balance of power. On April 29 two of the party’s MPs unexpectedly showed up and voted rather than abstaining, defeating a transition clause in a new citizenship law; now every party demands full attendance at every vote, causing chaos ahead of the September 13 elections.<\/p>\n DW: How Germany and Poland rebooted relations 35 years ago<\/a><\/p>\n On June 17, 1991, Poland and Germany signed the Treaty on Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, which after decades of enmity (the dispute over the Oder\u2013Neisse border) laid the foundation for partnership and Poland’s later accession to NATO and the EU. On the 35th anniversary \u2014 June 17 this year, in Berlin \u2014 the two states are also signing a new defense agreement, even as the shadow of the past (Poland’s war-reparations demands) lingers.<\/p>\n R\u00daV: How Iceland will celebrate 17 June<\/a><\/p>\n On June 17, National Day celebrations will take place across Iceland with parades, official ceremonies and family events. The largest are planned in Reykjav\u00edk, where the traditional “Woman of the Mountain” (Fjallkona) will give an address at the statue of J\u00f3n Sigur\u00f0sson, with President Halla T\u00f3masd\u00f3ttir and Prime Minister Kristr\u00fan Frostad\u00f3ttir attending.<\/p>\n TechCrunch: Sixty percent of U.S. consumers say AI in brand messaging is a turnoff, survey finds<\/a><\/p>\n Per a WordPress VIP (Automattic) report, 60% of US consumers say that mentioning “AI” in brand messaging is a turnoff, while 86% don’t fully trust AI and still want to see the original sources; nearly three in four say the internet feels “less human” than it did 10 years ago. At the same time AI-driven traffic to sites is growing, so brands must juggle both visibility in AI search engines and human trust.<\/p>\n