AI and Peace 🕊️
Anthropic goes to the White House, again.
This week has seen tech’s best and worst leaders make headlines, each fighting for their convictions from the White House and even from a jail cell.
The news cycle undoubtedly hinges on global events. But it’s the leaders who show up to defend their beliefs, their decisions and their technology that dominate space in the stories we read.
This week we will look at:
The hurdles Anthropic are facing with their latest AI models
How SBF’s presidential pardon request is uniting politicians
Why Bitcoin could recover off the back of a global peace deal
[AI’s New Gatekeepers 🚪]
The Anthropic dispute shows how quickly governments can step into AI deployment.
The Context 🧑💻:
The US government has blocked foreign access to Anthropic’s newest AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, over concerns they could be misused for cyberattacks if their safety protections are bypassed.
The restrictions effectively forced Anthropic to withdraw the models entirely, as the company says it cannot realistically limit access only to US citizens.
The move followed reports that Amazon, a major Anthropic investor, identified a potential way to bypass the models’ safeguards and alerted US officials.
Anthropic and many AI experts argue the risks are being overstated, saying similar capabilities exist in other leading AI systems and that no model can be made completely immune to “jailbreaks.”
Talks between Anthropic and the White House are now underway, with many expecting a broader compromise. However, reports suggest the US is unlikely to offer special exemptions for allies such as the UK.
The Coverage 📰:
“Anthropic scrambles after Trump administration freezes its top AI models” (Financial Times)
“Anthropic to meet White House over AI tool suspension” (BBC)
“Trump snubs Starmer plea for Anthropic AI exemption” (The Telegraph)
“Trump officials meet with Anthropic to discuss a truce” (The Politico)
PR Perspective 🔎:
The Anthropic dispute highlights the growing influence governments have over access to frontier AI. The Trump administration’s decision to block Anthropic’s newest models shows that national security concerns can directly affect the availability of advanced AI systems. It also underscores how much businesses and allied countries rely on a handful of US providers, making access to AI increasingly a policy issue as well as a technology one.
[SBF Seeks Presidential Pardon⛓️]
Sam Bankman-Fried has asked for presidential pardon. Many odds are against his favour.
The Context 🧑💻:
Senators Rubén Gallego (D-AZ) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) have initiated a bipartisan legislation that urges President Donald Trump to reject clemency for Sam Bankman-Fried.
Sam Bankman-Fried formally filed for presidential pardon, according to records for the Department of Justice (the date is unknown but the news broke on June 8th).
Just four days later, on June 12th, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld Bankman-Fried’s 25-year sentence. This validates SBF’s 2023 trial where he was found guilty.
The White House has declined to comment and instead have referred to President Trump’s comments to the New York Times, saying he has no plans to pardon Bankman-Fried.
The Coverage 📰:
“Bankman-Fried Quest for Trump Pardon Hits Congress Pushback” (Bloomberg)
“Senators Introduce Bipartisan Resolution Opposing SBF Pardon” (Decrypt)
“Sam Bankman-Fried formally files for pardon—but White House reiterates that FTX cofounder’s odds are slim” (Fortune)
“Appeals court upholds FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud conviction” (AP News)
PR Perspective 🔎:
The press can’t let go of SBF and SBF won’t let go of the press. From 2023 until now, SBF still believes he is not guilty, making requests that hint at the lunacy and absurdity that landed him in prison years ago. But what’s most notable are the alliances emerging from his latest request for presidential pardon. Bipartisan efforts can feel buried in the press, but for two politicians from different parties to come forward in a joint push against SBF’s pardon is a loud, public move that could ensure justice is served.
[Bitcoin Swings off The US-Iran Deal🤝]
Bitcoin climbed a high once the US-Iran peace deal reached an initial agreement.
The Context 🧑💻:
Bitcoin recently climbed to a two-week high of $67,000 after the US-Iran Hormuz deal reached a preliminary agreement on June 15.
The recovery was short-lived, with Bitcoin falling back to $65,000 on June 16 as renewed tensions between Israel and Lebanon drove liquidity away from the Bitcoin pool.
Iran’s military has since accused Israel of multiple ceasefire violations in southern Lebanon, raising concerns that geopolitical risk could continue to pressure digital assets.
On-chain metrics show that Bitcoin’s trading volume remains stagnant and is beginning to decline, proving Bitcoin’s recent recovery to $67,000 lacked strong market conviction and is likely to fade.
Analysts warn that if the peace deal between Iran and the US fails to hold, ripple effects, starting from oil shocks and political instability, could send Bitcoin into another volatile downturn.
The Coverage 📰:
“Bitcoin Climbs to Two-Week High After US-Iran Hormuz Deal” (Bloomberg)
“Bitcoin slips to $65K after Israel’s action clouds U.S.-Iran peace hopes” (crypto.news)
“Bitcoin recovery rests on US-Iran deal as momentum remains weak” (Cointelegraph)
“Bitcoin pares some gains, but holds above $66k after U.S.-Iran interim peace deal” (Investing.com)
PR Perspective 🔎:
Bitcoin’s recent price action shows that macro factors, like geopolitical settings, still play into its investment narrative. Peace signals briefly restore its narrative as digital gold, driving traders to flip their holdings into Bitcoin. Conflict signals quickly drain trading momentum and drive liquidity towards other cryptocurrencies, or even outside the DeFi market. With Bitcoin struggling to reclaim levels near its all-time high, Bitcoin’s valuation will hinge on whether global stability can give investors enough confidence to treat Bitcoin as a resilient store of value again.
[Tweet of The Week]
Credit: @mchlhess
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The usual disclaimer: This newsletter collates the main themes and headlines of the week in DeFi/crypto/metaverse/Web3/NFT land and tries to provide unbiased context. It’s aimed at anyone who wants to keep an eye on the space. It’s put together by a team at YAP and doesn’t contain any promotion of our clients (if one is mentioned, we’ll flag that).
The team: Founder Samantha Yap, Samvidha Sharma, Sofia Anderson, Meghna Dembla, Wenwei See, Shajar Qureshi, and TJ Thomas. Your feedback is, as always, welcome. Ping us at thecontext@yapglobal.com. Old newsletters can be found here.
This newsletter is prepared by YAP Global, a financial and technology PR consultancy that advises companies in the digital assets, fintech, stablecoins, AI, and agentic finance sectors. Find out more about us here.