Apple's Foldable iPhone Duo Unveiled Amid Oil Price Surge and AI Safety Concerns
Apple recently unveiled its latest iPhone models, including the foldable iPhone Duo. The new devices are priced higher than their predecessors, with the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max carrying a $100 premium. The foldable iPhone Duo starts at $1,999.
The announcement comes as Brent crude prices have climbed above $100 a barrel due to escalating tensions in the Middle East. This marks the first time the benchmark has crossed this level since July 24. Higher oil prices have raised concerns about inflation, particularly with several central bank decisions and key US inflation data set to be released soon.
Bitcoin struggled below $80,000 as investors assessed the impact of rising oil prices and a stronger Japanese yen on risk assets. The Japanese yen has strengthened against the US dollar, reaching levels last seen in February.
Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned from the company, citing concerns that frontier AI laboratories are moving toward self-improving systems faster than safety measures can keep pace. This comes as Anthropic Alignment Science Lead Evan Hubinger estimated a greater than 10% chance of AI potentially causing human extinction within the next decade.