California Races, Serena Williams, and a Puppy's First Bath

 Need To Know 

California Primaries

Voters in California head to the polls to cast ballots in several closely watched primary races today. The state employs a jungle primary system, in which all candidates for each office compete in the same primary and the top two vote-getters advance to the November general election.  

The Los Angeles mayoral race has drawn outsized attention, partly due to surprise candidate and influencer Spencer Pratt (R), of reality television show “The Hills” fame. As of this writing, Pratt enters the day polling at 22%—trailing, but within the margin of error—of incumbent Karen Bass (D, 26%) and city councilmember Nithya Raman (D, 25%).

The gubernatorial race was thrown into disarray following explosive sexual harassment allegations (see background) against then-leading candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell (D) in April. Former state attorney general Xavier Becerra (D) now leads polls at 28%, with billionaire Tom Steyer (D, 22%) and Republican political commentator Steve Hilton (21%) right behind him. 

Learn more about California's jungle primary here.

Anthropic Eyes IPO

Anthropic has confidentially filed to go public, the company behind AI chatbot Claude revealed yesterday. The move positions Anthropic for a public debut as early as this fall, potentially ahead of competitor OpenAI.

While details of the company’s finances remain private, Anthropic said last week it was valued at $965B, above OpenAI’s reported $852B valuation in March. Anthropic's revenue run rate is estimated at $47B, up from roughly $10B at the end of last year, despite being blacklisted by the Pentagon (see background). A run rate is the estimated annual revenue based on current monthly performance.

The company is especially popular in Silicon Valley due to the release of Claude Code and its unreleased model, Mythos. Anthropic shared the model with 40 technology firms to help detect cybersecurity vulnerabilities, forgoing a public release over concerns that it could exploit flaws in critical systems.

If Anthropic debuts at a valuation above $1T, it could become the second- or third-largest IPO ever. See Oprah Winfrey's interview with the Amodei siblings, who left OpenAI to found Anthropic, here.

Serena Williams Returns 

Serena Williams is returning to professional tennis after accepting a wild-card entry into the Queen's Club doubles draw in London next week, marking the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion's first competitive appearance since the 2022 US Open. See her announcement in a Nike ad here (via Instagram). 

The news comes nearly four years after Williams declared she was evolving away from tennis, stopping short of a formal retirement. The 44-year-old mother of two became eligible to compete after reentering the sport's antidoping testing pool, a required step for any sanctioned return. Williams has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and spent 319 weeks ranked No. 1 in the world. She is the only player in tennis history to complete a career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles—a feat that means winning all four major tournaments (the US Open, Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon) plus an Olympic gold medal. 

By the numbers: see how dominant Williams was on the court here. 

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Carolina Hurricanes face off against Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight at 8 pm ET (More) | Why are the Hurricanes considered the underdogs? (More)

> Los Angeles Rams secure deal to nab Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett (More) | Philadelphia Eagles trade wide receiver AJ Brown to New England Patriots (More) | NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Raymond Berry dies at age 93; Berry played 13 seasons with the Baltimore Colts (More) 

> Ronald LaPread, bassist who cofounded The Commodores with Lionel Richie, dies at age 75 (More) | Listen to the band's first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, "Three Times a Lady" (More)

Science & Technology

> Chipmaker Nvidia unveils AI processors to allow Windows PCs designed around AI agents; consumer products expected to be available in the fall (More) | Hear Nvidia's origin story, which began in a Denny's (More)

> Agricultural researchers find crops like rice, tomatoes, and more reduce their iron uptake when experiencing drought (More) 

> New drug prevents cancer cells from "hiding" from the immune system, improving the effectiveness of immunotherapies; in small trial, some patients saw tumor shrinkage of at least 30% (More) 

Business & Markets

> US stock markets close up (S&P 500 +0.3%, Dow +0.1%, Nasdaq +0.4%) (More) | Hewlett Packard Enterprise reports biggest earnings beat since 2018 (More)  

> Berkshire Hathaway to acquire homebuilder Taylor Morrison Home in $6.8B deal—the first for new CEO Greg Abel (More) | People Inc.—owner of Travel & Leisure and Food & Wine—makes $18B takeover bid for casino giant MGM Resorts (More) 

> Sekai raises $20M Series A for AI platform that lets users create and remix mini-apps from text prompts; founder Lucky Zhang has sold startups to Apple and TikTok parent ByteDance (More) | What are Series A, B, and C? (More)

Politics & World Affairs

> President Donald Trump says US-Iran talks are continuing and that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to dial back fighting; update comes after Iran threatens to close Strait of Hormuz (More)

> Justice Department says it will abide by court order to pause work on $1.8B anti-weaponization fund (More)

> Malaysian ban on social media for kids under age 16 goes into effect, joining Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, and others with similar restrictions (More) | Florida becomes first state to sue OpenAI over child safety risks, alleging the company and CEO Sam Altman released ChatGPT despite knowing it could harm users (More)

In-Depth

> The Math Problem AI Cracked

WSJ | Ben Cohen. Weeks ago, OpenAI announced its latest model cracked a math problem that had stumped humans for 80 years. What does the discovery mean for AI's capabilities—and the future of mathematics? (Read) 

> Organized Cheese Theft

Longreads | Olivia Potts. In 2024, a French supermarket placed an order for $400K worth of British artisanal cheese. Unfortunately, none of the dairies smelled a rat. (Read) 

The retreat where rich kids learn how not to blow their inheritance.

Which names belong to the oldest Americans?

Once-extinct orangey-pink birds return to Japan's skies. (w/photo)

Your bug spray might be making things worse.

The 400 books that shaped Marilyn Monroe's mind. 

A strawberry in absurdly microscopic detail.

Man builds basketball arena for his cats—see it in action. 

Watch an adorable puppy take her first bath. 

In partnership: The AI hack 2M+ people are using to get ahead.*

Clickbait: What if your memories had a place to live?

Historybook: First first lady Martha Washington born (1731); Baseball legend Babe Ruth retires (1935); Queen Elizabeth II is coronated (1953); Soccer star Abby Wambach born (1980); Rock 'n' roll pioneer Bo Diddley dies (2008).

*Please support our sponsors.