In the battle for AI supremacy, Anthropic’s Claude has just managed to dethrone OpenAI’s ChatGPT in Apple’s App Store, claiming the #1 spot as the most-downloaded free app in the United States, leaving ChatGPT in second and Google’s Gemini a distant fourth.

This sudden surge in the rankings is almost certainly due to public backlash at a recent announcement by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, released on X, that they would work with the Department of Defense (unofficially titled the Department of War) to deploy artificial intelligence through its classified networks.

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This announcement comes on the heels of a public stand by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei against the unrestricted use of AI by governments, in which he specifically highlighted the dangers of both “mass domestic surveillance” and “fully autonomous weapons” powered by AI.

While much of the general public, nervous about the speed and scope of AI’s sudden prominence, viewed this as a principled stand, President Donald Trump saw it as a rebuke of government policy: “The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.  

The Trump administration, acting through Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has since sought to designate Anthropic as a “supply-chain risk to national security,” an unprecedented label for an American company and a move that would make it impossible for them to secure government contracts in the future.

In a cross-company show of support for Anthropic’s stance, more than 700 employees of both Google and OpenAI have signed an open letter, “We Will Not Be Divided,” that concludes forcefully:

“We hope our leaders will put aside their differences and stand together to continue to refuse the Department of War’s current demands for permission to use our models for domestic mass surveillance and autonomously killing people without human oversight.”

More recently, and as proof that the average person is sensitive to these ethical issues, the general public is weighing in as well, shifting their loyalty from ChatGPT to Claude. To put this shift into perspective, an Anthropic spokesperson told Mashable over email that free users up 60%+ since January, daily signups tripled since November (breaking the all-time record every day this week), and paid subscribers more than doubled this year.” Per the spokesperson, Anthropic ranked #42 before Super Bowl LX and has since ranked in the top 10 in the US app charts.

With the AI revolution still in full swing, the battle for its soul is still being fought, and this latest flare-up proves that the average person still has leverage.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 58 seconds ago

For actors, performing in Star Trek is often a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they quickly gain a legion of new fans, and they can spend a lifetime appearing at nerd conventions filled with hungry autograph seekers. On the other hand, they might need those convention appearances when they inevitably get typecast as their famous sci-fi character.

Every now and then, though, Star Trek actors break free of their famous franchise and show us what they can do in entirely different genres. A great example of this is Green Room (2015), a viscerally disturbing horror film featuring veteran spacers Patrick Stewart and Anton Yelchin. If you want to see what happens when these two set their acting phasers to “stunning,” all you have to do is stream its macabre madness for yourself on Netflix.

When Horror Goes Punk

The premise of Green Room is that after a punk band’s gig gets canceled, a radio host finds them an alternate venue with one big catch: it’s a neo-Nazi bar. After they play, the band discovers a dead body in the titular green room, and that’s when everything goes to hell. Just like that, a band of traveling musicians just trying to make a name for themselves are caught in a fight for their lives against unflinching foes who won’t stop until they are six feet in the ground.

Green Room has a few surprising names in its cast, including Imogen Poots (best known for 28 Weeks Later) and Alia Shawkat (best known for Arrested Development). But in terms of young leads, nobody in this film is killing it quite as much as Anton Yelchin (best known for the 2009 Star Trek), who helps give this punk rock film its beating heart. Meanwhile, Patrick Stewart (best known for Star Trek: The Next Generation) does his best to rip that heart out, giving an absolutely chilling performance as the film’s ultimate Big Bad.

From Box Office Bomb To Critical Darling

Sadly, Green Room was a box office bust when it first came out, earning only $3.8 million against a budget of $5 million. Losing the studio money like this ensured that we would never get a proper sequel, which is a shame because this is one of the most unsettlingly effective horror films of the modern age. Fortunately, the film eventually established itself as a cult hit, and the growing number of fans soon joined the legion of critics who had already dubbed Green Room a modern masterpiece.

When Green Room came out, it quickly won over professional reviewers with its electrical intensity and charismatic performances. On Rotten Tomatoes, it had a rating of 90 percent, with critics praising the film for its intelligent execution of a brilliant genre script. They also spoke highly of Star Trek veterans Patrick Stewart and Anton Yelchin, whose immense talents help to highlight the generation gap at the heart of this movie’s surprisingly trenchant commentary on the intersection of punk music and Neonazi violence.

This Film Is Nonstop Tension

Part of why this movie works is that it leaves you in a constant state of tension that is punctuated only by horrific acts of brutal violence. This isn’t a horror film where the characters have fun vibing out until they are picked off, one by one, by some faceless killer. Instead, Green Room keeps its protagonist on the edge of their seat, and we are right there along with them; when the hammer finally drops, you’ll let out the breath you didn’t realize you were holding, if only so you can finally scream.

Additionally, the violence of Green Room is that much more impactful because everything is gritty and down to Earth. This isn’t a movie filled with stylized action, quippy one-liners, or lantern-jawed heroes saving the day; rather, it’s a movie in which our flawed heroes constantly make mistakes, which is that much more horrifying because everyone in this film is just one screw-up away from death. When (not if) death comes for your favorite characters, it’s in the form of unpolished violence sure to give you some serious nightmares.

Scream Me Up, Scotty!

At the center of those nightmares will be Sir Patrick Stewart, who is delightfully cast against type as a Neonazi leader who never met a problem he couldn’t solve with murder. His performance is electric, and he commands your attention every moment that he’s in the frame. That’s the genius of his casting, of course: for audiences used to seeing him as the genial Captain Picard, it’s wonderfully perverse to see his commanding presence and hear his confident baritone coming out of a character who is pure evil incarnate.

Will you agree that Green Room is one of the most terrifying tales of the modern age, or would you rather tell this Nazi punk film to f*** off? The only way to find out is to grab the remote (it’s in the green room, next to the snacks) and stream it for yourself on Netflix. Afterwards, you may finally learn a lesson that horror movies have been trying to teach us since The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: there’s nothing scarier in America than the terrors you’ll find in a small town!

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 40 seconds ago

 Part of what made Babylon 5 a unique sci-fi experience is that J. Michael Straczynski wrote the entire story in advance. There were pitfalls he didn’t expect, such as losing series lead Michael O’Hare after only one season, but there were also successes he couldn’t have foreseen, most notably, the Minbari Warrior Caste member Neroon turning into a fan favorite.

If JMS had seen this coming, maybe Neroon would have appeared in more than five episodes during the course of the series. As it is, every single one of his appearances was turned into a highlight of the episode, if not the entire season. 

The Minbari’s Greatest Warrior

Neroon was brought to life by John Vickery, an accomplished stage actor who also appeared multiple times on Star Trek in the 90s as various aliens. His distinctive voice brought a level of authority and gravitas to Neroon, whether he was threatening humans, praising humans, or extolling the noble virtues of the Minbari Warrior Caste. The space station Babylon 5 was used by hundreds of different species on a daily basis, and to Neroon, all of them were inferior to the Minbari. 

In his first appearance, Neroon investigates the disappearance of the Minbari leader Bramner’s corpse, with Babylon 5 Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle) as his prime suspect. The two reach an accord, and for once, Neroon starts to appreciate humanity. Then came his duel with Ranger Marcus Cole (Jason Carter) in “Grey 17 is Missing.” Cole is completely outclassed by Neroon, one of the greatest warriors in the galaxy, and yet, Cole is willing to risk his life in the service of Delenn (Mira Furlan), a member of the Minbari Religious Caste. Both survived the duel to the death, but, as Neroon admits, a part of himself died in the battle. 

One Of Sci-Fi’s Best Character Arcs

“Grey 17 is Missing” is Neroon’s third appearance on Babylon 5. In his ensuing appearances, it’s clear that the boisterous warrior is a little different. He’s more open to Delenn and the Religious Caste, and when the Minbari Civil War heats up, he’s working towards a peaceful accord. On the surface. As viewers find out, he has his own goals for the Minbari while remaining true to the traditions of the Warrior Caste. Neroon’s last appearance on the series is one of the show’s best moments and the perfect way to end his story. Except it comes in Season 4. 

Babylon 5 was going to end with Season 4, so JMS moved events up to get to the show’s endgame before cancellation. The Season 5 renewal threw off his plans, and while some things were able to be delayed (notably Londo and the Centaurians), Neroon and the Minbari wrapped up too early. Fans were denied more time with the noble warrior, but then again, the calling of his heart was religious, the calling of his honor was war. Five episodes were all it took for sci-fi’s greatest character arc. 

You can stream Babylon 5 on The Roku Channel or on YouTube, but we don’t suggest that. 30 years later, John Vickery’s work as Neroon is part of why it remains one of the best sci-fi shows of all time.