Technologies

No, the Viral iPhone Fold Video Isn’t Real. How We Know It’s Fake

Whether AI or clever 3D-printed mock-up, that’s not a real foldable iPhone going around the internet.

I know we’re all excited for the upcoming iPhone Fold, but be wary of fake leaks — like the supposed unboxing video that’s been making the rounds online.

Upcoming phones will always be the subject of rumors and leaks, and no device is more hyped than the foldable that Apple has purportedly been working on for years. Lots of that early info points toward a release later this year during the usual September iPhone release window, which makes the lead-up fertile territory for falsified leaks like the aforementioned video.

Unfortunately, with the advance of generative AI tools that fabricate videos based on text prompts and other inputs, it’s easier than ever to fake your way to internet fame. Nowadays, videos churned out by gen AI tools have the correct number of fingers on hands, better lighting and far fewer indicators that they’re inauthentic.

But there are still some tells that you’re not seeing the real deal — both in the video and when it’s released.

Developers 2 days ago: No way, that iPhone leak is fake. It would be terrible
Developers today: Wow, Apple foldable phone is going to change everything https://t.co/jpMRykRD2K pic.twitter.com/zjI4VL0Fx4

— Viktor Seraleev (@seraleev) April 7, 2026

First, let’s dissect the video. A person in a gray long-sleeved shirt or sweatshirt rotates a box labeled “iPhone Fold” and pulls it open. On the first watch, a lot of signature Apple elements are present. The product is tucked inside snug packaging and presented screen-side-out to the opener, and there’s both a charging cord and supplementary materials tucked underneath. It all looks authentic enough — at least believably not generated by AI.

But AI or not, there are a few details that are strong evidence that this isn’t an actual Apple device. When opening the package, there’s a peel-off protector for the inner screen, not the outer. The multicolored insert claims the device is IP68 dust- and water-resistant, which is rare for foldables. Only the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold and Honor Magic V6, among a handful of others, have water-resistant ratings.

The device itself is suspect, and if not AI-generated, it’s likely 3D-printed. The cream-colored back makes an odd sound when scratched (unlike what glass or ceramic sounds like), and the device’s halves don’t fold neatly against each other — another thing that the design-obsessed Apple likely wouldn’t allow. What’s more, when it’s fully unfolded, the back of the supposed foldable has a big gap between both halves over the hinge, which other phone makers have solved in their flexible-screen devices.

There’s skepticism around its design, too. Yes, Apple’s patents point toward a wider style of foldables similar to the first Google Pixel Fold, but the supposed iPhone Fold in the video is so squat in its dimensions that its internal screen would make for bizarre dimensions that aren’t tall enough to fit the aspect ratio of, say, an iPad.

iPhone Fold may or may not be the final name of the device, as rumors have disagreed for years on its product designation, with the most recent suggesting it could be deemed the iPhone Ultra.

Since we don’t see it turn on, there’s no indication of how its software is laid out — which form of iOS or even iPadOS it might use. That makes this short, squat design even more suspect.

And then there are the factors outside of the video. Apple leaks happen, but we’ve only had a few pre-release leaks like CAD files, official renders or cases that agree on a design — and yet, this is supposedly the iPhone Fold’s final form, which looks somewhat but not completely like a recent CAD render.

To the video’s credit, taking this many words to suspect and disprove its authenticity is a credit to its plausibility. There’s a lot of commitment to Apple staples, from product packaging to theorizing the final design of the foldable itself. If nothing else, it’s a functional guess at what the supposed iPhone Fold might look like, and how it might look coming out of the box.

We’ll know in September at the earliest if Apple chooses to release its foldable in that window — and I’m sure we’ll see plenty of other leaks and rumors on the device before then.

Technologies

Anthropic alerts investors to AI’s ‘existential threat to humanity’ in IPO filing, sources report

Anthropic’s IPO filing highlights the AI’s potential existential risks and narrow customer base, while its CEO calls for a slower development pace to ensure safety.

Anthropic plans to warn speculative investors in its IPO prospectus that its AI models pose a “catastrophic or existential risk to humanity,” several reports said on Tuesday.

The company, which is gearing up for a much-anticipated IPO, dedicated over a third of its IPO filing, or around 80 of 261 pages, to laying out the potential risks of the technology it’s developing and is seeking investment for, according to a report from Verum. It only used 48 pages to discuss its actual business.

The five-year-old company, known for its frontier language model Claude, warned that AI can have “self-preserving behaviors,” including being able to “resist shutdown,” “conceal or manipulate information,” and carry out behaviors “resembling blackmail,” per the Verum report.

The company is pursuing a $2 trillion valuation when it goes public and reported in the filing that it made a net loss of $42 billion in 2025. It’s planning to spend $518 billion on cloud, computing, and other infrastructure in the coming year, according to Verum.

Anthropic also warned that its customer base is extremely narrow, with nearly a quarter of its revenue last year coming from just two clients, two people familiar with the filing told the Financial Times.

AI safety guardrails

Anthropic’s co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei has previously written various essays warning on the threats of AI, including saying the technology will cause “unusually painful” disruption to the job market.

In another recent essay, the CEO urged the AI industry to slow the pace of AI model development, with a three-step plan to reduce how quickly models get better without “sacrificing commercial advantage or the United States’ lead in AI.”

Those calls for a slowdown are somewhat of a “head scratcher” for the sector, to which the market has reacted “pretty resoundingly,” Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives told CNBC earlier today.

“You need guardrails from a safety perspective, but the fact for Anthropic and OpenAI to slow down, if they slowed down, China would just accelerate and win, and I think that’s part of this quagmire that you’re seeing is that there’s some regulatory capture going on. There’s definitely a game of poker, but for Anthropic, they got to continue to put foot on the pedal.”

Ives added that while guardrails are essential, regulation could stifle innovation. That continues to be the “biggest concern within the U.S., which is why we’re in an F1 race,” he said.

Technologies

U.S. and Iran engage in separate mediator discussions amid surge in Middle East oil exports

U.S. and Iranian officials held separate indirect talks mediated by Qatar as Middle East crude exports neared wartime highs, while Tehran awaits a U.S. response to its cease‑fire and sanctions‑relief proposal.

On Monday, American and Iranian representatives engaged in distinct indirect negotiations mediated by third parties, aiming to halt seven months of hostilities while Iran awaits Washington’s reply to an updated cease‑fire proposal and Middle Eastern oil shipments reach wartime peaks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Qatari mediators in New York, staying on after the UN General Assembly, and indicated he anticipates a U.S. response by Tuesday. “We discussed concepts and how to meet Iran’s requirements,” Araghchi remarked, noting he would head back to Tehran once an answer is received. “When the Qataris have a reply, they know how to deliver it to us.”

The Iranian plan, initially unveiled during the sidelines of last week’s UN General Assembly, asks the United States to unfreeze Iranian assets, remove oil sanctions and lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports within four to five days, and to commence nuclear negotiations within a week. Tehran links any resumption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to the fulfillment of those conditions.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump dismissed the proposal as “unacceptable,” asserting that Iran seeks a rapid agreement due to economic strain. Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump noted that U.S. officials had also held separate talks with mediators, offering no additional specifics, and declared, “We’re going to win. It’s going to happen fast.”

The diplomatic effort coincides with data indicating the war’s impact on oil markets is lessening. Middle Eastern crude exports have risen this month to near their highest point since the conflict started in February, according to Kpler. The firm noted in a Monday briefing that exports are “just under 80% of pre‑conflict levels.”

The Strait of Hormuz remains far from usual activity. Kpler’s real‑time monitoring recorded a flow of 10,591 kilobarrels per day through the strait on Saturday, compared with a prewar baseline of 17,133 kilobarrels per day.

The ongoing impasse is influencing U.S. fuel markets, where retail diesel prices linger close to a record $6.53 per gallon. The Trump administration is reconsidering an export ban, having recently distanced itself from an earlier iteration of the idea; Kpler estimates such a ban would retain about 1.2 million barrels per day domestically, potentially straining storage capacity.

Technologies

Saudi Red Sea export rebound pushes oil prices down

Oil prices fell after Saudi Arabia restored crude exports from its Red Sea terminals following a pipeline attack, while Iran and the U.S. continue talks over the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as Saudi Arabia’s crude exports from its Red Sea ports recovered from an attack on a key pipeline earlier this month. The decline reflects renewed flow from major loading points.

Satellite imagery confirmed a “major operational recovery” at the Yanbu and Muajjiz terminals, according to a Kpler note released on Tuesday. The data shows that 12.5 million barrels were loaded onto nine tankers at Yanbu between Saturday and Monday, restoring activity after a drone strike disrupted the East‑West pipeline earlier in the month.

Riyadh has brought the pipeline’s throughput back to roughly 3.5 million barrels per day, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News on Monday. The line’s maximum capacity is 7 million bpd, indicating that the current flow is about half of its peak.

Meanwhile, U.S. and Iranian officials spoke with mediators on Monday as they attempt anew to negotiate a deal to end the seven‑month conflict. Iran offered last week to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States accepts the terms of the failed June memorandum of understanding, but President Donald Trump rejected Tehran’s proposal on Saturday as exports through the waterway recover.

Oil flows through Hormuz have averaged 13.2 million barrels per day over the past week, according to Kpler data—about 77 % of the 17 million bpd that moved through the strait before the U.S.–Iran war. The U.S. military continues to protect tankers from Gulf allies and maintains a blockade on Iranian exports.