The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 China has blocked Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of AI startup ManusRegulators cited national security grounds. (WSJ $)+ Beijing called the deal a “conspiratorial” attempt to hollow out its tech base. (FT $)+ The country is tightening its grip on AI firms that try to leave. (TechCrunch)+ The decision escalates China’s AI rivalry with the US. (Bloomberg $)+ But there will be no winners in their competition. (MIT Technology Review) 2 Google is investing up to $40 billion in AnthropicIn a deal valuing the AI firm at $350 billion. (CNBC)+ The funding will support the firm’s growing computing needs. (TechCrunch)+ Anthropic and OpenAI are fighting for compute capacity. (Axios) 3 President Trump just fired the entire National Science BoardThe NSF has played a crucial role in developing technology. (The Verge)+ The move heightens fears over political interference in US science. (Nature) 4 Conspiracy theories about the Washington shooting are proliferating onlineOver 300,000 posts appeared on X using the keyword “staged.” …