We get into the love/hate triangle between Anthropic, OpenAI, and the Pentagon and discuss the details of these contracts for AI weapon and surveillance systems, what’s actually at stake here with debates over the terms of “guardrails”, “red lines” and “lawful uses,” and how the competing (a)moral visions for AI and war that are represented in this debate really come down to a difference of opinion about technical capabilities at this current moment, not about the fundamental ethics and politics at play in weaponized AI. Plus, why this lovers spat between Anthropic and Pentagon must not trick you into labelling Dario Amodei as a righteous purveyor of resistance tech. Get real!
••• How Talks Between Anthropic and the Defense Dept. Fell Apart https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/technology/anthropic-defense-dept-openai-talks.html
••• Inside Anthropic’s Killer-Robot Dispute With the Pentagon https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/inside-anthropics-killer-robot-dispute-with-the-pentagon/686200/
••• The Adolescence of Technology https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology
••• A Few Observations on AI Companies and Their Military Usage Policies https://sarahshoker.substack.com/p/a-few-observations-on-ai-companies
••• "All Lawful Use": Much More Than You Wanted To Know https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/all-lawful-use-much-more-than-you
••• Who loses from the Anthropic fight? Maybe Elon Musk and Alex Karp. https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/who-loses-from-the-anthropic-fight
••• AI vs. the pentagon https://jasmi.news/p/ai-pentagon
••• What Rights Do AI Companies Have in Government Contracts? https://jessicatillipman.com/what-rights-do-ai-companies-have-in-government-contracts/
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)
U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have sharply escalated tensions in the Middle East, raising fears of a wider regional conflict and fresh questions about the legal and strategic case for military action.
The third day of the American and Israeli war against Iran was marked again by punishing airstrikes across the Islamic Republic. In return, Iran continued to widen the war, sending volleys of missiles and rockets across the region, targeting most of its Arab neighbors and Israel. The Pentagon says at least six U.S. service personnel have been killed. Nick Schifrin reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
Special correspondent Reza Sayah is in Tehran and joined Amna Nawaz to report on the latest developments in Iran. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
The U.S. is in its third day of war with Iran, prompting inevitable warnings of another Iraq-style quagmire. But is that the right historical analogy? Long-time national security reporter Eli Lake (The Free Press) joins Mike to explain why this air-only regime decapitation strategy is completely unprecedented in modern warfare. They break down the dangerous math of missile defense, the race to secure Iran's nuclear material, and why this is Trump's ultimate foreign policy gamble.
Produced by Corey Wara
Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig
Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com
Lebanon is being dragged back into conflict as Hezbollah resumed attacks on Israel following the Iran strikes. Simona Foltyn reports from the outskirts of the capital city of Beirut. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
There are significant changes to the H-1B visa program. The Trump administration is replacing the random lottery system with a process that will prioritize visas for higher-skilled and higher-paid individuals. There is an intensifying crackdown by the Trump administration on H-1B visas. Critics say the changes could hurt universities, hospitals, startups, and tech employers that rely on foreign talent.array(3) {
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For more perspective on war in Iran, Amna Nawaz spoke with Alan Eyre, Joel Rayburn and Holly Dagres. Eyre was part of the Obama administration's negotiating team for the Iran nuclear deal and is now at the Middle East Institute. Rayburn is a retired Army colonel and is now at the Hudson Institute. Dagres spent her teenage years in Tehran and is now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy
It’s too early to know how long the U.S. and Israel war against Iran will last. One certainty? All-out war comes at a cost. Already, Qatar has cut natural gas production, bond yields and gas prices are up, and shipping firms are rerouting cargo. The extent of the economic impact, however, remains to be seen. In this episode, we break down how the conflict is already shaping the economy and what to expect if it continues.
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