- Google: Gemini Embedding 2: our first natively multimodal embedding model (Mar. 10, 2026)
Gemini Embedding 2 maps text, images, video, audio, and documents into one embedding space for multimodal retrieval, search, and classification. - WSJ: AI Needs Management Consultants After All (Mar. 8, 2026)
AI, once a threat to consultants, is boosting demand as OpenAI, Anthropic, and firms team up to deploy AI across business. Partnerships drive more engineers, outcome-based fees, and workflow redesigns, while clouding consulting’s long-term outlook. - NY Times Opinion: A.I. Is Changing the Way We Think About Good and Evil (Mar. 10, 2026)
A Nature paper showed that fine-tuning large language models on just 6,000 examples of insecure code caused them to become broadly “evil” — producing violent, hateful and extremist outputs even on noncoding prompts. - NY Times: When DOGE Unleashed ChatGPT on the Humanities (Mar. 7, 2026)
Documents show Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency used ChatGPT to flag nearly all Biden-era National Endowment for the Humanities grants as D.E.I.-related. - WSJ: WSJ Readers Share How They Are Using AI for Tax Prep (Mar. 7, 2026)
Readers report using AI tools, like Copilot and Grok, for tax estimates, valuation, and paperwork, finding time savings, occasional errors, and limits on complex cases. - NY Times: Anthropic Sues Department of Defense Over ‘Supply Chain Risk’ Label (Mar. 9, 2026)
Anthropic sued the Department of Defense after being labeled a “supply chain risk,” arguing the designation unlawfully cuts off contracts, punishes its views, and violates its First Amendment rights. - NY Times Opinion: The Future We Feared Is Already Here (Mar. 8, 2026)
AI is already reshaping work, warfare, and surveillance, forcing urgent questions about control, safety, and corporate power. - NY Times: A $1,000 Dog Grooming Session? The Wellness Industry Is Booming. (Mar. 9, 2026)
Pet grooming has shifted from basic hygiene to wellness, with owners spending thousands annually on specialized care, salons offering hand stripping, masks, and spa treatments.
Category: Legal
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Multimodal AI Growth and Governance Challenges (Links) – Mar. 11, 2026
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AI Safety Commitments Clash With Pentagon Military Demands (Links) – Mar. 5, 2026
Two themes: (1) corporate safety vs. military demands — Anthropic’s refusal to permit mass domestic surveillance and autonomous-weapon use drew Pentagon pressure and a federal ban, while OpenAI accepted stricter contract safeguards. (2) governance gap — private contracts, not laws, now set AI use, risking security and accountability.
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Ben Thompson: Anthropic and Alignment (Mar. 2, 2026)
Anthropic refused uses for mass domestic surveillance, fully autonomous weapons, and other military operations, was labeled a supply‑chain risk, and warned AI could be as strategic as nuclear arms. -
TechCrunch: The trap Anthropic built for itself (Feb. 28, 2026)
Trump barred federal use of Anthropic tech, and the Pentagon moved to blacklist the company after it refused to allow mass surveillance or autonomous killer drones. -
OpenAI: Our agreement with the Department of War (Feb. 27, 2026)
OpenAI agreed to deploy advanced AI with cloud-only, multi-layered safeguards, safety stack, cleared engineers, and strong contract protections. The deal bars mass domestic surveillance, autonomous-weapon control, and high-stakes automated decisions. -
WSJ: Anthropic Dials Back AI Safety Commitments (Feb. 24, 2026)
Anthropic is softening its core AI safety policy to stay competitive with rivals, ending prior pauses on risky model work if competitors release stronger models. It will publish safety goals, risk reports, and third-party audits, while some researchers have left. -
Anthropic: Statement from Dario Amodei on our discussions with the Department of War (Mar. 26, 2026)
Anthropic backs using AI to defend democracies, has deployed Claude across US national security, and cut access to Chinese-linked firms. It refuses mass domestic surveillance, won’t provide fully autonomous weapons, and will not remove safeguards under Defense Department threats. -
Dean Ball: Clawed (Mar. 2, 2026)
The episode highlights broader governance problems: private contracts are being used to achieve policy outcomes because formal lawmaking has weakened, and dependence on politically distrusted tech firms (and their subcontractor chains) creates operational and political risks for the military. -
Jessica Tillipman: What Rights Do AI Companies Have in Government Contracts? (Mar. 1, 2026)
Government AI purchases vary by acquisition pathway, contract type, and negotiated terms, which determine whether vendors can limit use. OpenAI’s Pentagon deal uses legal language, architecture, and termination rights to try to restrict certain uses, while Anthropic sought explicit bans. -
WSJ Opinion: China Wins the Pentagon-Anthropic Brawl (Feb. 27, 2026)
President Trump barred Anthropic from federal contracts after it rejected terms permitting mass surveillance, autonomous weapons, and other military uses, risking U.S. military access to leading AI tools. -
NY Times Opinion: What Both Anthropic and the Pentagon Get Wrong (Feb. 27, 2026)
Anthropic and the Pentagon clash over limits, with Anthropic seeking bans on mass surveillance and autonomous killing. Congressional A.I. rules, not contracts, should set clear, enforceable limits to protect privacy, safety, and security. -
NY Times: Trump Orders U.S. Agencies to Stop Using Anthropic AI Tech After Pentagon Standoff (Feb. 27, 2026)
President Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s AI after a Pentagon standoff, risking disruptions to intelligence and defense work. -
NY Times: Pentagon-Anthropic Standoff Is a Decisive Moment for How A.I. Will Be Used in War (Feb. 27, 2026)
Pentagon standoff with Anthropic over a classified AI contract pits military demands for broader use against company safeguards blocking mass surveillance, and autonomous weapons. -
WSJ: Trump Will End Government Use of Anthropic’s AI Models (Feb. 27, 2026)
President Trump ordered all federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s AI, after the company refused Pentagon demands, and set a six‑month phaseout. Officials cited supply‑chain risk, control over military use, and possible legal penalties. -
WSJ: Anthropic CEO Amodei on Pentagon’s Proposal to Loosen AI Guardrails: ‘We Cannot in Good Conscience Accede to Their Request’ (Feb. 26, 2026)
Anthropic refused Pentagon demands to let the military use its Claude AI for all lawful cases, saying the contract would undo guardrails on mass surveillance, autonomous weapons, and civil‑liberties protections. -
NY Times: Pentagon Gives Anthropic an Ultimatum Over the Company’s A.I. Model (Feb. 24, 2026)
The Pentagon gave Anthropic until Friday to accept military terms, or face being forced to provide Claude under the Defense Production Act. -
WSJ: Pentagon Gives Anthropic Ultimatum and Deadline in AI Use Standoff (Feb. 24, 2026)
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei until Friday to accept military use terms, or face contract cancellation or a supply‑chain risk designation. -
WSJ: ‘Woke’ AI Feud Escalates Between Pentagon and Anthropic (Feb. 17, 2026)
Anthropic lost a possible investment from pro‑Trump 1789 Capital over political concerns, but secured $30 billion from backers. Its safety limits on Claude, cleared for classified work, clash with the Pentagon over domestic surveillance, autonomous weapons, and other military uses.
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Ben Thompson: Anthropic and Alignment (Mar. 2, 2026)
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Tuesday (AI) Links – Feb. 10, 2026
- Matthew Yglesias: Academic Publishing and AI (Feb. 9, 2026)
“The pace of academic publishing and the pace of AI frontier model progress are so radically misaligned that I fear the situation is unsalvageable.” - NY Times: A.I. Personalizes the Internet but Takes Away Control (Feb. 10, 2026)
Tech firms are embedding A.I. into apps, creating a personalized internet you can’t easily control. They use chat data for targeted ads, price changes, and profit, with few opt-outs. - Simon Taylor: The SaaSpocalypse (Feb. 9, 2026)
“You’re going from a department of 10 Bobs using SaaS tools and spreadsheets, to 5 Bobs and 50 AI agents — making custom workflows that fit the problem exactly.” - WSJ: AI Fumbles Its Big Super Bowl Investment as Viewers Opt for Laughter and Tears (Feb. 9, 2026)
AI ads dominated this Super Bowl, but viewers favored nostalgic, celebrity spots like Budweiser, Dunkin’. Some AI ads drove clicks and controversy, yet simple, emotional spots won more engagement. My take: the commercials weren’t very creative or exciting this year. - Simon Willison: Introducing Showboat and Rodney (Feb. 10, 2026)
Tools for agents to demo and test their code. Showboat builds Markdown demos with commands, outputs, and images, while Rodney provides CLI browser automation. - Sinocities: China’s Data Center Boom: a view from Zhangjiakou (Nov. 17, 2025)
China’s EDWC (Eastern Data Western Compute) policy aims to align large-scale data-center buildout in energy-rich regions. Seems similar to private capital in the US building in far West Texas.
- Matthew Yglesias: Academic Publishing and AI (Feb. 9, 2026)
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Sunday AI Links (Jan. 25)
- WSJ: Nvidia Invests $150 Million in AI Inference Startup Baseten (Jan 20, 2026)
Baseten raised $300 million at a $5 billion valuation in a round led by IVP and CapitalG, with Nvidia investing $150 million. The San Francisco startup provides AI inference infrastructure for customers like Notion and aims to become the “AWS for inference” amid rising investor interest. - WSJ: Why Elon Musk Is Racing to Take SpaceX Public (Jan 21, 2026)
SpaceX abandoned its long-held resistance to an IPO after the rush to build solar-powered AI data centers in orbit made billions in capital necessary, prompting Elon Musk to seek public funding to finance and accelerate orbital AI satellites. The IPO could also boost Musk’s xAI and counter rivals. - NY Times: Myths and Facts About Narcissists (Jan 22, 2026)
Narcissism is a personality trait on a spectrum, not always the clinical N.P.D., and the label is often overused. The article debunks myths—people vary in narcissistic types, may show conditional empathy, often know their traits, can change, and can harm others despite occasional prosocial behavior. - ScienceDaily: Stanford scientists found a way to regrow cartilage and stop arthritis (Jan 26, 2026)
Stanford researchers found that blocking the aging-linked enzyme 15‑PGDH with injections restored hyaline knee cartilage in older mice and prevented post‑injury osteoarthritis. Human cartilage samples responded similarly, and an oral 15‑PGDH inhibitor already in trials for muscle weakness raises hope for non‑surgical cartilage regeneration. - Simon Willison: Wilson Lin on FastRender: a browser built by thousands of parallel agents (Jan 23, 2026)
Simply breathtakign: FastRender is a from‑scratch browser engine built by Wilson Lin using Cursor’s multi‑agent swarms—about 2,000 concurrent agents—producing thousands of commits and usable page renderings in weeks. Agents autonomously chose dependencies, tolerated transient errors, and used specs and visual feedback, showing how swarms let one engineer scale complex development. - WSJ: Geothermal Wildcatter Zanskar, Which Uses AI to Find Heat, Raises $115 Million (Jan 21, 2026)
Geothermal startup Zanskar raised $115 million to use AI and field data to locate “blind” geothermal reservoirs—like Big Blind in Nevada—without surface signs, and has found a 250°F reservoir at about 2,700 feet. - WSJ: The AI Revolution Is Coming for Novelists (Jan 21, 2026)
A novelist and his wife were claimants in the Anthropic settlement over AI training on copyrighted books and will receive $3,000 each, raising what‑is‑just compensation questions for authors’ intellectual property. They urge fair licensing by tech firms as generative AI reshapes publishing and reduces writers’ incomes, yet will keep creating. - WSJ Opinion: Successful AI Will Be Simply a Part of Life (Jan 19, 2026)
AI should be developed as dependable infrastructure—reliable, affordable, accessible and trusted—so it works quietly across languages, cultures and devices without special expertise. Success will be judged by daily use and consistent performance, with built-in privacy, openness and agentic features that reduce friction without forcing users to cede control. - WSJ: Anthropic CEO Says Government Should Help Ensure AI’s Economic Upside Is Shared (Jan 20, 2026)
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned at Davos that AI could drive 5–10% GDP growth while causing significant unemployment and inequality, predicting possible “decoupling” between a tech elite and the rest of society. He urged government action to share gains and contrasted scientist-led AI firms with engagement-driven social-media companies. - WSJ: The Messy Human Drama That Dealt a Blow to One of AI’s Hottest Startups (Jan 20, 2026)
Mira Murati fired CTO Barret Zoph amid concerns about his performance, trust and an undisclosed workplace relationship; three co‑founders then told her they disagreed with the company’s direction. Within hours Zoph, Luke Metz and Sam Schoenholz rejoined OpenAI, underscoring the AI race’s intense talent competition. - WSJ: South Korea Issues Strict New AI Rules, Outpacing the West (Jan 23, 2026)
“Disclosures of using AI are required for areas related to human protection, such as producing drinking water or safe management of nuclear facilities. Companies must be able to explain their AI system’s decision-making logic, if asked, and enable humans to intervene.” - WSJ: CEOs Say AI Is Making Work More Efficient. Employees Tell a Different Story. (Jan 21, 2026)
WSJ survey of 5,000 white-collar employees at large companies found 40% of non-managers say AI saves them no time weekly, while 27% report under 2 hours and few report large gains. C-suite executives report much bigger savings—many save 8+ hours—with a 38-point divergence. - WSJ: Intel Shares Slide as Costs Pile Up in Bid to Meet AI Demand (Jan 22, 2026)
Intel swung to a Q4 net loss of $333 million and warned of further Q1 losses as heavy spending to ramp new chips and industrywide supply shortages squeezed inventory. It delayed foundry customer announcements and lags AI-chip rivals, though investor funding and new 18A “Panther Lake” chips could help.
- WSJ: Nvidia Invests $150 Million in AI Inference Startup Baseten (Jan 20, 2026)
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WSJ:How a Bold Plan to Ban State AI Laws Fell Apart—and Divided Trumpworld
As I noted last week, Congressional efforts to block state AI laws in the Big Beautiful Bill lost support and was ultimately dropped from the Senate bill by a close vote of 99-1.
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TechCrunch: Congress might block state AI laws for five years
Senators Ted Cruz and Marsha Blackburn include a measure to limit (most) state oversight of AI laws for the next five years as part of the “Big Beautiful Bill” currently in the works. Critics (and the Senate Parliamentarian) have reduced the scope and duration of the provision to modify the measure.
However, over the weekend, Cruz and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who has also criticized the bill, agreed to shorten the pause on state-based AI regulation to five years. The new language also attempts to exempt laws addressing child sexual abuse materials, children’s online safety, and an individual’s rights to their name, likeness, voice, and image. However, the amendment says the laws must not place an “undue or disproportionate burden” on AI systems — legal experts are unsure how this would impact state AI laws.
The regulation is supported by some in the tech industry, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whereas Anthropic’s leadership is opposed.
I’m sympathetic to the aims of this bill as a patchwork of 50 state laws regulating AI would make it more difficult to innovate in this space. But I’m also aware of real-life harm (as a recent NY Times story profiled), so I’d be much more sanguine if we had federal-level regulation, a prospect that seems very unlikely considering the current political makeup.