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Rani Molla

Elon Musk’s Starbase is trying to become a real city

One of Elon Musk’s company towns is hoping to make things official.

Starbase, a community near Brownsville, Texas, which has a SpaceX rocket launch site and where many employees and their families live, is hoping to incorporate as a town, according to a SpaceX letter to a county judge shared on X by a reporter for the local Monitor newspaper, Dina Arévalo.

“Incorporating Starbase will streamline the processes required to build the amenities necessary to make the area a world class place to live — for the hundreds already calling it home, as well as for prospective workers eager to help build humanity’s future in space,” the document reads.

Musk’s other company town, Snailbrook, which is located 40 minutes outside Austin, 30 minutes from Tesla’s Texas Gigafactory, and houses facilities for SpaceX, Boring Company, and X, is a lot less far along. When we visited this fall, the town was mostly just an uninsulated bodega, a smaller-than-planned school, and about 15 trailers, rather than the 110 originally planned homes.

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Jon Keegan

Trump pulls tech execs even closer, adding Zuckerberg, Huang, Ellison, and others to tech council

President Trump has had a close relationship with America’s biggest tech leaders. They have flown across the world for investment announcements, attended intimate dinners at the White House, donned tuxedos and white ties for royal banquets, and have been known to bring golden gifts to him in the Oval Office.

Today he brings them in even closer. The White House announced that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and close pal and Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison will join a new President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, along with 10 other tech leaders including Dell founder Michael Dell and Google cofounder Sergey Brin.

According to the White House, the group will “focus on topics related to the opportunities and challenges that emerging technologies present to the American workforce, and ensuring all Americans thrive in the Golden Age of Innovation.”

The full list of appointees:

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Trump Names Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Jensen Huang to Tech Panel

Trump Names Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison and Jensen Huang to Tech Panel

Today he brings them in even closer. The White House announced that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and close pal and Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison will join a new President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, along with 10 other tech leaders including Dell founder Michael Dell and Google cofounder Sergey Brin.

According to the White House, the group will “focus on topics related to the opportunities and challenges that emerging technologies present to the American workforce, and ensuring all Americans thrive in the Golden Age of Innovation.”

The full list of appointees:

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Saleah Blancaflor

Prediction markets show a tight (and tightening) Illinois Democratic Senate primary

It’s primary election time in Illinois, and as voters in the state head to the polls on March 17, there are a few races to watch closely across both parties.

While polls show that Darren Bailey is leading in the Republican race for governor, the primary election for a rare seat in the Democratic Senate to replace Sen. Dick Durbin is proving to be a tight one.

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At the top of the 10-candidate race are Raja Krishnamoorthi, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, and Robin Kelly. Krishnamoorthi, a lawmaker from Chicago’s 8th Congressional District, was an early front-runner, received funding and support from several Congress members for the seat. Kelly, who represented the South Side’s 2nd Congressional District, has support from the Congressional Black Caucus and South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn. Meanwhile, Stratton has been endorsed by Gov. JB Pritzker, whose administration she used to work for, as well as Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

While polls suggested that Krishnamoorthi was favored to win, Stratton has seen a boost and late surge, though Krishnamoorthi still remains close behind. Capitol News Illinois reports that Illinois Future PAC, funded by Pritzker, has spent more than $10 million on ads elevating Stratton. Meanwhile, two PACs affiliated with the crypto industry have attempted to attack Stratton and promote Kelly. Indian American Impact, which endorsed Krishnamoorthi, reportedly employed similar tactics against Stratton.

Political insiders tell Capitol News Illinois the race could go either way, but they still expect Krishnamoorthi to come out on top. Prediction markets currently show that Stratton narrowly leading Krishnamoorthi.

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

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At the top of the 10-candidate race are Raja Krishnamoorthi, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, and Robin Kelly. Krishnamoorthi, a lawmaker from Chicago’s 8th Congressional District, was an early front-runner, received funding and support from several Congress members for the seat. Kelly, who represented the South Side’s 2nd Congressional District, has support from the Congressional Black Caucus and South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn. Meanwhile, Stratton has been endorsed by Gov. JB Pritzker, whose administration she used to work for, as well as Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

While polls suggested that Krishnamoorthi was favored to win, Stratton has seen a boost and late surge, though Krishnamoorthi still remains close behind. Capitol News Illinois reports that Illinois Future PAC, funded by Pritzker, has spent more than $10 million on ads elevating Stratton. Meanwhile, two PACs affiliated with the crypto industry have attempted to attack Stratton and promote Kelly. Indian American Impact, which endorsed Krishnamoorthi, reportedly employed similar tactics against Stratton.

Political insiders tell Capitol News Illinois the race could go either way, but they still expect Krishnamoorthi to come out on top. Prediction markets currently show that Stratton narrowly leading Krishnamoorthi.

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

Jon Keegan
3/11/26
Group of retired senior military officers and Microsoft file briefs supporting Anthropic in lawsuit

US-CIA-HAYDEN HEARING
US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-AI

Anthropic sues the US government

In response to the Pentagon’s unprecedented, punitive determination that Anthropic is a national security supply chain risk, the AI startup has sued the US government.

Jon Keegan3/9/26
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J. Edward Moreno

OpenAI is reportedly working with Pentagon to hash out guardrails amid Anthropic standoff over AI safety

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company is working with the Pentagon to negotiate safety guardrails for AI models used in the battlefield, which comes as one of its top competitors, Anthropic, is at a standoff with the government.

According to a memo obtained by several media outlets, Altman told staff OpenAI believes “that AI should not be used for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons, and that humans should remain in the loop for high-stakes automated decisions. These are our main red lines.”

Anthropic, the company behind the AI chatbot Claude, was one of several firms that received a $200 million contract from the Department of Defense for “agentic workflows.”

Since then, tensions between Anthropic and the Pentagon have reportedly risen as the startup insists on surveillance restrictions. The government’s attack on Venezuela last month that led to the capture of President Nicolás Maduro reportedly involved the use of Anthropic’s Claude AI models for planning, which caused the startup to push back on the alleged violation of its terms of use.

Anthropic has until 5:01 p.m. ET on Friday to reach a deal with the Pentagon, which has threatened consequences against the company if it doesn’t allow the government unrestricted use.

Altman’s comments come as the Financial Times reports that executives at Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are being pushed by workers to support Anthropic in its dispute with the Pentagon and adopt similar guardrails as the Claude company in any work they undertake with the US military.

Sam Altman says OpenAI shares Anthropic's red lines in Pentagon fight

Sam Altman says OpenAI shares Anthropic's red lines in Pentagon fight

According to a memo obtained by several media outlets, Altman told staff OpenAI believes “that AI should not be used for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons, and that humans should remain in the loop for high-stakes automated decisions. These are our main red lines.”

Anthropic, the company behind the AI chatbot Claude, was one of several firms that received a $200 million contract from the Department of Defense for “agentic workflows.”

Since then, tensions between Anthropic and the Pentagon have reportedly risen as the startup insists on surveillance restrictions. The government’s attack on Venezuela last month that led to the capture of President Nicolás Maduro reportedly involved the use of Anthropic’s Claude AI models for planning, which caused the startup to push back on the alleged violation of its terms of use.

Anthropic has until 5:01 p.m. ET on Friday to reach a deal with the Pentagon, which has threatened consequences against the company if it doesn’t allow the government unrestricted use.

Altman’s comments come as the Financial Times reports that executives at Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are being pushed by workers to support Anthropic in its dispute with the Pentagon and adopt similar guardrails as the Claude company in any work they undertake with the US military.

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