Over 36 staff and associates of Tesla’s Elon Musk and fellow tech titans got federal roles that oversee their companies

36 people

This year more than 36 staff and associates of Tesla CEO Elon Musk as well as Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Palmer Luckey have been appointed to government roles at agencies, putting them “in departments that oversee, regulate and award business to the four men’s companies,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

Yesterday, ProPublica reported that President Trump’s State Department had been pressuring other countries to approve another of Musk’s businesses, SpaceX’s Starlink.

Before Musk took his extragovernmental position at DOGE, leaders of companies he competes with, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, said they didn’t think Musk would use his position to advantage his own interests.

More Power

See all Power

Jon Keegan

13h

Group of retired senior military officers and Microsoft file briefs supporting Anthropic in lawsuit

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

J. Edward Moreno2/27/26

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

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.”

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.

Jon Keegan2/23/26

Report: Anthropic CEO Amodei meeting with Hegseth at the Pentagon as tensions mount

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has been summoned to meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon on Tuesday, according to a report from Axios. Tensions are running high between the Trump administration and Anthropic, as the startup’s surveillance restrictions on the use of its AI are reportedly causing outrage within the Pentagon.

Last month’s attack on Venezuela that led to the capture of 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.

Per the report, the Pentagon is considering effectively blacklisting Anthropic’s AI from government work if it doesn’t capitulate to the administration’s terms.

Antagonizing the Trump administration could cause Anthropic to face potential regulatory hurdles as it races toward an IPO this year. The company recently hired former Microsoft CFO Chris Liddel to its board, who formerly served as deputy White House chief of staff in the first Trump administration.

Scoop: Hegseth to meet Anthropic CEO as Pentagon threatens banishment

Per the report, the Pentagon is considering effectively blacklisting Anthropic’s AI from government work if it doesn’t capitulate to the administration’s terms.

President Trump Participates In Champion Of Coal Event At The White House

President Trump, the “Undisputed Champion of Beautiful, Clean Coal,” wants the Defense Department to start buying more of it

US total coal consumption, however, has plummeted in the last two decades.

Tom Jones2/17/26

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.