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A.I. Joe

Tech executives pivot to war

Tech execs are cozying up to the military industrial complex, seeking partnerships, contracts, and now actual military commissions.

Jon Keegan

6/23/25 2:12PM

Tech executives tend to have their fads: fasting, cold plunges, and vampiric transfusions of youthful blood are life hacks that have become popular within the C-suites of the Silicon Valley crowd. But now a new trend is gripping the tech bro set: straight-up war.

In the twilight of the Biden administration, the White House signaled it was down to clown with AI companies for national security applications.

Tech companies wasted no time lining up for juicy defense partnerships and contracts. Meta offered up use of its Llama models for national security use, followed by Anthropic partnering with Palantir to use its Claude models on the battlefield.

It wasn’t that long ago that OpenAI prohibited the use of its products for “activity that has high risk of physical harm, including: Weapons development; Military and warfare,” only to quietly remove such language in January 2024. By the end of last year, OpenAI was announcing a deal with defense contractor Anduril to use its models to identify airborne threats.

Earlier this month, OpenAI announced its first one-year $200 million contract with the Department of Defense, which described the work as a contract to “develop prototype frontier AI capabilities to address critical national security challenges in both warfighting and enterprise domains.”

And the pivot to fighting is not just vague military contracts. It also includes prominent tech executives directly investing in weapons manufacturers and actually becoming active-duty members of the US Army:

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is investing in German drone company Helsing, with his Prima Materia venture capital firm leading the $700 million investment round.
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth is joining the US Army’s new “Detachment 201: Executive Innovation Corps” as an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, along with...
...OpenAI Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil...
...Palantir’s CTO, Shyam Sankar...
...and Bob McGrew, former chief research officer at OpenAI.

Of course, former government employee Elon Musk’s SpaceX has long been one of the most visible defense contractors, receiving over $4 billion in launch contracts from the Department of Defense, assuming President Trump doesn’t cancel the contracts in a fit of pique.

Max Knoblauch2/17/26

Tesla’s 45 Austin Robotaxis now have 14 crashes on the books since launching in June

Since launching in June 2025, Tesla’s 45 Austin Robotaxis have been involved in 14 crashes, per Electrek reporting citing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.

Electrek analysis found that the vehicles have traveled roughly 800,000 paid miles in that time period, amounting to a crash every 57,000 miles. According to the NHTSA, US drivers crash once every 500,000 miles on average.

The article says Tesla submitted five new crash reports in January of this year that happened in December and January. Electrek wrote:

“The new crashes include a collision with a fixed object at 17 mph while the vehicle was driving straight, a crash with a bus while the Tesla was stationary, a collision with a heavy truck at 4 mph, and two separate incidents where the Tesla backed into objects, one into a pole or tree at 1 mph and another into a fixed object at 2 mph.”

Tesla updated a previously reported crash that was originally filed as only having damaged property to include a passenger’s hospitalization.

Last month, Tesla shares climbed after CEO Elon Musk said in a post on X that the company’s Austin Robotaxis had begun operating without a safety monitor.

Tesla 'Robotaxi' adds 5 more crashes in Austin in a month — 4x worse than humans

The article says Tesla submitted five new crash reports in January of this year that happened in December and January. Electrek wrote:

“The new crashes include a collision with a fixed object at 17 mph while the vehicle was driving straight, a crash with a bus while the Tesla was stationary, a collision with a heavy truck at 4 mph, and two separate incidents where the Tesla backed into objects, one into a pole or tree at 1 mph and another into a fixed object at 2 mph.”

Tesla updated a previously reported crash that was originally filed as only having damaged property to include a passenger’s hospitalization.

Last month, Tesla shares climbed after CEO Elon Musk said in a post on X that the company’s Austin Robotaxis had begun operating without a safety monitor.

Jon Keegan2/13/26

Ahead of IPO, Anthropic adds veteran executive and former Trump administration official to board

Anthropic is moving to put the pieces in place for a successful IPO this year.

Today, the company announced that Chris Liddel would join its board of directors.

Liddel is an seasoned executive who previously served as CFO for Microsoft, GM, and International Paper.

Liddel also comes with experience in government, having served as the deputy White House chief of staff during the first Trump administration.

Ties to the Trump world could be helpful for Anthropic as it pushes to enter the public market. It’s reportedly not on the greatest terms with the current administration, as the startup has pushed back on using its Claude AI for surveillance applications.

Exclusive | Anthropic Adds New Board Member as It Eyes IPO

Liddel is an seasoned executive who previously served as CFO for Microsoft, GM, and International Paper.

Liddel also comes with experience in government, having served as the deputy White House chief of staff during the first Trump administration.

Rani Molla2/13/26

Meta is bringing back facial recognition for its smart glasses

Meta is reviving its highly controversial facial recognition efforts, with plans to incorporate the tech into its smart glasses as soon as this year, The New York Times reports.

In 2021, around the time Facebook rebranded as Meta, the company shut down the facial recognition software it had used to tag people in photos, saying it needed to “find the right balance.”

Now, according to an internal memo reviewed by the Times, Meta seems to feel that it’s at least found the right moment, noting that the fraught and crowded political climate could allow the feature to attract less scrutiny.

“We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns,” the document reads.

The tech, called “Name Tag” internally, would let smart glass wearers identify and surface information about people they see with the glasses by using Meta’s artificial intelligence assistant.

Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses

“We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns,” the document reads.

The tech, called “Name Tag” internally, would let smart glass wearers identify and surface information about people they see with the glasses by using Meta’s artificial intelligence assistant.

Tom Jones

the elder scrolls

2/13/26

Older Americans are spending more time on their phones than younger cohorts, per new data

Some members of the TikTok generation are (very slightly) less glued to their phones than other adults, it turns out.

A man, a woman and a child with a phone instead of a head

Rani Molla

2/13/26

Apple doesn’t have an AI spending problem. It has an AI execution problem.

Apple isn’t falling far from the AI tree.

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