Warren presses Pentagon over decision to grant xAI access to classified networks

Sen. Elizabeth Warren noted that Grok, xAI’s controversial chatbot, has created harmful outputs for users and poses a potential national security risk.

The billionaires made a promise — now some want out

In 2010, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates launched a disarmingly simple campaign they called the Giving Pledge: a public commitment, open to the world’s wealthiest people, to give away more than half their fortune during their lifetime or upon their…

US Army announces contract with Anduril worth up to $20B

The Army described this as a single enterprise contract consolidating more than 120 separate “procurement actions.”

The biggest AI stories of the year (so far)

The AI industry is constantly churning out news, like major acquisitions, indie developer successes, public outcry, and existentially dangerous contract negotiations.

Apple drops commission rates in China without a fuss

Apple dropped its App Store commission rates to 25% in China, and commissions on auto-renewed subscriptions down to 12%.

Hacker broke into FBI and compromised Epstein files, report says

According to a Reuters report, a foreign hacker broke into a server that was part of the FBI’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein — without realizing they had hacked an FBI server.

DOGE employee stole Social Security data and put it on a thumb drive, report says

A whistleblower is accusing a former DOGE member of stealing a large number of Americans’ personal data while he was working at the Social Security Administration, with the plan of using it at his new job.

OpenAI and Google employees rush to Anthropic’s defense in DOD lawsuit

More than 30 OpenAI and Google DeepMind employees signed onto a statement supporting Anthropic’s lawsuit against the Defense Department after the agency labeled the AI firm a supply chain risk, according to court filings.

Anthropic sues Defense Department over supply chain risk designation

Anthropic filed suit against the Department of Defense on Monday after the agency labeled it a supply chain risk. The complaint calls the DOD’s actions “unprecedented and unlawful.”

Will the Pentagon’s Anthropic controversy scare startups away from defense work?

On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, we discussed what the controversy means for other startups seeking to work with the federal government.