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🤖🤖 Pentagon drops Anthropic, signs new deal with OpenAI

Anthropic refused to fully accept U.S. Department of Defense terms and stated Claude would not be used for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance. The Pentagon then terminated a reported $200B contract and labeled the company a supply chain risk.

Federal agencies are required to phase out Claude within 6 months. President Trump publicly criticized Anthropic and called for agencies to stop using its technology.

At the same time, OpenAI signed a new agreement with the Department of Defense to deploy its models inside the Pentagon’s secure cloud network for national security use. OpenAI will form a Forward Deployed Engineer team to support on site deployment.

Both companies reportedly insisted on restrictions around mass surveillance and human oversight in use of force decisions. Only one of them kept the contract.

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🔥 OpenAI closes $110B private round at $730B valuation

OpenAI has completed a $110B private funding round at a $730B pre money valuation, implying about $840B post money. Part of the funding will come in services rather than pure cash.

SoftBank and Nvidia committed $30B each. Amazon committed $50B plus a strategic partnership. Of Amazon’s amount, $15B is available upfront, while $35B is tied to conditions such as OpenAI using a required volume of Trainium chips.

The new Nvidia investment appears to replace the previously discussed $100B agreement between the companies. SoftBank financed part of its commitment by selling $5.8B in Nvidia shares.

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⚔️ US used Claude in Iran strikes hours after Trump called for a ban

The Wall Street Journal reports that US Central Command used Claude during recent strikes on Iran.

The system supported intelligence assessments, target identification, and combat scenario modeling.

Formally, this does not violate Trump’s order. Agencies have 6 months to phase out Claude.

The timing stands out.

On Friday, Anthropic refused to accept Pentagon terms. The same day, Trump urged agencies to stop using Claude and called Anthropic “radical.”

Hours later, Claude was used in a live military operation.

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🎤 Claude hits #1 in US App Store after Pentagon clash

Amid the conflict between Anthropic and the Pentagon, Claude climbed to #1 in the US App Store.

Social feeds filled with screenshots of users canceling ChatGPT and switching payments to Anthropic.

The surge followed public tension around defense contracts and political criticism.

The episode pushed Claude into mainstream attention at scale.

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📊 YC’s Garry Tan: half of AI agent usage is in software, most verticals are open

Anthropic’s recent research on AI agents shows that 49.7% of agent tool calls are in software engineering. The next category, back office automation, is at 9.1%. Most other domains sit below 5%.

Healthcare is at 1.0%, legal at 0.9%, finance and accounting at 4.0%. Many industry verticals barely register in current agent deployment.

YC’s Garry Tan argues this leaves large parts of the market underpenetrated. While software agents are crowded, sector specific applications remain wide open.

The data suggests the next wave may be vertical, not horizontal.

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🎰 OpenAI fires employee over insider trading on Polymarket

OpenAI dismissed an employee for insider trading tied to bets on Polymarket. It appears to be the first confirmed big tech firing linked to prediction markets.

Before the launch of the ChatGPT browser, 13 new Polymarket accounts appeared 40 hours ahead of release.

Together they placed $300k on the correct outcome and reportedly made a strong return.

A similar case happened in 2023 during Sam Altman’s removal, when a new trader bet on his comeback and earned $16k before disappearing.

Insider concerns around product launch dates had been building. Prediction markets are starting to test corporate information control.

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🚀 SpaceX plans 150 Mbps satellite internet for smartphones

SpaceX already offers satellite connectivity for smartphones through T-Mobile, with current speeds around 4 Mbps. That is enough for text messaging and low-quality calls.

By the end of 2027, Starlink is expected to upgrade the network to peak speeds of up to 150 Mbps. Real-world speeds will be lower, but high enough for video calls and content streaming.

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📈 AI startups are growing fast. Until they aren’t.

A lot of teams are building guardrails, adapters, and workflows on top of today’s models. It works. Revenue grows. Real users.

The bet is that base models will always need that extra layer. But if future versions handle hallucinations, memory, and routing on their own, that middle layer shrinks fast.

The turkey looks fine for 1,000 days. The risk sits on day 1,001.

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📈 Michael Burry just went long Adobe $ADBE

Adobe:

🖱 Down -40% from all-time-highs
🖱 Trading at its cheapest P/E in 5 years
🖱 Generating $7B+ in annual free cash flow

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📣 Elon Musk to argue in court that GPT-4o was AGI

Elon Musk plans to claim in court that GPT-4o already qualified as AGI. The argument is part of his lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its original nonprofit mission and misleading him, with claimed damages of $134B.

If GPT-4o is recognized as AGI, Musk argues that OpenAI would have concealed AGI from the public and commercially exploited it. That could void OpenAI’s licensing deal with Microsoft, which applies only to pre-AGI systems, and trigger charter terms requiring the models to be made open.

Musk also links the claim to the 2023 board’s removal of Sam Altman and its later restructuring, arguing financial incentives discouraged declaring AGI. The next court hearing is set for late April.

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📊 Global venture hits $189B in February, sets all-time monthly record

Global venture funding reached $189B in February, according to Crunchbase. It is the highest monthly total on record.

The spike was driven by three deals.

🖱 OpenAI raised $110B
🖱 Anthropic secured $30B
🖱 Waymo brought in $16B.

Together they accounted for 83% of all funding. That leaves $33B for the rest of the market.

AI startups attracted $171B, or 90% of total funding. At the same time, deal count fell to 503 rounds, the lowest since early 2024. Outside AI, funding totaled $18B, and only $2B if Waymo is excluded.

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📈 Energy stocks lead the S&P 500 after Middle East escalation

Energy companies have become the top-performing sector in the S&P 500 in 2026. The group is up more than 20% after US operations against Venezuela and recent strikes involving Iran increased geopolitical risk around oil supply.

Markets quickly priced in the possibility of conflict in the region. Oil prices climbed, pushing energy stocks higher before the latest military escalation began.

Now the outlook depends heavily on the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping route that carries about 20% of global oil and gas. Iran has partially closed the strait and launched strikes on energy infrastructure across the region, including facilities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, and Israel.

Higher oil prices can boost producers, but a prolonged disruption could damage the global economy and cut demand. Some analysts estimate prices could reach $200–$300 per barrel if the strait closes for an extended period.

Markets are starting to reflect that uncertainty. After the latest escalation, several major US energy stocks traded flat or lower despite rising oil prices.

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📉 2.5M people say they canceled ChatGPT after Pentagon deal

More than 2.5M people claim they canceled ChatGPT subscriptions after OpenAI’s defense deal. The number comes from quitgpt.org, a website created to organize a boycott.

The site tracks users who say they left the service or plan to stop paying for it. It is unclear how many actually moved to another AI assistant.

Even at 2.5M, the figure equals about 0.3% of ChatGPT’s weekly users.

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💻 OpenAI is building a GitHub alternative

Reuters reports that OpenAI has started developing its own code hosting service similar to GitHub. The project is still in an early stage.

Engineers inside the company reportedly faced frequent issues and limitations while using GitHub, which pushed the team to explore an internal alternative.

There are no details yet on AI features or product scope. The tool could remain internal, though OpenAI is also discussing a possible public release that would put it in direct competition with Microsoft.

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❕ Nvidia signals last investments in OpenAI and Anthropic

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said recent investments in OpenAI and Anthropic will likely be the company’s last in both startups. He pointed to potential IPOs as the main reason for stepping back.

Analysts suggest other factors are also in play. Some note that funding flows between Nvidia and OpenAI often cycle back through large purchases of Nvidia hardware, raising questions about the independence of that growth.

Regulatory scrutiny is another concern. Instead of increasing exposure to a few companies, Nvidia appears to be shifting toward expanding its broader AI ecosystem.

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