Kate Knibbs: So, you went twice? Makena Kelly: Yes, Kate. I went twice. Kate Knibbs: I missed that. Zoë Schiffer: Wait, is the Pentagon Pizza thing a joke about the pizza predicting the war? Makena Kelly: Yes. Zoë Schiffer: Oh, my God. Makena Kelly: Because they had these Pentagon pizza trackers up. When I returned … Read more
The Internal Revenue The service paid Palantir $1.8 million last year to improve a custom tool designed to help the tax agency identify the “highest-value” cases for audits, collection of unpaid taxes, and potential criminal investigations, according to documents WIRED obtained via public records request. When the contract was signed, the IRS said it was … Read more
Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren and Republican senator Josh Hawley are urging the US’s central energy information agency to provide better information on how much electricity data centers actually use. In a joint letter sent to the Energy Information Administration Thursday morning, seen by WIRED, Hawley and Warren press the agency to publicly collect “comprehensive, annual … Read more
Brian Barrett: The irony is my favorite part because I feel like venture capitalists have largely positioned themselves as immune to the effects of AI because they’re very special and surely a machine can— Zoë Schiffer: It’s art, not science. Brian Barrett: Yes. It’s art, not science. Machines can take every job, but not us. … Read more
more than 30 employees from OpenAI and Google, including Google DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean, filed an amicus brief on Monday in support of Anthropic in its legal fight against the US government. “If allowed to proceed, this effort to punish one of the leading US AI companies will undoubtedly have consequences for the United … Read more
Zoë Schiffer: Emil Michael, you should turn off your views on LinkedIn because people can see when they look at your phone. Brian Barrett: Yeah, that’s a tip for Emil Michael if you’re listening. And then, if you listen to Uncanny Valleywhich you should. Leah Feiger: And this is really the Trump official that’s kind … Read more
Several key technology companies signed a nonbinding pledge at the White House on Wednesday that the Trump administration claims will ensure that tech companies do not pass the cost of data centers on to consumers’ utility bills. “Data centers … they need some PR help,” President Donald Trump said at the event. “People think that … Read more
United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth directed the Pentagon to designate Anthropic as a “supply-chain risk” on Friday, sending shockwaves through Silicon Valley and leaving many companies scrambling to understand whether they can keep using one of the industry’s most popular AI models. “Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with … Read more
This week, the Uncanny Valley team dives into the feud that has been brewing between Anthropic and the Pentagon—and what it says about how the government interacts with tech companies. Later, Zoë Schiffer tells us why figuring out whether you are agentic or mimetic has become the new litmus test in Silicon Valley. Plus, we … Read more
This episode of Uncanny Valley covers the people resigning from AI companies and the humans getting hired by AI agents. Plus, we attend a soiree thrown by a conservative women’s magazine. Source link