The Pentagon has officiallydesignatedAnthropica supply-chain riskafter the two failed to agree on how much control the military should have over its AI models,includingitsuse inautonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance. AsAnthropic’s$200 million contract fell apart, the DoD turned to OpenAI instead,whichaccepted andthen watchedChatGPT uninstalls surge 295%. As the stakes keep rising, the questionremains: how much unrestricted access should the military have to an AI model?
On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into what startups should think about when chasing federal contracts, especially whennobodyseems to knowwhat to do with AIin Washington, and more of the week’s headlines.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- Paramount’s massive deal with Warner Bros, and the Equity crew’s ideas for what the newHBO Max-Paramount+ hybridshould be called
- MyFitnessPal’s acquisition ofCal AI, the calorie-tracking app built by teenagers
- Who dropped$1 billiononPinterest’s AI missionandhowthe company spent it on share buybacks. (Spoiler: Kirsten has thoughts.)
- Anduril is raising again at a reported$60 billionvaluation
- Whether companies should brace themselves fortheSaaSpocalypse, or ifit’sjust another chapter of the AI hype cycle
Subscribe to Equity onYouTube,Apple Podcasts,Overcast,Spotifyand all the casts. Youalso canfollow Equity onXandThreads, at @EquityPod.
Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University.
You can contact or verify outreach from Theresa by emailing [email protected].
Kirsten Korosec is a reporter and editor who has covered the future of transportation from EVs and autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility and in-car tech for more than a decade. She is currently the transportation editor at TechCrunch and co-host of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. She is also co-founder and co-host of the podcast, “The Autonocast.” She previously wrote for Fortune, The Verge, Bloomberg, MIT Technology Review and CBS Interactive.
You can contact or verify outreach from Kirsten by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at kkorosec.07 on Signal.
Anthony Ha is TechCrunch’s weekend editor. Previously, he worked as a tech reporter at Adweek, a senior editor at VentureBeat, a local government reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, and vice president of content at a VC firm. He lives in New York City.
You can contact or verify outreach from Anthony by emailing [email protected].
Sean O’Kane is a reporter who has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the transportation industry, including Tesla and the many startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane.
You can contact or verify outreach from Sean by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at okane.01 on Signal.