🗞️The Pentagon threatens Anthropic

...plus Secretary of State Rubio meets with Hungary's PM and a secretive Pentagon competiton

February 16th, 2026

What happened today 🇺🇸,

  • Axios reported that the Pentagon is close to downgrading or cutting off its relationship with Anthropic and potentially labeling the AI firm a “supply chain risk” after months of stalled negotiations over how its Claude models can be used by the military

  • U.S. Secretary of State Rubio met with Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, in Budapest as part of a Central European tour…the visit included signing an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation, highlighting efforts to reduce Hungary's reliance on Russian energy amid Orbán's upcoming April elections

  • NY Governor Kathy Hochul is committing an additional $1.5 billion in state funds to NYC spread over the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years, framing it as a lifeline to stabilize the city’s finances…the package reportedly includes $1 billion this year and $500 million next year

  • A federal judge ordered the National Park Service to restore exhibits about enslaved individuals who lived at the President's House in Philadelphia, which was the temporary executive mansion for Presidents George Washington and John Adams from 1790 to 1800…read more here

  • SpaceX and its AI subsidiary xAI are among a small group of companies selected for a secretive Pentagon competition to build swarming software that can turn battlefield voice commands into digital instructions for coordinating large numbers of drones in the air and at sea

  • Kraken, a leading cryptocurrency exchange with its global headquarters in Wyoming, announced it will sponsor federal "Trump Savings Accounts" for every child born in the state in 2026 by making financial contributions to each account

  • Thomas J. Pritzker announced he has retired as Executive Chairman of Hyatt Hotels Corporation and will not stand for reelection to the board at the 2026 annual shareholders meeting

  • The developer behind the popular open-source autonomous AI agent OpenClaw (aka “ClawdBot”), Peter Steinberger, is joining OpenAI to lead work on the next generation of personal AI agents

  • The stock market was closed today for Presidents’ Day

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Bonus: A look at the fastest growing world economies

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