News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
Anthropic launches Claude Design with Claude Opus 4.7, resolving market timelines
Anthropic launched Claude Design, powered by Claude Opus 4.7, on April 17, 2026. The Polymarket contract for Claude 4.7 release by May 31 is at YES. The April 17 launch directly resolved the release timeline questions across multiple markets. The April 30 market is at YES. The May 31 and June 30 markets are also at 100% YES, since the April 17 release satisfies all three deadlines. Trading activity has been minimal, with no reported face value volume. This makes sense: the release date news directly confirms the market question, leaving no room for speculative positions on these contracts. With all three timeline markets resolved, the contracts themselves are effectively dead. Traders looking for open questions around Anthropic's product roadmap would need to find markets on future releases, such as Claude 5, where outcomes are still uncertain. Watch for Anthropic announcements about Claude 5's release timeline or any new Polymarket contracts tied to upcoming model launches. Changes in U.S. AI export policy could also affect Anthropic's competitive position and create new trading opportunities.
Tesla's $25B capex hike may impact SpaceX IPO plans by June 2026
Tesla's capex increase to $25B for 2026, primarily funding the TERAFAB project, suggests financial strain that could affect SpaceX IPO plans. The market for SpaceX going public by June 30 sits at YES, up from 68% a week ago. Increased capex could also affect the market on whether NVIDIA remains the largest company by June 30, currently at YES. Tesla's push into AI chips could chip away at NVIDIA's market cap lead, a factor traders are weighing as they price the contract. What to watch Trading volume is moderate: $3,658 in combined face value for the SpaceX IPO market and $53,053 for NVIDIA's market cap contract. Actual USDC traded was $2,796 and $38,436, respectively. The largest move in IPO timing was a 2-point spike, showing that even modest order flow can move prices at this liquidity level. Tesla's aggressive capex strategy, especially amid geopolitical tensions, reflects its push toward semiconductor independence. For traders, buying YES on a SpaceX IPO by June 30 at offers a return if it hits. The bet requires confidence that Tesla's cash flow demands won't force a delay. Watch for SEC filings, SpaceX financial disclosures, and Tesla announcements on TERAFAB timelines. These will move the odds.
Anthropic: No "kill switch" for AI in classified settings
Why it matters: The Pentagon designated Anthropic a supply chain risk, contending the AI firm is inappropriately getting involved in how its technology can be used in sensitive military operations. What's inside: Anthropic argues in the filing to a federal appeals court in D.C. that it has no visibility, technical ability or any kind of "kill switch" for its technology once it's deployed. * The company also says the Pentagon has the opportunity to test models before deployment. Catch up quick: The company's usage policies include no Claude for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance, red lines that the Pentagon dismissed as red herrings and led to the dispute. * The D.C. court previously rejected Anthropic's request for a pause on the supply chain risk designation. A judge in California for an ongoing parallel case granted Anthropic's request. * The split decision means Anthropic can't participate in new Pentagon contracts, but can continue working with other government agencies while the litigation plays out. Friction point: The Pentagon is arguing in court that Anthropic is a supply chain risk as the Trump administration moves to deploy its new Mythos model across the federal government. * Now, agency heads are scrambling to figure out how they can protect their systems from cyber attacks using Mythos, potentially complicating the administration's argument that the company poses a national security risk. What's next: A hearing is scheduled for May 19.
Mars or the moon or AI? Elon Musk's changing goals for SpaceX
LOS ANGELES - For years, SpaceX's mission was clear: Get humans to Mars. "The most powerful thing we could do is establish a second, self-sustaining civilisation outside of Earth," SpaceX's chief executive officer Elon Musk told Forbes in 2003, a year after founding the company. "And the only place that's really feasible is Mars." As a reminder of that goal, SpaceX has a mural in a cafe at its Hawthorne, California, campus featuring the progression of human settlement on the Red Planet. The company also sells "Occupy Mars" T-shirts, which Mr Musk has regularly worn in public. But over the last six months, Mr Musk has shifted SpaceX's priorities. Though the tech mogul once forecast that humans would take off for Mars as early as 2024, he has de-emphasised reaching the planet. Instead, SpaceX on April 21 said it had struck a deal with artificial intelligence start-up Cursor that could result in its acquiring the young company for US$60 billion (S$76.56 billion). And Mr Musk, 54, has proposed other moonshots that could drive more attention and investment to SpaceX as it prepares for one of the largest-ever initial public offerings. Among his pronouncements are AI data centres that could orbit Earth, moon-based factories and an AI chip manufacturing plant, all of which will contribute to a utopian future where humans never have to work, he has said. This week, some investors and fund managers are expected to get a closer view of those plans when they visit SpaceX's facilities in Texas and Tennessee before the IPO, one person who was invited said. Some investors were also scheduled to visit SpaceX's Hawthorne campus next week, the person said. The changing goals have caused whiplash. "It's a hallucinogenic business plan," said CEO Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki, an investment firm that owns SpaceX shares. He added that Musk "has lost his mind" as he tries to drum up excitement for the public offering. Shifting aims before an IPO would be unthinkable for most corporate leaders, who tend to focus on their core businesses and try to project steadiness to potential investors. Mr Musk's new goals for SpaceX raise questions about how much shareholders can rely on his word, corporate governance experts said. Yet the billionaire has an uncanny ability to bring investors along for the ride, they said. "In most other corporations where the CEO makes promises that do not prove out, investors tend to react in an adverse way, and they usually do not last long," said Boston College law professor Brian Quinn. But with Musk, he said "people believe him or want to believe him". In online posts, Mr Musk has acknowledged SpaceX's "priority shift". But he has said the new goals do not take away from the Mars plan and are stepping stones to making humans a multiplanetary species. "The capabilities we unlock by making space-based data centres a reality will fund and enable self-growing bases on the moon, an entire civilisation on Mars and ultimately expansion to the universe," Mr Musk wrote in a February letter to SpaceX employees. Mr Musk has a history of making bold predictions that do not materialise. But while his timelines can be imprecise, his long-term visions have delivered huge opportunities, his supporters said. "Elon is always directionally correct," said Space X investor Peter Diamandis, who is also the founder of the XPrize Foundation, a non-profit that supports technological development. "His time frames may be off, but he'll eventually get there." Mr Musk and a SpaceX spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. Over the years, Mr Musk has acknowledged his lack of business plans and his reliance on gut instinct. Eight former SpaceX executives and employees, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they feared retribution, told The New York Times that during their times at the company, they had become accustomed to Mr Musk's whipsaw directives and his use of social media to make announcements or product changes. In 2014, Mr Musk announced on Twitter, now known as X, that SpaceX would hold an event to unveil the second version of its Dragon capsule, a spacecraft meant to ferry passengers and cargo from orbit, two former employees said. The vehicle was not near completion, so his team scrambled to pull together a full design and event, the former employees said. "We want to take a big step in technology and really create something that was a step change in spacecraft technology," Mr Musk said at the event, where he unveiled a vehicle that could land anywhere on Earth using jet propulsion. (SpaceX later scrapped the idea in favour of parachute-based landing after Mr Musk determined that Dragon's jet propulsion was not practical, three of the people told the Times.) That same year, Mr Musk became interested in satellite-based internet and began meeting with satellite start-up OneWeb founder Greg Wyler, said two people familiar with the discussions, who requested anonymity out of fear of retribution. The relationship never came to fruition, and Mr Musk set out on his own, opening a SpaceX engineering office in Redmond, Washington, in 2015 to develop internet satellites. The resulting service, Starlink, underwent layoffs as SpaceX invested in research and development. But the bet paid off: Starlink now has 10 million subscribers and generated US$8 billion in sales in 2024, according to documents obtained by the Times. Now Mr Musk appears to be trying to replicate the Starlink playbook, but with data centres in space. SpaceX had not previously focused on AI, much less on orbital data centres, three of the former SpaceX executives said. But after Google and others began discussing orbital data centres in 2025, Mr Musk declared in October that "SpaceX will be doing this". In January, SpaceX filed paperwork with the Federal Communications Commission to potentially launch one million satellites for an "orbital data centre system". A week later, it announced a merger with xAI, Mr Musk's AI start-up. "In 36 months, but probably closer to 30 months, the most economically compelling place to put AI will be in space," Mr Musk said in a recent podcast appearance. In 2026, more than 20 engineers and researchers have left xAI, whose products have lagged behind those of OpenAI, Anthropic and Google in use. Mr Musk appears eager to push SpaceX further into AI. In the deal with Cursor announced on April 21, SpaceX said the combination with the young AI company, which makes code-writing software, would "allow us to build the world's most useful" AI models. Another new goal is the moon. While two of the former SpaceX executives said Mr Musk had previously dismissed landing on the moon because it was not a new achievement, he said in February that the company had "shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the moon". With the success of NASA's recent Artemis II mission and the agency's commitment to further moon exploration, Mr Musk may see an immediate financial opportunity, the former SpaceX executives said. NYTIMES
Anthropic has surged to a trillion-dollar valuation on secondary markets, overtaking OpenAI.
Desperate buyers are in a race to secure a dwindling supply of secondary shares in Anthropic, driving the AI company's valuation on some sites to $1 trillion, a price that would have seemed unthinkable even a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, traders Business Insider spoke with are seeing slumping demand for OpenAI, which is now trading at a discount to Anthropic, despite OpenAI being valued at $852 billion, more than twice Anthropic's valuation in their most recent funding rounds. Anthropic's valuation now hovers at around $1 trillion on Forge Global, a leading private marketplace exchange, its CEO Kelly Rodriques told Business Insider. OpenAI's valuation on the platform is $880 billion, a slight uptick from its March funding round. Since Anthropic and OpenAI are not yet public companies, the vast majority of investors are forced to buy via secondary markets, with existing stock in the companies sold by current or former employees or early investors. Neither company responded to a request for comment. One Anthropic shareholder recently offered to unload shares at a $1.15 trillion valuation, according to Ken Sawyer, cofounder and managing partner at Saints Capital, a venture secondary firm. A "very well known growth fund" offered to buy Anthropic shares at a $1.05 trillion valuation, Jesse Leimgruber, founder of OpenHome, posted on X this week. "Absolutely wild," he said. Some interested buyers have gotten more creative, offering to sell their home in exchange for Anthropic shares at a valuation above $800 billion. It was just three months ago when Anthropic closed a funding round led by GIC and Coatue, valuing the company at $380 billion. Since then, a feverish demand has overtaken Silicon Valley for shares in Anthropic, as investors have been wowed by its torrid revenue growth and momentum around its AI-powered coding assistant, Claude code. "It's been an epic run for Anthropic," said Glen Anderson, CEO of Rainmaker Securities, a merchant bank focused on private securities transactions. "Everybody wants to be part of a generational opportunity in AI, and right now, Anthropic is in the pole position." The company has fielded multiple offers from VCs valuing it at as much as $800 billion in recent weeks, Business Insider reported last week. Anderson just received an offer to buy shares in Anthropic at a $960 billion valuation, a price he says would have been unthinkable even a few weeks ago. But before he can even evaluate the deal, he expects it to be snapped up by someone else. "We get an offer, and then within a day someone else has already bought it," he said. "There are almost no sellers." Those fortunate enough to own Anthropic shares say they are getting hounded with multiple offers a day to sell. "We receive daily offers from the ridiculous to the sublime," said Bradley Horowitz, a general partner at Wisdom Ventures, which was an early investor in both Anthropic and OpenAI. "I barely open those emails because we're not interested. We are playing a long game." Much of the demand is driven by FOMO more than market fundamentals, with investors at venture firms and family offices feeling like they need to own Anthropic shares no matter the price, according to Anderson. "It's almost less about the return than being about to say they're an Anthropic investor," he said. "That drives up the price." Meanwhile, Anderson has seen little demand for OpenAI shares this year, with bids lower than its last round of $852 billion. "OpenAI has been a very tepid market," he said. "The sentiment has certainly shifted to Anthropic.
Anthropic seeks to debunk Pentagon's claims about its control over AI technology in military systems
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anthropic on Wednesday told an appeals court that it can't manipulate its artificial intelligence tool Claude once it is deployed in classified Pentagon military networks -- an assertion aimed at debunking the Trump administration's attempt to brand the rapidly growing technology company as a supply chain risk. The statement made as part of 96-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. provided a glimpse at the arguments that Anthropic's lawyers intend to make as part of a lawsuit filed last month in the fallout of a contract dispute over how AI technology can be used in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans. San Francisco-based Anthropic contends the Pentagon is illegally retaliating against it by stigmatizing it with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries. Earlier this month, the appeals court rejected Anthropic's request for an order that would have blocked the Pentagon's actions while the panel is still collecting evidence about the case. Anthropic's new filing is meant to directly address some of the court's questions ahead of oral arguments scheduled for May 19. The Trump administration will have an opportunity to file its response before that hearing. Anthropic's temporary setback in the Washington case came after it already had prevailed in a separate case focused on the same issues in San Francisco federal court. That decision prompted the Trump administration to remove the stigmatizing labels from Anthropic, according court filings. But the lack of a similar order in the parallel case in Washington continues to cast a cloud over Anthropic, whose AI tools have turned it into a rising tech star along with rival OpenAI. After the Pentagon canceled a $200 million contract with Anthropic in the wake of their disagreement, OpenAI struck a deal to provide its technology to the U.S. military.
Anthropic seeks to debunk Pentagon's claims about its control over AI technology in military systems
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anthropic on Wednesday told an appeals court that it can't manipulate its artificial intelligence tool Claude once it is deployed in classified Pentagon military networks -- an assertion aimed at debunking the Trump administration's attempt to brand the rapidly growing technology company as a supply chain risk. The statement made as part of 96-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. provided a glimpse at the arguments that Anthropic's lawyers intend to make as part of a lawsuit filed last month in the fallout of a contract dispute over how AI technology can be used in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans. San Francisco-based Anthropic contends the Pentagon is illegally retaliating against it by stigmatizing it with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries. Earlier this month, the appeals court rejected Anthropic's request for an order that would have blocked the Pentagon's actions while the panel is still collecting evidence about the case. Anthropic's new filing is meant to directly address some of the court's questions ahead of oral arguments scheduled for May 19. The Trump administration will have an opportunity to file its response before that hearing. Anthropic's temporary setback in the Washington case came after it already had prevailed in a separate case focused on the same issues in San Francisco federal court. That decision prompted the Trump administration to remove the stigmatizing labels from Anthropic, according court filings. But the lack of a similar order in the parallel case in Washington continues to cast a cloud over Anthropic, whose AI tools have turned it into a rising tech star along with rival OpenAI. After the Pentagon canceled a $200 million contract with Anthropic in the wake of their disagreement, OpenAI struck a deal to provide its technology to the U.S. military.
XAI Madison Equity Premium Income Fund Will Host its Q1 2026 Quarterly Webinar on May 5th, 2026
CHICAGO, April 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XAI Madison Equity Premium Income Fund (NYSE: MCN) (the "Fund") today announced that it plans to host the Fund's Quarterly Webinar on May 5, 2026 at 12:00 pm (Eastern Time). Kimberly Flynn, President at XA Investments ("XAI") will moderate the Q&A style webinar with Ray Di Bernardo and Drew Justman, Portfolio Managers at Madison Investments. TO JOIN VIA WEB: Please go to the Knowledge Bank section of xainvestments.com or click here to find the online registration link. TO USE YOUR TELEPHONE : After joining via web, if you prefer to use your phone for audio, you must select that option and call in using a number below, based on your current location. Dial : (312)-626-6799 or (646)-558-8656 or (267)-831-0333 or (720)-928-9299 or (213)-338-8477 Webinar ID : 890 6333 2224 REPLAY: A replay of the webinar will be available in the Knowledge Bank section of xainvestments.com. The Fund's primary investment objective is to provide a high level of current income and gains, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The Fund pursues its investment objectives by investing in a portfolio consisting primarily of high quality, large and mid-capitalization stocks that are, in the view of the Fund's Investment sub-adviser, selling at a reasonable price in relation to their long-term earnings growth rates. The Fund will, on an ongoing and consistent basis, sell covered call options on its portfolio stocks to seek to generate current earnings from option premiums. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives. The Fund's common shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MCN. About XA Investments XA Investments LLC ("XAI") is a Chicago-based firm founded by XMS Capital Partners in 2016. XAI serves as the investment adviser for two listed closed-end funds and an interval closed-end fund, respectively the XAI Octagon Floating Rate & Alternative Income Trust, the XAI Madison Equity Premium Income Fund, and the Octagon XAI CLO Income Fund. In addition to investment advisory services, the firm also provides investment fund structuring and consulting services focused on registered closed-end funds to meet institutional client needs. XAI offers custom product build and consulting services, including product development and market research, marketing and fund management. XAI believes that the investing public can benefit from new vehicles to access a broad range of alternative investment strategies and managers. For more information, please visit www.xainvestments.com . About XMS Capital Partners XMS Capital Partners, LLC, established in 2006, is a global, independent, financial services firm providing M&A, corporate advisory and asset management services to clients. It has offices in Chicago, Boston and London. For more information, please visit www.xmscapital.com. About Madison Investments Madison Investments (Madison) is an independent investment management firm based in Madison, Wisconsin. The firm was founded in 1974, has approximately $28 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2026, and is recognized as one of the nation's top investment firms. The firm has managed covered call strategies for over 20 years through various market cycles. Madison offers domestic fixed income, U.S. and international equity, covered call, multi-asset, insurance, and credit union investment management strategies. For more information, please visit www.madisonfunds.com. XAI does not provide tax advice; please consult a professional tax advisor regarding your specific tax situation. Income may be subject to state and local taxes, as well as the federal alternative minimum tax. Investors should consider the investment objectives and policies, risk considerations, charges and expenses of the Trust carefully before investing. For more information on the Trust, please visit the Trust's webpage at www.xainvestments.com. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the laws of such state or jurisdiction. Paralel Distributors, LLC - Distributor Media Contact: Kimberly Flynn, President XA Investments LLC Phone: 312-374-6931 Email: [email protected] www.xainvestments.com
Anthropic seeks to debunk Pentagon's claims about its control over AI technology in military systems
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anthropic on Wednesday told an appeals court that it can't manipulate its artificial intelligence tool Claude once it is deployed in classified Pentagon military networks -- an assertion aimed at debunking the Trump administration's attempt to brand the rapidly growing technology company as a supply chain risk. The statement made as part of 96-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. provided a glimpse at the arguments that Anthropic's lawyers intend to make as part of a lawsuit filed last month in the fallout of a contract dispute over how AI technology can be used in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans. San Francisco-based Anthropic contends the Pentagon is illegally retaliating against it by stigmatizing it with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries. Earlier this month, the appeals court rejected Anthropic's request for an order that would have blocked the Pentagon's actions while the panel is still collecting evidence about the case. Anthropic's new filing is meant to directly address some of the court's questions ahead of oral arguments scheduled for May 19. The Trump administration will have an opportunity to file its response before that hearing. Anthropic's temporary setback in the Washington case came after it already had prevailed in a separate case focused on the same issues in San Francisco federal court. That decision prompted the Trump administration to remove the stigmatizing labels from Anthropic, according court filings. But the lack of a similar order in the parallel case in Washington continues to cast a cloud over Anthropic, whose AI tools have turned it into a rising tech star along with rival OpenAI. After the Pentagon canceled a $200 million contract with Anthropic in the wake of their disagreement, OpenAI struck a deal to provide its technology to the U.S. military.
Anthropic seeks to debunk Pentagon's claims about its control over AI technology in military systems
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anthropic on Wednesday told an appeals court that it can't manipulate its artificial intelligence tool Claude once it is deployed in classified Pentagon military networks -- an assertion aimed at debunking the Trump administration's attempt to brand the rapidly growing technology company as a supply chain risk. The statement made as part of 96-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. provided a glimpse at the arguments that Anthropic's lawyers intend to make as part of a lawsuit filed last month in the fallout of a contract dispute over how AI technology can be used in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans. San Francisco-based Anthropic contends the Pentagon is illegally retaliating against it by stigmatizing it with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries. Earlier this month, the appeals court rejected Anthropic's request for an order that would have blocked the Pentagon's actions while the panel is still collecting evidence about the case. Anthropic's new filing is meant to directly address some of the court's questions ahead of oral arguments scheduled for May 19. The Trump administration will have an opportunity to file its response before that hearing. Anthropic's temporary setback in the Washington case came after it already had prevailed in a separate case focused on the same issues in San Francisco federal court. That decision prompted the Trump administration to remove the stigmatizing labels from Anthropic, according court filings. But the lack of a similar order in the parallel case in Washington continues to cast a cloud over Anthropic, whose AI tools have turned it into a rising tech star along with rival OpenAI. After the Pentagon canceled a $200 million contract with Anthropic in the wake of their disagreement, OpenAI struck a deal to provide its technology to the U.S. military.
Anthropic argues using music lyrics to train AI is fair use in motion for summary judgment | MLex | Specialist news and analysis on legal risk and regulation
( April 23, 2026, 00:13 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: Anthropic argued in a motion for summary judgment that using the lyrics to music publishers' songs, along with billions of other copyrighted works, to train its artificial intelligence model Claude is "transformative" fair use. Music publishers' claim under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act also fails as a matter of law, Anthropic said. "Even after almost two years of discovery, Publishers have not identified a single work in suit from which Anthropic removed CMI. Nor have they shown that Anthropic did so with the double scienter the DMCA requires."See attached motion.... Prepare for tomorrow's regulatory change, today MLex identifies risk to business wherever it emerges, with specialist reporters across the globe providing exclusive news and deep-dive analysis on the proposals, probes, enforcement actions and rulings that matter to your organization and clients, now and in the longer term. Know what others in the room don't, with features including: * Daily newsletters for Antitrust, M&A, Trade, Data Privacy & Security, Technology, AI and more * Custom alerts on specific filters including geographies, industries, topics and companies to suit your practice needs * Predictive analysis from expert journalists across North America, the UK and Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific * Curated case files bringing together news, analysis and source documents in a single timeline Experience MLex today with a 14-day free trial.
No 'kill switch' to block US military's use of Claude, Anthropic tells DC Circuit | MLex | Specialist news and analysis on legal risk and regulation
By Amy Miller and Mike Swift ( April 23, 2026, 00:10 GMT | Insight) -- Anthropic cannot control how the military uses its technology, the artificial intelligence company told a US appeals court Wednesday. Once Anthropic's large language model Claude is deployed by the Defense Department, the company no longer has access and there is no "kill switch" that the company could deploy, the company said in its opening brief to the court.The US government's claim that Anthropic can control how the military uses its technology is false, the artificial intelligence company told the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Wednesday.... Prepare for tomorrow's regulatory change, today MLex identifies risk to business wherever it emerges, with specialist reporters across the globe providing exclusive news and deep-dive analysis on the proposals, probes, enforcement actions and rulings that matter to your organization and clients, now and in the longer term. Know what others in the room don't, with features including: * Daily newsletters for Antitrust, M&A, Trade, Data Privacy & Security, Technology, AI and more * Custom alerts on specific filters including geographies, industries, topics and companies to suit your practice needs * Predictive analysis from expert journalists across North America, the UK and Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific * Curated case files bringing together news, analysis and source documents in a single timeline Experience MLex today with a 14-day free trial.
Anthropic seeks to debunk Pentagon's claims about its control over AI technology in military systems
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anthropic on Wednesday told an appeals court that it can't manipulate its artificial intelligence tool Claude once it is deployed in classified Pentagon military networks -- an assertion aimed at debunking the Trump administration's attempt to brand the rapidly growing technology company as a supply chain risk. The statement made as part of 96-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. provided a glimpse at the arguments that Anthropic's lawyers intend to make as part of a lawsuit filed last month in the fallout of a contract dispute over how AI technology can be used in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans. San Francisco-based Anthropic contends the Pentagon is illegally retaliating against it by stigmatizing it with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries. Earlier this month, the appeals court rejected Anthropic's request for an order that would have blocked the Pentagon's actions while the panel is still collecting evidence about the case. Anthropic's new filing is meant to directly address some of the court's questions ahead of oral arguments scheduled for May 19. The Trump administration will have an opportunity to file its response before that hearing. Anthropic's temporary setback in the Washington case came after it already had prevailed in a separate case focused on the same issues in San Francisco federal court. That decision prompted the Trump administration to remove the stigmatizing labels from Anthropic, according court filings. But the lack of a similar order in the parallel case in Washington continues to cast a cloud over Anthropic, whose AI tools have turned it into a rising tech star along with rival OpenAI. After the Pentagon canceled a $200 million contract with Anthropic in the wake of their disagreement, OpenAI struck a deal to provide its technology to the U.S. military.
Anthropic Seeks to Debunk Pentagon's Claims About Its Control Over AI Technology in Military Systems
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anthropic on Wednesday told an appeals court that it can't manipulate its artificial intelligence tool Claude once it is deployed in classified Pentagon military networks -- an assertion aimed at debunking the Trump administration's attempt to brand the rapidly growing technology company as a supply chain risk. The statement made as part of 96-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. provided a glimpse at the arguments that Anthropic's lawyers intend to make as part of a lawsuit filed last month in the fallout of a contract dispute over how AI technology can be used in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans. San Francisco-based Anthropic contends the Pentagon is illegally retaliating against it by stigmatizing it with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries. Earlier this month, the appeals court rejected Anthropic's request for an order that would have blocked the Pentagon's actions while the panel is still collecting evidence about the case. Anthropic's new filing is meant to directly address some of the court's questions ahead of oral arguments scheduled for May 19. The Trump administration will have an opportunity to file its response before that hearing. Anthropic's temporary setback in the Washington case came after it already had prevailed in a separate case focused on the same issues in San Francisco federal court. That decision prompted the Trump administration to remove the stigmatizing labels from Anthropic, according court filings. But the lack of a similar order in the parallel case in Washington continues to cast a cloud over Anthropic, whose AI tools have turned it into a rising tech star along with rival OpenAI. After the Pentagon canceled a $200 million contract with Anthropic in the wake of their disagreement, OpenAI struck a deal to provide its technology to the U.S. military.
SpaceX says it can buy AI coding tool Cursor for $60B later this year
SAN FRANCISCO -- SpaceX says it has the rights to buy artificial intelligence coding tool Cursor for $60 billion later this year as Elon Musk's space exploration and AI company looks for ways to compete with rivals Anthropic and OpenAI ahead of a planned Wall Street debut. SpaceX said that, alternatively, it could pay $10 billion to "work together" with Cursor. SpaceX announced the deal Tuesday on the social platform X, which along with the AI chatbot Grok is part of a constellation of properties that Musk has merged into his rocket company. Cursor, made by San Francisco startup Anysphere, is a popular AI coding assistant. What SpaceX describes as Cursor's wide "distribution to expert software engineers" is likely part of what makes it attractive to Musk's company, giving it access to a new customer base. Cursor said its new partnership with SpaceX subsidiary xAI will enable it to build future AI products using xAI's massive AI data center complex Colossus, based in Memphis, Tennessee. "We've wanted to push our training efforts much further, but we've been bottlenecked by compute," Cursor said in a statement on X, which didn't mention the possibility of being acquired. "With this partnership, our team will leverage xAI's Colossus infrastructure to dramatically scale up the intelligence of our models." Cursor, which started in 2022, helped sparked a trend called "vibe coding" as AI coding assistants have become increasingly capable of doing the work of computer programming. Cursor competes with other coding tools like Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex but also has relied heavily on partnerships with those larger AI research companies for the foundations of its technology. It was Cursor's Composer, combined with Anthropic's Claude Sonnet, that a prominent AI researcher was playing with for weekend projects when he coined the phrase "vibe coding" in early 2025.
Anthropic seeks to debunk Pentagon's claims about its control over AI technology in military systems
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anthropic on Wednesday told an appeals court that it can't manipulate its artificial intelligence tool Claude once it is deployed in classified Pentagon military networks -- an assertion aimed at debunking the Trump administration's attempt to brand the rapidly growing technology company as a supply chain risk. The statement made as part of 96-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. provided a glimpse at the arguments that Anthropic's lawyers intend to make as part of a lawsuit filed last month in the fallout of a contract dispute over how AI technology can be used in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans. San Francisco-based Anthropic contends the Pentagon is illegally retaliating against it by stigmatizing it with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries. Earlier this month, the appeals court rejected Anthropic's request for an order that would have blocked the Pentagon's actions while the panel is still collecting evidence about the case. Anthropic's new filing is meant to directly address some of the court's questions ahead of oral arguments scheduled for May 19. The Trump administration will have an opportunity to file its response before that hearing. Anthropic's temporary setback in the Washington case came after it already had prevailed in a separate case focused on the same issues in San Francisco federal court. That decision prompted the Trump administration to remove the stigmatizing labels from Anthropic, according court filings. But the lack of a similar order in the parallel case in Washington continues to cast a cloud over Anthropic, whose AI tools have turned it into a rising tech star along with rival OpenAI. After the Pentagon canceled a $200 million contract with Anthropic in the wake of their disagreement, OpenAI struck a deal to provide its technology to the U.S. military.
Anthropic seeks to debunk Pentagon's claims about its control over AI technology in military systems
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anthropic on Wednesday told an appeals court that it can't manipulate its artificial intelligence tool Claude once it is deployed in classified Pentagon military networks -- an assertion aimed at debunking the Trump administration's attempt to brand the rapidly growing technology company as a supply chain risk. The statement made as part of 96-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. provided a glimpse at the arguments that Anthropic's lawyers intend to make as part of a lawsuit filed last month in the fallout of a contract dispute over how AI technology can be used in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans. San Francisco-based Anthropic contends the Pentagon is illegally retaliating against it by stigmatizing it with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries. Earlier this month, the appeals court rejected Anthropic's request for an order that would have blocked the Pentagon's actions while the panel is still collecting evidence about the case. Anthropic's new filing is meant to directly address some of the court's questions ahead of oral arguments scheduled for May 19. The Trump administration will have an opportunity to file its response before that hearing. Anthropic's temporary setback in the Washington case came after it already had prevailed in a separate case focused on the same issues in San Francisco federal court. That decision prompted the Trump administration to remove the stigmatizing labels from Anthropic, according court filings. But the lack of a similar order in the parallel case in Washington continues to cast a cloud over Anthropic, whose AI tools have turned it into a rising tech star along with rival OpenAI. After the Pentagon canceled a $200 million contract with Anthropic in the wake of their disagreement, OpenAI struck a deal to provide its technology to the U.S. military.
Anthropic seeks to debunk Pentagon's claims about its control over AI technology in military systems
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Anthropic on Wednesday told an appeals court that it can't manipulate its artificial intelligence tool Claude once it is deployed in classified Pentagon military networks -- an assertion aimed at debunking the Trump administration's attempt to brand the rapidly growing technology company as a supply chain risk. The statement made as part of 96-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. provided a glimpse at the arguments that Anthropic's lawyers intend to make as part of a lawsuit filed last month in the fallout of a contract dispute over how AI technology can be used in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans. San Francisco-based Anthropic contends the Pentagon is illegally retaliating against it by stigmatizing it with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries. Earlier this month, the appeals court rejected Anthropic's request for an order that would have blocked the Pentagon's actions while the panel is still collecting evidence about the case. Anthropic's new filing is meant to directly address some of the court's questions ahead of oral arguments scheduled for May 19. The Trump administration will have an opportunity to file its response before that hearing. Anthropic's temporary setback in the Washington case came after it already had prevailed in a separate case focused on the same issues in San Francisco federal court. That decision prompted the Trump administration to remove the stigmatizing labels from Anthropic, according court filings. But the lack of a similar order in the parallel case in Washington continues to cast a cloud over Anthropic, whose AI tools have turned it into a rising tech star along with rival OpenAI. After the Pentagon canceled a $200 million contract with Anthropic in the wake of their disagreement, OpenAI struck a deal to provide its technology to the U.S. military.
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 25 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB
SpaceX will launch its 40th Starlink mission of the year when its Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Vandenberg Space Force Base Wednesday night. The Starlink 17-14 mission will add another 25 broadband internet satellites to the company's low Earth orbit constellation, which consists of more than 10,200 spacecraft. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 7:55 p.m. PDT (10:55 p.m. EDT / 0255 UTC). The rocket will fly on a south-southwesterly trajectory upon leaving the pad. Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to liftoff. SpaceX will launch the mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number 1100. This will be its fifth flight following the launches of NROL-105 along with three other batches of Starlink satellites. A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1100 is set to land on the drone ship, 'Of Course I Still Love You'. If successful, this will be the 192nd booster landing on this vessel and the 602nd booster landing to date for SpaceX.
Mars or the Moon or AI? Elon Musk's Changing Goals for SpaceX.
LOS ANGELES -- For years, SpaceX's mission was clear: Get humans to Mars. "The most powerful thing we could do is establish a second, self-sustaining civilization outside of Earth," Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO, told Forbes in 2003, a year after founding the company. "And the only place that's really feasible is Mars." As a reminder of that goal, SpaceX has a mural in a cafe at its Hawthorne, California, campus featuring the progression of human settlement on the Red Planet. The company also sells "Occupy Mars" T-shirts, which Musk has regularly worn in public. But over the last six months, Musk has shifted SpaceX's priorities. Though the tech mogul once forecast that humans would take off for Mars as early as 2024, he has de-emphasized reaching the planet. Instead, SpaceX on Tuesday said it had struck a deal with artificial intelligence startup Cursor that could result in its acquiring the young company for $60 billion. And Musk, 54, has proposed other moonshots that could drive more attention and investment to SpaceX as it prepares for one of the largest-ever initial public offerings. Among his pronouncements are AI data centers that could orbit Earth, moon-based factories and an AI chip manufacturing plant, all of which will contribute to a utopian future where humans never have to work, he has said. This week, some investors and fund managers are expected to get a closer view of those plans when they visit SpaceX's facilities in Texas and Tennessee before the IPO, one person who was invited said. Some investors were also scheduled to visit SpaceX's Hawthorne campus next week, the person said. The changing goals have caused whiplash. "It's a hallucinogenic business plan," said Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki, an investment firm that owns SpaceX shares. He added that Musk "has lost his mind" as he tries to drum up excitement for the public offering. Shifting aims before an IPO would be unthinkable for most corporate leaders, who tend to focus on their core businesses and try to project steadiness to potential investors. Musk's new goals for SpaceX raise questions about how much shareholders can rely on his word, corporate governance experts said. Yet the billionaire has an uncanny ability to bring investors along for the ride, they said. "In most other corporations where the CEO makes promises that do not prove out, investors tend to react in an adverse way, and they usually do not last long," said Brian Quinn, a law professor at Boston College. But with Musk, he said, "people believe him or want to believe him." In online posts, Musk has acknowledged SpaceX's "priority shift." But he has said the new goals do not take away from the Mars plan and are steppingstones to making humans a multiplanetary species. "The capabilities we unlock by making space-based data centers a reality will fund and enable self-growing bases on the moon, an entire civilization on Mars and ultimately expansion to the universe," Musk wrote in a February letter to SpaceX employees. Musk has a history of making bold predictions that do not materialize. But while his timelines can be imprecise, his long-term visions have delivered huge opportunities, his supporters said. "Elon is always directionally correct," said Peter Diamandis, a SpaceX investor and the founder of the XPrize Foundation, a nonprofit that supports technological development. "His time frames may be off, but he'll eventually get there." Musk and a SpaceX spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. Over the years, Musk has acknowledged his lack of business plans and his reliance on gut instinct. Eight former SpaceX executives and employees, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they feared retribution, told The New York Times that during their times at the company, they had become accustomed to Musk's whipsaw directives and his use of social media to make announcements or product changes. In 2014, Musk announced on Twitter, now known as X, that SpaceX would hold an event to unveil the second version of its Dragon capsule, a spacecraft meant to ferry passengers and cargo from orbit, two former employees said. The vehicle was not near completion, so his team scrambled to pull together a full design and event, the former employees said. "We want to take a big step in technology and really create something that was a step change in spacecraft technology," Musk said at the event, where he unveiled a vehicle that could land anywhere on Earth using jet propulsion. (SpaceX later scrapped the idea in favor of parachute-based landing after Musk determined that Dragon's jet propulsion wasn't practical, three of the people told the Times.) That same year, Musk became interested in satellite-based internet and began meeting with Greg Wyler, the founder of OneWeb, a satellite startup, said two people familiar with the discussions, who requested anonymity out of fear of retribution. The relationship never came to fruition, and Musk set out on his own, opening a SpaceX engineering office in Redmond, Washington, in 2015 to develop internet satellites. The resulting service, Starlink, underwent layoffs as SpaceX invested in research and development. But the bet paid off: Starlink now has 10 million subscribers and generated $8 billion in sales in 2024, according to documents obtained by the Times. Now Musk appears to be trying to replicate the Starlink playbook, but with data centers in space. SpaceX had not previously focused on AI, much less on orbital data centers, three of the former SpaceX executives said. But after Google and others began discussing orbital data centers last year, Musk declared in October that "SpaceX will be doing this." In January, SpaceX filed paperwork with the Federal Communications Commission to potentially launch 1 million satellites for an "orbital data center system." A week later, it announced a merger with xAI, Musk's AI startup. (BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.) "In 36 months, but probably closer to 30 months, the most economically compelling place to put AI will be in space," Musk said in a recent podcast appearance. This year, more than 20 engineers and researchers have left xAI, whose products have lagged behind those of OpenAI, Anthropic and Google in use. (END OPTIONAL TRIM.) Musk appears eager to push SpaceX further into AI. In the deal with Cursor announced Tuesday, SpaceX said the combination with the young AI company, which makes code-writing software, would "allow us to build the world's most useful" AI models. Another new goal is the moon. While two of the former SpaceX executives said Musk had previously dismissed landing on the moon because it was not a new achievement, he said in February that the company had "shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the moon." With the success of NASA's recent Artemis II mission and the agency's commitment to further moon exploration, Musk may see an immediate financial opportunity, the former SpaceX executives said. (STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL MATERIAL FOLLOWS.) SpaceX will "strive to build a Mars city and begin doing so in about 5 to 7 years, but the overriding priority is securing the future of civilization and the moon is faster," Musk posted Feb. 8. That month, he also spoke to some SpaceX employees about building lunar AI satellite factories and launching those satellites into orbit using a space catapult, according to a recording of the employee meeting obtained by the Times.
