Dave Lee
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Column: Sam Altman’s Sloppiness Works in Anthropic’s Favor

On Monday, OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman, facing pressure internally and out for the deal he reached with the Pentagon to supplant rival Anthropic, conceded he may have rushed into the agreement and was looking to make some amendments. In a memo to staff that Altman subsequently shared on X, his half-baked thinking was on full display. Reading between the lines, Altman appears to be aware he made a severe miscalculation.

Sam Altman’s Sloppiness Works in Anthropic’s Favorbloomberg.com

Column: OpenAI Steps Over a Red Line Anthropic Refused to Cross

After announcing a sudden and surprising deal with the Pentagon, OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman moved quickly this weekend to show he had won meaningful concessions from military leaders. He hadn’t. Whether through naivete or disregard, Altman has quickly leaped over the ethical and practical red lines that his company’s rival, Anthropic, wasn’t prepared to cross.

OpenAI Steps Over a Red Line Anthropic Refused to Crossbloomberg.com

Column: Nvidia’s 75% Margin Gives AI Rivals Something to Aim For

Preempted by its customers, Nvidia thus needed its own fresh good news to trump what investors already knew. Hello, margins. Adjusted gross margin in the November-January period was 75.2%, the highest it has been since the second half of 2024. The company forecasts that number to be roughly the same in the current quarter. What’s unclear is just how long Nvidia can maintain this extraordinary profitability as the AI landscape matures.

Nvidia’s 75% Margin Gives AI Rivals Something to Aim Forbloomberg.com

nvidiaai

Column: Anthropic Should Stand Its Ground Against the Pentagon

From several angles, pressure is being applied on Anthropic to fall in line. In Tuesday’s meeting, Amodei must state it plainly: It is not “woke” to want to avoid accidentally killing innocent people. This isn’t a case of an arms maker dictating how the Pentagon must use a weapon it has purchased or against which target. No, this is a responsible company making sure a tool bought for one purpose won’t be recklessly used for another.

Anthropic Should Stand Its Ground Against the Pentagonbloomberg.com

Column: Meta Is Wrong to Try to Sneak Into Privacy Intrusion

Executives will probably also argue that limits to the technology can reduce the possibility of abuse. Don’t believe them. One idea being discussed, according to the Times, is that the glasses might recognize only people you are connected with, something that seems vaguely pointless — don’t you know who your friends are? The second, that it would work only on people with a public profile on Facebook or Instagram, is a safety disaster: What women might wish to disclose publicly to an online audience is vastly different from what they may wish to share with a man sitting opposite them on a bus.

Meta Is Wrong to Try to Sneak Into Privacy Intrusionbloomberg.com

Column: The AI-Only Social Network Isn’t Plotting Against Us

It’s easy to get carried away: When the bots start to talk as if they’re planning to take over the world, it can be tempting to take their word for it. But the world’s best Elvis impersonator will never be Elvis. What’s really happening is a kind of performance art in which the bots are acting out scenarios present in their training data. The more practical concern to have is that the powers of autonomy the bots already have is enough to do significant damage if left untethered. For that reason, Moltbook and OpenClaw are best avoided for all but the most risk-tolerant early adopters.

The AI-Only Social Network Isn’t Plotting Against Usbloomberg.com

Column: Apple Gives Itself the Toughest Act to Follow

It’s hard to see how Apple comes out unscathed from 12 more months of President Donald Trump’s tariff machinations, China’s unpredictability, the tricky introduction of its long-delayed AI features and a risky revamp of the iPhone offerings to include a foldable model. Most concerning of all to Apple investors, based on their questions to the company on Thursday, is the impact of the global memory and supply chain crunch, to which Cupertino is not immune by any means.

Apple Gives Itself the Toughest Act to Followbloomberg.com

Column: Microsoft Has Lost Its AI Sparkle

All this AI polyamory has put Microsoft’s eggs in a few more baskets, but it has also highlighted that Microsoft’s early mover advantage has run its course. The AI sparkle that illuminated a market value that more than doubled has diminished. Since their peak last October, Microsoft shares have fallen by about 11% and, until Wednesday’s close, had been flat since the start of 2026.

Microsoft Has Lost Its AI Sparklebloomberg.com

Column: The AI Memory Crunch Is Coming for Your Wallet

One frustrating characteristic of the AI boom seems to be that everyone must pay for it, regardless of any interest in using it. For some, it will be through rising utility bills as data centers strain the grid. For even more of us, it will be increasing costs of just about every electronic product you can think of: laptops, smartphones, televisions — perhaps even cars.

The AI Memory Crunch Is Coming for Your Walletbloomberg.com

Column: The TikTok US Saga Isn’t Over — It’s Just Beginning

There’s a big question of whether the joint venture, which now loses direct access to the extraordinarily talented engineering team at ByteDance Ltd., can maintain its competitive edge as homegrown rivals circle the wagons and as users look for any sign that their favorite digital space is being MAGA-fied by the app’s Trump-aligned new owners and operators. Already, on Friday, a prompt alerting users to new policies — by all accounts a standard set of terms for a social media company — set off a flurry of coverage and concern.

The TikTok US Saga Isn’t Over — It’s Just Beginningbloomberg.com