The Download: sycophantic LLMs, and the AI Hype Index

1 Anduril is partnering with Meta to build an advanced weapons system EagleEye’s VR headsets will enhance soldiers’ hearing and vision. (WSJ $) + Palmer Luckey wants to turn “warfighters into technomancers.” (TechCrunch) + Luckey and Mark Zuckerberg have buried the hatchet, then. (Insider $) + Palmer Luckey on the Pentagon’s future of mixed reality. (MIT Technology Review) 2 A new Texas law requires app stores to verify users’ ages It’s following in Utah’s footsteps, which passed a similar bill in March. (NYT $) + Apple has pushed back on the law. (CNN) 3 What happens to DOGE now? It has lost its leader and a top lieutenant within the space of a week. (WSJ $) + Musk’s departure raises questions over how much power it will wield without him. (The Guardian) + DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data. (MIT Technology Review) 4 NASA’s ambitions of a 2027 moon landing are looking less likely It needs SpaceX’s Starship, which keeps blowing ... Read full article.