A Bloomberg investigation citing an unreleased Pentagon review found that overreliance on Palantir's Maven Smart System contributed to a strike that killed over 150 people, including 123 children, at an elementary school in Iran on the first day of the war. Outdated intelligence wrongly labeled the school an IRGC facility, and Maven surfaced it as a recommended target without flagging the stale data, officials said. Palantir denies responsibility, saying it does not own the underlying intelligence data, while the Pentagon retains accountability for what is fed into the system.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-22
A Bloomberg report citing Pentagon investigators found that the February 28 double-tap strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' school, which killed over 150 people including at least 123 children, resulted from outdated intelligence compounded by heavy reliance on an AI targeting system. Investigators described the tragedy as a cascade of small errors rather than a single mistake, involving technology similar to systems used to fast-track thousands of strikes earlier in the war.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-21
A report indicates that faulty artificial intelligence output was mistaken for genuine intelligence within US military systems, coming close to provoking a serious confrontation with China. The error reportedly stemmed from an AI-generated assessment being treated as credible without adequate human verification before reaching decision-makers.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-19
A Texas Air National Guard F-16 went down in Michigan on Thursday afternoon during a training exercise, forcing an evacuation of homes and businesses within a mile of the crash site over a chemical spill. The pilot ejected safely and was taken to a hospital, while all Texas Air National Guard aircraft at the site were grounded pending investigation. One pilot reportedly told air traffic control his wingman may have struck a bird before the crash.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-19
The Defense Department announced a targeted legal waiver on September 14 allowing current and former service members, civilian staff and contractors to share classified UAP-related information with the White House-directed PURSUE program without facing civil or administrative penalties for breaching nondisclosure agreements. The waiver only applies to communications with PURSUE, not to Congress, the press or the public, and it does not address potential criminal liability under laws like the Espionage Act.
wired.com
· 2026-09-17
US Space Force chief Gen. Douglas Schiess stated publicly that Guardians currently operate weapons in orbit capable of defending against space-based attacks, though he gave no specifics on the systems involved. He illustrated the claim with an anecdote about an operator called 'Specialist Gray' who allegedly used electromagnetic warfare against an adversary during a missile alert.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-16
Emil Michael, the Department of Defense's chief technology officer, said Wednesday he hopes the Trump administration will not pursue nationalization or partial ownership stakes in artificial intelligence companies. He made the remarks on CNBC's 'Squawk on the Street,' contrasting AI policy with the administration's recent equity moves in firms like Intel and U.S. Steel. Michael also voiced skepticism toward tightening regulatory oversight of AI companies.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-16
San Francisco startup Foundation, backed by Eric Trump, has signed a $24 million contract with the Pentagon to advance its Phantom MK1 humanoid robot for military use. CEO Sankaet Pathak says the machines aren't yet capable of combat but envisions a future where they could enter buildings to complete missions instead of airstrikes, and hasn't ruled out arming them. The company has already deployed about ten robots, including with the Air Force and in logistics support roles in Ukraine.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-15
A report from The American Prospect alleges Anthropic security officials monitor AI activists near company facilities, share threat reports with police, and track behavioral 'escalation patterns.' The claims cite a company job posting for an 'enterprise intelligence specialist' tasked with tracking threats including activism. Anthropic pushed back, telling CNET the report mischaracterizes a standard physical-security function meant to protect employees, not a surveillance program targeting activists.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-11
The U.S. Department of Defense is reportedly negotiating a $5 billion loan to Fluidstack, a company that builds AI computing infrastructure. The deal is being advised by a bank founded by Palmer Luckey, a prominent early backer of Donald Trump.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-10
The US military has turned off advertising identifiers on Windows, Android and Apple devices used by service members, aiming to stop adversaries from purchasing commercially available location data to track troops. The disclosure came in letters to Senator Ron Wyden, revealing that Windows machines had trackers disabled since before 2021, while mobile devices only got default protection starting in early 2026. The move follows earlier reporting that such tracking data had already been used to target American forces in the Middle East.
yro.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-07
The Pentagon issued a clinical guidance document on September 2 implementing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's mandatory testosterone screening policy, then removed it the following day along with a related statement from spokesperson Sean Parnell. Officials told Ars Technica the document was temporarily rescinded to allow for updates, with an interim policy remaining active and a finalized version expected soon. The rescinded plan would have screened men 30 and older via questionnaire, potentially triggering blood tests and hormone therapy, while women faced similar screening for hormonal imbalances.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-04
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